Exploring hypotheses about purposive diversification and ensuing economic performance, this study offers insights into the debate about cooperation versus competition among firms.

This work examines the causes and consequences of the "refocusing" phenomenon, where companies have stopped diversifying and begun focusing once more on their core product lines. Coverage includes a discussion of the effects of refocusing on market value, profitability and organizational structure.

And conclusionsFurther bibliography; Index.

This impressive book sees the author applying and extending the resource based view of the firm to explain and predict the strategy of corporate diversification. Technological Resources and the Logic of Corporate Diversification is an original and authoritative book that will be extremely useful to academics and students in such disciplines as business economics, corporate strategy and international business.

Terms such as the 'new competitive landscape', 'hypercompetition' and 'inherent instability and change' have been used over the past decade to describe the changing global competitive environment. A plethora of strategic and operational measures have been used to enable firms to gain sustainable competitive advantage, with varying degrees of success. Yet we remain in largely uncharted territory with strategic preparation for the future becoming a critical activity. Strategy and Performance provides academics, practitioners and students with a highly focused approach to competing in the global marketplace.

A conspicuous feature of the modern economy is the multitude of multiunit systems that operate in several markets - an organizational form that arguably rivals the "M-form" as the 20th century's most successful. Research traditions studying multiunit systems include the multimarket perspective, which has used commitment and mutual forbearance theory, and the multiunit perspective, which has used learning and knowledge transfer theory. These perspectives are interdisciplinary, but to date there has been little direct interaction among them. This text aims to bring these areas together, discussing such things as: examining how variation in firm capabilities affects the co-ordination of branches and thus their forbearance or transfer of routines; bridging theories of market conduct and internal behaviour to explore how knowledge about markets and competitor behaviour is transferred among organizational units; making a theory of contingent multiunit or single-unit competitive advantage that can account for the coexistence of these organizational forms in many markets; and examining the effects of firm contacts in alliances or technological fields on their competitive behaviours.

"This book examines the nature of the process of technological change in different sectors of various countries, analyzing the impact of innovation as well as research and development activities on different outcomes in different fields and assessing the design and impact of policies aimed at enhancing innovation in organizations"--Provided by publisher.