Multiple recipes for success – A configurational examination of business portfolio restructurings

Peter Hildebrandt, Jana Oehmichen, Ulrich Pidun and Michael Wolff

European Management Journal, 2018, vol. 36, issue 3, 381-391

Abstract: This explorative empirical study investigates which sets of portfolio restructuring design characteristics, contingent on individual firm and industry characteristics, lead to successful business portfolio transformations. We draw on insights from the strategic change, strategic fit, and organizational turnaround literature and develop a contingency model for transformation success. To allow for complex configurations, we employ a set-theoretic approach based on fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Our findings suggest that there is no single best strategy for restructuring a portfolio. Rather, there are multiple pathways to success in portfolio transformation, depending on a firm's competitive posture and industry environment. In particular, our results highlight the pivotal influence of prior firm performance and environmental jolts on the design of successful business portfolio restructuring (BPR) strategies.

Keywords: Corporate restructuring; Business portfolio transformation; Strategic change; Contingency model; Set-theoretic methods; Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eurman:v:36:y:2018:i:3:p:381-391

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DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2017.05.007

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