Diversification, Industry Dynamism, and Economic Performance

The decision to diversify lies at the core of corporate strategy and constitutes one of top management’s most important choices. Yet despite its importance and prominence within academic research, diversification remains subject to ongoing debate. Matthias Knecht introduces a new perspective on corporate diversification that extends the academic discussion and reveals substantial new insights. The author introduces the dynamism of industries as a dominant force in the environment that influences the diversified corporation on multiple levels. Due to similarities of businesses competing in similarly dynamic environments, synergistic benefits and superior economic performance can be realized through the combination of dynamic-related businesses in the corporate portfolio. This study provides a multidimensional operationalization of industry dynamism and an in-depth assessment of the dynamism of a wide range of industries. At the core of the study Knecht investigates the performance impact of dynamic-related diversification strategies. The results provide new insights into successful corporate portfolio construction in the face of today’s dynamic environments.