Strategic purity: A multi-industry evaluation of pure vs. hybrid business strategies

• Published in: Strategic management journal Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 553 - 561
• Main Authors: Thornhill, Stewart, White, Roderick E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-05-2007; John Wiley and Sons; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Business management; Business service industries; Business structures; Business studies; Capital costs; competitive strategy; Construction industries; Construction industry; Corporate strategies; Empirical research; Extractive industries; generic strategy; generic strategy, in‐the‐middle; in-the-middle; Industrial dynamics; Industrial efficiency; Management science; Manufacturing; Manufacturing industries; Research Notes and Commentaries; Retail industries; Retail trade; Service industry; Strategic management; strategic purity; Studies
• ISSN: 0143-2095; 1097-0266
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.606

Twenty-five years of empirical research has failed to resolve a basic strategy question. Does strategic purity pay? Most theorists believe strategic purity-the extent to which a business pursues one type of generic strategy over another--contributes to better performance. By defining the strategy space consistent with the theory, and employing improved design and methods, our study of 2,351 businesses finds a significant relationship between strategic purity and performance. Purity does appear to pay. Some variations in strategic purity and performance relationship were observed across four major industry sectors: manufacturing, construction, retail, and business services. But in all instances pure strategies never did less well, and often did better than hybrid strategies.