Interpreting strategic issues: Effects of differentiation strategies and resource configurations on corporate entrepreneurship

Abstract

Differentiation strategy represents the shared belief about the market and provides the lens through which executives filter external information. Based on the relevant information peculiar to the strategy and resource configurations in the firm, executives develop opportunity or threat interpretations and take responsive actions. Using the two-wave survey data from 294 CEOs in China during the 2008 macro crisis, we find that the configuration of differentiation, financial slack, and technological capabilities affects corporate entrepreneurship through opportunity interpretations.