Business level strategy and performance: The moderating effects of environment and structure
Purpose This study aims to examine the moderating effects of external environment and organisational structure in the relationship between business level strategy and organisational performance.Design/methodology/approach The focus of the study is on manufacturing firms in the UK belonging to the electrical and mechanical engineering sectors, and respondents were CEOs. Both objective and subjective measures were used to assess performance. Non response bias was assessed statistically and appropriate measures taken to minimise the impact of common method variance (CMV).Findings The results indicate that environmental dynamism and hostility act as moderators in the relationship between business level strategy and relative competitive performance. In low hostility environments a cost leadership strategy and in high hostility environments a differentiation strategy lead to better performance compared with competitors. In highly dynamic environments a cost leadership strategy and in low dynamism environm.