Corporate Headquarters Change : Antecedents and Performance Implications

In his seminal study Strategy and Structure, Chandler (1962) turned the spotlight not only on the multi-business corporation but also on corporate headquarters. Since then scholars have explored a variety of phenomena related to this specific organizational entity. Yet, corporate headquarters change defined as changes in size and scope of corporate headquarters has received little attention thus far. This study aims at investigating antecedents and outcomes of corporate headquarters change. We argue that strategic change serves as an important antecedent to corporate headquarters change and that those corporations which adapt their corporate headquarters to changes in the business portfolio achieve superior performance. Rather counterintuitive, our findings contest previous conceptions of predominant inertial forces with respect to corporate headquarters. The study mainly contributes to corporate headquarters literature and to the classic strategy/structure debate.