Creating Strategic Options : The Mediating Role of Market-Focused Strategic Flexibility for Innovation Performance

This study examines the role of market-focused strategic flexibility in creating a competitive advantage and realizing superior performance. The authors propose that marked-focused strategic flexibility rather mediates than moderates the role of market orientation and technology orientation for innovation. Results from an empirical study of 300 managers from 218 business-to-business firms support this notion. Moreover, the assumption that firms could emphasize market-focused strategic flexibility and de-emphasize market orientation is contradicted. The findings of this study suggest that the two concepts are closely related and that managers have to mind this relationship in resource allocation decisions