Spin-Offs as Core Vehicles for Strategic Renewal and External Knowledge Sourcing: An Attention Based View

This study explores corporate spin-off initiatives as core vehicles for strategic renewal in incumbent firms. In contrast to prior research that considers spin-offs as a means to exploit knowledge inherited from the parent firm, we investigate how spin-offs are used for the exploration of knowledge. Research implies that firms will seize novel resources if their attention is directed to the external environment. Following the attention-based view of the firm, a favorable organizational set-up has to be established. Therefore, we first study the organizational structures of four spin-off initiatives, how these affected the regulation of attention and, in turn, influenced the spin-off initiative in acquiring new knowledge.. Based on an in-depth study of four cases, we contribute to literature on strategic renewal, spin-offs and the attention-based view.