How corporates rely on search through CVC strategies to improve performance

Although Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) is widely believed to drive corporate innovation, its relevance is often questioned. This study uses problemistic search to investigate whether CVC activities consistent with a firm's core business are likely to have a positive impact on the positive relationship between business strategy and firm performance. We pay particular attention to prior negative past performance. Results confirm that CVC investments aligned with a company’s core business have a positive effect, even when past performance was negative. In difficult times, the marginal effect is weaker but still positive. As soon as the business recovers, CVC activities are expected to contribute to greater corporate competitiveness as CVC activities related to the core business are compatible with a recovered business strategy.