ABSTRACT
Of the many definitions of corporate level strategy in the literature, perhaps the earliest, and still very helpful, conceptualization described it as the pattern of decisions that determine a firm’s goals and objectives, produces the principal policies for achieving these goals and objectives, and defines the range of businesses that the firm is to pursue (Andrews, 1971). Subsequent definitions identified several levels of strategy, distinguishing between business level (i.e., competitive) strategy, which pertains to how to build and maintain a competitive advantage in each of its discrete and identifiable markets or businesses, and corporate level strategy, which pertains to the overall plan for a diversified firm (Hofer & Schendel, 1978; Porter, 1987) (see Box 1.1).
