The differential impact of strategic aggressiveness on firm performance: The role of firm size

Abstract

Strategic aggressiveness, including product and process innovation, is a central construct in both the strategic management and entrepreneurship literatures, including strategic positioning, innovation, and competitive dynamics. While scholars have considered antecedents to strategic aggressiveness, this area of research lacks empirical studies assessing the impact of a firm’s innovative efforts on organizational-level outcomes. Moreover, most empirical studies examining strategic aggressiveness focus on large organizations. This study draws on the resource-based view (RBV), institutional theory, and the corporate entrepreneurship literature to examine the extent to which strategic aggressiveness differentially impacts firm performance in large and small firms. Using a two-sample design comprising 773 firms from 74 industries, this study finds that the relationship between strategic aggressiveness and firm-level performance is stronger in small firms compared to large firms.