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The concept of relatedness in diversification research: review and synthesis

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Abstract

Relatedness has become fundamental to the analysis of corporate diversification and a wide range of strategy research. Its broad definition, however, leaves researchers with substantial leeway in theorizing and operationalizing the relatedness construct. While recent advances have contributed to a more sophisticated understanding of how relatedness creates value, the heterogeneity of scholarly efforts leaves relatedness research in a state of terminological, conceptual, and methodological fragmentation and in need of consolidation. This article seeks to close this research gap by taking stock of the extant literature and providing the first systematic review focused exclusively on related diversification. The review identifies and analyzes 82 peer-reviewed scholarly articles published between 1982 and 2017, providing a critical assessment of these research efforts and proposing a holistic relatedness research framework that can serve as a common foundation for future scholarship. The review concludes by offering eight avenues for future research as a contribution to the theoretical literatures on diversification and resource-based theory.

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Notes

  1. Relatedness at the operating level refers to links between value chain functions, e.g., marketing and production. For long, this was the dominant understanding of the term in the strategy literature following the accentuation of the original Wrigley/Rumelt classification (Grant 1988).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität Berlin, Institute of Technology and Management, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany

    Adrian Lüthge

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Sample search protocol for ABI/Inform database

Search area

Peer-reviewed journals; english

Step 1

Relatedness or diversification and RBT in abstract or title

 Search terms

((ab(“relatedness”) OR ti(“relatedness”)) OR (ab(“related diversif*”) OR ti(“related diversif*”)) OR (ab(“related acquisition”) OR ti(“related acquisition”))) OR ((ab(“resource-based”) OR ti(“resource-based”)) AND (ab(“diversification*”) OR ti(“diversification*”)))

 No. of articles found

1172

Step 2

All three keywords in full text

 Search terms

(((ab(“relatedness”) OR ti(“relatedness”)) OR (ab(“related diversif*”) OR ti(“related diversif*”)) OR (ab(“related acquisition”) OR ti(“related acquisition”))) OR ((ab(“resource-based”) OR ti(“resource-based”)) AND (ab(“diversification*”) OR ti(“diversification*”)))) AND (ft(“RBV” OR “RBT” OR “resource-based” OR “resource based” OR “Rumelt”) AND ft(“relatedness” OR “related diversif*” OR “related acquisition”) AND ft(“diversif*”))

 No. of articles found

111

Step 3

Reference to value-creating mechanism

 Search terms

((((ab(“relatedness”) OR ti(“relatedness”)) OR (ab(“related diversif*”) OR ti(“related diversif*”)) OR (ab(“related acquisition”) OR ti(“related acquisition”))) OR ((ab(“resource-based”) OR ti(“resource-based”)) AND (ab(“diversification*”) OR ti(“diversification*”)))) AND (ft(“RBV” OR “RBT” OR “resource-based” OR “resource based” OR “Rumelt”) AND ft(“relatedness” OR “related diversif*” OR “related acquisition”) AND ft(“diversif*”))) AND ft(“economies of scope” OR “synerg*” OR “complementar*” OR “redeploy*”)

 No. of articles found

104

Appendix 2: Overview of journals, share and journal impact factor

Journal

No. of articles

Journal Impact Factor (JIF)

5-Year JIF

Cum. share (%)

Total share (%)

Strategic Management Journal

46

3.341

6.061

56.1

56.1

Academy of Management Journal

12

6.448

9.812

70.7

14.6

Organization Science

6

3.775

6.309

78.0

7.3

Academy of Management Review

4

7.475

10.736

82.9

4.9

Journal of Management

3

6.071

9.238

86.6

3.7

Journal of Management Studies

3

3.763

5.883

90.2

3.7

MIS Quarterly

2

5.311

8.490

92.7

2.4

Management Science

2

2.482

3.399

95.1

2.4

Academy of Management Annals

1

7.769

10.866

96.3

1.2

British Journal of Management

1

2.982

2.704

97.6

1.2

Journal of Intsernat. Business Studies

1

3.563

6.067

97.6

1.2

Journal of Finance

1

5.424

7.546

98.8

1.2

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Lüthge, A. The concept of relatedness in diversification research: review and synthesis. Rev Manag Sci 14, 1–35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-018-0293-0

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