Competitive Landscape Shift: When does a competitor matter?

Abstract

This research broadens the Strategic Entrepreneurship construct. This research aims to clarify the relationship between strategic and entrepreneurial activities with competitive landscape changes by questioning is the firm limited to the current boundary of competition? By integrating the competitive dynamics and multimarket competition theory, the study finds the correlative relationship between Strategic Entrepreneurship activities with competitive landscape shifts. The study found that explorative activities do not have any commonalities with traditional competitors. Also, the high involvement competitive tension with rival causes the firm to go beyond its current landscape, which enables the incumbent firm to increase the market commonality with new competitors and traditional competitors. The research also looking for the anomalies that emerged within the process of it and give several explanations for that. By analyzing the M&A history (between 1995 - 2019) of big players in the consumer goods industry which has a similar core (Procter & Gamble and Unilever) I found the support to the hypothesis.Keywords:  explorative activities, exploitative activities, competitive tension, competitive landscape