Competitive Unpredictability and Business Performance
(R2024-122555)

AUTHORS

João Oliveira, Lisbon School of Economics & Management; Anne Souchon, Loughborough University; Paul Hughes, Lancaster University; Ian R. Hodgkinson, Loughborough University; Nathaniel Boso, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Nemkova Ekaterina, IESEG; Magnus Hultman, Brock University; Joseph Sy-Changco, University of Macau

ABSTRACT

This study develops and tests a model of competitive unpredictability. Results from a sample of British exporters reveal how planned and spontaneous decision-making jointly affect competitive unpredictability, while the effect of unpredictability on market performance is strengthened by increasing levels of new product development (NPD) capability. These findings progress existing theory on how and when managers can rely on competitive unpredictability to raise performance, providing a support structure for the use of competitive unpredictability in practice.