Florian Gröne Livres

How do firms respond to changing foreign competition, and how does the nature of that competition (FDI or imports) shape their reactions? This inquiry is crucial in International Corporate Strategy, especially as globalization intensifies. However, our understanding remains limited, with few empirical studies that are both large-scale and longitudinal. Such analyses are essential to explore how foreign competition influences firm scope changes. Florian Gröne's dissertation delves into foreign competition as a key factor driving these changes. Incumbent firms often perceive increasing foreign competition as a threat, leading to various competitive strategy reactions, including pricing and volume adjustments. Beyond these, firms may also continuously restructure their entire portfolios. This includes altering their product scope, vertical scope, and geographical scope simultaneously, based on their assessment of the foreign firms' competitive intensity. The research seeks to uncover patterns and distinctions in how firms from different countries, such as Germany and the US, navigate these challenges, providing valuable insights for both top managers and researchers in the field.