How do large firms conduct their strategic renewal journeys in an increasin
gly turbulent environment? Are there generic industry patterns, or are thes
e renewal journeys country- or firm-specific! To answer these questions, we
examine the relative incidence of external versus internal and explorative
versus exploitative renewal actions, and their speed, in leading Dutch and
UK financial service companies using longitudinal data. The context, conte
nt and process dimensions of strategic renewal are distinguished, and resea
rch questions about these attributes are formulated and investigated using
new metrics. Findings show that while exploration/exploitation ratios are f
airly similar for firms across the entire industry, systematic differences
are evident between the external/internal renewal ratios of Dutch and UK fi
rms, and that speed of renewal is largely determined at the firm level. Thu
s we find that industry-, country- and firm-specific factors all influence
journeys of strategic renewal in distinctive and complementary ways. (C) 20
01 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.