What Does (Superior) Performance Mean in Strategic Management?

Abstract

 The purpose of this paper is to contribute with a comprehensive understanding of firm-performance on strategic management literature, conceptualizing its impact from a multi-level and multidimensional perspective. Likewise, the value is proposed as a metric of the firm- performance in three different levels of action. The definition and meaning of performance are examined through a literature review, including seminal - theoretical and empirical papers. The literature review comprises Industrial Organization (IO), Resources Based-View (RBV), Knowledge Based-View (KBV) and Dynamic Capabilities (DC) as essential theoretical perspectives in the Strategic Management area of study. Similarities and differences between stances are established. The results are presented in an original integrative conceptual model. In Strategic Management (SM) the expression 'firm performance' (FP) has been used to explain the strategy execution results. However, the literature review exposes performance as a construct that has suffered ambiguity in its definition and lack of epistemological delimitation. These limitations show performance as an outcome, difficult to understand, research, and apply in a managerial context. The present study identifies the convergences and divergences that the performance concept presents in the most representative schools of Strategic Management. A comprehensive definition of performance and a conceptual integrative model in which value is proposed as integrative metric of business performance.