The relationships between Porter's (1980) business strategies and the process of strategy making are investigated. The complexity of a strategy is shown to be associated with the intensity of information processing and managerial interaction used in its development and implementation. Porter's strategy of innovative differentiation related significantly to information processing, interaction, and assertiveness in strategy making, especially among the most profitable firms, cost leadership had very few notable associations with decision making, and focus strategies related inversely to information processing.
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