This study addresses the contingent nature of strategy by examining the Miles and Snow (1978) internal consistency assumptions in a single industry setting. These authors specify a strategy/structure profile for the prospector and defender types and indicate that deviation from the ideal strategic profile will have negative effects on performance. In order to test the relationship between internal consistency and performance, it was proposed that strategic types may differ in their performance tendencies. Principle component analysis was used to identify the degree of importance of strategic characteristics and methods. Cluster analysis yielded five strategic groups. Results suggest that a range of structural arrangements exist among firms exhibiting each strategic type. Within strategic types, firms that achieve internal consistency exhibited higher mean performance scores than those that did not, but the differences were not significant. Therefore, the study revealed only marginal evidence that internal consistency as described by Miles and Snow contributes to higher performance regardless of the “appropriateness” of the performance measure.
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