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<p>While strategy research offers insights into optimal strategic distinctiveness, firms in similar contexts often pursue divergent strategies, with some conforming to industry norms while others seek distinctiveness. We address this issue by examining the underexplored role of managerial myopia. Drawing on the behavioral theory of the firm, we decompose strategic choice into search and evaluation stages, and theorize how temporal and spatial myopia bias each stage. Using data from Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2021, the results show that temporal myopia biases the evaluation stage, leading managers to overvalue the immediate, verifiable returns of conformity and thus lowering strategic distinctiveness. In contrast, spatial myopia constrains the search stage, confining managers to familiar resources and fostering path-dependent choices that increase strategic distinctiveness. We further find that these relationships are contingent upon market uncertainty and industry competitiveness. This study contributes to the strategic distinctiveness literature by offering a cognitive explanation for strategic variation, and advances research on managerial myopia by specifying the distinct decision-making pathways through which its temporal and spatial dimensions shape strategic outcomes.</p>

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What drives variation in strategic distinctiveness? The opposing effects of temporal and spatial myopia

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月7日

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  • Dejun Cheng,
  • Diwen Shi

摘要

While strategy research offers insights into optimal strategic distinctiveness, firms in similar contexts often pursue divergent strategies, with some conforming to industry norms while others seek distinctiveness. We address this issue by examining the underexplored role of managerial myopia. Drawing on the behavioral theory of the firm, we decompose strategic choice into search and evaluation stages, and theorize how temporal and spatial myopia bias each stage. Using data from Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2021, the results show that temporal myopia biases the evaluation stage, leading managers to overvalue the immediate, verifiable returns of conformity and thus lowering strategic distinctiveness. In contrast, spatial myopia constrains the search stage, confining managers to familiar resources and fostering path-dependent choices that increase strategic distinctiveness. We further find that these relationships are contingent upon market uncertainty and industry competitiveness. This study contributes to the strategic distinctiveness literature by offering a cognitive explanation for strategic variation, and advances research on managerial myopia by specifying the distinct decision-making pathways through which its temporal and spatial dimensions shape strategic outcomes.