ABSTRACT
As the 1960s gave way to the 1970s, a number of events began to undermine the competitive strength of American business: the economic impact of the oil crisis, repeated cycles of inflation and recession, the political and economic cost of the Vietnam War, and emerging competition from Europe and the Far East. In combination these factors led to a shift in emphasis in strategy in the US, away from long-term planning to more immediate concerns focused both on cutting costs and also on responding to increasing competition. One of the key practices employed at this time were strategies of growth through diversification and acquisition, utilized in order to spread risk. This posed new strategic challenges for the organization – how to interact with these newly created or acquired businesses or divisions and how to manage their activities. This gave rise to what would be termed ‘corporate-level’ strategy.
