Anticipated responses: The positive side of elicited reactions to competitive action

Abstract

This study advances the action-oriented perspective on strategy dynamics. Strategy research suggests that a firm's profit will decrease when facing rival responses, yet anecdotal evidence indicates that countermoves may enhance its performance. What is the interaction effect of simultaneous negative-and positive-side competitive responses on organisational performance? We propose that the answer depends not only on the actor's characteristics but also the action's characteristics. Grounded in empirical facts, our formal model of competitive dynamics examines the possibility of anticipated responses that are deliberately elicited by the attacking firm. We show that against attentive rivals, a firm with high attention and low aggressiveness can utilise visible actions to achieve its strategic intention and deployment. Our study offers significant implications for theory and practice.