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Zooming in and out for strategic advantage: Slack configurations and R&D investments in high-growth firms

Author

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  • Du, Yunzhou
  • Kim, Phillip H.
  • Fan, Di
  • Su, Yiyi

Abstract

Our study reinterprets the relationship between slack and R&D investment using a configurational framework derived from the resource-based view (RBV) of firm growth. We address the unresolved paradox of equifinal non-substitutability, which raises the question of how firms can invest non-substitutable resources using different equifinal resources for R&D. To solve this puzzle, we develop novel arguments based on a set-theoretic approach. We conduct Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) with a sample of high-growth Chinese firms. Our findings demonstrate how firms can form non-substitutable slack combinations disjunctively (“zooming out”) and configure slack investments conjunctively (“zooming in”) in various equifinal and asymmetric ways. By employing a holistic configurational zooming approach that involves zooming out for necessary, non-substitutable configurations and zooming in for versatile slack configurations, high-growth firms can achieve strategic advantages that create customer value and outmaneuver competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Du, Yunzhou & Kim, Phillip H. & Fan, Di & Su, Yiyi, 2025. "Zooming in and out for strategic advantage: Slack configurations and R&D investments in high-growth firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:201:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325005521
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115729
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