The role of corporate parenting strategy: Managing complexity and fostering performance in the multi-business unit

This literature review explores the integrated propulsion strategy, a comprehensive corporate parenting model that reconciles industrial organization (IO) theory, resource-based view (RBV), and dynamic capabilities (DCs) in strategic management. The framework, encapsulated through positioning, picking, and propulsion, seamlessly integrates external threats, internal resource combinations, and perpetual capability renewal. It accentuates the strategic significance of resource redeployment, primarily through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), as a dynamic response mechanism to external pressures, contributing to sustained competitive advantage (CA). The study advocates for supra-dynamic managerial capabilities in the post-pandemic landscape, surpassing traditional skills vital for navigating perpetual change, fostering stakeholder engagement, and driving innovation. Within the multi-business unit paradigm, the research proposes a framework elucidating the intricate relationships between business units and business models, providing insights for effective complexity management. The research integrates performance management metrics, encompassing sales growth, product quality, innovativeness, environmental, financial considerations, and practical guidance for corporations to formulate adaptive corporate parenting strategies, ensuring sustained growth in the dynamic business environment. The research seeks to provide a holistic corporate parenting strategy development to assist organizations in navigating complexity, responding to external pressures, and enhancing performance across their diverse business units, thereby contributing to the broader discourse on strategic management.