Abstract
Strategic flexibility is widely accepted to be a capability that helps organizations deal with uncertainty. However, how individuals contribute to the emergence and evolution of strategic flexibility and how young ventures develop this capability despite emerging or unstable orientations, structures, and routines are relatively under-researched aspects. To address these gaps, we are investigating decision rules that function as a microfoundation of strategic flexibility. We have conducted interviews with 28 founder-CEOs of young ventures. Based on a qualitative analysis of interview transcripts enriched with secondary data, we aim to develop a typology of decision rules based on decision patterns representative of microfoundations of strategic flexibility.