Achieving scalability in incumbent firms: Testing and extending the four-stage development model
研究了在位企业如何发展可扩展性以支持潜在超高速增长，基于500多家西班牙企业数据检验并拓展了四阶段模型，发现战略更新的中介作用及企业规模和技术强度的调节效应。
Scalability—a firm’s ability to develop the conditions for potential hypergrowth—has typically been studied in start-ups. This study shifts the focus to incumbent firms, examining whether established companies can develop and leverage scalability. We empirically test and extend a recently proposed four-stage model comprising value recognition, organisational adaptation, strategic renewal, and scalability. Using survey data from over 500 Spanish firms, we employ structural equation modelling and causal inference via Python’s DoWhy library. Whilst our findings largely align with the four-stage model, some nuances emerge. We find that strategic renewal partially mediates the relationship between organisational adaptation and scalability. We also find that firm size strengthens the mediating role of renewal, while lower technological intensity diminishes it, highlighting conditions under which scalability is more likely to emerge. These findings advance understanding of scalability in established firms and provide practical guidance for managers and policymakers seeking to foster hypergrowth.