A Mendelian perspective on strategic management: path-dependence and artificial selection in a search for sustainable energy

We present a field-based case study that examines resource allocation as a mechanism with which the Mendelian executive facilitates a robust and ongoing process of search and discovery in extraordinary, complex and changing environments. The field research is conducted in collaboration with a global manufacturer that produces electricity-generating equipment in a search for sustainable energy. The case study illuminates a robust and ongoing process that re-aligns resource allocation iteratively between product development (technology and innovation management) and component procurement (supply chain management) for retaining a firm’s stability and functioning. By matching the theory-based predictions with the patterns derived from field-based observations, the case study finds consistency between theory and data. The case study also suggests boundary conditions in space and time, respectively, for extending the two fundamental constructs in the Mendelian Perspective—path-dependence and artificial selection.