Effect of strategic repositioning on company performance in the manufacturing sector: A dynamic capability perspective

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Abstract

With widespread performance declines and organizational failures following the emergence of the 2008 global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, strategic repositioning has increasingly become a trendy concept in strategic management discourse. As such, the primary purpose of this study is to establish the effect of strategic repositioning on market share. Explanatory sequential mixed methods research design reinforces this study, which permitted the usage of both structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews as data collection techniques. The quantitative results establish a positive, statistically significant effect of strategic repositioning on market share. To explain the quantitative results, qualitative follow-up results reveal strategic repositioning as an effective strategy for adapting to constantly changing customer needs and wants, and market expansion, as well as a practical approach to performance recovery. Notably, the struggling or ailing firms can adjust their value propositions to ensure sustainable performance (Konietzko et al., 2023; Tangpong et al., 2025). Consequently, this study suggests that the senior executives of ailing companies should display a high level of commitment toward strategic repositioning in pursuit of corporate rejuvenation. This study is relevant to business researchers, professionals, and policy makers as well as captains of the industry.

Keywords: Strategic Repositioning, Corporate Turnaround, Zombie Firms, Corporate Rescue, Financially Distressed, Corporate Failure

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — M.D. and E.N.; Methodology — M.D.; Resources — M.D. and D.M.; Data Curation — M.D. and D.M.; Writing — Original Draft — M.D. and E.N.; Writing — Review & Editing — D.M and E.N.; Project Administration — M.D.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: L1, L2, L6, L7, L8

Received: 19.05.2025
Revised: 07.09.2025; 24.09.2025; 26.03.2026
Accepted: 02.04.2026
Published online: 07.04.2026

How to cite this paper: Dzingirai, M., Mhlanga, D., & Ndhlovu, E. (2026). Effect of strategic repositioning on company performance in the manufacturing sector: A dynamic capability perspective. Business Performance Review, 4(2), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.22495/bprv4i2p2