Diversification Strategy in Electric Utilities: Who Wins? Who Loses?(Statistical Table‪)‬

ABSTRACT Diversification is a prominent strategy for pursuing organizational growth, yet performance outcomes have been notoriously disappointing, especially for unrelated diversification via acquisition. While firms in most industries have thus constrained their diversification strategies, electric utility firms are increasingly pursuing diversification by purchasing businesses outside their fields of expertise to cope with bleak growth prospects and deregulation uncertainties. Considering that a utility company is generally a sole provider of essential service within a geographic territory, many stakeholders are justifiably concerned about increasing levels of electric utility diversification and potential performance outcomes.