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Public financial management (PFM) has played an important role in Singapore's remarkable economic success since its independence. This paper analyzes select characteristics of Singapore's PFM strategy and prospects for their continuation. An underlying theme has been ensuring that PFM is consistent with and enables Singapore's location-based growth strategy. Other characteristics include conducting economic activities outside the conventional government budget giving rise to a much larger role for the public sector than reflected in the budget; extensive use of non-conventional sources of revenue such as from the lease of land, creating property and usage rights to generate tax-like revenue; and limited social risk pooling in financing national spending on healthcare and pensions. As Singapore's business-location-based strategy reaches its limits, and an affluent and ageing population aspires for greater economic and social security, transparency, and effective participation in public policies, current PFM practices will need to undergo significant changes towards a more citizen-centric governance focus. Policymakers' response will not be constrained by lack of fiscal resources, or by institutional and organizational capacities.

Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), one of China's "Big Three" automakers, paid US$571 million in 2004 to acquire a controlling majority share in Ssangyong Motor of South Korea to help SAIC achieve its strategic objectives of developing its own passenger car brand and expanding operations internationally. This first case in the 3-case series covers the decision making leading up to the deal, signed in October 2004 and implemented in January 2005. It provides a basis for comparing modes of growth options (make, buy or ally) and the specific challenges facing Chinese firms and other newly-internationalizing firms as they go abroad. The case also generates discussion of fundamental acquisition issues: target selection, assessment and integration planning.

This study explores the relationships between bricolage, firm performance and growth opportunities in contexts characterized by extreme resource scarcity. Using a sample of 160 Palestinian female entrepreneurs as representative of entrepreneurs acting in extremely resource-deprived environments, we find that bricolage has a positive influence on firm performance. Further, as predicted in the hypotheses, the role of bricolage differs depending on the type of strategy the firm develops. When firms seek to introduce new products/services or modifications in their current products/services, a high level of bricolage hinders performance. Conversely, when firms seek to expand by introducing their current products/services in new markets and opening new locations, bricolage enhances performance. This study offers a more nuanced understanding than previous research of the role of bricolage in contexts of extreme resource constraints.

Recognising the greater variety and sophistication of product innovation strategies to target existing and previously untapped markets, the author presents an extended version of the Ansoff product-market expansion grid that highlights the different approaches for developed world and emerging markets. The proposed model consists of seven distinct categories of growth options and depicts alternative strategic possibilities within each category, where appropriate. Categories that are new to the matrix include resource-constrained innovation, necessity innovation and reverse innovation. Necessity innovation is a new concept and a special case of user-innovation, defined as innovation by resource-constrained consumers in emerging markets to serve their own unmet needs. Utilising recent industry examples from a variety of media, the author demonstrates the traits of each strategic approach to grow revenue streams through product-market innovation.

Digital transformation has led to several improvements in performance and efficiency, but its impact on growth patterns needs to be clarified. Two schools of thought dominate the literature on digital growth strategies. One stream advocates that digital firms should focus only on scaling their core position, while the other contends that firms should envelop into multiple complimentary markets. This seeming “paradox” in the strategic management literature, between advocates of a focus and a diversification growth strategy, shows a need for critical review and clarification of this literature. This paper synthesizes both views and argues that the distinct growth strategies are contextual and that a new catalyst, the relative level of digital transformation of firms in each market, influences their optimal strategy. A new conceptual model illustrates how digital firms may move between different strategies depending on their perceived market opportunities, competitive advantages, and the relative level of digital transformation of their competitors. Hereby, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the growth strategies of digital businesses.