A Theoretical Framework for Strategic Renewal in Resource-Constrained Emerging Market Firms: Evidence from Nigeria

This dissertation develops and validates a theoretical framework for understanding strategic renewal processes in resource-constrained firms operating within Nigeria's emerging market context. Existing strategic renewal frameworks have been predominantly developed from studies in resource-abundant, institutionally stable environments, creating significant theoretical gaps for emerging market scholarship. Dynamic capabilities theory, institutional theory, and the resource-constrained innovation literature provide the multi-theoretical foundation. Using an interpretive paradigm and grounded theory methodology, the research conducts longitudinal in-depth case studies of twelve Nigerian firms across manufacturing, services, and technology sectors that have undergone documented strategic renewal cycles. Data were collected through repeated interview rounds, organizational document analysis, and observational field research over a thirty-month period. Constant comparative analysis and theoretical sampling guided the grounded theory process. The study generates a contextually grounded strategic renewal framework that integrates bricolage behavior, institutional navigation capability, and coalition-building as primary renewal mechanisms unique to resource-constrained emerging market settings. The framework challenges the assumption of resource abundance implicit in dominant Western renewal theories. The research concludes with propositions for extending dynamic capabilities theory to incorporate resource bricolage and institutional entrepreneurship as core renewal capacities in emerging markets. Theoretical and practical implications for Nigerian firms and policymakers are developed. Keywords: strategic renewal, resource-constrained firms, emerging markets, Nigeria, grounded theory.