Headline-grabbing ransomware attacks, organized retail theft, and pandemic-related supply chain impacts have heightened the salience of security issues facing firms. However, these threats are simply the most recent profile of the security management challenges that large firms face when seeking opportunities for improved performance, while simultaneously forestalling attacks upon their physical assets, intellectual property, supply chains, resources, employees, customers, and other stakeholders. Alternatively, the strategic levers that are often instrumental to firm performance – alliances, open innovation, emerging markets, cloud-based big data solutions, and others – are also drivers of heightened security threats. Thus, security management issues have taken center stage in efforts to discern and implement a balanced approach to corporate strategy and operations. Yet, scholars have few theory-based tools to employ in conducting an integrated assessment of security management. Cognizant of this gap, we develop and test a novel construct -- “Firm Security Focus” -- to assess firms’ ability and willingness to navigate performance -threat challenges.
