The business life cycle is examined through a comprehensive literature review in this academic study. Our initial approach involves searching for relevant articles on firm life cycle and strategy using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. We conduct bibliometric analyses to identify key contributors and recurring keywords. Subsequently, we select twenty-seven research papers to explore the Theory Development, Characteristics, Context, and Methodology (TCCM) framework for firm life cycle and strategy. Our analysis summarizes corresponding business strategies for each stage, including the use of Initial Management Control Systems (MCS) in the introduction phase. As companies grow, a high inventory-to-sales ratio may hinder effectiveness, but it proves beneficial in the growth and revival stages. Mature companies excel in green process innovation and engage more in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. In the decline stage, firms use cost efficiencies, asset retrenchment, and core activity focus for recovery, signaling commitment to a successful turnaround. However, there is a research gap in exploring appropriate global strategies for various life cycle stages, providing an opportunity for additional articles to thoroughly investigate this relationship and assess multinational enterprises’ success trajectories throughout their life cycles.

Adizes, I. (1979). Organizational Passages-Diagnosing and Treating Lifecycle Problems of Organizations. Organizational Dynamics. 8(1): 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(79)90001-9

Anthony, J. H., Ramesh, K. (1992). Association between Accounting Performance Measures and Stock Prices. Journal of Accounting and Economics 15(2-3): 203-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-4101(92)90018-W

Aragón-Correa, J. A., & Sharma, S. (2003). A Contingent Resource-Based View of Proactive Corporate Environmental Strategy. Academy of Management Review, 28(1), 71–88. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2003.8925233

Ardito, L., Messeni Petruzzelli, A., & Albino, V. (2015). From Technological Inventions to New Products: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda of the Main Enabling Factors. European Management Review, 12(3), 113–147. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12047

Bakarich, K., Liu, J., & Weintrop, J. (2020). At what life-cycle stage does the auditors’ going concern report add value? Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 56(3), 1129–1157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-020-00921-w

Bozeman, B. (2010). Hard Lessons from Hard Times: Reconsidering and Reorienting the “Managing Decline” Literature. Public Administration Review, 70(4), 557–563. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02176.x

Budgen, D., Kitchenham, B., Charters, S., et al. (2007). Preliminary results of a study of the completeness and clarity of structured abstracts. Electronic Workshops in Computing. https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/ease2007.7

Cai, L., Chen, B., Chen, J., et al. (2017). Dysfunctional competition & innovation strategy of new ventures as they mature. Journal of Business Research, 78, 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.05.008

Capolupo, P., Ardito, L., Messeni Petruzzelli, A., et al. (2022). Opening up the black box of family entrepreneurship across generations: A systematic literature review. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 41(7), 734–773. https://doi.org/10.1177/02662426221127412

Chen, H., Jiao, J., Yang, N., et al. (2020). How Identity Conflict and Identity Synergy Influence Innovative Performance of Employees With Multiple Team Membership. Psychological Reports, 124(2), 792–808. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120916863

Chen, K.-H., Su, X.-Q., Lin, L.-F., et al. (2021). Profitability of moving-average technical analysis over the firm life cycle: Evidence from Taiwan. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 69, 101633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2021.101633

Chen, X., Huang, B., & Shaban, M. (2022). Naïve or sophisticated? Information disclosure and investment decisions in peer to peer lending. Journal of Corporate Finance, 77, 101805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101805

Cillo, V., Petruzzelli, A. M., Ardito, L., et al. (2019). Understanding sustainable innovation: A systematic literature review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(5), 1012–1025. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1783

DeAngelo, L., & Franke, R. (2016). Social Mobility and Reproduction for Whom? College Readiness and First-Year Retention. American Educational Research Journal, 53(6), 1588–1625. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216674805

Dickinson, V. (2011). Cash Flow Patterns as a Proxy for Firm Life Cycle. The Accounting Review, 86(6), 1969–1994. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-10130

Dickinson, V., Kassa, H., & Schaberl, P. D. (2018). What information matters to investors at different stages of a firm’s life cycle? Advances in Accounting, 42, 22–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adiac.2018.07.002

Duriau, V. J., Reger, R. K., & Pfarrer, M. D. (2007). A Content Analysis of the Content Analysis Literature in Organization Studies: Research Themes, Data Sources, and Methodological Refinements. Organizational Research Methods, 10(1), 5–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428106289252

Eiriz, V., Faria, A., & Barbosa, N. (2013). Firm growth and innovation: Towards a typology of innovation strategy. Innovation, 15(1), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.5172/impp.2013.15.1.97

Elsayed, K., & Wahba, H. (2016). Reexamining the relationship between inventory management and firm performance: An organizational life cycle perspective. Future Business Journal, 2(1), 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbj.2016.05.001

Ferreira Mello, B. S., Monte, A. S., McIntyre, R. S., et al. (2013). Effects of doxycycline on depressive-like behavior in mice after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(10), 1521–1529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.06.008

Fukugawa, N. (2017). Is the impact of incubator’s ability on incubation performance contingent on technologies and life cycle stages of startups: evidence from Japan. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 14(2), 457–478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-017-0468-1

Greiner, L. E. (1997). Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow. Family Business Review, 10(4), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6248.1997.00397.x

Grinyer, P., Mckiernan, P. (2016). Generating Major Change in Stagnating Companies. Strategic Management Journal, 11(Special Issue: Corporate Entrepreneurship), 131-146.

Gupta, P., He, D., Ma, Y., et al. (2022). Do investors listen? Exploring the effect of investor relationship management on firm-specific stock return variation. Research in International Business and Finance, 60, 101598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2021.101598

Haiyan, D., Ahmed, K., & Nanere, M. (2020). Life Cycle, Competitive Strategy, Continuous Innovation And Firm Performance. International Journal of Innovation Management, 25(1), 2150004. https://doi.org/10.1142/s1363919621500043

Hambrick, D. C., & Schecter, S. M. (1983). Turnaround Strategies for Mature Industrial-Product Business Units. Academy of Management Journal, 26(2), 231–248. https://doi.org/10.2307/255972

Hasan, M. M., & Cheung, A. (2018). Organization capital and firm life cycle. Journal of Corporate Finance, 48, 556–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.12.003

Hasan, M. M., & Habib, A. (2017). Corporate life cycle, organizational financial resources and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Contemporary Accounting & Economics, 13(1), 20–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcae.2017.01.002

Hobday, M. (2000). The Project-Based Organisation: An Ideal Form for Managing Complex Products and Systems? Research Policy, 29(7-8), 871-893. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(00)00110-4

Hofer, C. W. (1980). Turnaround Strategies. Journal of Business Strategy, 1(1), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb038886

Hosseinzadeh Shahri, M., & Nematollahi Sarvestani, M. (2020). Business model innovation as a turnaround strategy. Journal of Strategy and Management, 13(2), 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1108/jsma-08-2019-0154

Hussain, A., Akbar, M., Kaleem Khan, M., et al. (2020). When Does Earnings Management Matter? Evidence across the Corporate Life Cycle for Non-Financial Chinese Listed Companies. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 13(12), 313. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm13120313

Ikpaahindi, L. (1985). An Overview of Bibliometrics: Its measurements, laws and their applications. Libi: International Journal of Libraries and Information Services, 35, 163-77.

Jawahar, I. M., & McLaughlin, G. L. (2001). Toward a Descriptive Stakeholder Theory: An Organizational Life Cycle Approach. The Academy of Management Review, 26(3), 397. https://doi.org/10.2307/259184

Jiang, H., Xia, J., Devers, C. E., et al. (2021). Who Will Board a Sinking Ship? a Firm–Director Interdependence Perspective of Mutual Selection between Declining Firms and Director Candidates. Academy of Management Journal, 64(3), 901–925. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2018.0452

Kitchenham, B. A., Pearl Brereton, O., Owen, S. (2008). Length and Readability of Structured Software Engineering Abstracts. IET Software. 2(1): 37-45. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-sen:20070044

Lazonick, W., & O’Sullivan, M. (2000). Maximizing shareholder value: a new ideology for corporate governance. Economy and Society, 29(1), 13–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/030851400360541

Lee, S. Y., Oh, S. Y., Lee, S., et al. (2021). The Firm Life Cycle Forecasting Model Using Machine Learning Based on News Articles. International Journal of Networked and Distributed Computing, 9(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.2991/ijndc.k.201218.002

Levy, Y., & J. Ellis, T. (2006). Towards a Framework of Literature Review Process in Support of Information Systems Research. Proceedings of the 2006 InSITE Conference. https://doi.org/10.28945/2980

Li, D., Huang, M., Ren, S., et al. (2016). Environmental Legitimacy, Green Innovation, and Corporate Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from CDP China 100. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(4), 1089–1104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3187-6

Li, X., Ma, Q., Wang, C., et al. (2019). Which Kinds of Legitimacy is Important? Journal of Global Information Management, 27(4), 161–175. https://doi.org/10.4018/jgim.2019100108

Li, Y., & Zhang, X. T. (2018). How Does Firm Life Cycle Affect Board Structure? Evidence from China’s Listed Privately Owned Enterprises. Management and Organization Review, 14(2), 305–341. https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2017.55

Liang, X., Barker, V. L., & Schepker, D. J. (2018). Chief Executive Cognition, Turnaround Strategy and Turnaround Attempts of Declining Firms. Journal of Change Management, 18(4), 304–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2018.1464046

Lyden, F. J. (1975). Using Parsons’ Functional Analysis in the Study of Public Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 20(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392123

Mangoting, Y., & Onggara, C. T. (2019). The Firm Life Cycle Dynamics of Tax Avoidance. Proceedings of the International Conference on Tourism, Economics, Accounting, Management, and Social Science (TEAMS 2018). https://doi.org/10.2991/teams-18.2019.35

Massa, S., Annosi, M. C., Marchegiani, L., et al. (2023). Digital technologies and knowledge processes: new emerging strategies in international business. A systematic literature review. Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(11), 330–387. https://doi.org/10.1108/jkm-12-2022-0993

Miller, D., & Friesen, P. H. (1983). Successful and Unsuccessful Phases of the Corporate Life Cycle. Organization Studies, 4(4), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084068300400403

Miller, D., & Friesen, P. H. (1984). A Longitudinal Study of the Corporate Life Cycle. Management Science, 30(10), 1161–1183. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.30.10.1161

Mitsakis, F. V. (2014). Human Resource Management (HRM), Economic Crisis (EC) and Business Life Cycle (BLC): A Literature Review and Discussion. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 4(1), 189. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v4i1.5303

Naz, S., Li, C., Nisar, Q. A., et al. (2020). A Study in the Relationship Between Supportive Work Environment and Employee Retention: Role of Organizational Commitment and Person–Organization Fit as Mediators. SAGE Open, 10(2), 215824402092469. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020924694

Ngo, N. Q. N., Ly, U. N., Truong, Q. M., et al. (2022). The impact of firm life cycle on abnormal earnings in financial statement quality: evidence from Vietnam. Journal for Global Business Advancement, 15(6), 686–713. https://doi.org/10.1504/jgba.2022.132953

Ngo, N. Q. N., Nguyen, M. D., Do, U. N., et al. (2023). The relationship between firm financial distress, firm life cycle and firm cash holdings of non-financial listed Vietnamese companies. J. for International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, 15(1), 29–60. https://doi.org/10.1504/jibed.2023.131468

Oskouei, Z. H., & Sureshjani, Z. H. (2020). Studying the relationship between managerial ability and real earnings management in economic and financial crisis conditions. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 26(3), 4574–4589. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2031

Park, H. D., & Tzabbar, D. (2016). Venture Capital, CEOs’ Sources of Power, and Innovation Novelty at Different Life Stages of a New Venture. Organization Science, 27(2), 336–353. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1054

Pattiwael, Irawan JF; Dewi, Intanie V. 2018. The Adaptability of Company's Strategy in Managing Its Life Cycle Stages. Pertanika Journal of social sciences & humanities (JSSH). 26(T): 119-128.

Peng, M. W., Wang, D. Y. L., & Jiang, Y. (2008). An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies. Journal of International Business Studies, 39(5), 920–936. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400377

Peteraf, M. A. (1993). Intra‐industry structure and the response toward rivals. Managerial and Decision Economics, 14(6), 519–528. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4090140605

Quinn, R. E., & Cameron, K. (1983). Organizational Life Cycles and Shifting Criteria of Effectiveness: Some Preliminary Evidence. Management Science, 29(1), 33–51. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.29.1.33

Ramos‐Rodríguez, A., & Ruíz‐Navarro, J. (2004). Changes in the intellectual structure of strategic management research: a bibliometric study of the Strategic Management Journal, 1980–2000. Strategic Management Journal, 25(10), 981–1004. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.397

Rutherford, M. W., Mazzei, M. J., Oswald, S. L., et al. (2016). Does Establishing Sociopolitical Legitimacy Overcome Liabilities of Newness? A Longitudinal Analysis of Top Performers. Group & Organization Management, 43(6), 906–935. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601116676391

Sandino, T. (2007). Introducing the First Management Control Systems: Evidence from the Retail Sector. The Accounting Review, 82(1), 265–293. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr.2007.82.1.265

Savino, T., Messeni Petruzzelli, A., & Albino, V. (2015). Search and Recombination Process to Innovate: A Review of the Empirical Evidence and a Research Agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 54–75. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12081

Schoenberg, R., Collier, N., & Bowman, C. (2013). Strategies for business turnaround and recovery: a review and synthesis. European Business Review, 25(3), 243–262. https://doi.org/10.1108/09555341311314799

Shahzad, F., Lu, J., & Fareed, Z. (2019). Does firm life cycle impact corporate risk taking and performance? Journal of Multinational Financial Management, 51, 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mulfin.2019.05.001

Tangpong, C., Abebe, M., & Li, Z. (2015). A Temporal Approach to Retrenchment and Successful Turnaround in Declining Firms. Journal of Management Studies, 52(5), 647–677. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12131

Tariq, A., Badir, Y. F., Safdar, U., et al. (2019). Linking firms’ life cycle, capabilities, and green innovation. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 31(2), 284–305. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmtm-08-2018-0257

Tascón, M. T., Castro, P., & Ferreras, A. (2021). How does a firm’s life cycle influence the relationship between carbon performance and financial debt? Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(4), 1879–1897. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2722

Thu, L. B., & Khuong, N. V. (2023). How does the corporate life cycle influence Vietnamese firms corporate social responsibility? Cogent Economics & Finance, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2023.2186043

Tzabbar, D., & Margolis, J. (2017). Beyond the Startup Stage: The Founding Team’s Human Capital, New Venture’s Stage of Life, Founder–CEO Duality, and Breakthrough Innovation. Organization Science, 28(5), 857–872. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1152

Van Knippenberg, D., Nishii, L. H., & Dwertmann, D. J. G. (2020). Synergy from diversity: Managing team diversity to enhance performance. Behavioral Science & Policy, 6(1), 75–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/237946152000600108

Wang, Z., Akbar, M., & Akbar, A. (2020). The Interplay between Working Capital Management and a Firm’s Financial Performance across the Corporate Life Cycle. Sustainability, 12(4), 1661. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041661

Weitzel, W., & Jonsson, E. (1989). Decline in Organizations: A Literature Integration and Extension. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34(1), 91. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392987

Xia, L., Gao, S., Wei, J., et al. (2022). Government subsidy and corporate green innovation - Does board governance play a role? Energy Policy, 161, 112720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112720

Yazdanfar, D., & Öhman, P. (2014). Life cycle and performance among SMEs: Swedish empirical evidence. The Journal of Risk Finance, 15(5), 555–571. https://doi.org/10.1108/jrf-04-2014-0043

Yu, E. P., Guo, C. Q., & Luu, B. V. (2018). Environmental, social and governance transparency and firm value. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(7), 987–1004. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2047