David J. Teece

Bio: David J. Teece is an academic researcher from University of California, Berkeley. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dynamic capabilities & Multinational corporation. The author has an hindex of 89, co-authored 312 publications receiving 93195 citations. Previous affiliations of David J. Teece include Yale University & University of Michigan.

The Dynamic Capabilities of Meta‐Multinationals

Abstract: Plain language summary Today's multinational enterprises (MNEs) exhibit characteristics that have not been discussed very much in previous studies They are stateless in the sense that operations are spread across nations, but also maintain some central authority We call such MNEs ‘meta-MNEs’ and analyze them using the Dynamic Capabilities framework, a key framework in strategic management We find that the capability of MNEs to shape and adapt to changing environments is necessary for the emergence and success of the meta-MNE We also discuss prospects for meta-MNEs in the context of China Technical summary Established theories of the multinational enterprise (MNE) were created for a different, less globally competitive world Today's MNEs are moving toward the stateless ideal type known as a metanational Because considerable central authority remains, we call the emerging model the meta-MNE and use the Dynamic Capabilities framework to analyze this phenomenon Strong dynamic capabilities, including asset orchestration, are necessary both for the very existence of the meta-MNE and for sustaining its competitive advantage We draw contrasts between the meta-MNE and the traditional, home-centric MNE We consider the ways in which nations still matter and the policy implications of the emergence of the meta-MNE We also discuss recent developments in China that have greatly shaped the environment facing existing and future meta-MNEs Copyright © 2016 Strategic Management Society

Fundamental Issues in Strategy: Time to Reassess?

Abstract: The field of strategic management has developed with an implicit assumption that market economies are structurally more or less similar. In the past 30 years, though, the global economy has evolved. The Soviet Union collapsed, market-based orthodoxy spread, and now China is ascendant. These developments require changing our mental models from the Cold War era, in which two economic blocs were quite distinct, to a bifurcated global economy of two engaged but incompatible systems: one side favoring transparency and the rule of law and the other side favoring opaqueness and strategic direction of the economy by government. China's government uses a wide range of policies to support the development of domestic firms while hindering the activities of competitors from abroad and, directly or indirectly, misappropriating their technology when they can do so, which is often. To cope with this situation — as well as with political uncertainty elsewhere in the world — firms need to develop strong dynamic capabilities for formulating viable strategies to create and capture value under potentially adverse and volatile conditions, and to shape the business environment in more favorable ways through market and non-market activity.

Mitigating Procurement Hazards in the Context of Innovation

Abstract: This paper extends the transaction cost economics framework to examine the contractual hazards that arise in the course of technological innovation. We identify three main strategic hazards related to future technological opportunities that may develop in business transactions: loss of technological pacing possibilities on the technological frontier, loss of technological control at or behind the frontier, and design omissions. In examining these hazards we focus on the increasingly common phenomenon of vertically integrated firms supplying downstream competitors. We then analyze how constellations of safeguards, particularly relational safeguards, can augment transaction-specific safeguards in many instances to ensure high-powered incentives are maintained. We also consider under what conditions downstream divestiture is a desirable economizing option. Supportive illustrations are drawn from the desktop laser printer and telecommunications industries.

The role of emergence in dynamic capabilities: a restatement of the framework and some possibilities for future research

Abstract: Author(s): Kay, NM; Leih, S; Teece, DJ | Abstract: The field of dynamic capabilities has been mischaracterized by derivative interpretations of the original concept, with variation in terms, core assumptions, and methodologies. However, in its original formulation, dynamic capabilities were a framework rooted in organizational economics. We take the original formulation as a starting point to explore the relevance of the concept of emergence to the framework today. This perspective leads to a reinterpretation of the role of complementarities, cospecialization, rules, coevolution, and the ecosystem in the dynamic capabilities framework. The article concludes with directions for research that this new frame of reference helps identify.

Dynamic capabilities and strategic management

Abstract: The dynamic capabilities framework analyzes the sources and methods of wealth creation and capture by private enterprise firms operating in environments of rapid technological change. The competitive advantage of firms is seen as resting on distinctive processes (ways of coordinating and combining), shaped by the firm's (specific) asset positions (such as the firm's portfolio of difftcult-to- trade knowledge assets and complementary assets), and the evolution path(s) it has aflopted or inherited. The importance of path dependencies is amplified where conditions of increasing retums exist. Whether and how a firm's competitive advantage is eroded depends on the stability of market demand, and the ease of replicability (expanding intemally) and imitatability (replication by competitors). If correct, the framework suggests that private wealth creation in regimes of rapid technological change depends in large measure on honing intemal technological, organizational, and managerial processes inside the firm. In short, identifying new opportunities and organizing effectively and efficiently to embrace them are generally more fundamental to private wealth creation than is strategizing, if by strategizing one means engaging in business conduct that keeps competitors off balance, raises rival's costs, and excludes new entrants. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dynamic capabilities, what are they?

Abstract: This paper focuses on dynamic capabilities and, more generally, the resource-based view of the firm. We argue that dynamic capabilities are a set of specific and identifiable processes such as product development, strategic decision making, and alliancing. They are neither vague nor tautological. Although dynamic capabilities are idiosyncratic in their details and path dependent in their emergence, they have significant commonalities across firms (popularly termed ‘best practice’). This suggests that they are more homogeneous, fungible, equifinal, and substitutable than is usually assumed. In moderately dynamic markets, dynamic capabilities resemble the traditional conception of routines. They are detailed, analytic, stable processes with predictable outcomes. In contrast, in high-velocity markets, they are simple, highly experiential and fragile processes with unpredictable outcomes. Finally, well-known learning mechanisms guide the evolution of dynamic capabilities. In moderately dynamic markets, the evolutionary emphasis is on variation. In high-velocity markets, it is on selection. At the level of RBV, we conclude that traditional RBV misidentifies the locus of long-term competitive advantage in dynamic markets, overemphasizes the strategic logic of leverage, and reaches a boundary condition in high-velocity markets. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing

Abstract: Marketing inherited a model of exchange from economics, which had a dominant logic based on the exchange of “goods,” which usually are manufactured output The dominant logic focused on tangible resources, embedded value, and transactions Over the past several decades, new perspectives have emerged that have a revised logic focused on intangible resources, the cocreation of value, and relationships The authors believe that the new perspectives are converging to form a new dominant logic for marketing, one in which service provision rather than goods is fundamental to economic exchange The authors explore this evolving logic and the corresponding shift in perspective for marketing scholars, marketing practitioners, and marketing educators

Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm

Abstract: Given assumptions about the characteristics of knowledge and the knowledge requirements of production, the firm is conceptualized as an institution for integrating knowledge. The primary contribution of the paper is in exploring the coordination mechanisms through which firms integrate the specialist knowledge of their members. In contrast to earlier literature, knowledge is viewed as residing within the individual, and the primary role of the organization is knowledge application rather than knowledge creation. The resulting theory has implications for the basis of organizational capability, the principles of organization design (in particular, the analysis of hierarchy and the distribution of decision-making authority), and the determinants of the horizontal and vertical boundaries of the firm. More generally, the knowledge-based approach sheds new light upon current organizational innovations and trends and has far-reaching implications for management practice.

The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage

Abstract: In this article we offer a view that suggests that a firm's critical resources may span firm boundaries and may be embedded in interfirm resources and routines. We argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: (1) relation-specific assets, (2) knowledge-sharing routines, (3) complementary resources/capabilities, and (4) effective governance. We examine each of these potential sources of rent in detail, identifying key subprocesses, and also discuss the isolating mechanisms that serve to preserve relational rents. Finally, we discuss how the relational view may offer normative prescriptions for firm-level strategies that contradict the prescriptions offered by those with a resource-based view or industry structure view.