Dynamic capabilities: A morphological analysis framework and agenda for future research
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesize the diverse scholarly literature about dynamic capabilities (DCs) and develop a more integrated understanding to minimize the reported apparent vagueness, and apply morphological analysis (MA) to develop a multi-dimensional conceptual framework comprising five dimensions and 26 variants that enable a structured representation of the conceptual foundations of DCs.
Abstract: The growth, diversity and applications of research into dynamic capabilities (DCs) have resulted in the whole literature on DCs becoming a complex and disconnected body of knowledge. This has led to criticisms of the subject of DCs as being vague, tautological and without practical value. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize the diverse scholarly literature about DCs and develop a more integrated understanding to minimize the reported apparent vagueness.,In this paper, the authors review various relevant themes on DCs using a selection of 133 articles published in 22 recognized, top-tier management journals during the period between 1990 and 2016, with an aim to build a structured and integrated theory. For this, morphological analysis (MA), a systems-thinking technique, is applied.,MA is applied to develop a multi-dimensional conceptual framework comprising five dimensions and 26 variants that enable a structured representation of the conceptual foundations of DCs. Further, the authors identify 81 individual DCs noted by various scholars; elucidate assumptions and antecedents relevant to the DCs approach; structure the key characteristics; and expound the input factors, impacting factors, desired outcomes and assessment yardsticks.,This would be a useful resource for researchers working in the area of DCs to explore opportunities for future research.,The MA framework helps managers to look at DCs more holistically, and hence would help them in developing, managing and retaining DCs in organizations.,This study is the original work contributed by the authors and has no specific organizational reference. This research implies new directions to look beyond individual DCs in firms toward a more integrated theory building.
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01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: In this article, the authors empirically measure four dynamic capabilities and find that the nature and effect of resources employed in the development of these capabilities vary greatly, with positive effects stemming from access to particular resources and unexpected negative effects also appearing.
Abstract: Despite the numerous observations that dynamic capabilities lie at the source of competitive advantage, we still have limited knowledge as to how access to firm-based resources and changes to these affect the development of dynamic capabilities. In this paper, we examine founder human capital, access to employee human capital, access to technological expertise, access to other specific expertise, and access to two types of tangible resources in a sample of new firms in Sweden. We empirically measure four dynamic capabilities and find that the nature and effect of resources employed in the development of these capabilities vary greatly. For the most part, there are positive effects stemming from access to particular resources. However, for some resources, such as access to employee human capital and access to financial capital, unexpected negative effects also appear. This study therefore provides statistical evidence as to the varying role of resources in capability development. Importantly, we also find that changes in resource bases have more influential roles in the development of dynamic capabilities than the resource stock variables that were measured at an earlier stage of firm development. This provides empirical support for the notion of treating the firm as a dynamic flow of resources as opposed to a static stock. This finding also highlights the importance of longitudinal designs in studies of dynamic capability development. Further recommendations for future empirical studies of dynamic capabilities are presented.
303 citations
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TL;DR: It is argued that experience codification gives rise to inertial forces that hamper the customization of routines to any given acquisition, and that successful acquirers develop higher-order routines that prevent the generalization of inapplicable ('zero-order') codified routines.
Abstract: Building on the codification and dynamic capabilities literatures, we pursue deeper insight into the underlying mechanisms of deliberate learning in the context of postacquisition integration. We argue that experience codification gives rise to inertial forces that hamper the customization of routines to any given acquisition. We theorize, therefore, that successful acquirers develop higher-order routines-as manifested in two complementary sets of concrete organizational practices-that prevent the generalization of inapplicable ('zero-order') codified routines. After drawing on in-depth qualitative data to help build our theoretical argument, we test it formally with unique survey data on 85 active acquirers.
160 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend the dynamic capability view and research on organizational path dependence by arguing that path dependence can be a property of capabilities when a contingently-triggered capability path is subject to self-reinforcement (i.e., a set of positive and negative mechanisms that increases the attractiveness of a path relative to others).
Abstract: This paper extends the dynamic capability view and research on organizational path dependence by arguing that path dependence can be a property of capabilities when a contingently-triggered capability path is subject to self-reinforcement (i.e. a set of positive and negative mechanisms that increases the attractiveness of a path relative to others). The paper introduces an evolutionary perspective, which specifies the underlying selection mechanisms of the property of path dependence in internal and external firm environments. This theorization sheds new light on three paradoxes that currently blur the theoretical contribution of path dependence to research at the managerial, organizational, and industry levels: (1) the problematic coexistence of path irreversibility and managerial intentionality; (2) the ambivalent strategic value of lock-in with regard to competitive advantage; and (3) the relative homogeneity in observed dynamic capabilities, despite their (possible) path dependence that should lead to a wider variety of outcomes owing to the presence of contingency. We highlight the contributions of this perspective to strategic management research and evolutionary theories.
138 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors of the two seminal papers represent not only different but contradictory understandings of the construct's core elements, and they explore the reasons for this, using author cocitation analysis to inform their analysis.
Abstract: A critical issue has been absent from the conversation on dynamic capabilities: the two seminal papers represent not only different but contradictory understandings of the construct's core elements Here, we explore the reasons for this, using author cocitation analysis to inform our analysis Our findings suggest that the field is being socially constructed on the basis of two separate domains of knowledge and that underlying structural impediments have impeded dialog across the domains In light of this evidence, then, we take up the challenge to find a solution to this dilemma By employing a contingency-based approach, we show that there are ways to unify the field that rely, paradoxically, on integrating the two contradictory views, while still preserving the assumptions that led to their differences
94 citations
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the effects of green human resource practices and green innovation culture on firm green performance and found that green innovation which includes green product innovation culture and green process innovation culture enhances the firm's green performance.
67 citations
References
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TL;DR: There is no one best way to learn, but that different approaches may be required in different knowledge environments, as well as suggesting that where underlying scientific knowledge is sufficiently strong, effective learning may take place outside the final use environment in laboratories.
Abstract: This paper uses data on 23 process development projects in pharmaceuticals to explore the broader issue of how organizations create, implement, and replicate new routines A framework is presented which links approaches to experimentation and the structure of underlying knowledge Although the concept of learning-by-doing is well accepted in the literature, the framework here suggests that where underlying scientific knowledge is sufficiently strong, effective learning may take place outside the final use environment in laboratories (ie, ‘learning-before-doing’) This proposition is tested by comparing how an emphasis on laboratory experimentation impacts process development lead times in two different technological environments: traditional chemical-based pharmaceuticals and new biotechnology-based pharmaceuticals The data indicate that in chemical-based pharmaceuticals—an environment characterized by deep theoretical and practical knowledge of the process technology—more emphasis on laboratory experimentation (learning-before-doing) is associated with more rapid development In contrast, in biotechnology-based pharmaceuticals—an environment in which process technology is often characterized as being more of an ‘art’ than a science—a greater emphasis on laboratory experimentation does not seem to shorten process development lead times These results suggest that there is no one best way to learn, but that different approaches may be required in different knowledge environments
810 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a nonlinear, inverse U-shaped moderation is proposed, implying that the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage is strongest under intermediate levels of dynamism but comparatively weaker when dynamism is low or high.
Abstract: This article suggests that dynamic capabilities can give the firm competitive advantage, but this effect is contingent on the level of dynamism of the firm's external environment. A nonlinear, inverse U-shaped moderation is proposed, implying that the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage is strongest under intermediate levels of dynamism but comparatively weaker when dynamism is low or high. This proposition is tested using data on alliance management capability and new product development capability, two specific dynamic capabilities widely recognized in prior research. Results based on longitudinal key informant data from 279 firms support the account that these dynamic capabilities are more strongly associated with competitive advantage in moderately dynamic than in stable or highly dynamic environments.
760 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual model that explains how the coevolution of organizational knowledge, capabilities, and products over long time spans can result in competitive advantage through innovation and strategic linkage of products at a point in time and over time.
Abstract: This article provides a conceptual model that explains how the coevolution of organizational knowledge, capabilities, and products over long time spans can result in competitive advantage through innovation and strategic linkage of products at a point in time and over time. At the heart of the model are sequences of products within and across markets, supported by an underlying system of knowledge and systems of learning. This dynamic model brings the importance of the products themselves, supported by vertical chains of activities, into the analysis of resource and knowledge-based competitive advantage. The model also suggests that we can think about the evolution of firms, and by implication the evolution of industries, not only in terms of knowledge and capabilities, but also in terms of vertical chains and products. Short company histories illustrate the workings of the model. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
757 citations
TL;DR: Based on an intensive and inductive study of a Fortune 100 corporation, the authors describes how dynamic capabilities that reconfigure division resources may enable architectural innovation, that is, architectural innovation.
Abstract: Based on an intensive and inductive study of a Fortune 100 corporation, this article describes how dynamic capabilities that reconfigure division resources—that is, architectural innovation—may ope...
739 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that there are three levels of dynamic capabilities which are related to managers' perceptions of environmental dynamism, and that regenerative dynamic capabilities may either come from inside the firm or enter the firm from outside, via changes in leadership or the intervention of external change agents.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to extend the concept of dynamic capabilities. Building on prior research, we suggest that there are three levels of dynamic capabilities which are related to managers' perceptions of environmental dynamism. At the first level we find incremental dynamic capabilities: those capabilities concerned with the continuous improvement of the firm's resource base. At the second level are renewing dynamic capabilities, those that refresh, adapt and augment the resource base. These two levels are usually conceived as one and represent what the literature refers to as dynamic capabilities. At the third level are regenerative dynamic capabilities, which impact, not on the firm's resource base, but on its current set of dynamic capabilities, i.e. these change the way the firm changes its resource base. We explore the three levels using illustrative examples and conclude that regenerative dynamic capabilities may either come from inside the firm or enter the firm from outside, via changes in leadership or the intervention of external change agents.
735 citations