Abstract: Through the case study of MSI, a French SME involved in the mechanical industry, our objective is to offer a basis for discussion so as to show how pre-existing knowledge turns into specific dynamic capabilities leading to coopetition. In this respect, we consider knowledge to be a critical resource of dynamic capabilities. Thus, we combine both the inter-firm view offered by the coopetition analysis and the dynamic capabilities approach. Drawing from two coopetitive moves of MSI, we offer a definition and retrace the origins of such dynamic coopetitive capabilities. We highlight the role of knowledge in building this specific dynamic capability, at different levels in the organization (individual as well as organizational).

Abstract: Organizations need heterogeneously shaped dynamic capabilities to perform within differently dynamic markets. Additionally, organizations have to balance contradicting learning modes in order to evolve. As a consequence, dynamic capabilities have to fulfill various functions within firms. In this conceptual paper, we build a theoretical framework to advance the understanding of the nature of dynamic capabilities under various conditions. We show how different market dynamics and learning modes affect the dynamic capabilities’ characteristics. Moreover, we distinguish between heterogeneous first-order dynamic capabilities (for innovation and for replication) that point towards contradicting developmental directions. We argue that second-order dynamic capabilities are needed to balance those heterogeneous first-order dynamic capabilities and to facilitate organizational ambidexterity.

Abstract: The dynamic capabilities approach addresses the firm’s ability to innovate and to reconfigure in order to cope with a dynamic environment. In the paper, we build on the Eisenhardt/Martin (2000)-framework on the causal relationship between market environment and dynamic capabilities. Our quantitative analysis shows a positive correlation between environmental dynamism and the importance of dynamic capabilities. In particular, searching, learning and flexibility increase by a rise of environmental dynamism. However, hostility in the firm’s environment has only an impact on searching. Finally, process efficiency is not dependent on dynamism or hostility. Efficiency oriented dynamic capabilities are important both in high-velocity and in moderately dynamic markets.

Abstract: Much of the work on the resource-based view (RBV) has focused on characteristics of resources and capabilities that can lead to performance differences and competitive advantage, but more recently, attention has turned to the dynamics of the RBV and the evolution of capabilities. In this paper, we examine the evolution of a key technological capability, the use of lithography for the design and manufacture of integrated circuits, in a sample of semiconductor firms. Specifically, we draw on the capability lifecycle framework to analyze factors that determine firms’ responses to external technological change and the corresponding internal changes to the trajectories of their capability lifecycles.

Abstract: This paper reports on a systematic assessment of the dynamic capabilities literature. We perform two types of analysis. First, we make comparisons across empirical papers that link dynamic capabilities to firm performance. We find that there is little consensus about either the dependent variables or the independent variables in these studies. Second, we compare the state of the empirical research with key conceptual papers on the nature of dynamic capabilities. We discuss the state of dynamic capabilities research and offer suggestions for an approach to studying dynamic capabilities that is more explicitly evolutionary in nature and that takes survival and growth as its dependent variables.

Abstract: Despite the increasing importance of dynamic capabilities, there still exists certain confusion about their definition, identification in the real world, and their cause-effect relationship with firm’s performance. The quality aspect of dynamic capabilities as an impacting factor for the investigation of dynamic capabilities is usually either neglected or implicitly accepted. Conducting four case studies of German manufacturing subsidiaries in China, we identify the top management decision process as the most impacting dynamic capability. Based on a logical process model of dynamic capabilities, we elaborate characteristics which impact the outcome of this dynamic capability and, therefore, determine its quality. Linking the elements of the logical process model to the firm’s corporate governance, we deliver a first framework for the investigation of quality aspects of dynamic capabilities.