A recipe for USO success? Unravelling the micro-foundations of dynamic capability building to overcome critical junctures

2022 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 121257
Author(s):  
Lisa Messina ◽  
Kristel Miller ◽  
Brendan Galbraith ◽  
Nola Hewitt-Dundas
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Capability Building ◽  
Micro Foundations

Exploring organizational problem-solving modes: a dynamic capabilities approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matin Mohaghegh ◽  
Andreas Größler
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Fundamental Solutions ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Improvement Programs ◽  
Micro Foundations

PurposeAdopting the dynamic capability perspective, this study aims at exploring which problem-solving capabilities result in fundamental solutions with a potentially low likelihood for problems to recur. This can also shed light on why, despite many attempts, process improvement programs often fail to produce such long-term solutions.Design/methodology/approachA case study is carried out to inductively describe and classify problem-solving in companies and to indicate why problem-solving efforts are typically bounded to short-term solutions. The empirical findings are triangulated with findings from the extant literature.FindingsFirst, the authors propose three problem-solving modes with different characteristics and potential impacts on operational performance: intuitive problem-solving, semi-structured problem-solving and systematic problem-solving. Second, by emphasizing dynamic capabilities' micro-foundations and with the focus on learning mechanisms, the authors show that, among these modes, only systematic problem-solving can serve as a dynamic capability with fundamental solutions. Third, based on insights from the case study, the authors address behavioral and organizational impediments that curb dynamic capabilities and limit systematic problem-solving adoption.Originality/valueThis study is an empirically informed attempt to understand systematic problem-solving as a dynamic capability. The authors uncover the micro-foundations and the learning mechanisms through which systematic problem-solving becomes a dynamic capability. By highlighting problem-solving orientation as a hardly investigated dimension of improvement programs, the authors show that a mixture of a static problem-solving approach and a set of impediments at both individual and organizational levels is the major reason of failures of improvement programs over time.

scholarly journals Assessing dynamic capabilities: Mintzberg’s schools of thought

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Arndt
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Management ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Central Source ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Attention Process ◽  
Micro Foundations

A growing body of research in strategic management has focused on dynamic capabilities as a central source of firms' competitive advantage. The theoretical roots of dynamic capabilities can be found in many of the schools of thought identified by Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel (1998). In this paper, we identify three aspects of dynamic capabilities that, we believe, require more detailed attention: Process, cognitive and decision-based micro-foundations, and human agency. We explore each of these areas from an evolutionary perspective to emphasize the fact that dynamic capability is essentially an evolutionary construct. By highlighting the evolutionary implications of these areas, we add important detail to the way “evolution” has been used in this field of research.

Sensing opportunities in dynamic markets: how to encourage all employees to take part

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-24
Author(s):  
Klavdia Markelova Evans ◽  
Ashley Salaiz
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dynamic Markets ◽  
Simple Rules ◽  
Rules Of Thumb ◽  
Micro Foundations ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Conceptual Work

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how companies can retain their ability to recognize, seize and maintain opportunities. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual work is built on existing research about an organization’s dynamic capabilities and literature on judgment under uncertainty. Findings This study offers specific ways in which companies can develop the dynamic capability of identifying new opportunities and, most importantly, how firms can maintain this rare dynamic capability for significant periods, so that they can harvest the benefits offered by owning this capability. Practical implications This study’s specific insights equip practitioners with turn-key information on how to build or maintain a firm’s unique ability to sense and capture an opportunity via the enhancement of the firm’s portfolio of simple rules. Originality/value This research introduces a novel idea about micro-foundations of a firm’s dynamic capabilities and theoretically argues that a favorable organizational culture and individuals’ rules of thumb can form a company’s dynamic ability to sense and seize an opportunity in high-velocity markets.

Ambidextrous supply chain as a dynamic capability: building a resilient supply chain

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang M Lee ◽  
Jin Sung Rha
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Capability Building ◽  
Research Questions

Purpose – Developing ambidexterity as a dynamic capability is important for firms to sustain their competitive advantage. Moreover, this capability allows firms to build the resiliency to mitigate enterprise risks. The purpose of this paper is to apply two main theoretical frames from the strategy literature, dynamic capabilities, and organizational ambidexterity, to supply chain management (SCM) to examine mitigation strategies for supply chain (SC) disruptions. The authors empirically investigated how the firm’s SC ambidexterity is developed through a dynamic capability-building process and how this, in turn, can mitigate the negative impact of SC disruptions and improve business performance. Design/methodology/approach – This study conducted a field survey to answer the research questions as there exists no archival database with detailed information on ambidextrous SC strategies and dynamic capability. A total of 316 usable responses were received from managers working in the SC area. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were run on SPSS (version 16.0) and AMOS (version 18.0) to test the hypotheses to answer research questions. Findings – Overall, the results of the study confirmed that a dynamic SC capability-building process is an antecedent of SC ambidexterity, and that SC ambidexterity is important to firms as it mitigate the negative impact of SC disruptions and enhance business performance. To take advantage of an ambidextrous SC, through minimizing the negative impact of SC disruptions and maximizing firm performance, firms should continually search for creative ways to satisfy new market needs and adapt to the fast changing business environment. Originality/value – This study applied a dynamic capability-building process and ambidexterity to SCM. From the resilient SC perspective, the study found that the ability to effectively utilize existing resources and create novel strategies for problem solving plays a critical role in addressing SC disruptions.

scholarly journals Perceiving ‘capability’ within dynamic capabilities: The role of owner-manager self-efficacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 883-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Kevill ◽  
Kiran Trehan ◽  
Mark Easterby-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Micro Foundations ◽  
Micro Enterprises

This article combines two popular, yet separate concepts: dynamic capabilities and self-efficacy. Both are concerned with ability/capability and offer potentially valuable synergies. As such, our in-depth qualitative study based in three micro-enterprises in the United Kingdom investigates, ‘what role(s) may owner-manager perceived self-efficacy play as a micro-foundation of dynamic capabilities in micro-enterprises?’ Our findings show that perceived self-efficacy can influence dynamic capability enactment in multifaceted ways and even suggest that in some cases, perceived self-efficacy is a crucial component of dynamic capabilities, without which there may be no such capability. These insights help open up the black box of dynamic capabilities by contributing important knowledge to the growing body of research into the micro-foundations of such capabilities. Furthermore, our study illuminates the importance of idiosyncratic micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities in micro-enterprises and expands extant knowledge of the potential effects of self-efficacy in the small business and entrepreneurship domain.

scholarly journals DYNAMIC CAPABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF SMES IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA: THE NEXUS

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 349-358
Author(s):  
Patrick Okeke ◽  
Joshua Owulo Odey ◽  
Grace Akaegbobi
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Dynamic Capability ◽  
Adaptive Capabilities ◽  
Innovative Capability ◽  
Micro Foundations

Dynamic capability (DC) is an ability that has helped big corporations navigate successfully through the ever-changing and competitive business environment. However, SMEs in the southeast of Nigeria seem not to have fully maximized the opportunities embedded in these practices, hence, the need to examine the dynamic capabilities SMEs in Southeast Nigeria need, to stay relevant and ahead of competitors. This study, therefore, looked at the concept of DC and those capabilities that could help SMEs stay afloat in the ever-changing business environment. The capabilities looked at include sensing, absorptive and adaptive capabilities. Others are innovative networking and integrative capabilities. The study further examined the micro-foundations of DC and the composition of SMEs in South East, Nigeria. To embellish the work, Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT) was used to anchor the work. Some studies were reviewed empirically. The study concluded that DC is one of the surest ways to ensure that SMEs compete favourably in the ever dynamic marketplace. Hence, it was recommended among other things that SMEs need not to be operating in isolation of what is happening in the global market, as what happens outside has an implication on what happens inside the organization, and as such, need to be alert through the application of DC principles.  Keywords: Dynamic Capability, Sustainability, SMEs, South-East, Absorptive, Adaptive and Innovative Capability.

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