Abstract: Capabilities-based strategies have informed strategic management scholarship during the past two decades. It is less unclear, however, how firm develop capabilities when faced with a complex and uncertain business environment characterized by shifting field and firm boundaries. In this paper we investigate capability development within MNCs and the interactions between strategy and the internal and external environments over time. We explicitly integrate the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) and the evolutionary perspective and argue that the integration of these two perspectives enables a better access to the multiple mechanisms by which firms develop capabilities. We put forward three longitudinal case studies that demonstrate different capability logics as the firms adapt to and aim at influencing changes in the globalizing business environment of complexity and uncertainty.

Abstract: It’s been just over two decades since the emergence of the dynamic capabilities perspective. Poised to augment the resource based view (RBV), the framework has been credited by many as providing a theoretical leap towards answering critical questions on how organizations can continue to adapt and reconfigure their resource base whilst simultaneously sensing and seizing new opportunities for growth. Our paper addresses theory to date, its shortcomings and raises some questions on the future applicability of this framework for practice. We utilise a multiple case study within Irelands ICT sector to examine the antecedents of capability development and rejuvenation before suggesting some practical benefits associated with formal capability planning and the adoption of capability roadmaps to shape new boundaries and to drive strategy.

Abstract: How does the erosion of organizational capabilities contribute to diverse capability configurations? In this inductive study we use three pairs of polar cases to identify endogenous mechanisms of capability development and erosion. Early results suggest that building motivation to adopt new processes, communication among stakeholders, and quality of fit between new processes and internal and external requirements interact in reinforcing feedback loops that can lead otherwise similar firms down distinct capability pathways. We find that early erosion of capabilities, when they are not fully institutionalized, is a major contributor to capability differences across organizations. Additional analysis using a simulation model will explore the nonlinear mechanisms of action through which these feedback loops operate and their quantitative outcomes under various scenarios.

Abstract: Resource allocation and firm strategy go hand in hand. Prior literature on resource allocation has made clear that the process through which firms allocate resources has an important effect on the resulting allocations, and thereby on the strategy of the firm. However, a number of issues remain underexplored. In this research, we examine two of these issues and argue that the types and amounts of resources allocated depend in part on the characteristics of the resources subject to allocation, together with firm capabilities for resource allocation. These factors in turn affect, and are affected by, firm strategy.