Abstract
This paper addresses gaps in research on dynamic capabilities, specifically regarding the role given to individual managers within this context. I argue that there is a relationship between patterns through which dynamic capabilities develop and the role of managerial agency. I offer three contributions by means of this study. First, a management design is chosen that is positioned somewhere in between the path-dependent and path-creation design which allows an active conception of managerial agency accommodating elements of social and behaviour strategies, purpose, and creativity within the context of dynamic capabilities as an evolutionary phenomenon. Second, I follow a longitudinal, inductive study approach using a single case study strategy to elucidate the micro-level process elements inherent to the evolutionary nature of dynamic capabilities. Third, I adhere to a design science research approach to produce a model of dynamic capability that is relevant and prescriptive of nature to management practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Collis, D.J.: Research note: how valuable are organizational capabilities? Strategic Management Journal 15(S1), 143–152 (1994)
Teece, D.J., Pisano, G., Shuen, A.: Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal 18(7), 509–533 (1997)
Easterby-Smith, M., Lyles, M., Peteraf, M.: Dynamic Capabilities: Current Debates and Future Directions. British Journal of Management 8, S1–S8 (2009)
Johnson, G., Melin, L., Whittington, R.: Micro Strategy and Strategizing: Towards and Activity Based View. Journal of Management Studies 40, 3–20 (2003)
van Aken, J.E.: Management research as a design science: articulating the research products of mode 2 knowledge production in management. British Journal of Management 16, 19–36 (2005)
Nelson, R.R., Winter, S.G.: Evolutionary Theorizing in Economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives 16(2), 23–46 (2002)
Gavetti, G.: Cognition and Hierarchy: Rethinking the Microfoundations of Capabilities ’ Development. Organization Science 16(6), 599–617 (2005)
Salvato, C., Rerup, C.: Beyond Collective Entities: Multilevel Research on Organizational Routines and Capabilities. Journal of Management 37(2), 468–490 (2011)
Zahra, S.: Absorptive capacity: A review, reconceptualization, and extension. Academy of Management Review 27(2), 185–203 (2002)
Cohen, W., Levinthal, D.: Innovation and learning: The two faces of R&D. Economic Journal 99, 569–596 (1989)
Lane, P.J., Koka, B.R., Pathak, S.: The Reification of Absorptive Capacity: A Critical Review and Rejuvenation of the Construct. Academy of Management Review 31(4), 833–863 (2006)
Simon, H.A.: The Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge (1988)
See [4]
Weick, K.E.: Theory construction as disciplined imagination. Academy of Management Review 14, 516–531 (1989)
Hodgkinson, G.P., Herriot, P., Anderson, N.: ”Re-aligning the stakeholders in management research: lessons from industrial, work and organizational psychology”. British Journal of Management 48, S41–S48 (2001)
Romme, A.G.L.: Making a difference: organizations as design. Organization Science 14, 558–573 (2003)
Pandza, K., Thorpe, R.: Management as Design, but What Kind of Design? An Appraisal of the Design Science Analogy for Management. British Journal of Management 21, 171–186 (2010)
Garud, R., Kumaraswamy, A., Karnøe, P.: Path Dependence or Path Creation? Journal of Management Studies 47, 760–774 (2010)
Reed, M.I.: In praise of duality and dualism: rethinking agency and structure in organizational analysis. Organization Studies 18(1), 21 (1997)
Cyert, R.M., March, J.G.: A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1963)
Wang, C.L., Ahmed, P.K.: Dynamic capabilities: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews 9(1), 31–51 (2007)
Pandza, K., Thorpe, R.: Creative Search and Strategic Sense-making: Missing Dimensions in the Concept of Dynamic Capabilities. British Journal of Management 131, S118–S131 (2009)
See [10]
See [9]
Lewin, Y.A., Massini, S., Peeters, C.: Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines. Organization Science 22(1), 81–98 (2011)
Ibid
See [11]
Eisenhardt, K.M.: Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review 14, 532–550 (1989)
Siggelkow, N.: Persuasion with case studies. Academy of Management Journal 1, 20–24 (2007)
Ron, A.: Regression Analysis and the Philosophy of Social Science: A Critical Realist View. Journal of Critical Realism 1(1), 119–142 (2002)
See [20]
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Es-Sajjade, A., Pandza, K. (2012). Reconceptualising Dynamic Capabilities: A Design Science Study on the Role of Agency. In: Helfert, M., Donnellan, B. (eds) Practical Aspects of Design Science. EDSS 2011. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 286. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33681-2_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33681-2_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-33680-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-33681-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)