Abstract
Within this Chapter, the author provides a detailed discussion on how the insights gained from the case further our understanding of the dynamic capability concept with regard to the capability rigidity paradox. Similar to the separation between micro,- meso-, and macro-level constructs of the dynamic capability concept, the author discusses the contributions made by this study to each construct. In particular, the author describes how this study is among the first to provide an empirical understanding of meso-level dynamic capabilities and how they, within a holistic understanding of the dynamic capability concept, can be one attempt to explain dynamic capabilities without falling prey to the capability rigidity paradox.
“This brief survey is amply sufficient to prove that the duty of man is the same in respect to his own nature as in respect to the nature of all other things, namely not to follow but to amend it.”
– John Stuart Mill (“Nature” in Three essays on religion, 1874)
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- 1.
Interestingly, the starting point of the empirical study in 1990 coincides not only with the beginning of research on dynamic capabilities (Teece, Pisano, and Shuen, 1990) it also corresponds with the developing understanding of being situated in a VUCA world in the U.S. military in the early 1990s. Although we should not confuse correlation with causality, this seems like a neat coincidence creating a common theme underlying this dissertation.
- 2.
In the military context such a narrative is sometimes advanced in form of the “strategic sergeant” or the even the “strategic corporal”. This metaphor, however, has a negative connotation, as the strategic sergeant is a person who due to some form of misconduct (often in mission areas) provokes consequences for the entire organization (mostly in the form of media attention and substantial public criticism of the military). The pictures of/ with human skeletons German soldiers took in Afghanistan are such an example.
- 3.
This might also be the reason, why we, until today, have not seen any real empirical success observing dynamic capabilities in terms of observing meta-routines. It might also be the explanation for the fact that most contributions to the field of dynamic capabilities are conceptional.
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Andresen, F. (2021). Discussion. In: Exploring Meso-Level Dynamic Capabilities to Address the Capability Rigidity Paradox. Forschungs-/Entwicklungs-/Innovations-Management. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32006-5_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32006-5_5
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