Academic literature on the topic 'Micro-level dynamic capabilities'

Purpose This paper aims to add to the understanding of dynamic capabilities (DC) as sources of competitive advantage of successful Asian-Pacific shipping companies by demonstrating that DC development unfolds in three steps, from recognition that the environment has changed, to the decision to deploy DC, to assets re-orchestration. Design/methodology/approach Based on an approach involving two illustrative case studies, the author analyzed DC development of Chinese and Singaporean-based shipping groups in depth. The analysis was centered on DC by investigating how strategic decision-making on vertical integration, diversification and implementation of new technologies can be underpinned by developing DC to create sustained advantages. Findings The author found that strategic components of DC are rooted in strategic decision-making to initiate changes on the corporate and even on an operational level. Research limitations/implications While capability development is thoroughly studied, capability erosion has not been integrated into the research. The exploration of human capital as a firm’s idiosyncratic resource in assets orchestration capabilities can be future work. Practical implications The proposed research contributes to the debate on micro foundations of DC and provides insights for practitioners striving for retaining competitive advantages. Social implications Regarding implications for the society, the research shows how the DC serve to generate competitive advantages. The author has presented a logical structure of the competitive advantage paradigm as a product of DC and business models that can be useful to decision makers. Originality/value The research offers insights into the composition of micro foundations of DC and demonstrates that DC can be unbounded into well-known and concrete strategic and operational management activities.

Purpose/ Research question. A promising way to understand the development of the dynamic capabilities and the knowing process is to build a bridge between the Institutional Theory and the Resource-Based Theory (RBT). Although being needed, this approach is missing in the extant literature. So we have a research question: It possible to construct a bridge between two dimensions basing on two theoretical bodies (Institutional Theory and RBT) using an “inverted binocular” to look at knowing process enacted in a process of organizational learning, for formation of competences and dynamic capabilities? Design/Method/Approach. This paper analyses two different theoretical frameworks in a theoretic way and proposes an interface between those. Findings. The exploration and explication of micro-institutional processes (organizational or individual) can be connected to the macro level (societal or field level) by combining Institutional Theory with Resource Based Theory (RBT) in a multiparadigmatic view between visions and levels (cross-level). Theoretical implications. The bridge between these two theories would enable to strengthen the comprehension of the organizational changes in the various levels of analysis, considering their mutual dependence, and the knowing process and dynamic capabilities. Originality/Value. One of the differentials of this paper is the attention given to knowledge as the main piece for the construction of the bridge between these theories. Research limitations/Future research. An interface between the RBT and Institutional theory is necessary for a further development and understanding of concepts such as dynamic capabilities. Paper type – conceptual.

Purpose This paper aims to define and measure the environmental capabilities that are applied when the circular economy (CE) is introduced in businesses. Founded on the dynamic capabilities theoretical approach, the study analyzes different environmental competences that firms apply during this process. Environmental management systems, corporate social responsibility, reporting and accountability and other environmental accounting practices are studied in the same analytical framework used to study the environmental capabilities that influence the circular scope (CS) of firms. This study contributes to bridging the gap between academic research focused on environmental accounting and that investigating the introduction of the CE in businesses. Design/methodology/approach The results were obtained by using partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze the relationship between environmental capabilities for the CE and the CS achieved by a sample of Spanish firms with more than 50 employees that expressed interest in the CE, eco-design, eco-innovation and other environmental issues. Findings Based on an analysis using the dynamic capabilities theoretical approach, the results suggest a positive relationship between the CS of firms, their environmental accounting practices and their level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and accountability. Stakeholders’ pressure – which has a mediating effect on the CS of firms – is also analyzed, adding new insights to recent studies of this topic at the micro-level. The authors also explore whether the CS of businesses, which is related to the degree of their development of capabilities, influences environmental and financial performance. Practical implications The new insights obtained in this study can help overcome the limitations of conventional accounting approaches and incorporates a much broader scale of environmental information that can be applied to CE practices. These results also offer insights to practitioners regarding the internal measurement processes related to the CE and regarding CSR in particular for small and medium enterprises, because these metrics can be partially applied depending on the practices introduced in each firm. For policymakers, a better understanding of the CE’s introduction into businesses will contribute to the design of policies that can enhance its deployment, for example, by providing tools that set up regional priorities depending on the CE-related practices adopted by the firms located in the territory. Social implications A CE involves the transformation of a linear economic model into a circular one to reduce dependence on raw materials and energy and to reduce the environmental impact of production and consumption. Understanding how to manage the specific competences that integrate capabilities applied to the CE will allow firms to improve their social and environmental reporting. In addition, other social implications of this study relate to improving relationships with consumers and stakeholders and to the practice of social corporate sustainability. Originality/value This study goes beyond previous research on the CE to extend the authors’ knowledge about its adoption at the micro-level by taking a transversal approach, as its subject spans the fields of environmental accounting and the CE while addressing both in a framework of analysis. The analysis of the accounting concerns of the CE in businesses and the study of concerns related to endogenous environmental competences are quite original under the theoretical framework of dynamic capabilities, and this study is a first step in an incipient line of inquiry.