Dynamic Capabilities: Current Debates and Future Directions

The field of dynamic capabilities has developed very rapidly over the last ten years. In this paper we discuss the evolution of the concept, and identify two major current debates around the nature of dynamic capabilities and their consequences. We then review recent progress as background to identifying the contributions of the seven papers in this special issue, and discuss the relative merits of qualitative and quantitative studies for investigating dynamic capabilities. We conclude with recommendations for future research arguing for more longitudinal studies which can examine the processes of dynamic abilities over time, and for studies in diverse industries and national contexts.     

Organizational Discourse: Domains,Debates, and Directions

Interest in the analysis of organizational discourse has expanded rapidly over the last two decades. In this article, we reflect critically on organizational discourse analysis as an approach to the study of organizations and management, highlighting both its strengths and areas of challenge. We begin with an explanation of the nature of organizational discourse analysis and outline some of the more significant contributions made to date. We then discuss existing classifications of approaches to the study of organizational discourse and suggest that they fall into two main categories: classifications by level of analysis and classifications by type of method. We argue that both of these approaches are inherently problematic and present an alternative way to understand the varieties of approaches to the analysis of organizational discourse based on within domain and across domain characterizations. We conclude with a discussion of the challenges that remain in the development of organizational discourse as an area of study and point to some of the opportunities for important and unique contributions to our understanding of organizations and management that this family of methods brings.     

Religion and Organization: A Critical Review of Current Trends and Future Directions

Given the profound role that religion continues to play in contemporary societies, it is surprising that management researchers have not explored the intersection between religion and organization in a more meaningful and determined way. This may be because religion is considered too far removed from the commercial organizations that form the empirical focus of much work in the discipline, or simply because it is deemed too sensitive. Whatever the reason, the upshot is that we know relatively little about the dynamics of religious organizational forms or the influence of these forms (and the values and practices that underpin them) on broader social processes and other kinds of organization. This paper is designed to highlight the potential of religion as a domain of study in management and to provide concrete suggestions for taking forward research in this area. The paper consists of three parts. I begin by reviewing some of the key literature in the sociology of religion and religious organizations. I then evaluate the existing literature on religion and organization, noting the salient contributions to date and highlighting some of the issues raised by this body of work. In the third and final main section, I suggest promising directions for future research.     

社会网络分析在组织管理研究中的应用与展望

试图从社会网络分析的3个重要概念出发,探究社会网络分析范式、社会网络分析法以及社会网络理论三者的区别与联系,以助于学者们更好地理解社会网络分析的本质。在此基础上,比较社会网络理论与管理学经典理论,指出社会网络理论不是对管理学理论的批判与取代,而是一种建设性的深化与补充。最后,总结了社会网络分析在组织管理中的研究现状,分析了国内研究的不足,并提出了建议与展望。     

A Review of Political Skill: Current Research Trend and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on the use of political skill in organizations and proposes some agendas for future research. Although political skill is a relatively new construct in organizational politics research, a large number of theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted. Five major themes were identified in previous research. These are: (a) definition and measurement of political skill; (b) political skill and stress management; (c) political skill and career success; (d) political skill and individual performance; and (e) political skill and leadership effectiveness. This review critically examines previous empirical studies in light of this theoretical background and points out that, although previous empirical studies support the theoretically assumed effects of political skills, they fail to confirm how and why these skills bring about these effects. Based on this examination, the author suggests the examination of mediators and dimensional differences derived from theory that can lead to more effective exploration of the impact of political skill. In addition, several issues for future research are proposed, which may provide useful insights for both literature and practice.     

Emergence of Industries: A Review and Future Directions

This paper reviews the literature on the emergence of industries and the theoretical and methodological approaches employed. The analysis reveals that industry emergence can be depicted as a three‐stage process. In the first, initial stage, a disruption to the existing industrial order triggers the second, the co‐evolutionary stage, which includes four sub‐processes related to developments in technology, markets, activity networks and industry identity. The convergence of these sub‐processes leads to the third stage, a growth stage and the birth of a new industry. While these three stages and the four sub‐processes are well covered in the literature, the authors find that there is a lack of understanding in terms of the transitions between the stages, the interactions and interdependencies between sub‐processes and moderating factors of industry emergence. Future research can bridge these gaps by exploring the different origins and initial conditions of industries, the processes and interactions in the earliest stages of industry emergence, and the role of facilitating and managing industry emergence. This implies a shift in the research focus from the industries that have emerged to the nascent processes of emergence.     

Plan Evaluation: Challenges and Directions for Future Research

Plan evaluation is a well-established part of the planning canon. While this subject has received considerable attention from planning scholars in recent years, plan evaluation methods are not commonly used in practice. This paper examines the factors that contribute to the underuse of plan outcome evaluation in local government planning practice. The concept of evaluation is explained, and the relationship that exists between program evaluation and plan evaluation is explored.     

人员管理的经济方法：过去的成就与未来的方向

人事经济学是最近不到20年在经济学和人力资源管理的交接地带兴起的一个新领域,它将经济学用于考察企业内部组织和人力资源管理问题,对现代人力资源管理产生了深远影响.本文对该领域过去的主要成就和未来的研究方向和国内研究动态进行综述.     

Employee Voice Behavior: Integration and Directions for Future Research

Within organizations, employees continually confront situations that put them face to face with the decision of whether to speak up (i.e., voice) or remain silent when they have potentially useful information or ideas. In recent years, there has been a rapidly growing body of conceptual and empirical research focused on better understanding the motives underlying voice, individual, and situational factors that increase employee voice behavior, and the implications of voice and silence for employees, work groups, and organizations. Yet this literature has notable gaps and unresolved issues, and it is not entirely clear where future scholarship should be directed. This article, therefore, is an attempt to review and integrate the existing literature on employee voice and also to provide some direction for future research.     

Electronic Data Interchange: Research Review and Future Directions*

For nearly two decades, electronic data interchange (EDI) has been widely viewed as a technology pivotal to supply chain management that has also provided benefits to firms on multiple levels. Despite a substantial body of literature, there are a number of conflicting and inconclusive research results in this field. In this study, we synthesize the diverse body of research in EDI by organizing the literature into an initial theoretical framework. Based on a meta‐analysis of results from the empirical literature, we seek to clarify conflicting results from the literature in order to develop a more unified theoretical framework of contextual variables associated with EDI adoption factors and outcomes. From a managerial standpoint, our literature‐based framework offers a set of guidelines for making successful EDI adoption and implementation decisions.     

Dynamic Marketing Capabilities: Toward an Integrative Framework

In recent years, the dynamic capabilities view has attracted attention in the management literature, and theoretical papers note many research challenges. Currently, one of the most significant issues is the role of the marketing function in the development of dynamic capabilities, and some recent discussions have even introduced the new term ‘dynamic marketing capabilities’. The main area of interest is how to achieve a well‐integrated framework to serve as the starting point for empirical papers. Although the most recent research proposes a wide range of processes as possible dynamic marketing capabilities, it is difficult to find consensus among these proposals. To resolve this difficulty, this paper seeks to define the dynamic marketing capabilities construct based on accepted components in the generic dynamic capabilities view. More specifically, it defines the role of dynamic marketing capabilities through absorptive capacity and knowledge management. By identifying these components and relating them in an integrative model, the authors propose to explain how dynamic marketing capabilities work and precisely which marketing processes promote both components.     

The Identity of Entrepreneurs: Providing Conceptual Clarity and Future Directions

The identity of entrepreneurs (IoE) has become a popular concept in entrepreneurship research, for example, to explain entrepreneurial behavior. Yet, despite growing interest in this topic, theoretical and terminological inconsistencies have hampered the development of a coherent understanding of the identity of entrepreneurs. I conduct a systematic literature review to provide an overview of different theoretical perspectives in IoE research and suggest consistent use of terminology and operationalizations. Further, I propose a framework to investigate the dynamic nature and multi‐level influences of the identity of entrepreneurs, and outline meaningful avenues for future research to unravel when, how, and with what consequences identity may become relevant in new venture creation.     

Loyalty Programmes: Current Knowledge and Research Directions*

Loyalty programmes (LPs) have increased in number and popularity, but their effects on customer behaviour remain equivocal, due to a lack of understanding of the drivers of LP effectiveness and insufficient generalizable conclusions across prior studies. This paper synthesizes current knowledge pertaining to LPs, reconciles opposing findings by exploring the conditions that mediate and moderate the effects of LP participation on consumer responses, and charts important avenues for research. Overall, we find that LPs are effective in increasing consumer purchase behaviours over time, but the impact differs across consumer segments and markets. Currently, neither firms nor consumers fully benefit from the opportunities that LPs offer. To that end, we identify aspects which help researchers and practitioners increase their understanding of LP benefits and pitfalls. Through this study, companies that already have LPs will be able to improve their performance, and those that are about to introduce one will better understand the implications of the LP launch.     

Measuring Dynamic Capabilities: Practices and Performance in Semiconductor Manufacturing

Research on dynamic capabilities emphasizes the importance and role of organizational routines in explaining interfirm differences in performance. While performance differences are well documented, few empirical analyses explore the processes inside organizations that lead to dynamic capabilities or attempt to define and measure their performance effects. This paper examines one type of dynamic capability – the development and introduction of new process technologies in semiconductor manufacturing. This dynamic capability is an important source of competitiveness in the semiconductor industry, given the short product lifecycles, rapid price declines, and rapid technological advances that define the industry. Because much of the knowledge that underpins semiconductor manufacturing is idiosyncratic, firm-level R&D organization and information technology practices that facilitate problem solving and learning-based improvement provide important and enduring advantages. We derive models of the rate of improvement in manufacturing yield (i.e. the quality of production) and cycle time (i.e. the speed of production) following the development and introduction of new process technologies in manufacturing facilities, and test the empirical specifications of these models. The ways in which semiconductor manufacturers accumulate experience and articulate and codify knowledge within the manufacturing environment build new process development and introduction dynamic capabilities that improve performance.     

知识演进与动态能力构建

在揭示运作能力与动态能力的关系以及两者的知识基础上,提出一个以知识演进为基础的动态能力模型,并在知识活动与动态能力框架的3个维度之间建立起了联系.同时,利用能力生命周期概念,在动态能力、运作能力改变阶段和知识演进之间建立起紧密的联系,阐明了运作能力的改变阶段既反映动态能力的作用,又与知识演进步骤相对应,从而进一步佐证了动态能力的知识基础.     

中国本土管理研究的进路

随着经济全球化进程的加快, 本土管理研究的重要性日趋突显.然而,目前中国管理研究以引入西方管理理论为主,缺乏相应的本土管理研究.主要探讨了本土管理研究的目的,如何有效建立本土管理学,以及本土管理学的发展方向,以期对壮大本土研究有所裨益.认为本土管理研究主要有4种发展道路:发展创新的、具有文化普遍性及影响力的理论、开展单一文化或者跨文化本土研究,以及进行动态协同的跨文化研究.     

Strategic Shared Leadership and Organizational Dynamic Capabilities

We propose that the purposeful sharing of strategic decisions and the process of making and taking those between the dominant coalition of an organization (Strategic Shared Leadership or SSL thereafter), initiated and supported by a focal strategic leader or small team, engenders Organizational Dynamic Capabilities (ODCs) though the transfer of individually-residing DCs within the SSL team, the transformation -co-creation of novel ones and their embeddedness-institutionalization within the organization. It also enhances organizational cognition which mediates the relationship by enriching co-created ODCs and their capacity to deliver reliably change through sensing, seizing and reconfiguring. Accordingly, SSL serves as a co-creator and key predictor of the emergence of ODCs. This helps address the challenges of DCs to marry stability with change, be predictable and to be capable of predicting.     

企业管理情境下生态系统理论框架与未来研究方向

鉴于目前尚缺乏具有广泛影响力的“生态系统”理论基础,包括缺乏具有广泛影响力的概念定义及内在因果逻辑的机理解释,基于复杂系统理论和生命周期视角,研究认为,企业管理情境下的生态系统具备自组织、相互依赖、基础设施和竞合过程四大核心特征,而这些特征构成生态系统理论框架的四大维度,其间的“统一性”揭示了生态系统的复杂性和动态性本质。进一步地,高绩效、高韧性的生态系统得益于:①由于缺乏核心控制者,众多异质性成员之间充分频繁互动,不断产生多元系统价值主张;②系统成员间具备“半结构化”的相互依赖,使生态系统能更具弹性,更有效地面对多变、不确定、复杂和模糊的情境;③多样化的赋能设施产生于并最终赋能异质性生态系统成员;④成员间通过竞合机制共创和共取价值,促使生态系统持续演进。     

组织学习──现状与展望

组织学习是当前管理学术界和企业界关注的热点问题。基于对大量文献的分析,本文对组织学习的基本概念,组织学习的机理,组织学习的障碍,以及促进组织学习的方法和工具等,进行了系统分析和综述。对该领域研究的现状和不足进行了评析,最后提出了我国今后在组织学习方面需要研究的重要课题。