Advancing Research on Capability Development and Reconfiguration

Abstract

Given their complex, company-specific and history-dependent nature, organizational capabilities are generally considered as the foundation of a firm’s long-term strategy and as major source of competitive advantage. While the strategic significance of firm capabilities is uncontested, we still have an incomplete understanding how they emerge, develop, and change over time. In particular, given discontinuously shifting environments, the question of how incumbent firms reconfigure their capabilities in response to such changes and successfully move from one capability configuration to another, is of great significance. It is the aim of this symposium to push the discussion and advance the theoretical understanding in this realm. Topics such as capability rigidity, learning barriers, capability integration and redeployment as well as dynamic capabilities will be covered. The symposium will bring together different capability scholars and provide a platform for a productive discussion of how to push the field forward. Overcoming social breakdowns in capability reconfiguration Presenter: Joakim Hans Netz; Jönköping U. Presenter: Patrick Reinmoeller; IMD The best of two worlds? Corporate ventures for capability renewal of an incumbent Presenter: Kathrin Borner; Vrije U. Amsterdam Presenter: Fleur Deken; Vrije U. Amsterdam Presenter: Hans Berends; Vrije U. Amsterdam Presenter: Frans Feldberg; KIN Research, VU Amsterdam Reconfiguring or rather redeploying capabilities in the face of technological change? Presenter: Stefan Konlechner; Johannes Kepler U. Linz Presenter: Arne Keller; Vienna U. of Technology Presenter: Wolfgang H. Guettel; TU Wien Overcoming barriers to the open innovation capability: A cognitive perspective Presenter: Ralf Wilden; Macquarie Business School, Macquarie U. Presenter: Krithika Randhawa; U. of Technology, Sydney Presenter: Siegfried P. Gudergan; Waikato Management School