This article is based on our case research over the last five years into how dynamic capabilities lead to competitive advantage. We focused on companies that had demonstrated superior performance from 1997 to 2002, compared to their peers. However, superior performance can be a result of other factors, such as a monopoly, extensive regulations or heavy use of patents. We chose companies whose success was not due to those factors. We studied eight firms and use data from three of them in this article. We collected data in two stages for each company. First, a broad array of secondary sources was used to create a preliminary picture of the company and the industry. Next, we conducted structured interviews with the CEO and 20 to 30 members of the company’s executive committee and other significant staff. In addition, we interviewed executives in different functions and at different levels, including the operating-level managers who actually were involved in day-to-day activities connected with the focus area we had chosen.
Both authors were present during all interviews and were supported by a research assistant. Ours was collaborative and participative research. We engaged in discussions with managers as competent and trusted co-researchers, attempting to arrive at a shared interpretation of data. Having identified the key practices, we sought to build a historical perspective and discussed this in depth with the... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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