Innovation and the dynamics of capability accumulation
in project-based firms.
by Bayer, Steffen^Gann, David
Montgomery, CA and B Wernerfelt (1988) Diversification, Ricardian
rents, and Tobin's q. RAND Journal of Economics 19: 623-32.
Patel, P and K Pavitt (1997) The technological competencies of the
world's largest firms complex and path-dependent, but not much
variety. Research Policy 26: 141-156.
Penrose, ET (1959) The Theory of Growth of the Firm. Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
Peteraf, MA (1993) The Cornerstones of competitive advantage: A
resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal 14: 363-80.
Perlow, LA (1999) The time famine: Towards a sociology of work
time. Administrative Sciences Quarterly 44: 57-81.
Prahalad, CK and G Hamel (1990) The core competence of the
corporation. Harvard Business Review 66.
Prencipe, A, and F Tell (2001) Inter-project learning: processes
and outcomes of knowledge codification in PBFs. Research Policy 30:
1373-1394.
Repenning, NP (2002) A smulation-based approach to understanding
the dynamics of innovation implementation. Organization Science 13(3):
109-127.
Rindova, VP, and S Kotha (2001) Continuous 'morphing':
Competing through dynamic capabilities, form and function. Academy of
Management Journal 44: 1263-1280.
Rockart, S (2003) Calling spirits from the deep: the effect of
social learning on industry structure and competitive dynamics. Fuqua
School of Business, Duke University, working paper.
Rothwell, R (1992) Successful industrial innovation: critical
factors for the 1990s. R&D Management 22(3): 221-239.
Rudolph, JW and NP Repenning (2002) Disaster dynamics :
understanding the role of quantity in organizational collapse.
Administrative Science Quarterly 47(1): 1-30.
Rumelt, RP (1984) Towards a strategic Theory of the firm. In: RB
Lamb ed., Competitive Strategic Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Sapsed, JD (2005) How should 'knowledge bases' be
organised in multi-technology corporations. International Journal of
Innovation Management 9: 75-102.
Saeed, K (1998) Maintaining professional competence in innovation
organizations. Human Systems Management 17(1): 69-87.
Sastry, MA (1997) Problems and paradoxes in a model of punctuated
organizational change. Administrative Science Quarterly 42(2): 237-275.
Schon, DA (1983) The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic
Books.
Sterman, JD (2000) Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling
for a Complex World. Boston, Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Teece, DJ, G Pisano, A Shuen (1997) Dynamic capabilities and
strategic management. Strategic Management Journal 18: 509-33.
Warren, K (2002) Competitive Strategy Dynamics. Wiley, Chichester.
Verona, G and D Ravasi (2003) Unbundling dynamic capabilities: an
exploratory study of continuous product innovation. Industrial Corporate
Change 12(3): 577-606.
Wernerfelt, B (1984) A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic
Management Journal 5: 171-80.
Winter, SG (2003) Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic
Management Journal 24: 991-995.
STEFFEN BAYER
Innovation Studies Centre
Tanaka Business School
Imperial College London--South Kensington Campus
London, UK
DAVID GANN
Innovation Studies Centre
Tanaka Business School
Imperial College London--South Kensington Campus
London, UK
TABLE 1: RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES
ASSET STOCKS
Resources
Tangible Intangible Capabilities
financial resources, project reputation, functional, organisational
backlog/workload, staff knowledge and project capabilities
TABLE 2: CAUSAL LINKS--WORK ACQUISITION AND WORKLOAD
Cause Effect Polarity
changes workload +
complexity of complexity of +
new projects projects
desired complexity of +
complexity of new projects
new projects
excellence of reputation +
completed
project
loss of reputation -
reputation
project comp- reputation +
letion rate
reputation attractiveness +
to highly skilled
employees
reputation complexity of +
new projects
reputation work +
acquisition
resource time allocation +
allocation on to acquisition
project level
share of time allocation +
project level to acquisition
time allocated
to acquisition
time allocation work +
to acquisition acquisition
work workload +
acquisition
Meaning (all else
Cause being equal!) References
changes Changes of project Cooper, 1980;
specifications by clients Lyneis et al., 2001
increase workload.
complexity of If the complexity of new logical
new projects projects increases, so will the relationship
complexity of the portfolio.
desired The company can (depending on Hobday, 1998;
complexity of opportunities) determine the Davies & Hobday,
new projects complexity of new projects. 2005
excellence of Excellence of completed project very plausible
completed results in improved reputation. relationship
project
loss of Reputation is gradually lost Gann & Salter,
reputation over time because past 2000
achievements are forgotten or
considered irrelevant.
project comp- Completed projects increase very plausible
letion rate reputation relationship
reputation Highly qualified experts prefer very plausible
to work for companies with a relationship
good reputation.
reputation A good reputation allows the very plausible
company to acquire more complex relationship
work.
reputation Reputation increases the amount very plausible
of work that can be acquired. relationship
resource The more resources are logical relation-
allocation on allocated away from the central ship; see also
project level level of the organisation the Hobday, 2000;
more can be spent on work Sapsed, 2005
acquisition by project teams
(keeping "share of project
level time allocated to
acquisition" constant).
share of A higher share of time logical
project level allocated to acquisition relationship
time allocated implies that more time is
to acquisition available for acquisition.
time allocation The more time is allocated to very plausible
to acquisition acquisition the more work will relationship
be acquired.
work The acquisition of new work logical
acquisition results in an increase in relationship
workload.
TABLE 3: CAUSAL LINKS--PROJECT EXECUTION
Cause Effect Polarity
complexity of financial +
projects resources
complexity of project -
projects completion
rate
innovative excellence of +
problem completed
solving project
project financial +
completion resources
rate
project workload -
completion
rate
quality of excellence of +
project completed
execution project
quality of project com- +
project pletion rate
execution
resource time allocation +
allocation on to execution
project level
share of time allocation -
project level to execution
time allocated
to acquisition
time allocation project +
to execution completion
rate
time pressure quality of pro- -
ject execution
workload time pressure +
COPYRIGHT 2007 eContent Management Pty
Ltd. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2007, Gale Group. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.