A review of empirical research on dynamic competitive strategy, страница 16

Studies that take a market entry perspective make the most important contribution in terms of antecedents and the implications of timing and strategic actions. First-mover and early-mover strategies are mainly triggered by, and were found to lead to, significant performance advantages in many instances (Lee et al. 2000). While there are positive effects in the short- and medium-term, imitation gradually erodes them (Makadok 1998). Yet, while results offer interesting insights in terms of the timing of strategic actions, they remain limited to product, market or innovation strategy, and focus mainly on the technological context as an antecedent to competitive strategy.

Finally, researchers have also taken a competitive dynamics perspective to focus on competitive interactions. The studies reviewed primarily cover the interaction between competitive strategy and competitor actions and competitive landscape, and focus either on general industry settings or on specific competitive circumstances such as multipoint competition, with results emphasizing for the most part the likelihood or type of strategic action. If it is considered, the timing of competitive actions is attributed to action characteristics such as complexity or observability, or to structural organizational characteristics. Path dependencies do not appear to play an important role in this perspective.

In summary, we suggest that there has been significant progress in identifying the antecedents and outcomes of competitive strategy decisions. Some progress has also been made in understanding what determines the timing of strategic actions, but advances made to date in this area are not broadly rooted in all the relevant aspects of competitive strategy. Path characteristics have received the least amount of attention, especially the pace of strategic change and the performance implications of alternative adjustment paths.

We also suggest that there are still significant opportunities for extending the understanding of timing and path characteristics. The following sections look at the under-explored fields of research within each link. These research opportunities are summarized in Figure 3.

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Before progressing with a detailed discussion of Figure 3, it is worth noting that closing the gaps in the literature will pose significant methodological challenges. First, questions related to path dependencies and timing in particular will require detailed firm- and industry-level data over long periods of time. Second, many of the underlying strategy variables are causally ambiguous, and therefore difficult to measure. Relating competitive strategies to firm performance is a challenging task, especially in light of the time lags between cause and effect, and given that, within a single industry, there are many different viable competitive strategies. In fact, the key to advances in this area may be the ability to meet the data requirements.

Research Opportunities within Links

Environmental contingencies→Competitive strategy. The studies reviewed show that environmental change is a powerful antecedent to strategic adjustment, as it often disturbs the strategic alignment of a firm. However, just one of the selected studies looked at how technological and regulatory change affects the timing of strategic adaptations (Lee and Grewal 2004). It would be interesting to explore further how environmental change shapes the timing and speed of strategic adjustment. For instance, how does the history, or path, of environmental changes influence the type and speed of strategic adaptations? Firms that have faced turbulent environmental changes can be expected to weigh the potential benefits of a fast and punctuated adaptation against the advantages of greater flexibility and the more informed decisions that come with slower and more gradual adjustment. However, as of today, we have only little understanding of the path characteristics of environmental and strategic changes that managers rely on in order to determine timing and pace of strategic adaptation.