A review of empirical research on dynamic competitive strategy, страница 18

Although some progress has been achieved in this area, we found comparatively little research on long-term path characteristics of strategic change processes. This is a promising area for future research.

Competitive strategy→Environmental contingencies. Few of the studies in the review covered this link. The work that has been done on the competitive landscape as an outcome variable has provided valuable insights, and should be built upon in future research. We believe that further extending the findings to date towards the timing of strategic actions would be particularly interesting.

The studies we reviewed suggest that the number and type of competitive actions determine the degree of rivalry (Chen et al. 1992), and that specific strategic actions can create mobility barriers between firms or strategic groups (Sudharsan et al. 1991). We know considerably less about how the speed of competitive reactions influences industry rivalry. For example, in industries where there tend to be slower reaction times, are there lower levels of competitive rivalry? Do firms learn from observing the timing of the competitive reactions of their competitors and adjust their reactions accordingly; that is, do reaction profiles depend on the historical path of competitive rivalry?

Similar questions may be asked regarding mobility barriers. How long does it take to create or reinforce mobility barriers within an industry? How fast and in what ways can other firms in the industry respond to such strategic actions? We found little evidence of research in this area. We therefore suggest that additional work might prove insightful.

Competitive strategy→Organizational performance. Researchers examining the implications for performance of competitive strategy have primarily characterized strategic actions by type of reaction. To the best of our knowledge, only a few studies have focused on how environmental changes affect the timing and speed of strategic response. We believe that research on the timing of strategic actions would lead to interesting results. When does the timing of strategic reactions to changes in contingency variables have implications for firm performance? Which factors influence whether environmental change provides a window of opportunity for a fast mover? Does it depend on the type of environmental change and strategic action? To answer such questions, researchers might rely on arguments used by those focusing on market entries (Makadok 1998). This would mean identifying the factors that facilitate first mover advantages. Can a first mover benefit from early learning when it comes to new technologies or a new regulatory setting in ways that followers will not be able to match? Does a fast reaction lead to faster or more intense resource accumulation? Are there instances where later followers are cut off from resources or capabilities and, if so, which ones? Once such questions are addressed, future research could test more comprehensive contingency models that explain how both type and timing of strategic adaptations affect performance.

Furthermore, as far as we have seen, researchers following a contingency approach have not included the history of strategic activity as contingency variables, so there is relatively little understanding of how past strategic decisions influence performance. Does a firm's history of strategic activity influence its performance? Do periods of intense and volatile strategic change affect subsequent performance and, if so, how?

Some insights on innovation strategy (Barnett and Freeman 2001) and changes in strategic orientation (Mosakowski 1993) indicate that intense strategic change causes, at least initially, a decline in performance. Yet, mixed results have meant that, to our knowledge, there is no comprehensive picture that links the overall construct of path characteristics of strategic change to firm performance. Future research taking a sequential approach may help to resolve these issues. In a first step, exploratory research could identify and measure the path characteristics of strategic activity that are likely to have an impact on subsequent organizational performance. In a second step, data on these path characteristics could be matched with data on firm performance over longer periods of time.