A review of empirical research on dynamic competitive strategy, страница 19

Strategic choices that create path dependencies represent another potentially fruitful area for research. While many researchers have argued that path-dependent decisions generate mobility barriers that, in turn, create sustainable performance differentials (Fiegenbaum and Thomas 1993), and have provided meaningful single-industry examples of such choices (Lee 2003), most of the research we reviewed allows for only ex post identification of relevant decisions. A set of relevant characteristics that describe strategic decisions, which will most likely mark the starting point for a path-dependent development, and thus represent a potentially powerful source of sustained heterogeneity between firms, is still missing. Identifying these decisions and their implications ex ante would be highly relevant for researchers and managers alike, as such classification could lead to a better understanding of the circumstances that create path-dependent decisions in the first place, and also uncover the risks and rewards associated with those decisions, thereby significantly improving strategic decision-making for the long-term. We believe that the answer to these questions may lie in taking a resource-based perspective to collect evidence on the strategic decisions that create path-dependencies across industries. Such evidence could be used to identify how and why some firms are able to implement path-dependent decisions that lead to sustainable performance while other firms fail to do so.

Competitive strategy→Organizational contingencies. We propose three avenues for future research here. First, research on dynamic strategy content might be integrated with that on strategy process and with an organizational learning perspective to derive additional insights into how specific competitive actions and the overall history of competitive activity together shape the strategic context of organizations. We found just one study covering this link in the review (Washington and Ventresca 2004), and so see the possibilities for longitudinal studies as many and varied.

Second, several researchers have studied how competitive strategy shapes organizational structure (Amburgey and Dacin 1994) yet, from what we have found, the focus appears to have been mainly on strategic orientation and type of strategic action. The findings to date could be extended to the timing of strategic actions. Of particular interest is how a history of fast competitive reactions and many industry firsts might affect organizational structure. For this, researchers might draw on strategy process research (Rajagopalan et al. 1993). Third, while several studies have focused on how competitive strategy shapes resource accumulation processes, as far as we have found, none has focused on the impact of competitive strategy on resource depletion or on the timing of resource accumulation processes. Researchers might ask whether firms that pursue strategic actions that expose their resources, through increased visibility for instance, to intense competition indeed shorten the durability of those resources. The impact of the timing of strategic actions on resource accumulation processes also warrants additional investigation. Do fast reactions to technological change give businesses a head start in accumulating additional resources? Are other factors, such as the initial level of absorptive capacity, more important? Based on the review of existing studies, we suggest that these lines of inquiry are very promising.

Methodological Considerations

The research opportunities that we have outlined come with significant methodological challenges, the first and most important of which is data availability. Large samples of longitudinal data spanning years or decades are needed to analyze long-term path characteristics. The data must be free of managerial perception bias, and yet sufficiently rich to permit recognition of uniqueness and subtle changes in firm-specific competitive strategies. The available databases used within strategic management research do not necessarily meet these requirements. Either existing databases must be expanded, or other sources of data suitable for longer time periods found. The solution may lie in proprietary databases. Researchers might develop databases by conducting surveys and by following up on them at set intervals. It might also be possible to enrich these proprietary databases by collecting secondary data from other public sources such as annual reports.