Strategic Management Journal. Antecedents of temporary advantage, страница 6

Livengood (2010) tested certain aspects of Smith and Cao's (2007) entrepreneurial action model. With an eight-year study of new product introductions (entrepreneurial actions) by cell phone providers, the author found that the greater the novelty of the action, the greater the amount and duration of discourse by market participants (as measured by news media attention). Importantly, he also found that the novelty of the action and the varying amounts of discourse—both the amount and duration—predicted variation in monthly cell phone sales. The unit of analysis was the product introduction followed by discourse measured at the monthly level, followed by monthly cell phone sales. Livengood found that the greatest positive change in sales was immediately after the peak in discourse and that it declined thereafter.

Ultimately, the data one uses for his/her research must match our theory. When our theory is dynamic, our data must be as well. If our theorized relationships are predicted to substantially change and vary in a given year, our data must be detailed enough to capture these potential changes. Under such conditions, researchers may be required to use finer-grained methods, such as case analyses, questionnaires, or content analysis of media accounts of decisions and behaviors that appear in the daily press. And our theory and data will also need to capture the element of time, especially when temporary advantages or disadvantages are rapidly changing. For instance, how can we measure the duration of advantages or the time until they become positive or negative? Does a small two- to three-year advantage outweigh a large two- to three-month advantage? If so, what are the trade-offs?

Certainly there will be markets where traditional models of strategy will still apply (D'Aveni, 1999). However, to understand markets where temporary advantages are the only possibility, we are required to envision, conceive, and establish an entirely new collection of methodological paraphernalia that are more dynamic and match up the current disruptive and fast-speed environments of today. By pulling together various novel perspectives advanced by scholars in the field, we hope this special issue will provide fresh new approaches that will lead to new models and theories of strategy where advantages are not sustainable.

SUMMARY OF EXTANT WORK ON TEMPORARY ADVANTAGE

1.Top of page

2.Abstract

3.Antecedents of temporary advantage

4.The management of temporary advantage

5.Consequences of temporary advantage

6.The field of strategic management without sustainable advantage

7.SUMMARY OF EXTANT WORK ON TEMPORARY ADVANTAGE

8.THIS SPECIAL ISSUE'S UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS TO TEMPORARY ADVANTAGE

9.THE FUTURE OF TEMPORARY VERSUS SUSTAINABLE ADVANTAGE: MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OR SIMULTANEOUSLY COEXISTENT?

10.REFERENCES

Let's suspend our belief in sustainable advantage for the moment, realizing it is very rare, declining in duration, and may be the product of a few lucky firms according to the literature referenced above. Table 1 is an overview of some of the literature relevant to temporary advantage.