Business Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2016
Volume
59
Issue
5
Journal
Academy of Management Journal
URL with Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.1222
Abstract
How do firms adapt? In recent years, this old question has attracted new answers—albeit partial ones. On the one hand, cognition researchers have emphasized managerial attention to environmental change as a key driver of adaptation. On the other hand, dynamic capabilities scholars have underscored the role of asset reconfigurations implemented amid shifting environments. However, the explanatory powers of the two perspectives have not yet been assessed comparatively. This mixed methods study uses fuzzy-set analyses of defense firms’ responses to 9/11 to model the two perspectives as potentially competing or complementary, while our findings suggest that neither dynamic capabilities nor superior cognition must be present for firms to adapt. Instead, we identify four types of adapters (anticipative, responsive, opportunistic, and decisive), as well as the possibility of strategic non-adaptation. These results lead us to reassess the cognition and capabilities literatures and to outline a new, integrative framework to explain adaptation.
Notes
This is the author-accepted version of an article published in Academy of Management Journal. The published article can be found at https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.1222