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- All HBS Web
(2,431)
- People (3)
- News (549)
- Research (1,436)
- Events (9)
- Multimedia (17)
- Faculty Publications (784)
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- 2018
- Working Paper
The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities
By: David J. Collis and Bharat Anand
The concept of dynamic capabilities draws its theoretical basis from two classic traditions within the strategy field—the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) (Wernerfelt, 1984) and market positioning (Porter, 1996). A dynamic capability qualifies as a source of... View Details
Collis, David J., and Bharat Anand. "The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-029, September 2019.
- 2021
- Article
The Virtues and Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities
By: Bharat Anand and David J. Collis
Dynamic capabilities have been identified as a key determinant of competitive advantage. This paper explores the foundations of dynamic capabilities, and the limits to their effectiveness, first theoretically and then through the case of Danaher, the most successful... View Details
Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Danaher; Resources; Theory Of The Firm; Value-based Strategy; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Competitive Advantage; Strategy
Anand, Bharat, and David J. Collis. "The Virtues and Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities." Strategic Management Review 2, no. 1 (2021): 47–78.
- June 2025
- Article
Outcome and Process Frames: Strategic Renewal and Capability Reprioritization at the Federal Bureau of Investigation
[Research Summary]: Framing is critical for leaders who must build support for strategic renewal. While research has concentrated on renewal that replaces one set of capabilities with another, we explore a distinctive challenge: how leaders persuade stakeholders to... View Details
Keywords: Framing; Stakeholder Management; Capabilities; Transformation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Resource Allocation; Government and Politics; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Public Administration Industry
Raffaelli, Ryan, Tiona Zuzul, Ranjay Gulati, and Jan Rivkin. "Outcome and Process Frames: Strategic Renewal and Capability Reprioritization at the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Strategic Management Journal 46, no. 6 (June 2025): 1325–1362. (Lead article.)
- 2015
- Working Paper
Bottlenecks, Modules and Dynamic Architectural Capabilities
How do firms create and capture value in large technical systems? In this paper, I argue that the points of both value creation and value capture are the system's bottlenecks. Bottlenecks arise first as important technical problems to be solved. Once the problem is... View Details
Keywords: Architecture; Architectural Knowledge; Dynamic Capabilities; Bottleneck; Modularity; Organization Design; Organization Boundaries; Property Rights; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure
Baldwin, Carliss Y. "Bottlenecks, Modules and Dynamic Architectural Capabilities." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 15-028, October 2014. (Revised May 2015.)
- 02 Oct 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities
Keywords: by David J. Collis and Bharat Anand
- 2015
- Chapter
How Leaders Use Values-based Guidance Systems to Create Dynamic Capabilities
How do strategic leaders create change-adept organizations? Based on qualitative field research, this chapter argues that well-defined institutionalized purpose, values, and principles act as an organizational guidance system that integrates and strengthens the... View Details
Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Field Research; Intrinsic Motivation; Organizational Identity; Ecosystem; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Motivation and Incentives; Research; Management Systems; Change
Kanter, Rosabeth M., Matthew Bird, Ethan Bernstein, and Ryan Raffaelli. "How Leaders Use Values-based Guidance Systems to Create Dynamic Capabilities." Chap. 2 in The Oxford Handbook of Dynamic Capabilities, edited by David J. Teece and Sohvi Leih. Oxford University Press, 2015. Electronic.
- 2016
- Working Paper
Historical Change and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Explicating the 'Dynamics' in the Dynamic Capabilities Framework
By: Geoffrey Jones and R. Daniel Wadhwani
This working paper aims to deepen the scholarly dialogue between strategy and history. It does so by examining how historical models of change can contribute to theory and research on the competitive advantage of firms during periods of rapid innovation. Focusing on... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Dynamic Capabilities; Innovation; Temporality; Context; Microfoundations; Business History; Competitive Advantage; Change; Innovation and Invention
Jones, Geoffrey, and R. Daniel Wadhwani. "Historical Change and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Explicating the 'Dynamics' in the Dynamic Capabilities Framework." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-052, December 2016.
- 2020
- Working Paper
Team Learning and Superior Firm Performance: A Meso-Level Perspective on Dynamic Capabilities
By: Jean-François Harvey, Henrik Bresman, Amy C. Edmondson and Gary P. Pisano
This paper proposes a team-based, meso-level perspective on dynamic capabilities. We argue that team-learning routines constitute a critical link between managerial cognition and organization-level processes of sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring. We draw from the... View Details
Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Innovation; Strategic Change; Teams; Team Learning; Groups and Teams; Learning; Innovation and Invention; Change; Performance
Harvey, Jean-François, Henrik Bresman, Amy C. Edmondson, and Gary P. Pisano. "Team Learning and Superior Firm Performance: A Meso-Level Perspective on Dynamic Capabilities." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-059, December 2018. (Revised January 2020.)
- 29 Jul 2013
- Research & Ideas
A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism
Professor. Henderson and Ramanna agree with Friedman's moral framework—but only when certain conditions are met. In many cases, they say, it is incumbent upon managers to shift their ethical framework in order to preserve the system View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 2015
- Chapter
Deep Smarts as the Underpinnings of Dynamic Capabilities
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Michelle Barton
Both ordinary and dynamic capabilities depend upon the deep smarts, i.e., business-critical, experience-based knowledge, held in the heads of an organization’s top talent. This chapter examines the links between individual and organizational capabilities and presents... View Details
Leonard, Dorothy A., and Michelle Barton. "Deep Smarts as the Underpinnings of Dynamic Capabilities." In The Oxford Handbook of Dynamic Capabilities, edited by David J. Teece and Sohvi Leih. Oxford University Press, 2015. Electronic.
- Research Summary
Knowledge flows and capability acquisition
By: Willy C. Shih
Technological advancements are a major source of improvement in competiveness, and a firm’s incentives to invest are diminished when the knowledge generated is involuntarily dispersed to competitors. While intellectual property rights can moderate this flow to the... View Details
- 2011
- Article
Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation
By: Ethan S. Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett
How can leaders adopt a mindset that maximizes learning, remains responsive to short-term emergent opportunities, and simultaneously strengthens longer-term dynamic capabilities of the organization? This chapter explores the organizational decisions and practices... View Details
Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Strategic Change; Jazz; Jazz Mindset; Improvisation; Innovation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Leadership; Management; Management Style; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizations; Creativity; Strategy; Auto Industry; Banking Industry; Bicycle Industry; Computer Industry; Consulting Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Education Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Music Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Japan; Taiwan; Europe; Asia
Bernstein, Ethan S., and Frank J. Barrett. "Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation." Research in Organizational Change and Development 19 (2011): 55–90.
- March 1999 (Revised May 1999)
- Background Note
Putting Your Finger on Capability
By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan
Presents a model or theory about the competence or capability of organizations. Written to help managers be more precise about what the capabilities and disabilities of an organization are, and to be able to put their finger precisely on the place in the organization... View Details
Christensen, Clayton M., and Tara Donovan. "Putting Your Finger on Capability." Harvard Business School Background Note 399-148, March 1999. (Revised May 1999.)
- Research Summary
Developing Organizational Capabilities to Compete
By: Michael Beer
Michael Beer’s current research focuses on the question of what makes an Effective Organization. Based on his extensive research and practice about this question Beer has identified six highly interrelated core capabilities:
- Capacity of the... View Details
- 1994
- Article
Dynamic Capabilities of Firms: An Introduction
By: Gary P. Pisano and David Teece
Keywords: Business Ventures
Pisano, Gary P., and David Teece. "Dynamic Capabilities of Firms: An Introduction." Industrial and Corporate Change 3, no. 3 (1994): 537–556.
- 2012
- Working Paper
Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities
By: R. Gibbons and R. Henderson
A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly-particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Contracts; Competency and Skills; Relationships; Complexity
Gibbons, R., and R. Henderson. "Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 12-061, January 2012.
- September–October 2012
- Article
Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities
By: Robert Gibbons and Rebecca Henderson
A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly—particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt... View Details
Gibbons, Robert, and Rebecca Henderson. "Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities." Organization Science 23, no. 5 (September–October 2012): 1350–1364.
- August 2019
- Case
Preserving Trust at Care.com (A)
By: Krishna G. Palepu and Julia Kelley
Care.com was an online platform designed to match caregivers with individuals seeking care for themselves, others, and pets, through job postings, caregiver profiles, and directories of local day care centers. In March 2019, the Wall Street Journal had just published a... View Details
Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Governance; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Emerging Markets; Trust; Technology Industry; United States
Palepu, Krishna G., and Julia Kelley. "Preserving Trust at Care.com (A)." Harvard Business School Case 120-011, August 2019.
- 14 Feb 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities
Keywords: by R. Gibbons & R. Henderson
- Summer 2014
- Article
Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities
By: Howard H. Yu and Willy C. Shih
The stellar growth of Taiwan's personal computer (PC) industry over the past three decades represents a paradox. Participating in the global production system, local firms in Taiwan grew in association with established firms in the West. Despite their technical... View Details
Keywords: Personal Computer; PC; PC Industry; Taiwan PC Industry; Taiwan PC Manufacturers; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Industry Clusters; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Mobile Technology; Information Technology Industry; Taiwan
Yu, Howard H., and Willy C. Shih. "Taiwan's PC Industry, 1976–2010: The Evolution of Organizational Capabilities." Business History Review 88, no. 2 (Summer 2014): 329–357.