Decoupling market incumbency from organizational prehistory: Locating the real sources of competitive advantage in R&D for radical innovation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sosa, M. Lourdes
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.2012
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 245-255
• 关键词: incumbents; ENTRANTS; de alio; de novo; prehistory

摘要

The creative destruction literature has argued that differences in R&D performance of incumbent vs. entrant firms can be explained through organizational change theories about established vs. de novo firms. A disconnect exists between these theories and the available empirical evidence because often the best performing firms are established firms as well. I propose to resolve this disconnect by distinguishing between market incumbency (presence in a market prior to a discontinuity) and organizational prehistory (organizational experience prior to a transition, whether between technologies or between markets). Doing so allows me to contrast incumbent vs. entrant and de alio vs. de novo studies, and to suggest more robust future research designs. I illustrate my proposition using qualitative data from the anticancer and AIDS-treatment drug markets. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.