Where do capabilities come from and how do they matter? A study in the software services industry

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ethiraj, SK; Kale, P; Krishnan, MS; Singh, JV
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.433
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 25-45
• 关键词: organizational capabilities; firm performance; software services

摘要

Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in the notion of capabilities as all important source of competitive advantage. This recognition has, in turn, placed emphasis on the question of where and how these capabilities emerge and how they influence firm performance. The present paper is an attempt to address this question. Using a large sample of detailed project-level data from a leading firm in the global software services industry, we attempt to empirically study the importance of capabilities. We find that two broad classes of capabilities are significant. The first class, which we label client-specific capabilities, is a function of repeated interactions with clients over time and across different projects. This learning from repeated interactions with a given client reduces project execution costs and helps improve project contribution. The second class, termed project management capabilities, is acquired through deliberate and persistent investments in infrastructure and systems to improve the firm's software development process. Our empirical results suggest that the marginal returns to acquiring different capabilities ma, be different and an understanding of such trade-offs can improve firm decisions to improve and/or acquire such capabilities. We discuss the key contributions of our paper and the implications for,future research on capabilities. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.