Untangling the origins of competitive advantage

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cockburn, IM; Henderson, RM; Stern, S
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Boston University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0266(200010/11)21:10/11<1123::AID-SMJ130>3.0.CO;2-R
• 发表日期: 2000
• 页码: 1123-1145
• 关键词: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE; pharmaceuticals; R&D; diffusion

摘要

This paper begins to reconcile competing perspectives on the origins of competitive advantage by examining the adoption of 'science-driven' drug discovery, a performance-enhancing organizational practice. Science-driven drug discovery diffused slowly, allowing us to disentangle alternative theories of organizational heterogeneity. Adoption is driven by initial conditions, time-varying internal and external environmental conditions, and convergence (firms positioned least favorably adopt most aggressively). While accounting for initial conditions is critical, managers are sensitive to idiosyncratic environmental cues. The origins of competitive advantage may therefore lie in the ability to identify and respond to environmental cues well in advance of observing performance-oriented pay-offs. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.