Capability Building in Sluggish Organizations

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eliaz, Kfir; Spiegler, Ran
• 署名单位: Tel Aviv University; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah; University of London; University College London
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.4445
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 1703-1713
• 关键词: training programs; organizational preparedness; sluggish adaptation; periodization; DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES

摘要

In order to thrive, organizations need to build and maintain an ability to meet unexpected external challenges. Yet many organizations are sluggish: their capabilities can only undergo incremental changes over time. What are the stochastic processes governing routinely occurring challenges that best prepare a sluggish organization for unexpected challenges? We address this question with a stylized principal-agent model. The agent represents a sluggish organization that can only change its capability by one unit at a time, and the principal represents the organization's head or its competitive environment. The principal commits ex ante to a Markov process over challenge levels. We characterize the process that maximizes long-run capability for both myopic and arbitrarily patient agents. We show how stochastic, time-varying challenges dramatically improve a sluggish organization's preparedness for sudden challenges.