IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v46y2025i5p3123-3141.html

A Temporally Contingent View of Dynamic Managerial Capabilities

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Engelen
  • Oliver Schilke
  • Verena Rieger
  • Michael Engels

Abstract

This article contributes to research on dynamic managerial capabilities, which examines managerial impact on firms' strategic change. Specifically, we study the role of managerial social capital—a key underpinning of dynamic managerial capabilities—in organizations' strategic change. We propose a temporally contingent account that elucidates how the fitness of dynamic managerial capabilities unfolds across life cycle stages and varying degrees of change pressures. We start by testing our theoretical model using data on 20,593 individuals in 5522 new ventures over a period of 5 years. A key insight from our quantitative analysis is that dynamic managerial capabilities are particularly valuable during convergent periods, when both external pressures to accomplish strategic change and inertial forces are increasing. Our subsequent interpretivist study, aimed at elaborating the mechanisms underlying the social capital‐funding effect, reveals that the types of resources and strategic changes spurred by social capital differ markedly across time. Overall, our paper enriches dynamic capabilities scholarship by highlighting that the effects of these capabilities are substantially time‐variant.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Engelen & Oliver Schilke & Verena Rieger & Michael Engels, 2025. "A Temporally Contingent View of Dynamic Managerial Capabilities," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(5), pages 3123-3141, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:46:y:2025:i:5:p:3123-3141
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.4513
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4513
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.4513?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jaideep Anand & Raffaele Oriani & Roberto S. Vassolo, 2010. "Alliance Activity as a Dynamic Capability in the Face of a Discontinuous Technological Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1213-1232, December.
    2. Townsend, David M. & Busenitz, Lowell W., 2015. "Turning water into wine? Exploring the role of dynamic capabilities in early-stage capitalization processes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 292-306.
    3. Rúbia Oliveira Corrêa & Eduardo Veiga Bueno & Heitor Takashi Kato & Luiz Marcos de Oliveira Silva, 2019. "Dynamic managerial capabilities: Scale development and validation," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 3-15, January.
    4. Sarah E. Wolfolds & Jordan Siegel, 2019. "Misaccounting for endogeneity: The peril of relying on the Heckman two‐step method without a valid instrument," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 432-462, March.
    5. Yasemin Y. Kor & Andrea Mesko, 2013. "Dynamic managerial capabilities: Configuration and orchestration of top executives' capabilities and the firm's dominant logic," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 233-244, February.
    6. Nuscheler, Daniela & Engelen, Andreas & Zahra, Shaker A., 2019. "The role of top management teams in transforming technology-based new ventures' product introductions into growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 122-140.
    7. Dan Lovallo & Alexander L. Brown & David J. Teece & David Bardolet, 2020. "Resource re‐allocation capabilities in internal capital markets: The value of overcoming inertia," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 1365-1380, August.
    8. Carlo Salvato & Roberto Vassolo, 2018. "The sources of dynamism in dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1728-1752, June.
    9. Teece, David J., 2016. "Dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurial management in large organizations: Toward a theory of the (entrepreneurial) firm," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 202-216.
    10. David J. Teece, 2012. "Dynamic Capabilities: Routines versus Entrepreneurial Action," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(8), pages 1395-1401, December.
    11. Constance E. Helfat & Margaret A. Peteraf, 2003. "The dynamic resource‐based view: capability lifecycles," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 997-1010, October.
    12. Hirokazu Kano, 2021. "The dilemma and its solution of deep uncertainty in the dynamic capabilities framework: Insights from modern Austrian economics," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 605-611, April.
    13. Sabina Tasheva & Bo Bernhard Nielsen, 2022. "The role of global dynamic managerial capability in the pursuit of international strategy and superior performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 689-708, June.
    14. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Christopher B. Bingham, 2017. "Superior Strategy in Entrepreneurial Settings: Thinking, Doing, and the Logic of Opportunity," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 246-257, December.
    15. James Heckman, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    16. Mie Augier & David J. Teece, 2009. "Dynamic Capabilities and the Role of Managers in Business Strategy and Economic Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 410-421, April.
    17. Sohvi Heaton & David Lewin & David J. Teece, 2020. "Managing campus entrepreneurship: Dynamic capabilities and university leadership," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 1126-1140, September.
    18. Sheen S. Levine & Mark Bernard & Rosemarie Nagel, 2018. "Strategic intelligence: The cognitive capability to anticipate competitor behaviour," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 527-527, February.
    19. Quy Huy & Christoph Zott, 2019. "Exploring the affective underpinnings of dynamic managerial capabilities: How managers' emotion regulation behaviors mobilize resources for their firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 28-54, January.
    20. Gompers, Paul A, 1995. "Optimal Investment, Monitoring, and the Staging of Venture Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1461-1489, December.
    21. Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "Understanding dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 991-995, October.
    22. Moses Acquaah, 2007. "Managerial social capital, strategic orientation, and organizational performance in an emerging economy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(12), pages 1235-1255, December.
    23. Engelen, Andreas & Kube, Harald & Schmidt, Susanne & Flatten, Tessa Christina, 2014. "Entrepreneurial orientation in turbulent environments: The moderating role of absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1353-1369.
    24. Ron Adner & Constance E. Helfat, 2003. "Corporate effects and dynamic managerial capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 1011-1025, October.
    25. Constance E. Helfat & Catherine A. Maritan, 2024. "Resource Allocation Capability and Routines in Multibusiness Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 1110-1130, May.
    26. Teece, David J, 2018. "Dynamic capabilities as (workable) management systems theory," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 359-368, May.
    27. Shaker A. Zahra & Harry J. Sapienza & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capabilities: A Review, Model and Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 917-955, June.
    28. John R. Busenbark & Donald Lange & S. Trevis Certo, 2017. "Foreshadowing as Impression Management: Illuminating the Path for Security Analysts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(12), pages 2486-2507, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Scheuer, Luca Joachim & Thaler, Julia, 2023. "How do dynamic capabilities affect performance? A systematic review of mediators," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 914-931.
    2. Shaker A. Zahra & Olga Petricevic & Yadong Luo, 2022. "Toward an action-based view of dynamic capabilities for international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 583-600, June.
    3. Ilgaz Arikan & Ipek Koparan & Asli M Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Dynamic capabilities and internationalization of authentic firms: Role of heritage assets, administrative heritage, and signature processes," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 601-635, June.
    4. Tim Heubeck, 2024. "Looking back to look forward: a systematic review of and research agenda for dynamic managerial capabilities," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 2243-2287, December.
    5. Sebrek, Szabolcs S. & Romme, A. Georges L. & Kosztyán, Zsolt T., 2025. "How to create dynamic capabilities: A design science study," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    6. Baishya, Somnath & Karna, Amit & Mahapatra, Diptiranjan & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Debmalya, 2025. "Dynamic managerial capabilities: A critical synthesis and future directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    7. Nycil George & Anita Kerai, 2024. "Ordinary capabilities and firm performance: The role of capital market development," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 233-274, March.
    8. Lysander Weiss & Dominik Kanbach, 2022. "Toward an integrated framework of corporate venturing for organizational ambidexterity as a dynamic capability," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(4), pages 1129-1170, December.
    9. Waleczek, Peter & von den Driesch, Till & Flatten, Tessa C. & Brettel, Malte, 2019. "On the dynamic bundles behind operations management and research and development," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 175-187.
    10. Lauri Haapanen & Pia Hurmelinna-Laukkanen & Jan Hermes, 2018. "FIRM FUNCTIONS AND THE NATURE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN INTERNATIONALIZING SMEs," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-30, April.
    11. Ferreira, Jorge & Coelho, Arnaldo & Moutinho, Luiz, 2020. "Dynamic capabilities, creativity and innovation capability and their impact on competitive advantage and firm performance: The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    12. Akter, Shahriar & Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Sajib, Shahriar & Biswas, Kumar & Bandara, Ruwan J. & Michael, Katina, 2022. "Algorithmic bias in machine learning-based marketing models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 201-216.
    13. Hendrik Wilhelm & Indre Maurer & Mark Ebers, 2022. "(When) Are Dynamic Capabilities Routine? A Mixed‐Methods Configurational Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(6), pages 1531-1562, September.
    14. Bitencourt, Claudia Cristina & de Oliveira Santini, Fernando & Ladeira, Wagner Junior & Santos, Ana Clarissa & Teixeira, Eduardo Kunzel, 2020. "The extended dynamic capabilities model: A meta-analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 108-120.
    15. Byungjoo Paek & Heesang Lee, 2018. "Strategic entrepreneurship and competitive advantage of established firms: evidence from the digital TV industry," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 883-925, December.
    16. Wittenstein, Daniel, 2020. "Champions of digital transformation? The dynamic capabilities of hidden champions," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-065, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Yi-Ju Lo & Tung Hung, 2015. "Structure offshoring and returns on offshoring," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 443-479, June.
    18. von den Driesch, Till & Eva Susanne da Costa, Maika & Christina Flatten, Tessa & Brettel, Malte, 2015. "How CEO experience, personality, and network affect firms' dynamic capabilities," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 245-256.
    19. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 0. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    20. C. Lakshman & Sangeetha Lakshman & Kubilay Gok, 2023. "Managers’ knowledge and customer-focused knowledge management as dynamic capabilities: implications for innovation performance," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 246-274, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:46:y:2025:i:5:p:3123-3141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.