The study of R&D collaboration, SMEs survival and growth: perspective on dynamic capabilities view

Abstract

The dynamic capabilities concept has emerged to explain the mechanism of how firms acquire sustainable competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment. Dynamic capabilities are an important variable that explains the process of translating resources into firm performance (Priem & Butler 2001). Many researchers agree that dynamic capabilities play an important role in transforming a firms resources into firm performance (Eisenhardt & Martin 2000

Heimeriks & Duysters 2007

Pavlou & El Sawy 2011

Teece, Pisano, & Shuen 1997). However, as the definition of dynamic capabilities is still conceptual, research on the constituents of dynamic capabilities is still underway (Barreto 2010). Empirical research on dynamic capabilities is scant compared with conceptual studies, with sometimes conflicting results among scholars (Zahra, Sapienza, & Davidsson 2006). The impact of dynamic capabilities on firm performance varies depending on situational factors (Teece et al. 1997), and is both direct and indirect (Protogerou, Caloghirou, & Lioukas 2012). Based on the integrated concept of dynamic capabilities proposed by Teece (2007), this paper compares the direct and indirect impacts of dynamic capabilities on firm performance by analyzing the relationship between dynamic capabilities and R&D collaboration partner selection and the relationship between dynamic capabilities and the performance of firms of different sizes and technological regimes. For an empirical analysis, data from the 2005 SMEs Technology Statistics Survey, published by the Small and Medium Business Administration, was used, and analytical methodologies, such as principal component analysis, probit model with sample selection, and structural equation modeling, were employed. The relationship between dynamic capabilities and R&D collaboration partner selection was found to be most prominent in seizing capability. As firm size increases, firms are more likely to select market-based R&D partners. This confirms the existence of the disadvantage of smallness, as firms take market-based R&D partners. The impact of dynamic capabilities was discovered to be greater among larger firms. As for the relationship between dynamic capabilities and R&D collaboration partner selection under different levels of environmental dynamism, the effect of dynamic capabilities was observed in both a relatively stable and rapidly changing environment. This suggests that the impact of dynamic capabilities is not proportional to the rate of change, but depends on the change itself. With regard to the relationship between dynamic capabilities and firm performance, the impacts of dynamic capabilities on firm survival and firm growth differed only slightly. Dynamic capabilities had a direct impact on firm performance, but their indirect impact was found to be greater.