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Chapter 34 - Dynamic Capabilities and Routine Dynamics

from Part IV - Related Communities of Thought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2021

By
Carlo Salvato
Edited by
Martha S. Feldman,
Brian T. Pentland,
Luciana D'Adderio,
Katharina Dittrich,
Claus Rerup and
David Seidl
Martha S. Feldman
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Brian T. Pentland
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Luciana D'Adderio
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Katharina Dittrich
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Claus Rerup
Affiliation:
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
David Seidl
Affiliation:
University of Zurich
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Summary

In the strategic management tradition, dynamic capabilities are interpreted as grounded in high-level routines, while in the routine dynamics framework routines are seen as inherently dynamic. Despite the apparent convergence of constructs and interests, these two approaches to understanding routines and the dynamism that they embody and engender have not been building on each other. In this chapter I analyse commonalities and differences between the two views in relation to their ontologies, their focal interests, and their levels of theory, measurement and analysis. I also describe how the two views contribute—although from different angles—to answering the same questions on routines emergence and change, on their role in inhibiting and promoting creativity and novelty, and in maintaining pattern and variety. Finally, I provide directions for future research on routine participants, ecologies of routines, and routines performance, which build on both views, without necessarily integrating them.

Keywords

Routinesroutine dynamicsdynamic capabilitiestheoretical perspectivesresearch communityroutine emergenceroutine change

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Chapter
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Cambridge Handbook of Routine Dynamics , pp. 460 - 480
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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