Recent studies suggest the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage may be jointly affected by organizational and environmental factors. We enrich this nascent perspective by developing a configurational theoretical framework – underpinned by the mechanism of strategic fit – wherein dynamic capabilities lead to a competitive advantage when they support a strategic orientation appropriate for the levels of dynamism and munificence in the environment. Results of a fuzzy‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis using primary data show that dynamic capabilities lead to a competitive advantage in dynamic, munificent environments by enabling the combination of differentiation and low‐cost orientations. In stable, non‐munificent environments, dynamic capabilities are effective in support of a low‐cost orientation. The central insight of this study is that the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage is contingent upon the strategic fit between organizational and environmental factors, contributing to a more rigorous and configurational dynamic capabilities view.

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Research Summary We employ an exploratory approach to understand what differentiates boards that retain limited, potentially tokenistic, gender diversity (i.e., a single female director), and boards that more genuinely diversify their composition by appointing additional female directors. Previous studies have speculated that strategic leaders responsible for board appointments may influence this occurrence. Using longitudinal data on U.S. firms, we find that more female top managers and having the sole female director serve on the nominating committee increase the likelihood of additional female director appointments. Boards and nominating committees with younger members amplify these effects, respectively. We use interviews with board members and professional corporate governance consultants to discuss the probable causal mechanisms that underpin these relationships, highlighting novel theoretical insights related to gatekeeping and social psychology. Managerial Summary We explore what compels firms to appoint additional female directors after the first one, as only one female director could be considered a token. Using data on U.S. firms, we find that more female top managers and having the sole female director serve on the nominating committee make firms more likely to appoint additional female directors. These likelihoods are highest when younger directors make up the board at large and/or nominating committee. Chief executive officers can be change agents for gender diversity in their organizations by hiring female top managers and pushing for better representation of women on boards. Likewise, younger directors appear to enhance board gender diversity. These findings can inform the director selection process.

Purpose Sustainable Family Business Theory states that human, social, and financial capital are important for new family venture growth, yet there may be multiple combinations that could be beneficial. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether all three types of resources are always needed for growth. Design/methodology/approach Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, a configurational method, is used to investigate which combinations of human, social, and financial capital consistently lead to new family venture growth. Findings Multiple distinct combinations of resources – usually containing some form of human capital along with either social or financial capital – were sufficient for new family ventures to grow. Research limitations/implications The findings contribute to a more accurate Sustainable Family Business Theory in terms of the resource bundles needed to achieve growth. Not all three primary resources are needed at founding for the venture to grow. Results suggest a need for renewed focus on human capital in family venture research, as well as further investigations of the resource configurations uncovered here and their effects on family firm outcomes. Practical implications Given the costs associated with acquiring resources, the findings can inform family entrepreneurs and other stakeholders purposed with assisting new family ventures regarding optimal avenues of achieving growth. Originality/value This study advances theory by demonstrating which combinations of primary resources lead to new family venture growth. The findings shed light on how human, social, and financial capital may substitute for each other, as well as how the value of each depends on the presence or absence of the others.

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Informal entrepreneurship represents a common mode of business formation globally and entails starting and operating a business without registering it with legal authorities. Despite the size of the informal sector in many countries, the motivations for entrepreneurs to operate nonregistered ventures are not well understood. Although formal institutions play an important role, we argue that the decision to operate a nonregistered new venture is influenced by a pervasive informal institution around the world: the practice of extortion payments to organized crime. Because criminal organizations foster the development of norms and beliefs cementing extortion payments as an institution, we posit that entrepreneurs will use nonregistration as a buffer to avoid extortion costs preemptively. We further explicate that this choice is contingent upon founders’ access to resources and ventures’ product-market strategy, which shape visibility to organized crime and the ability to resist extortion and, thus, alter the need for nonregistration as a buffer against institutionalized extortion. Our analysis of over 8,000 new ventures operating in 39 economies largely supports these arguments. This study identifies a novel causal mechanism in the nomological network of informal entrepreneurship, namely, the prevalence of organized crime, and informs a multilevel theory of how entrepreneurs choose the type of organizational form for their ventures. Finally, it illuminates the importance of shadow institutions—illegal and not widely accepted practices—which may operate as unique but often overlooked types of institutions that shape entrepreneurial and organizational decisions.

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