Perceiving ‘capability’ within dynamic capabilities: The role of owner-manager self-efficacy

Abstract

This article combines two popular, yet separate concepts: dynamic capabilities and self-efficacy. Both are concerned with ability/capability and offer potentially valuable synergies. As such, our in-depth qualitative study based in three micro-enterprises in the United Kingdom investigates, ‘what role(s) may owner-manager perceived self-efficacy play as a micro-foundation of dynamic capabilities in micro-enterprises?’ Our findings show that perceived self-efficacy can influence dynamic capability enactment in multifaceted ways and even suggest that in some cases, perceived self-efficacy is a crucial component of dynamic capabilities, without which there may be no such capability. These insights help open up the black box of dynamic capabilities by contributing important knowledge to the growing body of research into the micro-foundations of such capabilities. Furthermore, our study illuminates the importance of idiosyncratic micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities in micro-enterprises and expands extant knowledge of the potential effects of self-efficacy in the small business and entrepreneurship domain.

O trabalho do dirigente da pequena empresa: uma investigação pela etnometodologia

“…Seja no crescimento, no sucesso ou no desempenho da empresa, a personalidade, as atitudes e o comportamento do dirigente sempre são motivos de investigação (Escrivão Filho et. al., 2017;Kevill et al, 2017;Smith & Barret, 2016;Tell, 2015;Volery et al, 2015).…”

“…Revista BASEv.16, n.2, abril-junho 2019 Esse foco de estudos na pessoa do dirigente vem se intensificando nos últimos anos, sendo os principais alvos as características de personalidade e de comportamento do dirigente e a forma como isso afeta a pequena empresa (Escrivão Filho et. al., 2017;Kevill, Trehan & Easterby-Smith, 2017;Volery, Mueller, & Von Siemens, 2015).…”

Enhancing SME innovation performance

“…Second, we substantiate that employee collaboration has a positive impact on the development of a dynamic knowledge capability (ACAP). This finding advances the dynamic capabilities literature, where less attention has been devoted to the context of SMEs (Kevill et al, 2017) and which has focused predominantly on organization-level outcomes (Battisti and Deakins, 2017; Rice et al, 2015;Vickers and Lyon, 2014). We illustrate that in an SME context, ACAP is a sequential process, such that RACAP builds on PACAP.…”

“…These results establish strong theoretical underpinnings for how service innovation can be facilitated within SMEs and offer explicit guidelines to SMEs related to how they can achieve a service-based competitive advantage. I also advance theory on the development of dynamic capabilities in an SME context (Kevill et al, 2017) and contribute to the debate about how openness in the service innovation process might translate into higher market performance (Mina et al, 2014).…”

“…We illustrate that in an SME context, ACAP is a sequential process, such that RACAP builds on PACAP. Prior research also reveals increasing consideration of a microfoundations perspective on dynamic capabilities, and the role of managers in particular (Helfat and Peteraf, 2015;Kevill et al, 2017;Wilden et al, 2016;Winter, 2013). However, in addition to managers, other organizational actors affect the development of dynamic capabilities too (Helfat and Peteraf, 2015).…”