The Microfoundations of Organizational Capability: A Review and Prospects

Li Weiwen, Li Xiaotong, Chen Yantai, Kang Xiwen

Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 46, Issue 12, pp. 37 - 54 (2024)  DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.20230825.101

Summary

Organizational capability is critical for enterprises to gain sustainable competitive advantages. Prior studies have suggested that enterprises should develop different types of organizational capability, including dynamic capability, absorptive capacity, and ambidexterity. However, it is still unclear what managers can do to develop organizational capability. This paper offers a comprehensive review of studies on the microfoundations of organizational capability, and then develops an integrative framework by taking into consideration how individuals, structures, and processes interact and contribute to the emergence of organizational capability. This paper also delineates future research directions of studies on the microfoundations of organizational capability in the Chinese context.

Keywords

organizational capability; microfoundations; emergence mechanism; literature review