The moderating effects of technological capabilities on the market pioneering - Firm survival relationship

April M. Franco, Mb Sarkar, Rajshree Agarwal, Raj Echambadi

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

A core idea in corporate entrepreneurship is that strategic renewal requires a syncretic balance between product and markets on one hand, and exploration and exploitation on the other. This paper investigates firm performance in industries where rapid changes are accompanied by the emergence of new technological sub-fields and market segments. We re-examine first mover advantage (FMA) by adopting a dynamic, evolutionary conceptualization of first movers, and in the context of the technological 'play' of the product being launched. In the empirical setting of the disk drive industry during 1977-1997, we show that a firm's technological capability has crucial implications on the outcome of its market pioneering efforts. We demonstrate that while pioneering elevates survival rates when a firm is a technology leader, such early to market strategies hurt when the technological performance of the product is below a certain minimum level. Until a firm accomplishes this minimum of technological play in the product, a firm is better off delaying entry even in product markets that have very short life-cycles.

Original languageEnglish (US)
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006
Event66th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2006 - Atlanta, GA, United States
Duration: Aug 11 2006Aug 16 2006

Other

Other66th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2006
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAtlanta, GA
Period8/11/068/16/06

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Information Systems
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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