Sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring dynamic capabilities in innovative firms: Why does strategic leadership make a difference?

Abstract

Despite existing evidence indicating that organizational learning positively influences dynamic capabilities, the complex and dynamic interplay of leadership in this process still remains incomplete. Organizational learning models note that leadership is embedded in the development of dynamic capabilities, and this research empirically investigates the interplay of organizational learning (exploitative and exploratory learning) and strategic leadership (transformational and transactional leadership) in developing dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring). A survey questionnaire on a sample of 106 firms is carried out, and results of hierarchical linear regressions indeed reveal that organizational learning shows a direct or indirect influence on dynamic capabilities through transactional or transformational leadership, depending on the type of department. This study is an innovative attempt to distinguish different antecedents for each type of dynamic capability on the basis of the type of learning and strategic leadership involved.