Methodological and Dimensional Issues in Dynamic Capability in Early Internationalization Research: a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The dynamic capability (DC) perspective is one of the key theories discussed related to the phenomena of early internationalization. However, there is no considerable effort has been made to review and integrate the associate literature of this perspective in the field. This review aims to examine methodological and dimensional choices in 22 empirical studies on DC in early internationalization including international new ventures (INVs) and born-globals (BGs). In carrying out this review, a search was conducted accessing the Google Scholar search engine, encompassing journals that have published research between 1970 and 2022 on INVs/BGs and DCs. The findings revealed that amid heightened research interest in the DC perspective in studies of INVs/BGs there is a methodological imbalance as quantitative research is underdeveloped while the majority of key studies are qualitative. Further, the dimensions are vaguely discussed, and tested and more bias has been given to a few capabilities like networking and learning capabilities. Concerning about the contribution, this review debates the role of DC in INVs/BGs by revealing the areas for immediate attention in methodology and dimensional choices. The implications are relevant for DC researchers, journal reviewers and editors as well as readers of scholarly DC articles on how to conceptualize DCs. This review is a novel contribution towards the understanding of the methods used in DC research and encompasses a slightly broader scope of time compared to the earlier reviews. Building upon, yet moving beyond reviews to date, and broadening to the latest publications, this paper advances the understanding of the state of dynamic capabilities in early internationalization.