Skills, shop-floor participation and the transformation of Brimfield Precision: lessons for the revitalization of the metal-working sector

Dynamic capabilities: A review and research agenda

“…Confounding the situation is the fact that a significant number of empirical studies pertinent to dynamic capabilities do not explicate the concept (i.e. Delmas 1999; D’Este 2002; Figueiredo 2003; Forrant and Flynn 1999; George 2005; Lehrer 2000; Malerba et al 1999; Mota and de Castro 2004; Salvato 2003; Sako 2004; Woiceshyn and Daellenbach 2005). Instead, these studies simply describe how firm evolution occurs over time, most usually illustrated through case studies.…”

“…Other empirical studies (e.g. Alvarez and Merino 2003; Camuffo and Volpato 1996; Forrant and Flynn 1999) also reveal that the ability to adapt to environmental changes and align internal resources with external demand is critical to firm evolution and survival in several industries. Firms that have high levels of adaptive capability exhibit dynamic capabilities (Teece et al 1997).…”

“…Empirical research on dynamic capabilities has begun to fill the vacuum area of the transformational mechanisms. For example, in the study of the US metal-working sector, one that fell into 'complete disrepair' after World War II owing to its inability to respond to the rise of new competitors, particularly from Japan, the transformation of Brimfield Precision Inc. from a machinist dependent on a few customers and price-based contracts to a designer and manufacturer of various surgical instruments was accomplished through a range of processes: (i) evolving from a 'boot in the butt', hierarchical firm to one that is skill based and reliant on shop-floor production teams; (ii) instilling continuous improvement in design and manufacturing; and (iii) developing in-plant innovative capabilities (Forrant and Flynn 1999). Empirical studies also reveal other processes pertinent to dynamic capabilities, such as the internal and external integration of knowledge in a healthcare firm (Petroni 1998), dynamic learning in telecommunication firms (Majumdar 1999), capability possession, deployment and upgrading in international expansion (Luo 2000), technology accumulation in cross-border transactions of biotech firms (Madhok and Osegowitsch 2000), continuous transformation of organizational forms in Yahoo!…”

Business Intelligence and Data Analytics as a Driver of Dynamic Capability Strategic Approach

“…In other words, adaptive capability draws on a firm's ability to adapt and align its resources with environmental changes [26]. This concept is in line with the finding of several empirical studies that found that the capability of response to environment and the alignment of internal resources with external demand is crucial to firm evolution and survival [27] [28] [29]. Moreover, Oktemgil and Gordon connected the definition of adaptive capabilities to the market since they indicated the four main abilities, which are adapting product-market scope; scanning the market; monitoring customers and competitors;, and responding to changing the market environment [30].…”

Performance and Practice: Examining the Machine Tool Industries of Japan and the United States

“…The magnitude of the problem is less severe in Japan because worker training and overall human capital issues receive stronger public support than is the case in the United States. A key part of Japanese firm success has been the complete integration of all levels of employees into the manufacturing process for these products (Forrant & Flynn 1999). In this scenario, the process is not just engineeringdriven or marketing-driven.…”