Maurizio Zollo

Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities

This paper investigates the mechanisms through which organizations develop dynamic capabilities, defined as routinized activities directed to the development and adaptation of operating routines. It addresses the role of (1) experience accumulation, (2) knowledge articulation, and (3) knowledge codifi- cation processes in the evolution of dynamic, as well as operational, routines. The argument is made that dynamic capabilities are shaped by the coevolution of these learning mechanisms. At any point in time, firms adopt a mix of learning behaviors constituted by a semiautomatic accumulation of experience and by deliberate investments in knowledge articulation and codification activities. The relative effectiveness of these capability-building mechanisms is analyzed here as contingent upon selected features of the task to be learned, such as its frequency, homogeneity, and degree of causal ambiguity. Testable hypotheses about these effects are derived. Somewhat counterintuitive implications of the analysis include the relatively superior effectiveness of highly deliberate learning processes such as knowledge codification at lower levels of frequency and homogeneity of the organizational task, in contrast with common managerial practice.

Interorganizational Routines and Performance in Strategic Alliances

This paper applies evolutionary economics reasoning to the strategic alliance context and examines whether and how routinization processes at the partnering-firm level influence the performance of the cooperative agreement. In doing so, it introduces the concept of interorganizational routines, defined as stable patterns of interaction among two firms developed and refined in the course of repeated collaborations, and suggests that partner-specific, technology-specific, and general experience accumulation at the partnering-firm level influence the extent to which alliances result in knowledge accumulation, create new growth opportunities, and enable partnering firms to achieve their strategic objectives. We also consider how governance design choices at the transaction level shape the effectiveness of interorganizational routizination processes. Based on a sample of 145 biotechnology alliances, we find that only partner-specific experience has a positive impact on alliance performance, and that this effect is stronger in the absence of equity-based governance mechanisms. We interpret these results to support the role of interfirm coordination and cooperation routines in enhancing the effectiveness of collaborative agreements.

Experience Spillovers Across Corporate Development Activities

This study develops and tests a theory of experience spillovers across corporate development activities. In particular, we investigate the impact of prior alliance experience on the performance implications of corporate acquisitions. We start with the simple suggestion that such experience spillovers will depend on the similarity among the managerial processes characterizing these activities. The empirical evidence confirms that the more the focal acquisition is managed in ways that are typical of partnerships (e.g., with low integration or with high relational quality levels), the more positive is the effect of past alliance experience on acquisition performance. However, we also find that alliance experience can be detrimental under certain circumstances, such as when the acquisition is managed with more aggressive post-acquisition integration approaches. This paper proposes a more sophisticated model of experience spillovers that can accommodate both positive and negative experience spillover effects across complex organizational tasks.

What Is MA Performance

Executive Overview This paper examines the concept of acquisition performance, proposing a model linking task-, transaction-, and firm-level constructs under different time horizons and testing it with a unique dataset created by surveying partners and directors of a major consulting firm advising on the postacquisition integration process of 146 acquisitions across industries and geographies. Results of factor and structural equations analysis reveal that (a) MA there is no one overarching factor capturing all the different ways used to proxy it, (b) there is a path linking integration process performance to long-term firm performance (both accounting and financial returns) via customer retention and overall synergy realization, and (c) short-term window event studies are not linked to any of the other performance metrics. Implications are drawn and recommendations made for theory development, research design, and data analysis in future studies of acquisition pe...

The impact of national culture on corporate social performance

Purpose – This paper sets out to investigate the effect of differences in national cultures on the social and environmental performance of companies around the world.Design/methodology/approach – Theoretical propositions on how the various dimensions of national culture influence corporate social responsibility are developed and empirically tested.Findings – The authors propose that companies based in countries characterized by higher levels of power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance exhibit lower levels of social and environmental performance. Empirical tests of these propositions are performed via pooled ordinary least squares regression models using a novel proprietary dataset on 463 firms from 23 North American, European and Asian countries. Power distance and masculinity are found to have a significant negative effect on corporate social and environmental performance, whereas cultural differences with respect to individualism and uncertainty avoidance have no significant...

A Bird in the Hand or Two in the Bush?: Integration Trade-offs in Technology-grafting Acquisitions

Technology-grafting acquisitions are the acquisitions of technology-based entrepreneurial firms by established firms. They are often motivated by the need to bring products speedily to market, as well as develop future product pipelines. We argue that these are conflicting objectives; a trade-off between short and long-term performance arises because acquisition integration has opposite effects on the strength of the organizational linkages between target and acquirer, and on the continued innovative capacity of the target firm.

Beyond What and Why Understanding Organizational Evolution Towards Sustainable Enterprise Models

In this article, we strive to contribute to the ongoing shift in the sustainability debate from its historical focus on definitional (“what”) and motivational (“why”) questions to the understanding of change and learning process questions (“how”) connected to the efforts some firms are making to evolve toward “sustainable enterprise” models. A conceptual framework to study these evolutionary processes is thus developed, and the complexities and research design trade-offs facing the related empirical inquiry highlighted. The main message advanced herein is that shifting the focus of analysis to the level of the initiatives undertaken to change the various elements in the enterprise model could prove the best way to frame the conceptual and empirical challenge before us. In a way, to make progress on the “what,” research should focus on the “how.”

Introduction to the special issue: integrating sustainability in business models

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue, conceptualized and realized by a group of scholars engaged in the Global Organizational Learning and Development Network (GOLDEN) for Sustainability programme. It aims to adopt the overarching research question of the GOLDEN research programme “How do firms learn to integrate and manage sustainability in their business models, including their organizational purpose, strategy, processes, systems and culture?” as the guiding principle for case selection.Design/methodology/approach – The paper first presents the key ideas underpinning the previous research question and illustrates the research approach and agenda of GOLDEN for Sustainability. Second, it introduces the eight case studies presented in this special issue.Findings – The cases offer good illustrations of the ongoing transition by both medium‐sized and multinational corporations dealing with learning and change challenges posed by the identification and management of sustainab...

Towards an internal change management perspective of CSR: evidence from project RESPONSE on the sources of cognitive alignment between managers and their stakeholders, and their implications for social performance

Purpose – This paper aims to juxtapose two separate perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in terms of their ability to explain the cognitive alignment between managers and stakeholders on what constitutes the social responsibility of the focal firm, and to explain social performance.Design/methodology/approach – The authors take two perspectives: that of stakeholder engagement, which has historically characterized the debate on CSR; and that of internal change processes required to integrate CSR in a firms operations. The authors analyze data from 427 interviews, of which 209 were with managers and 219 with stakeholders of 19 multinational firms in eight sectors, to assess the extent of cognitive alignment between managers and stakeholders on the conceptualization of CSR for the relevant firm, to determine which of the two theoretical perspectives is connected with the degree of cognitive alignment, and to determine which of the two is connected with the perception of corporate social per...

Frontopolar cortex and decision-making efficiency: comparing brain activity of experts with different professional background during an exploration-exploitation task

An optimal balance between efficient exploitation of available resources and creative exploration of alternatives is critical for adaptation and survival. Previous studies associated these behavioral drives with, respectively, the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic system and frontopolar-intraparietal networks. We study the activation of these systems in two age and gender-matched groups of experienced decision-makers differing in prior professional background, with the aim to understand the neural bases of individual differences in decision-making efficiency (performance divided by response time). We compare brain activity of entrepreneurs (who currently manage the organization they founded based on their venture idea) and managers (who are constantly involved in making strategic decisions but have no venture experience) engaged in a gambling-task assessing exploitative vs. explorative decision-making. Compared with managers, entrepreneurs showed higher decision-making efficiency, and a stronger activation in regions of frontopolar cortex (FPC) previously associated with explorative choice. Moreover, activity across a network of regions previously linked to explore/exploit tradeoffs explained individual differences in choice efficiency. These results suggest new avenues for the study of individual differences in the neural antecedents of efficient decision-making.