Dynamic Capabilities in Multinational Enterprises

Dynamic capabilities refer to an organisation’s capacity to integrate, build and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments. In the context of multinational enterprises (MNEs), these capabilities enable sensing of cross-border opportunities, seizing them through resource reconfiguration and transforming global value chains to sustain competitive advantage. Key processes include knowledge transfer across subsidiaries, global orchestration of resources, strategic renewal of product and process portfolios and alignment of organisational structures. MNEs leverage dynamic capabilities to navigate institutional diversity, technological disruption and shifting market demands by deploying digital platforms, forging strategic alliances and fostering managerial cognition attuned to cultural and regulatory differences. Recent conceptual advances highlight the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities—managerial human and social capital, organisational routines and digital infrastructure—as well as the role of organisational ambidexterity in balancing global integration with local responsiveness. The global significance of this research lies in offering practical guidance to practitioners on building resilience and innovativeness, while policymakers can draw lessons on enabling frameworks that support cross-border knowledge flows and sustainable growth.

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Dynamic Capabilities in Multinational Enterprises publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in dynamic capabilities in multinational enterprises across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Dynamic capabilities: Organisational processes and routines that enable a firm to integrate, build and reconfigure competences to address rapidly changing environments.

Recombinant firm-specific advantages: Unique combinations of assets and competencies developed through dynamic reconfiguration that yield competitive differentiation.

Microfoundations: Underlying managerial and social elements—such as human capital, social capital and cognition—that support sensing, seizing and transforming activities.

Organisational ambidexterity: The capacity to balance exploitative activities for efficiency with explorative activities for innovation across diverse contexts.

References

1. The Digital Challenge for Multinational Mobile Network Operators. More marginalization or rejuvenation?. Journal of International Management (2022).
2. More capable, more innovative? An empirical inquiry into the effects of dynamic managerial capabilities on digital firms' innovativeness. European Journal of Innovation Management (2022).
3. Dynamic Capabilities, Internationalization and Growth of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises: The Roles of Research and Development Intensity and Collaborative Intensity. Management International Review (2022).