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Capability building through adversarial relationships: a replication and extension of Clarke and Roome (1999)
Author(s) -
Heugens Pursey P. M. A. R.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.372
Subject(s) - adversarial system , replication (statistics) , action (physics) , extension (predicate logic) , business , software deployment , marketing , knowledge management , public relations , computer science , political science , artificial intelligence , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , programming language , operating system
Cooperative interorganizational relationships are seen by many as indispensable vehicles for accessing external knowledge and accumulating capabilities. Surprisingly, the question of whether companies can also build capabilities through adversarial relationships has received little attention. This paper reports a study of the learning–action network of a major Anglo‐Dutch food and personal care company. The firm's present relationships with consumer representatives and environmental activists are strongly adversarial, due to the recent introduction of genetically modified ingredients. The study shows that companies can still build capabilities in a hostile environment, but that adversity influences capability building processes as well as capability content. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.