Startup innovation capability from a dynamic capability-based view: A literature review and conceptual framework

Authors

  • Samia El Hanchi Mohamed V University, Ecole Mohammadia d’ Ingénieurs, Avenue Ibn Sina, BP765, Agdal, Rabat, Morocco http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4784-9733
  • Lamia Kerzazi Mohamed V University, Ecole Mohammadia d’ Ingénieurs, Avenue Ibn Sina, BP765, Agdal, Rabat, Morocco

Abstract

While there is a rich body of literature on innovation, the concept of innovation capability (IC) is barely identifiable as a distinct construct. Startup IC is tacitly covered in innovation management, entrepreneurship, or small business literature. We suggest a dynamic capability (DC) approach to study innovation as a distinctive capability of startup firms. A semi-structured literature review of 125 articles combining various theoretical backgrounds is discussed, including the IC conceptualizations and operationalization that we extracted and clustered into a comprehensive yet synthetic framework. This paper suggests an IC construct as a higher order DC composed of three DCs—sensing, seizing, and transforming—and three layers of foundations—core IC, supporting IC, and startup entrepreneurial capabilities. This work adds to the emerging capability-based view of the innovation stream by addressing the specific case of startups. It recognizes their entrepreneurial nature and the important role of the entrepreneur’s capabilities and behaviors. It also contributes to the entrepreneurship theory by identifying the capabilities contributing to opportunity sensing and seizing and the capabilities required for transforming and shaping new opportunities. For practitioners, the IC framework offers a practical tool to assess startup ICs and identify strengths, weaknesses, and external complementarities.

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Published

2020-05-27

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Samia El Hanchi, Lamia Kerzazi

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How to Cite

Startup innovation capability from a dynamic capability-based view: A literature review and conceptual framework. (2020). Journal of Small Business Strategy (archive Only), 30(2), 72-92. https://libjournals.mtsu.edu/index.php/jsbs/article/view/1393