Reconfiguration: Adding, redeploying, recombining and divesting resources and business units

• Date: 01 December 2016
• Published date: 01 December 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2537
• Author: Samina Karim,Laurence Capron

Reconfiguration:

Adding,Redeploying,RecombiningandDivestingResourcesandBusinessUnits

Editors’Introduction

SaminaKarim

Strategy&InnovationDepartment

QuestromSchoolofBusiness

BostonUniversity

Boston,MA,USA

Email:samina@bu.edu

LaurenceCapron

StrategicDepartment

INSEAD

Fontainebleau,France

Email:laurence.capron@insead.edu

April3,2015

RECONFIGURATION:

Adding,Redeploying,RecombiningandDivestingResourcesandBusinessUnits

ItisnowwellestablishedintheStrategyliteraturethatfirmsgrowsuccessfullyandsurviveiftheyare

abletoaltertheirresourcebaseonanongoingbasis(Teece,2007;Helfat,Finkelstein,Mitchell,Peteraf,

TeeceandWinter,2007;EisenhardtandMartin,2000;CapronandMitchell,2009;HelfatandPeteraf,

2014).Inexaminingthechallengesinvolvedinchangingthefirm’sresourcebase,researchon

reconfigurationreferstotheactivitiesinwhichfirmsengagewhenadding,redeploying,recombining,or

divestingresourcesorbusinessunits.

ThisVirtualSpecialIssuebringstogetherseminalstudiespublishedintheStrategicManagementSociety

Journaloverthelast35yearswhichcollectivelyadvanceourunderstandingofthereconfiguration

phenomenon.Whileitbynomeansoffersanexhaustivereviewofthisincreasinglyactivestreamof

research,ithighlightsanumberofkeycontributionsthathaveshapedourknowledgeof

reconfiguration.Althoughthepapersherevaryintheirapproach(someareempirical,othersdevelop

logicalarguments),methods(qualitativevs.quantitative),andlevelofanalysis(individuals,intra‐firm

units,inter‐organizationalrelationships),theyhaveincommonasharedunderstandingof

reconfigurationasacrucialprocessunderlyingfirms’expansion,contractionandinnovationastheyseek

toimproveperformanceandsecurecompetitiveadvantage.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.