Devi R. Gnyawali

• Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
• Professor at Virginia Tech

Multiparty alliances (MPAs) are increasingly used to deliver large utilities infrastructure projects on‐time, on‐budget, and to specified quality. In theory, MPAs should help buyers to coordinate suppliers, enable concurrent scheduling, and create process innovations. On the other hand, these governance structures are inherently less stable than dy...

Prior research emphasizes the paradoxical nature of coopetition and the need for specialized capabilities—coopetition capability—to deal effectively with opportunities and challenges stemming from the simultaneous pursuit of cooperation and competition and to create superior value. However, we know little about the underlying conceptual properties...

We develop a theory of emotions in interfirm paradoxical relationships with a focus on coopetition and emotional ambivalence. We suggest that appraisals of paradoxical coopetition situations lead to the arousal of multiple, oppositely valenced emotions of various intensities, combinations of which correspond to different states of emotional ambival...

Progress in coopetition research is impeded by two problems in the literature: (a) superficial conceptualization of simultaneity and outcomes and (b) lack of theorizing about core properties of coopetition and how they influence outcomes. This paper addresses these interrelated problems and charts a path towards a theory of coopetition. We systemat...

In this study, we investigate the conditions under which firms involved in coopetition can mitigate the detrimental effects of experienced paradoxical tension on performance. We propose that the ability of a firm to benefit from the challenging and paradoxical phenomenon of coopetition is contingent upon having a specialized multi-dimensional coope...

This paper addresses two fundamental problems in the absorptive capacity (AC) literature: conceptual ambiguity on what AC is and a lack of synthesized empirical findings showing how AC matters for firm outcomes. We take a two-pronged approach to address these problems: (1) conceptual distillation of the literature to discern the core AC dimensions,...

Coopetition (simultaneous competition and collaboration between firms) is an important driver for innovation, as competing organizations benefit from pooling resources and ideas for new products, processes and achieving benefits such as collective reputation. However, a key issue facing such relationships is the notion of value creation and capture...

Coopetition is a phenomenon of substantial interest to academics and practitioners. Researchers have adopted many theoretical perspectives to examine coopetition but clarity and depth regarding their core underpinnings are lacking. In addition, while the phenomenon’s nuances require explanations that incorporate multiple perspectives, limited effor...

With a focus on inter-firm relationships involving the simultaneous pursuit of competition and cooperation, we develop a conceptual framework that explicates key paradoxical conditions, paradoxical tension, and performance implications of tension in such relationships. We propose felt tension as the actual manifestation of the paradox and offer ins...

This research examines how a firm's position in a coopetitive network (formed through cooperation among firms within an industry) influences the extent of the firm's competitive aggressiveness and market performance. The authors collected data on the competitive and cooperative actions of firms in the mobile telephone industry from 2000 to 2006, us...

This paper examines how decrease in innovation performance influences the firm¡¯s search for knowledge from its strategic alliances. We suggest that poorly performing firms would perceive an intensified knowledge acquisition-protection tension, which reduces their alliance knowledge search. We further argue that such firms would increase alliance k...

This paper focuses on the moderating role of a firm's absorptive capacity in realizing innovation benefits from the firm's alliance network technological resources. We conceptualize absorptive capacity along two dimensions—technological effort and technological capability—and hypothesize that these two dimensions have opposing moderating effects wh...

Absorptive capacity is one of the most widely used concepts in strategic management. Yet, findings on the effect of absorptive capacity on leveraging of external knowledge are fragmented and inconsistent in the literature. Using meta-analytic procedures, we distill and synthesize existing findings on the role of absorptive capacity (AC) on two key...

Scholarly interest in the phenomenon of innovation networks is rising along with rapid growth in the use of such networks in the business world. However, the literature is very fragmented and no clear theory exists to explain and examine innovation networks. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework by providing a clear conceptual definition...

This paper examines how the focal firm¡¯s innovation performance relative to historical and social aspirations influence the firm¡¯s utilization of alliance knowledge and to what extent firms with similar internal knowledge capabilities differ in their leveraging of such knowledge. Results based on a longitudinal sample of firms in the U.S. semicon...

This paper examines two interrelated questions: to what extent does coopetition in a firm's alliance portfolio impact the firm's innovation performance? And to what extent does a firm's coopetition experience influence the relationship between coopetition in the alliance portfolio and innovation performance? Conceptually, we advance the concepts of...

Stephen Tallman presented a critical view comparing coopetition to collusion at several levels of analysis in a panel presentation.

This study empirically investigates an important question in the coopetition literature: to what extent does coopetition impact a firm's innovation performance? With a focus on the intensity of competition and intensity of cooperation of a focal firm with its alliance partners, our theory proposes that a moderate level of competition with alliance...

We empirically examine how changes in knowledge held by a firm’s network partners and changes in the partnerships or nodes affect the firm’s ability to draw knowledge from the network and generate innovations. We conceptualize network change along two dimensions—knowledge vitality and partner vitality—and propose that firm innovation is a function...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how managers in Nepalese business organizations and non‐profit non‐government organizations understand and practice strategic management and to what extent such understanding and practices differ from those in western countries. Design/methodology/approach In‐depth case studies of eight business orga...

We develop a conceptual model that explains how a firm's cluster and network complement each other in enhancing the firm's likelihood of technological innovations. We identify critical innovation catalysts-awareness and motivation—and innovation barriers—resource constraints, organizational rigidity, and uncertainty. Our conceptual model explains h...

We investigate why and how co-opetition (simultaneous pursuit of collaboration and competition) between large firms occurs, evolves, and impacts the participating firms and the industry. We develop a multi-level conceptual framework by combining literature-based conceptual arguments and insights from an in-depth study of an exemplar case of co-opet...

This paper examines two important questions in the context of the social networking services (SNS) firms: what kind of competitive moves do SNS firms undertake and to what extent do the competitive moves impact firm performance?We blend the literature streams on information systems (IS) and strategic management and argue that given the unique chara...

We investigate the conditions under which external resources available to a firm impact the firm's ability to generate breakthrough innovations. We examine three conditions: source of external resource (cluster and network), characteristics of external resources (volume and quality of technological resources), and types of firm (technologically str...

We examine the paradox of capabilities: although portfolio resources contribute to innovation success, and technologically capable firms have the ability to gain more such resources, firms' 'competency traps' and the tension between value creation and value protection reduce benefits from portfolio resources for such firms. Results show that the qu...

While ties among subsidiaries--the key players of a MNC network--are a prerequisite for the formation of the network and the flow of knowledge within the organization, we know little about factors influencing the formation of such ties. By building on the literature on inter-firm networks and knowledge-based view of the firm, we develop a multi-lev...

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) face tremendous challenges in their attempt to pursue technological innovations. This paper argues that co-opetition strategy—simultaneous pursuit of competition and collaboration—helps SMEs to develop their ability to effectively pursue technological innovations. We developed a multilevel conceptual model...

This paper examines the extent to which resources in a firm’s network and cluster influence its ability to innovate and whether firms differ in their ability to leverage network and cluster resources. Using data from the U.S. semiconductor industry, we find that technological resources in a firm’s network and cluster enhance its ability to generate...

We develop a conceptual model and explain how a firm’s cluster and network factors independently and jointly influence innovation catalysts and barriers and in turn enhance the firm’s likelihood of generating technological innovations. Cluster competitive intensity and social interaction influence the firm’s awareness of opportunities and motivatio...

Using the context of market orientation, we examine how an exemplary business's market orientation culture is reflected in managers' mental models, evaluate how mental models and perceived behaviours differ across hierarchical levels and functions, and compare the cognitive values and beliefs or the cognitive aspects of market orientation culture w...

We investigate whether clusters and networks impact differently a firm's ability to generate technological innovations in a longitudinal study of US based semiconductor firms. We further examine whether resource profiles of firms explains their differential ability to benefit from the network and cluster technological resources. The preliminary res...

This paper examines the extent to which resources in a firm’s network and cluster influence its ability to innovate and whether firms differ in their ability to leverage network and cluster resources. Using data from the U.S. semiconductor industry, we find that technological resources in a firm’s network and cluster enhance its ability to generate...

The authors investigate how pay differences between the CEO and the rest of the members of the top management team influence a firm's competitive behavior as reflected in the observable and purposeful competitive moves launched by the firm. Using data from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, the authors found a positive relationship between the CEO p...

The article discusses ties between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation. The authors examine what factors motivate a focal subsidiary to form knowledge ties with peer subsidiaries, and what factors influence decisions to select partners once this motivation is established. In addition, once the tie is formed, certain contextual factors c...

Triadic structure is an important, but neglected, aspect of interfirm networks. We developed the constructs clustering and countering as potential drivers of triadic structure and combined them with the recently developmed p* network model to demonstrate the value and feasibility of triadic analysis. Exploratory analysis of data from the global ste...

Abstract and Key Results – This study examines antecedent factors that influence foreign subsidiaries’ innovation through learning from local environments, which in turn influences their knowledge contribution back to the headquarters. We argue that subsidiary local embeddedness, subsidiary top management team heterogeneity, and MNC corporate ent...

Embedded within firms are unique stores of intangible human assets that likely influence the way firms compete. We argue that human and social capital of a firm, particularly at the upper echelon level, contributes to the firm’s awareness of the competitive environment and its motivation and ability to undertake numerous, complex, and strategic com...

The authors examine how co-opetition - simultaneous cooperation and competition - affects firms' competitive behavior, proposing that differential structural positions among firms in a co-opetitive network reflect resource asymmetries among them and that such asymmetries lead to differences in the volume and diversity of competitive actions underta...

Embedded within firms are unique stores of intangible human assets that likely influence the way firms compete. We argue that the human and social capital of a firm, particularly at the upper echelon and board of director (BOD) levels, contribute to the firm's awareness of the competitive environment and its motivation and ability to undertake nume...

Executive compensation is one of the most critically evaluated aspects of a firm. Driving this attention is the debate into what exactly are the consequences of executive pay. Since a majority of prior compensation research has aggregated industries into a single omnibus sample, it has been difficult to detect compensation effects that are likely i...

Our primary objective is to provide method-related broad guidelines to researchers on the entire spectrum of issues involved in cause mapping and to encourage researchers to use causal mapping techniques in strategy research. We challenge strategists to open the black box and investigate the mental models that depict the cause and effect beliefs of...

Purpose To provide insight, explanation, and empirical evidence into how and why CEOs get paid the amounts that they do. Design/methodology/approach This paper blends several methodologies. Using qualitative interviews with several high level managers, it develops a coding listing to capture how pharmaceutical firms compete within their industry....

By adopting a cognitive perspective, we examine ways in which knowledge creation processes within organizations effectively enhance organizational knowledge via the cognitive processes of organizational members. We identify two distinct yet complementary learning processes-informational and interactive-and argue that these processes contribute to t...

This paper examines factors that influence the development of synergistic knowledge in student groups. Results suggest positive influences of team psychological safety and social interaction and a negative influence of task conflict on synergistic knowledge development. Implications of these findings for teaching and research are discussed.

Current research suggests that organizational learning (OL) occurs through different processes and describes various types of learning that are used in organizations. What is unclear, though, is what circumstances prompt an organization to engage in one learning process or the other. Equally confusing is the underlying relationship between learning...

Research shows that managers' cognitive structures influence their decisions and firm outcomes, and that managers' shared understanding is critical to new product success. Yet, little is known about the content and structure of managers' knowledge regarding their business's market orientation (MO) and how such orientation relates to new product dev...

Research shows that managers' cognitive structures influence their decisions and firm outcomes, and that managers' shared understanding is critical to new product success. Yet, little is known about the content and structure of managers' knowledge regarding their business's market orientation (MO) and how such orientation relates to new product dev...

Firms are embedded in networks of cooperative relationships that influence the flow of resources among them. Dynamic resource flows and differentiated structural positions lead to asymmetries and influence firms' competitive behavior toward others in the network. We develop a: multilevel conceptual model relating key network properties to competiti...

This paper examines the factors that influence the development of integrated knowledge in cross-major student groups and the extent to which such knowledge enhances students' perceptions of their group's performance. The sample consisted of 218 students enrolled in Business Policy and Strategy classes. Each group, consisting of 3-6 students from mu...

Firms are embedded in networks of cooperative relationships which influence the flow of resources among them. The dynamic resource flows and differentiated structural positions lead to asymmetries and influence firms' competitive behavior toward others in the network. We develop a multi-level conceptual model relating key network properties to comp...

The focus of most of the current literature on inter-organizational learning has been on how a firm acquires knowledge from its alliance partners. While knowledge acquisition is an important process, a firm may not effectively learn through such process, especially when the knowledge is complex, tacit, and embedded. Further, despite the increasing...

Despite the growing body of literature on both organizational learning (OL) and corporate venture development (CVD), very few attempts have been made to establish connections between these two literature streams. While existing literature provides some evidence that OL may facilitate the process of CVD, several interesting research issues remain un...

Why do so many firms have difficulty improving their strategic management processes, even though many of their operating departments gain benefits from the “experience curve”? For example, an impressively successful midwestern bank improves the performance of acquired banks in contiguous markets but struggles with acquisitions in more remote parts...

An integrated framework is not available for studying the environmental conditions conducive for entrepreneurship despite their importance for the emergence and growth of enterprises in a country. This paper develops such a framework consisting of five dimensions of entrepreneurial environments and links these dimensions to the core elements of the...