Abstract
On the ground of an empirical multivariate analysis performed on a sample of 120 small and medium sized firms operating in Italy’s Midday that participating to the tender offer issued according to Law 488/1992, this article scrutinizes the role that endogenous and exogenous elements play jointly on firm performance. We propose an interpretive framework of the strategy process that allows for both aspects (i.e., exogenous and endogenous), combining firm capabilities with strategic opportunities thath are accessible, and considering financial resources as a privileged conduit to gain acces to opportunities the firm is able to recognize. The study emphasizes the role of the entrepreneur, observed as a creative subject capable to guide the firm’s development path and its capabilities as regards the evolution of the external context, as well as to seize new opportunities by means of the exploitation of the firm’s capabilitiesReferences
Alvarez S., Barney J. (2007). Entrepreneurship and epistemology: The philosophical underpinnings of the study of entrepreneurial opportunities, Academy of Management Annals, Vol.4.
Alvarez S., Barney J. (2007). Discovery and creation: alternative theories of entrepreneurial action. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1(1–2): 11–26.
Audretsch D.B., Elston J.A. (2002). Does firm size matter? Evidence on the impact of liquidity constraints of firm investment behavior in Germany. International Journal of Industrial
Organization, 20(1), 1-17.
Amit R., Schoemaker J.H. (1993). Strategic assets and organizational rents. Strategic Management Journal. 14, 1: 33-46.
Andrews K.R. (1971) The concept of corporate strategy. Richard Irwin.
Barney J. (1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck and business strategy. Management Science, 32 (10), 1231-1241.
Barney J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 1, 99-120.
Bohacek, R. (2003). Financial constraints and entrepreneurial investment. CERGE-EI Working Paper Series.
Clark K.B., Fujimoto T. (1991). Product development performance: Strategy, organization and management in the world auto industry. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
Cleary S. (2006). International corporate investment and the relationships between financial constraint measures. Journal of Banking & Finance, 30,5, 1559-1580.
Cockburn I.M., Henderson R.M., Stern S. (2000). Untangling the origins of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 21, 10-11: 1123–1145.
Cyert R.M., Hedrick C.L. (1972). Theory of the firm: Past, present and future; An interpretation. Journal of Economic Literature, 10, 2: 398-412.
D’Aveni R. A. (1994). Hypercompetition. Managing the dynamics of strategic manoeuvring. Free Press, New York.
Dagnino G.B. (2003). Bridging the Strategy Gap: Firm Strategy and Coevolution of Capability Space and Opportunity Space. The Wharton School, Snider Center for Entrepreneurial
Research, Working Paper n. 203.
Dagnino G.B. (2005). I paradigmi dominanti negli studi di strategia d’impresa. Giappichelli Torino.
Dagnino G.B., Mariani M.M. (2007). Dynamic gap bridging and realized gap set development: The strategic role of the firm in the coevolution of capability space and opportunity space. In U. Cantner, F. Malerba (Eds). Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Structural Transformation, Springer, Berlino.
Dosi, G., Nelson R.R., Winter S.G. (Eds.) (2000). The nature and dynamics of organizational capabilities. Oxford University Press.
Dosi G., Malerba F. (2003). Interpreting industrial dynamics twenty years after Nelson and Winter’s Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change: A preface. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11, 4: 619-622.
Eisenhardt, K., Galunic, D. (2000), Coevolving: At last, a way to make synergies work, Harvard Business Review, January-February, pp.91-101.
Eisenhardt, K., Martin, J. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: What are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21: 1105-1121.
Fayolle A. (2004), A’ la recherche du cœur de l’entrepreneuriat: vers une nouvelle vision du domaine, Revue Internationale P.P.E, vol. 17, n. 1.
Fazzari S.M., Hubbard G.R., Petersen B.C. (2000). Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are Useful: A Comment on Kaplan and Zingales. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115, 2: 695-705.
Ferraris Franceschi R. (1993) “Linee metodologiche nella ricerca economico-aziendale applicata alla piccola e media dimensione”, in Padroni G., Lo sviluppo della piccola e media impresa.
Finkelstein S. (2003). Why smart executives fail: And what you can learn from their mistakes. Penguin Books, New York.
Galende J., De La Fuente J. M. (2003). Internal factors determining firm’s innovative behaviour. Research Policy, 32: 715-736.
Grant R. (1991). A Resources based theory of competitive advantage: Implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33, 3:114-135.
Grant R. (1996). Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: Organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization Science, 7, 4, 375-387.
Hayek F.A. (1945). The use of knowledge in society. American Economic Review. 35(4):519-530.Helfat E.C. (2000). Guest Editor’s Introduction to the Special Issue: The Evolution of
Firm Capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 21, 10/11.
Helfat C.E. (2003). The SMS Blackwell handbook of organizational capabilities: Emergence, development and change. Blackwell Publishing. Malden, US
Helfat C.E., Peteraf M. (2003). The dynamic resource-based view: capability lifecycles. Strategic Management Journal, 24 (10): 997-1010.
Henderson R., Mitchell W. (1997). The interactions of organizational and competitive influences on strategy and performance . Strategic Management Journal. 18: 5-14.
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., Camp, S.M., Sexton, D.L. (2002). Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset. Oxford: Blackwell.
Huygens M., Baden-Füllen C., Van Den Bosh F.A.J., Volberda H.W. (2001). Coevolution of firm capabilities and industry competition: Investigating the music industry 1877-1997 . ERIM
Report Series Research in Management. Version 12.
Jacobson R. (1992). The Austrian School of Strategy. Academy of Management Review, 17, 4, pp. 782-807.
Kaplan N.S., Zingales L. (1997). Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112, (1): 169-215.
Kaplan N.S., Zingales L. (2000). Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are not Valid Measures of Financing Constraints. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115( 2): 707-712.
Kee H.T., Foo M.D., Lim B.C. (2002), Opportunity Evaluation under Risky Conditions:The Cognitive Processes of Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 27(2): 125-148.
Kirzner I.M. (1973). Competition and entrepreneurship. Chicago University Press. Kirzner I.M. (1979). Perception, opportunity and profit. Studies in the theory of entrepreneur-
ship. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kogut B., Zander U. (1992). Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, 3 (3): 383-397.
Kogut B., Kulatilaka N. (2001). Capabilities as real options. Organization Science 12 (6): 744-758.
La Rocca M. (2007). Politiche finanziarie d’impresa. La relazione fra investimenti, cash flow e vincoli finanziari in Italia , EGEA, Milano.
Lewin A.Y., Volberda H.W. (1999). Prolegomena on coevolution: A framework for research on strategy and new organizational forms. Organization Science, 10, (5): 519-534.
Marchini I. (2005), Il governo della piccola impresa vol. II – La gestione strategica, Aspi/Ins Edit, Genova, 2a. ed.
Man T.W.Y., Lau T., Chan K.F. (2002). The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competencies. Journal of Business Venturing, 17, 123-142.
Mariani M.M., Dagnino G.B. (2007). Unveiling the modal capability lifecycle: The coevolutionary foundations of the firm’s effectiveness in capturing strategic opportunities. International Journal Learning and Intellectual Capital, Vol. 4 N. 1/2, pp. 132-146.
Merton R.K, Barber E. (2006), The travels and adventures of serendipity: A study in sociological semantics and the sociology of science, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Mintzberg H., Lampel J., Ahlstrand B. (1998), Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through The Wilds of Strategic Management, Free Press, New York.
Mocciaro Li Destri A. (2005). Contesti istituzionali e vviluppo d’impresa. Un’applicazione alla produzione dei software dai modelli open source ai modelli ibridi, Giappichelli Editore, Torino.
Modigliani, F. Miller, M. (1958) The cost of capital, corporate finance, and the theory of investment. American Economic Review, 48(3), 261-297.
Moran P., Ghoshal S. (1999). Markets, firms, and the process of economic development. Academy of Management Review, 54: 3, 390-412.Mosakowski E. (1998). Entrepreneurial resourc-
es, organizational choices, and competitive outcomes. Organization Science, 9,. 6: 625-643.
Nelson R.R. (1991). Why do firms differ and how does it matter? Strategic Management Journal, Special Issue, 12: 61-74.
Nelson R.R., Winter S.D. (1982). An evolutionary theory of the firm . Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA
Nelson R.R., Winter S.D. (2002). Evolutionary theorizing in economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2: 23-46.
O’Brien T.C., Fadem T.J. (1999). Identifying new business opportunities. Research Technology Management, 42,5: 15.
O’Driscoll G., Rizzo M. (1996). The economics of time and ignorance. New York, Routledge, 2a ed.
Penrose E. (1959). The theory of the growth of the firm . Oxford University Press, Oxford.Pettigrew A.M. (1992), The character and significance of strategy process research, Strategic Management Journal, 13:5-16
Porter M.E. (1980). Competitive Strategy. Free Press, New York.
Porter (1981). The contribution of industrial organization to strategic management. Academy of Management Review.
Rangone A. (1999), A resource-based approach to strategy analysis in small-medium sized enterprises, Small Business Economics, 12(3), 233-248.
Richardson G.B. (1972). The organization of industry. Economic Journal, 82: 883-896. Romijn H., Albaladejo M. (2002), Determinants of innovation capability in small electro-
nics and software firms in southeast England, Research Policy, 31(7,)1053-1067.
Shane S. (2000). Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. Organization Science, 11,4: 448-470.
Shane S. (2001). Technological opportunities and new firm creation . Management Science, 47, 2: 205-221.
Shane S. (2003). A general theory of entrepreneurship. Edward
Elgar. Cheltenham, UK. Sirmon D.G., Hitt M.A. (2003), Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources,
Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice,
27(4), 339-358.
Stock, J.H., Watson M.W. (2005), Implications of dynamic factor models for VAR analysis, NBER Working Papers11467, Boston.
Teece D.J., Pisano G., Shuen A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management, Strategic Management Journal, 18(7): 509-553.
Teece D.J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28: 1329-1350.
Volberda W.H. (2004). Crisis in Strategy: Fragmentation, Integration or Synthesis. European Management Review, 1, 35-42.
Winter S.D. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities.Strategic Management Journal, 24, 10.
Zollo M., Winter S.D. (2002). Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organization Science, 3, 3.
Alvarez S., Barney J. (2007). Discovery and creation: alternative theories of entrepreneurial action. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 1(1–2): 11–26.
Audretsch D.B., Elston J.A. (2002). Does firm size matter? Evidence on the impact of liquidity constraints of firm investment behavior in Germany. International Journal of Industrial
Organization, 20(1), 1-17.
Amit R., Schoemaker J.H. (1993). Strategic assets and organizational rents. Strategic Management Journal. 14, 1: 33-46.
Andrews K.R. (1971) The concept of corporate strategy. Richard Irwin.
Barney J. (1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck and business strategy. Management Science, 32 (10), 1231-1241.
Barney J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 1, 99-120.
Bohacek, R. (2003). Financial constraints and entrepreneurial investment. CERGE-EI Working Paper Series.
Clark K.B., Fujimoto T. (1991). Product development performance: Strategy, organization and management in the world auto industry. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
Cleary S. (2006). International corporate investment and the relationships between financial constraint measures. Journal of Banking & Finance, 30,5, 1559-1580.
Cockburn I.M., Henderson R.M., Stern S. (2000). Untangling the origins of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 21, 10-11: 1123–1145.
Cyert R.M., Hedrick C.L. (1972). Theory of the firm: Past, present and future; An interpretation. Journal of Economic Literature, 10, 2: 398-412.
D’Aveni R. A. (1994). Hypercompetition. Managing the dynamics of strategic manoeuvring. Free Press, New York.
Dagnino G.B. (2003). Bridging the Strategy Gap: Firm Strategy and Coevolution of Capability Space and Opportunity Space. The Wharton School, Snider Center for Entrepreneurial
Research, Working Paper n. 203.
Dagnino G.B. (2005). I paradigmi dominanti negli studi di strategia d’impresa. Giappichelli Torino.
Dagnino G.B., Mariani M.M. (2007). Dynamic gap bridging and realized gap set development: The strategic role of the firm in the coevolution of capability space and opportunity space. In U. Cantner, F. Malerba (Eds). Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Structural Transformation, Springer, Berlino.
Dosi, G., Nelson R.R., Winter S.G. (Eds.) (2000). The nature and dynamics of organizational capabilities. Oxford University Press.
Dosi G., Malerba F. (2003). Interpreting industrial dynamics twenty years after Nelson and Winter’s Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change: A preface. Industrial and Corporate Change, 11, 4: 619-622.
Eisenhardt, K., Galunic, D. (2000), Coevolving: At last, a way to make synergies work, Harvard Business Review, January-February, pp.91-101.
Eisenhardt, K., Martin, J. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: What are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21: 1105-1121.
Fayolle A. (2004), A’ la recherche du cœur de l’entrepreneuriat: vers une nouvelle vision du domaine, Revue Internationale P.P.E, vol. 17, n. 1.
Fazzari S.M., Hubbard G.R., Petersen B.C. (2000). Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are Useful: A Comment on Kaplan and Zingales. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115, 2: 695-705.
Ferraris Franceschi R. (1993) “Linee metodologiche nella ricerca economico-aziendale applicata alla piccola e media dimensione”, in Padroni G., Lo sviluppo della piccola e media impresa.
Finkelstein S. (2003). Why smart executives fail: And what you can learn from their mistakes. Penguin Books, New York.
Galende J., De La Fuente J. M. (2003). Internal factors determining firm’s innovative behaviour. Research Policy, 32: 715-736.
Grant R. (1991). A Resources based theory of competitive advantage: Implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33, 3:114-135.
Grant R. (1996). Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: Organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization Science, 7, 4, 375-387.
Hayek F.A. (1945). The use of knowledge in society. American Economic Review. 35(4):519-530.Helfat E.C. (2000). Guest Editor’s Introduction to the Special Issue: The Evolution of
Firm Capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 21, 10/11.
Helfat C.E. (2003). The SMS Blackwell handbook of organizational capabilities: Emergence, development and change. Blackwell Publishing. Malden, US
Helfat C.E., Peteraf M. (2003). The dynamic resource-based view: capability lifecycles. Strategic Management Journal, 24 (10): 997-1010.
Henderson R., Mitchell W. (1997). The interactions of organizational and competitive influences on strategy and performance . Strategic Management Journal. 18: 5-14.
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., Camp, S.M., Sexton, D.L. (2002). Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset. Oxford: Blackwell.
Huygens M., Baden-Füllen C., Van Den Bosh F.A.J., Volberda H.W. (2001). Coevolution of firm capabilities and industry competition: Investigating the music industry 1877-1997 . ERIM
Report Series Research in Management. Version 12.
Jacobson R. (1992). The Austrian School of Strategy. Academy of Management Review, 17, 4, pp. 782-807.
Kaplan N.S., Zingales L. (1997). Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112, (1): 169-215.
Kaplan N.S., Zingales L. (2000). Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are not Valid Measures of Financing Constraints. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115( 2): 707-712.
Kee H.T., Foo M.D., Lim B.C. (2002), Opportunity Evaluation under Risky Conditions:The Cognitive Processes of Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 27(2): 125-148.
Kirzner I.M. (1973). Competition and entrepreneurship. Chicago University Press. Kirzner I.M. (1979). Perception, opportunity and profit. Studies in the theory of entrepreneur-
ship. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kogut B., Zander U. (1992). Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science, 3 (3): 383-397.
Kogut B., Kulatilaka N. (2001). Capabilities as real options. Organization Science 12 (6): 744-758.
La Rocca M. (2007). Politiche finanziarie d’impresa. La relazione fra investimenti, cash flow e vincoli finanziari in Italia , EGEA, Milano.
Lewin A.Y., Volberda H.W. (1999). Prolegomena on coevolution: A framework for research on strategy and new organizational forms. Organization Science, 10, (5): 519-534.
Marchini I. (2005), Il governo della piccola impresa vol. II – La gestione strategica, Aspi/Ins Edit, Genova, 2a. ed.
Man T.W.Y., Lau T., Chan K.F. (2002). The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competencies. Journal of Business Venturing, 17, 123-142.
Mariani M.M., Dagnino G.B. (2007). Unveiling the modal capability lifecycle: The coevolutionary foundations of the firm’s effectiveness in capturing strategic opportunities. International Journal Learning and Intellectual Capital, Vol. 4 N. 1/2, pp. 132-146.
Merton R.K, Barber E. (2006), The travels and adventures of serendipity: A study in sociological semantics and the sociology of science, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Mintzberg H., Lampel J., Ahlstrand B. (1998), Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through The Wilds of Strategic Management, Free Press, New York.
Mocciaro Li Destri A. (2005). Contesti istituzionali e vviluppo d’impresa. Un’applicazione alla produzione dei software dai modelli open source ai modelli ibridi, Giappichelli Editore, Torino.
Modigliani, F. Miller, M. (1958) The cost of capital, corporate finance, and the theory of investment. American Economic Review, 48(3), 261-297.
Moran P., Ghoshal S. (1999). Markets, firms, and the process of economic development. Academy of Management Review, 54: 3, 390-412.Mosakowski E. (1998). Entrepreneurial resourc-
es, organizational choices, and competitive outcomes. Organization Science, 9,. 6: 625-643.
Nelson R.R. (1991). Why do firms differ and how does it matter? Strategic Management Journal, Special Issue, 12: 61-74.
Nelson R.R., Winter S.D. (1982). An evolutionary theory of the firm . Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA
Nelson R.R., Winter S.D. (2002). Evolutionary theorizing in economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2: 23-46.
O’Brien T.C., Fadem T.J. (1999). Identifying new business opportunities. Research Technology Management, 42,5: 15.
O’Driscoll G., Rizzo M. (1996). The economics of time and ignorance. New York, Routledge, 2a ed.
Penrose E. (1959). The theory of the growth of the firm . Oxford University Press, Oxford.Pettigrew A.M. (1992), The character and significance of strategy process research, Strategic Management Journal, 13:5-16
Porter M.E. (1980). Competitive Strategy. Free Press, New York.
Porter (1981). The contribution of industrial organization to strategic management. Academy of Management Review.
Rangone A. (1999), A resource-based approach to strategy analysis in small-medium sized enterprises, Small Business Economics, 12(3), 233-248.
Richardson G.B. (1972). The organization of industry. Economic Journal, 82: 883-896. Romijn H., Albaladejo M. (2002), Determinants of innovation capability in small electro-
nics and software firms in southeast England, Research Policy, 31(7,)1053-1067.
Shane S. (2000). Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. Organization Science, 11,4: 448-470.
Shane S. (2001). Technological opportunities and new firm creation . Management Science, 47, 2: 205-221.
Shane S. (2003). A general theory of entrepreneurship. Edward
Elgar. Cheltenham, UK. Sirmon D.G., Hitt M.A. (2003), Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources,
Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice,
27(4), 339-358.
Stock, J.H., Watson M.W. (2005), Implications of dynamic factor models for VAR analysis, NBER Working Papers11467, Boston.
Teece D.J., Pisano G., Shuen A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management, Strategic Management Journal, 18(7): 509-553.
Teece D.J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28: 1329-1350.
Volberda W.H. (2004). Crisis in Strategy: Fragmentation, Integration or Synthesis. European Management Review, 1, 35-42.
Winter S.D. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities.Strategic Management Journal, 24, 10.
Zollo M., Winter S.D. (2002). Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organization Science, 3, 3.
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