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To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2009.00644.x Byline: Veronique Ambrosini (2), Cliff Bowman (1) Abstract: We seek to develop the conceptual and practical understanding of causal ambiguity. Specifically we extend current thinking by setting out three types of causal ambiguity, based on whether firm resources are perceived to display linkage and/or characteristic ambiguity, and by examining for each type the impact of causal ambiguity on the sustainability of competitive advantage and on rent appropriation. We highlight the difficulties decision-makers face when they perceive ambiguity and finally we explore some implications of ambiguity with respect to resource-creation processes. Author Affiliation: (2)Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK (1)Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKEmail:ambrosiniv@cardiff.ac.uk;cliff.bowman@cranfield.ac.uk

The authors posit that while corporate resource possession is a conditional factor for producing shareholder value, dynamic capability is a requisite factor. Discussion focuses on how dynamic capabilities contribute to resource creation.

A study that examined firstly the extent, to which managers from the same corporation shared similar perceptions to corporate strategy, secondly, the extent of consensus across the corporations and finally the extent of consensus about different rationales for corporate strategy, is reported. The reason for the general consensus about competence-based strategies, and a lack of consensus about the motives for divestment and acquisition strategies are also explained.

Strategic change should be viewed from an individual manager perspective.

There are considerable problems associated with the use of single respondents in strategy research. It is clear that using a single respondent to obtain information about a company's position can lead to misleading results, even in cases where managers are well placed to see how the whole company operates. Recent research indicates that information obtained from a single respondent may well be unreliable, and that results of strategic research undertaken in this way must therefore be regarded cautiously.

The differentiation between the competitive and corporate levels of strategic planning for the creation of market value of a business is described.

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00610.x Byline: Veronique Ambrosini (1), Cliff Bowman (2), Nardine Collier (2) Abstract: The aim of this paper is to extend the concept of dynamic capabilities. Building on prior research, we suggest that there are three levels of dynamic capabilities which are related to managers' perceptions of environmental dynamism. At the first level we find incremental dynamic capabilities: those capabilities concerned with the continuous improvement of the firm's resource base. At the second level are renewing dynamic capabilities, those that refresh, adapt and augment the resource base. These two levels are usually conceived as one and represent what the literature refers to as dynamic capabilities. At the third level are regenerative dynamic capabilities, which impact, not on the firm's resource base, but on its current set of dynamic capabilities, i.e. these change the way the firm changes its resource base. We explore the three levels using illustrative examples and conclude that regenerative dynamic capabilities may either come from inside the firm or enter the firm from outside, via changes in leadership or the intervention of external change agents. Author Affiliation: (1)Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UKEmail:ambrosiniv@cardiff.ac.uk (2)Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, Bedford MK43 0AL, UKEmail:Cliff.Bowman@cranfield.ac.uk,n.collier@cranfield.ac.uk

Resource-based theory assumes that an organization or company can be viewed as a collection of resources that are valuable. Research examining how a value of a resource is determined with reference to it's creation and it's capture value is presented.