The Role of Organization Structure in the Development of Dynamic Capabilities

In this study, we investigate the nature of dynamic capabilities, and use a fine-grained measurement to test how centralization, routinization, and formalization relate to the underlying learning components of dynamic capabilities. We find that the effects of organization structure are broadly similar for almost all components of dynamic capabilities, and that only a few show a different pattern. Centralization and routinization are negatively related to dynamic capabilities, formalization is shown to have a significantly positive effect. We provide insights into the role that organization structure plays in explaining variation among the learning components of dynamic capabilities. This has implications for the nature of dynamic capabilities as well as for the debate within the dynamic capabilities view on routine versus deliberate learning.