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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how managers’ evaluation of and reaction to multiple rivals’ actions will be affected by the distributional characteristics of these actions, including the extent to which rivals’ actions are centered on certain firms (actor concentration), concentrated in certain time periods (temporal concentration), and clustered in certain geographic locations (spatial concentration). Design/methodology/approach The analyses are based on panel data on Taiwanese producers of personal computers and peripherals and the investments they made in mainland China after the Asian financial crisis. The authors employ fixed-effect logit regression to test the hypotheses. Findings Rivals’ recent actions in China increase a focal firm’s inclination to act especially when these rivals’ actions are characterized by a high level of actor, temporal, and/or spatial concentration. Originality/value The analytical approach goes beyond a dyad-level conceptualization of interfirm rivalry. Incorporating insights from behavioral decision making, the paper shows how a firm with limited attentive capacity reacts to the aggregate impact of multiple rivals’ actions.

This paper examines the process of building a competitive dynamics research program, focusing on my scholarly pursuit in the early part of my career. Reflections on the process reveal insights such as the power of staying focused, execution through time management, and research teaching integration. The paper aims to provide, through firsthand experience, some guideposts for researchers and scholars developing their own research programs and coping with the manifold process challenges in researching and publishing.

學者在探討企業國際化的研究曾指出，企業必須仰賴其合作夥伴的資源與資訊而推動國際化。而在臺灣政府所推動的「新南向政策」下，企業如何由政府所提供之國際化所需資源與資訊及透過政府所協助整合之各項合作夥伴的力量，將市場擴展至東南亞；與此相關之研究仍相當有限。再者，此「新南向政策」實屬實務面政策，學界應提出更多實務面的建議供企業參考。因此，本研究以動態競爭研究中之「察覺─動機─能力」觀點，與「關係觀點」，以七個國際餐飲服務業者為例，運用個案研究的方式探討餐飲服務產業的國際化歷程。研究發現，廠商必須導入市場導向以取得東南亞市場的顧客與競爭者資訊，並以策略聯盟或尋求當地合作夥伴的方式進入東南亞市場。此研究結果可提供臺灣餐飲服務業者布局東南亞營運據點之參考。

1. Understanding the role of competition in structuring communities requires that we quantify competitive ability in a way that permits us to predict the outcome of competition over the long term. Given such a clear goal for a process that has been the focus of ecological research for decades, there is surprisingly little consensus on how to measure competitive ability, with up to 50 different metrics currently proposed. 2. Using competitive population dynamics as a foundation, we define competitive ability—the ability of one species to exclude another—using quantitative theoretical models of population dynamics to isolate the key parameters that are known to predict competitive outcomes. 3. Based on the definition of competitive ability we identify the empirical requirements and describe straightforward methods for quantifying competitive ability in future empirical studies. In doing so, our analysis also allows us to identify why many existing approaches to studying competition are unsuitable for quantifying competitive ability. 4. Synthesis. Competitive ability is precisely defined starting from models of competitive population dynamics. Quantifying competitive ability in a theoretically justified manner is straightforward using experimental designs readily applied to studies of competition in the laboratory and field.

This article suggests that dynamic capabilities can give the firm competitive advantage, but this effect is contingent on the level of dynamism of the firm's external environment. A nonlinear, inverse U-shaped moderation is proposed, implying that the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage is strongest under intermediate levels of dynamism but comparatively weaker when dynamism is low or high. This proposition is tested using data on alliance management capability and new product development capability, two specific dynamic capabilities widely recognized in prior research. Results based on longitudinal key informant data from 279 firms support the account that these dynamic capabilities are more strongly associated with competitive advantage in moderately dynamic than in stable or highly dynamic environments.

Digital business transformation forces firms to develop foundational capabilities to remain competitive. However, despite considerable academic and managerial interest, the nature of a digital business capability (DBC) that creates value by effectively managing digital business transformation remains unclear. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, we conceptualize and operationalize the DBC construct. In Study 1, we examine the effects of DBC on firm performance using a cross-industry, multisource dataset. In Study 2, we assess the effects of DBC on customer performance using a unique multisource, multilevel dataset collected at two points in time. The results reveal that DBC contributes to performance, even beyond the effects of established constructs. Importantly, DBC increasingly drives firm performance after reaching a critical level of internal dynamism (i.e., U-shaped moderation). By contrast, DBC particularly pays off at an optimal level of external dynamism (i.e., inverse U-shaped moderation). DBC is more valuable for business-to-consumer than for business-to-business firms.

Research Summary Integrating victimization into competitive dynamics and upper echelons theorizing, we develop and test theory articulating how rivals' perceptions of a CEO precipitate attacks on the CEO's firm. Rather than treating CEOs' characteristics solely as perpetrating action (a first‐order effect, like research integrating upper echelons into competitive dynamics), we argue firms with CEOs possessing characteristics perceived as more submissive or more provocative are subject to more competitive actions directed toward their firms (a second‐order effect, like victimization research). Empirical analyses of a sample of Fortune 500 CEOs supports our theorizing while interviews of executives corroborate our premise as well. Our framework offers a more complete and socialized understanding of CEOs' roles in competitive dynamics, providing both theoretical and practical insights as well as future research avenues. Managerial Summary We articulate how CEOs possessing certain psychological, behavioral, and social characteristics may unknowingly precipitate competitive attacks on their firms. Our explanation integrates insights from victimology which explain how individuals are subject to more attacks if they possess characteristics others perceive as more submissive or more provocative. While prior research articulates that CEOs' characteristics affect decisions such as attacking rivals, integrating theories of victimization into this line of inquiry paints a more socialized view of why firms may be subject to competitive attacks as well. The logic and evidence we provide advances theoretical explanations of firms' competitive behaviors and executives' roles therein. At the same time, providing knowledge about how CEO characteristics precipitate competitive actions toward their firms can aid in prevention and intervention strategies. Video

Phenological responses to climate change (e.g., earlier leaf-out or egg hatch date) are now well documented and clearly linked to rising temperatures in recent decades. Such shifts in the phenologies of interacting species may lead to shifts in their synchrony, with cascading community and ecosystem consequences. To date, single-system studies have provided no clear picture, either finding synchrony shifts may be extremely prevalent [Mayor SJ, et al. (2017) Sci Rep 7:1902] or relatively uncommon [Iler AM, et al. (2013) Glob Chang Biol 19:2348–2359], suggesting that shifts toward asynchrony may be infrequent. A meta-analytic approach would provide insights into global trends and how they are linked to climate change. We compared phenological shifts among pairwise species interactions (e.g., predator–prey) using published long-term time-series data of phenological events from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems across four continents since 1951 to determine whether recent climate change has led to overall shifts in synchrony. We show that the relative timing of key life cycle events of interacting species has changed significantly over the past 35 years. Further, by comparing the period before major climate change (pre-1980s) and after, we show that estimated changes in phenology and synchrony are greater in recent decades. However, there has been no consistent trend in the direction of these changes. Our findings show that there have been shifts in the timing of interacting species in recent decades; the next challenges are to improve our ability to predict the direction of change and understand the full consequences for communities and ecosystems.

Despite numerous testimonials of first movers, the underlying mechanisms of organizations' big data analytics (BDA) usage deserves close investigation. Our study addresses two essential research questions: (1) How does organizational BDA usage affect value creation? and (2) What are key antecedents of organizational-level BDA usage? We draw on dynamic capabilities theory to conceptualize BDA use as a unique information processing capability that brings competitive advantage to organizations. Furthermore, we employ the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework to identify and theorize paths via which factors influence the actual usage of BDA. Survey data collected from 161 U.S.-based companies show that: organizational-level BDA usage affects organizational value creation; the degree to which BDA usage influences such creation is moderated by environmental dynamism; technological factors directly influence organizational BDA usage; and organizational and environmental factors indirectly influence organizational BDA usage through top management support. Collectively, these findings provide a theory-based understanding of the impacts and antecedents of organizational BDA usage, while also providing guidance regarding what managers should expect from usage of this rapidly emerging technology.