The Nature and Accumulation of Organizational Competences/Capabilities

This paper addresses the nature of corporate organizations, their “competences” and “capabilities” and their learning patterns. The analysis is undertaken at different levels of observations – ranging from firm-level studies of the patterns of technological and organizational change all the way to broad cross-national comparisons.1 The analysis of the nature of corporate organizations, their “competences” (or “capabilities”), their learning patterns and their embeddedness into broader national and sectoral institutions is possibly one of the most active areas of microeconomic research with important ramifications into multiple domains of investigation including the relationships between technological and organizational innovation, the vertical and horizontal boundaries of the firm and the role of institutions. Indeed, it is our general conjecture that the nature of business organization, their competences/capabilities and their strategic orientation – embedded as they are in specific national institutions – are crucial not only for the performance of individual firms but also for the competitiveness and growth of whole nations and regions.