Firm's Slack Resources,Dynamic Capabilities,and Performance

Along with the rapid development of technology,the globalization of competition and the transformation of Chinese economy and society,the environment is getting increasingly complex and dynamic.As the environment changes,the value of resources also changes,and the core competence of enterprises may even become core rigidity,so that the competitive advantage of enterprises no longer exists.Slack resources facilitate the strategic flexibilities of enterprise in reconfiguring their resources and capabilities to maintain competitive advantage.The theory of slack resources and dynamic capabilities have made great progress,however,there are still many inconsistencies and gaps in the existing literature.Based on rigorous theoretical analysis,this study put forward the hypotheses on the relationships among slack resources,dynamic capabilities and firm performances.Data from 217 enterprises in the manufacturing industry and information technology industry were obtained.Then,a variety of reliability and validity issues were examined,and the research hypotheses were tested with SEM analysis.The conclusions are summarized as below.Firstly,this study has improved the definitions and dimensions of slack resources and dynamic capabilities.In addition to the slack resources possessed by the enterprise,this study took the slack of social network into consideration and identified four kinds of slack resources:low-discretion slack,high-discretion slack,supplementary network slack,and complementary network slack.By integrating the existing theories of dynamic capabilities,this study identified three kinds of dynamic capabilities,namely the resource managing capabilities,risk coping capabilities,and technical innovation capabilities.Each kind of dynamic capabilities were categorized into two dimensions for further discussion.Secondly,this study has investigated the relationships between the three kinds of dynamic capabilities and proved that resource managing capabilities facilitate risk coping capabilities,risk coping capabilities facilitates technical innovation capabilities,and risk coping capabilities mediate the effects of resource managing capabilities on technical innovation capabilities.Thirdly,this study has found the various relationships among different slack resources and dynamic capabilities,and the different influences of different dynamic capabilities on enterprise financial performance and growth performance.What's more,certain kinds of dynamic capabilities mediate the effects of slack resources on enterprise performance.Finally,this study has found that the moderating effects of environmental dynamics on the relationships between dynamic capabilities and enterprise performances were insignificant in most cases.To sum up,this study has investigated and tested the relationships among slack resources,dynamic capabilities and enterprise performance,which have enriched both the theories of slack resources and dynamic capabilities,provided empirical support for the theories,and offered many implications for practitioners on managing slack resources and dynamic capabilities to cope with the environmental changes.