LINKING THREAT–OPPORTUNITY PERCEPTION AND DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES THROUGH COMMON ANTECEDENTS: AN AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIER PERSPECTIVE
type: CreativeWork
description: Purpose: The emergence of the electric vehicle has triggered the most challenging transformation in the automotive industry since its creation in the early 20th century. The announcements from major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that they are withdrawing from further development of internal combustion engines (ICEs) has cascaded down to automotive suppliers, which provide approximately 80% of the parts built into an ICE. While some suppliers perceive this development as a threat to their organisations, others see it as an opportunity. This work sheds light on the different perspectives of suppliers by providing answers to two main questions. First, what organisational factors are associated with suppliers’ perception of powertrain electrification as a threat or an opportunity? Second, are these organisational factors similar to those determining a firm’s long-term competitive advantage (through dynamic capabilities)? In other words, how ‘valid’ are executives’ perceptions of environmental events? The dynamic capabilities and strategic issue diagnosis literature are silent on these questions. Methodology: A dual-phase mixed-methods approached was employed. First, 20 case studies with resource-dependent automotive suppliers revealed the organisational factors influencing executives’ threat–opportunity perception. Then, survey data of 98 German automotive companies (~25% of the target population) across the entire supply chain was scrutinised to understand if the identified organisational factors were also associated with firms’ sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring dynamic capabilities. Findings: The qualitative phase revealed eight organisational factors influencing executives’ threat–opportunity perception: (1) suppliers’ strategy of being a purely manufacturing player versus including additional R&D/design work; (2) whether the components offered were solely outsourced parts or also components the OEMs produced in-house; (3) suppliers’ position within the a…
abstract: Purpose: The emergence of the electric vehicle has triggered the most challenging transformation in the automotive industry since its creation in the early 20th century. The announcements from major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that they are withdrawing from further development of internal combustion engines (ICEs) has cascaded down to automotive suppliers, which provide approximately 80% of the parts built into an ICE. While some suppliers perceive this development as a threat to their organisations, others see it as an opportunity. This work sheds light on the different perspectives of suppliers by providing answers to two main questions. First, what organisational factors are associated with suppliers’ perception of powertrain electrification as a threat or an opportunity? Second, are these organisational factors similar to those determining a firm’s long-term competitive advantage (through dynamic capabilities)? In other words, how ‘valid’ are executives’ perceptions of environmental events? The dynamic capabilities and strategic issue diagnosis literature are silent on these questions. Methodology: A dual-phase mixed-methods approached was employed. First, 20 case studies with resource-dependent automotive suppliers revealed the organisational factors influencing executives’ threat–opportunity perception. Then, survey data of 98 German automotive companies (~25% of the target population) across the entire supply chain was scrutinised to understand if the identified organisational factors were also associated with firms’ sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring dynamic capabilities. Findings: The qualitative phase revealed eight organisational factors influencing executives’ threat–opportunity perception: (1) suppliers’ strategy of being a purely manufacturing player versus including additional R&D/design work; (2) whether the components offered were solely outsourced parts or also components the OEMs produced in-house; (3) suppliers’ position within the a…
author: Sarferaz, Sunil
language: eng
keywords: automotive, electrification, opportunity, perception, supply chain, threat
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/fa002fe1-84b9-4110-99c6-6dae822a5856/download
license: http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved
date published: 2024-03-29
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:32Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.118002