The organic growth of dynamic capabilities for innovation within resource constrained environments

The increasing number of technology innovation centres in developing economies such as Brazil, India and China are driving the emergence of new models of innovation. However, the existing technology policy literature has so far been limited in accounting for the organic growth of dynamic capabilities for innovation within resource constrained environments; e.g., institutional and organizational settings that may be restricted by the degree and scope of available resources and capabilities as well as by the relative low levels of demand for new product and services. In this article, we provide conceptual insights and empirical evidence of sustainable mechanisms promoting the organic growth of dynamic capabilities for innovation in information technology innovation centres. Our integrative framework emphasizes the systemic nature of dynamic capabilities at firm level. Based on a longitudinal study (1997-2008) of the Centre for Information Technology at Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral, a leading centre of excellence in Ecuador, Latin America, we show a concrete evolution trajectory of this type of dynamic capabilities. The resulting analysis contributes to our better understanding of the micro-dynamics of the organic growth of dynamic capabilities for innovation in information technology research centres in developing nations. As we revisit core theoretical aspects of the dynamic capability concept, we provide extended definitions based on our refreshed empirical understanding.