Corporate Culture, Strategic Capability, and External Causal Ambiguity: An Advantage -sustainability Perspective

• Main Authors: Huang Wen-hung, 黃文宏
• Other Authors: 陳正男
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/65527583243837145636

博士 === 國立成功大學 === 企業管理學系 === 88 === This dissertation examined causal ambiguity from an advantage sustainability perspective. The primary objective was to develop and test a framework, which integrates capability traits, cultural traits, causal ambiguity and two candidate moderators, competitor’s absorptive mechanism and perceived environmental uncertainty. A second objective was to rule out the feasibility of using cultural approach to strengthen the imperfect imitability of strategic capability. A model was developed using the fundamentals of resource-based theory, competing values, and organizational learning. The model identified six independent variables that affect external causal ambiguity. These are formalization, observability, complexity, system dependency, cultural diversity, and cultural balance. The six variables predict two dimensions of causal ambiguity: I/O ambiguity and structural ambiguity. Both perceived environmental uncertainty and competitor’s absorptive mechanism were specified as moderators that moderate the relationship between capability traits and causal ambiguity. The results collected from mailed survey show that not all capability traits are related to external causal ambiguities. Both competitor’s absorptive mechanism and cultural diversity are negatively related to I/O ambiguity. However, formalization is positively related to I/O ambiguity. No interaction effects are found with competitor’s absorptive mechanism, but perceived environmental uncertainty is significantly interacted with observability. The negative impact of observability will be shown when perceived environmental uncertainty is below the average. Both complexity and system dependency are strongly positively related to structural ambiguity. The moderating effects of perceived environmental uncertainty are confirmed further. The positive effect of complexity is vanished when a firm faces an extremely uncertain environment. The negative effect of formalization is emerging while perceived environmental uncertainty becomes higher. Besides, the effect of observability is moving reversely to perceived environmental uncertainty. The effect of observability is positive when perceived environmental uncertainty is below the average, but a negative effect is emerged when perceived environmental uncertainty is above the average. Although competitor’s absorptive mechanism is not a significant moderator, its main effect on I/O ambiguity is most determinant.