Evolutionary and ecological conceptualization of dynamic capabilities: identifying elements of the Teece and Eisenhardt schools

Research on dynamic capabilities has been one of the most prolific research streams of the last two decades. Peteraf et al. (2013) show that the research stream has suffered from a divide into two schools: One school following the conceptualization by Teece and colleagues and another school following the conceptualization by Eisenhardt and Martin. In this study, we discuss the implications of this divide. At the core, we argue that the to schools do not agree how evolutionary theory is implicated in dynamic capabilities. This disagreement has consequences for the empirical assessment of dynamic capabilities. We argue that the concept of Eisenhardt and Martin would benefit from a more ecological oriented empirical assessment whereas Teece conceptualization focuses on the entrepreneurial role of top management teams.