Rethinking dynamic capabilities in light of sustainability: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The literature on sustainable dynamic capabilities is becoming increasingly relevant in business research. In this study, we adopt a bibliometric approach to analyze the development of the literature, provide an overview of its theoretical and empirical evolution, and identify future research paths. To reach this goal, we collected 602 scientific documents from Scopus published between January 2002 and May 2023. The analysis is based on a two-step process. First, we created and analyzed thematic maps for two different time periods (2002–2016 and 2017–2023) to assess the changes in the themes investigated. Second, we used bibliographic coupling to measure the influence and similarity between 147 scientific documents that were selected from leading scientific journals. Results show the adequacy of the dynamic capabilities framework for understanding the integration of sustainability within business strategies while opening up new perspectives (i.e., stakeholder engagement) and themes. Overall, we observe an increasing interest in reconceptualizing dynamic capabilities while considering their sustainability dimension, with reference to the identification of new micro-foundations and the level of analysis (from an individual or organizational level to an inter-organizational level). This study also proposes avenues for future research, including an exploration of new contexts, such as new industries, through a cross-sectoral analysis approach or the underexplored context of family firms. We also highlight the need to advance our understanding of sustainable dynamic capabilities by focusing on the social dimension, which remains understudied.