Conceptualisations of incumbent firms in sustainability transitions: Insights from organisation theory and a systematic literature review

Abstract

Following the tradition of using opposing concepts as a basis for organisational analysis, this article advances a theory-based understanding of incumbent firms in sustainability transitions. Building on seminal transition studies, we propose innovating/defending and collaborating/competing as two useful spectra to describe organisational behaviours in transitions. Presenting the automotive industry as an explanatory case, we show results from a systematic literature review that reveal motives for diverging behaviours. Combining the spectra into a 2 × 2 matrix, we then introduce four conceptualisations to explain the observed motives and behaviours. The conceptualisations are associated with different streams of organisation theory: dynamic capabilities and the resource-based view, resource-dependence theory, neo-institutional theory and theories on organisational learning and path dependence. Referring to organisational ambidexterity, value configurations and political arenas, we conclude that transitions research can reach a more multifaceted understanding by challenging the prevailing notion of the firm as a coherent actor.