' Academy ol Management Executive, 1999, Vol. 13, No. 1

The changing rules of globalcompetitiveness in the *

century

Shaker A. Zahra, Guest Editor

Executive Overviewromorrow's global marketplace will reward companies that value entrepreneurial risk-

taking, invest heavily in developing their intellectual capital, promote individual growth,and adopt policies that are environmentally friendly. Successful competitiveness in the2r' century will demand the use of visionary and dedicated leadership, a balancedscorecard that enhances corporate accountability, and sustained investment in creatingdynamic capabilities. It will also require the effective management of intangibleresources and assets to achieve growth. A number of important conclusions are evidentfrom the articles appearing in this special issue.

On the eve of the 21̂ * century, predictions abouttomorrow's global landscape abound. And, withthe gigantic and breathtaking technological ad-vances made in this century, it is only natural forsome to see tomorrow's landscape in Utopianterms. Poverty will be eliminated, the natural en-vironment will be saved, social ailments of alltypes are likely to be eradicated, and progress willlead to social and economic justice and humangrowth. Globalization will continue to escalate,transferring technologies, bringing cultures andsocieties closer, and creating a community ofpeace loving, intelligent citizens. In this vision ofthe future, globalization will foster cooperationamong nations and promote good will. Globaliza-tion will be an instrument of peace, growth,progress and prosperity. Competitiveness isviewed as a marathon to achieve and sustain ex-cellence.

Globalization will be an instrument ofpeace, growth, progress and prosperity.Competitiveness is viewed as a marathonto achieve and sustain excellence.

There are less rosy views of our global future.Some are deeply concerned that globalization willwiden the gap between rich and poor nations by

creating enduring and unshakable dependencies.Limited in their resources and unable to escape thevicious cycle of their underdevelopment. somecountries are thus doomed to prolonged servitude.Lacking basic infrastructure and resources, thesecountries cannot be expected to absorb emergingtechnologies, let alone innovate and compete on aglobal scale. These countries also lack the politi-cal will and the institutions that make economicand social transformation possible.' Simply put.some nations do not have a choice but to tie theirfutures to those of advanced nations and hope forthe best. Those who accept this view have alsocome to the conclusion that globalization willeventually decimate some local cultures and wipeout the political and economic independence ofpoorer countries.

Of course, the debate on the effect of globaliza-tion in the 21 '̂ century has attracted some promi-nent politicians across the political divide.^ Con-servatives fear that globalization will underminethe integrity of a country's political and social in-stitutions and may weaken its cultural fabric. Left-ists are concerned about the prospect of political,technological and economic dependence. Othersare concerned over our growing reliance on tech-nology to address complex social and culturalproblems. They believe that quick techno-fixes donot solve enduring problems, and that our best

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hope is to work together toward a common—if notharmonious—future.

But where does this leave executives and theircompanies? How can nations and companies par-ticipate and compete in tomorrow's global market-place? There is unanimity that globalization willcontinue to escalate, creating opportunities andformidable challenges for societies, companies,and executives. Many of the forces that will shapeour future are already in place and their effect willbe felt and understood in time.^ In the previousspecial issue of the Executive, we outlined some ofthese forces and sketched out some of the charac-teristics of tomorrow's global landscape as well asthe challenges they pose for managers.

In this issue, we will highlight three additionalvariables that will influence success in tomorrow'sglobal arena. The emerging global economy isbest described as being entrepreneurially based,human-development-oriented, and environmen-tally sensitive.

An Entrepreneurial Economy

By all accounts, the pace, magnitude and directionof change in the global economy will continue toaccelerate. In this dynamic setting, individual andcorporate entrepreneurs will assume a more pow-erful and prominent role. Adept in spotting oppor-tunities and creating momentum for cultivatingthem, these entrepreneurs are the true vanguardsof change in tomorrow's economy. They recognizethat survival and success in tomorrow's emerginglandscapes will require agility, creativity and in-genuity. They will also require innovation, risktaking, and entrepreneurial action. For rich andpoor economies alike, entrepreneurial risk takingis a necessity.

The rediscovery of entrepreneurship and its po-tential importance for growth is one of the mostimportant developments of the second half of the20th century. Spurred initially by an interest inrevitalizing existing businesses. U.S. and Euro-pean companies actively sought to transplant en-trepreneurship in their operations. Under attack byyounger and more agile rivals, giant corporationsin the West found themselves slow and unable torespond. These companies' views of their indus-tries, customers and competitors have become out-dated. Their bureaucracies have stifled the abilityto innovate. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, largecompanies undertook Herculean measures to re-make themselves by making innovation and entre-preneurship the cornerstone of their strategies.'*

In the U.S. and elsewhere, there has also been aserious interest in spurring individual entrepre-

neurial risk taking. Therefore, a great deal of efforthas been devoted to creating a business climate,in which people are willing to build such compa-nies, add to job creation, develop and introducenew goods and services and achieve wealth. Risktaking is being encouraged, reinforced and re-warded. In richer and poorer countries, entrepre-neurship is widely viewed as the gateway togrowth and prosperity.

As we entered the 1990s, a new breed of globalentrepreneurs took the lead in international trade.These entrepreneurs have seen the monumentalchanges that have taken place in the global econ-omy and have proceeded to create companies thathave capitalized on these opportunities. Realizingtheir limited resources, these entrepreneurs reliedon their global networks in assembling their re-sources, designing and making their products, andbuilding their distribution channels. More andmore of the younger entrepreneurial companiesare becoming active participants in the globaleconomy. This is true of manufacturing and servicesectors of the economy, whether low or high tech-nology-based. One of the most remarkable aspectsof this phenomenon is that smaller companiesfrom emerging and historically lesser-developedeconomies are active players in the global econ-omy. If you doubt this, simply visit the Internet.Companies of every size and national origin arereaching global customers, proving that tradi-tional barriers to entry and global competition aredisappearing fast.

The revival of interest in promoting individual,entrepreneurial risk taking reflects several impor-tant changes in the U.S. and global economies.Newer science and technology-based industries of-fer bountiful opportunities for wealth and job cre-ation. Opportunities in the global marketplacealso offer an important setting in which to cre-atively compete and create wealth for individualsand nations. The ongoing restructuring of the in-dustrialized economies has also promoted a needto pursue growth and wealth creation through newfirm formation. Downsizing and restructuring ac-tivities have forced some to seek ways in whichthey can assess their intellectual and economicindependence. New firm creation is consideredone of the most viable options available for manydownsized employees. The emerging entrepre-neurial economy has also attracted and promotedthe participation of diverse groups. Women andminorities have found their place in this economy,also building companies and creating wealth. Theparticipation of these groups will continue to riseover the next decade.

The entrepreneurial economy is taking hold now

38 Academy of Management Executive February

around the globe. Governments and public policymakers have enacted laws that encourage entre-preneurial risk taking among their citizens. Theyhave also improved the economic and technologi-cal infrastructures necessary to spur entrepreneur-ship. Improvements in public services, telecommu-nication and transportation have contributed toenhancing entrepreneurial risk taking. Changes intax laws have also given individuals and firms anincentive to take risks.

In many countries, governments did the think-able: they proceeded to privatize their major indus-tries to promote competition and entrepreneurship.Advanced and advancing countries have con-cluded that the market works best if governmentsstay out of the economy. Competition fuels innova-tion, entrepreneurial risk taking, and growth. Par-ticipation in the emerging global economy re-quires—in fact, demands—innovation and entre-preneurial risk taking.

Advanced and advancing countries haveconcluded that the market works best ifgovernments stay out of the economy.

Privatization is reshaping the economic land-scape of many countries, where managers and em-ployees now recognize the need to work together inan increasingly complex and challenging globaleconomy. Privatization, a bitter medicine for manycountries and industries, has already broughtabout considerable upheaval and. also change.More and more companies are reinvesting in theiroperations and upgrading their skills. Companiesare undergoing self-reexamination to determinetheir competencies and capabilities and how theymight be leveraged in tomorrow's global markets.Companies that were once protected monopoliesare shedding their past and embarking on genuinestrategic changes in order to survive. Privatization,along with other initiatives already in place, willprofoundly shape the way that many countries,industries and companies can and will compete.

One of the most important ways privatizationcan influence competitiveness in the 21st centuryis already evident today. Newly privatized compa-nies are finding out they cannot go it alone; theyneed to join forces with companies outside theirhome markets to gain access to capital, moderntechnology, management skills, and innovativemarketing capabilities. These alliances are likelyto increase as the forces of competition intensify,compelling privatized companies to rebuild theircapabilities and define their core competencies.

Access to these capabilities can and will spur fur-ther innovation and increased entrepreneurial risktaking.

In tomorrow's entrepreneurial economy, manag-ers and their companies are likely to face impor-tant but exciting challenges. Innovation will be-come even more important in tomorrow's economythan it already is today. Innovation in every part ofthe firm's systems, operations, culture and organi-zation will gain greater importance. Process inno-vations, too, will increase in importance. Manag-ing and fostering these innovations will continueto be a key managerial challenge.

A Focus on Human Development

One of the lessons of the 20th century is that eco-nomic progress does not always translate into hu-man development. Of course, these two variablesshould be related. Indeed, economic developmentcan neither be achieved nor sustained if it does notpromote or encourage human development. Statis-tics of economic or technological developments donot tell the whole story; they focus on balance oftrade and ignore important dimensions of growth.Development is more complex and our definitionsof competitiveness should recognize this fact. Rec-ognizing this, both the UN Human DevelopmentIndex and the World Competitiveness studies con-ducted by reputable institutions such as IMD em-phasize this complexity in their ratings.^

One of the most important lessons of the pastdecade is that intellect and knowledge are the fuelof global competitiveness and growth. Investmentsin developing, nurturing, sustaining, and cultivat-ing this knowledge are among the most importantways societies can achieve growth and develop-ment. The same goes for companies, which mustwork hard to attract and retain the brightest andmost capable people. Today, companies across theglobe are struggling with the challenges of creat-ing and exploiting new knowledge. This has ledsome companies to migrate closer to where thisknowledge already exists, as evidenced by thegrowing number of global R&D and joint spon-sored research programs being initiated aroundthe globe.^

The growing interest in and the recognition ofhuman development as a key ingredient in com-petitiveness reminds us of the complex social roleof the firm. For decades now. debate has persistedabout the nature of this role and how it can best beachieved. Companies and their managers recog-nize the complexity of this social role. However wedefine this role, I believe more and more attentionwill be given to human development as a criterion

1999 Zahra 39

in defining and evaluating companies' perfor-mance in the 21̂ * century.

A Green Economy

As the 20"̂ century comes to a close, many haveconcluded that economic growth should and canbe achieved in synchronization with protecting thenatural environment. Economic development inmany parts of the world has been accomplished ata heavy cost to our natural environment. Despiterepeated promises of responsible stewardship forthe environment, some companies have been slowin designing policies and adopting work place re-forms that will protect the natural environmentsand resources.''

Citizen activism, improvements in technology,changes in corporate values, and the realizationthat being green can be profitable have contrib-uted to a renewed interest in protecting naturalresources and preserving them for future genera-tions. Companies have already initiated programsthat have the goal of protecting these resourceswhile making strategic uses of them. Some compa-nies have found that customers not only appreciatethe importance of adopting green strategies butthey also reward those companies. Executives arefinding that they can do well by doing good.̂

In tomorrow's global economy, emphasis willundoubtedly shift from simply attempting to ad-dress the needs of a concerned public to doing theright thing and doing so in entrepreneurial andinnovative ways. New industries that specialize inenvironmental technologies are fast becoming animportant sector of the national economies of somecountries. Moreover, companies are recognizingthe great potential of environmental entrepreneur-ship, where they can derive a great deal of com-petitive advantage from their investments in envi-ronmentally friendly strategic choices.^

Will the ideals of green economy of today mate-rialize in the future? Global treaties on protectingthe natural environment offer some hope. Changesin companies' strategies and business practicesare also a good reason for optimism. Some compa-nies are devoting the resources needed to invest innew, environmentally friendly technologies. Thegood news is that some of these investments arealready paying off for companies and their stake-holders. Advances in environmentally friendlytechnologies are also likely to promote organiza-tional and process innovations that spur growthand productivity. These technologies are also saferand more conducive to higher levels of productiv-ity. Green productivity is fast becoming a wisecorporate investment.'"

The growing attention given to having a greeneconomy has many implications for executivesand their companies. Stakeholders are already de-manding sound environmental policies and aremaking their investment decisions with this inmind. Executives will have to face the challenge ofchanging the corporate mindset to ensure greaterattention to the potential of green technologies andtheir implications for organizational survival andperformance. In turn, these technologies can trans-form organizations in ways not heretofore recog-nized.

The challenge of green productivity is world-wide; it affects global corporations as well assmall enterprises in even the most disadvantagedeconomies. With an increasingly interconnectedglobal economy and growing emphasis on protect-ing the natural environment and resources, thereare significant opportunities for cooperation andcollaboration in developing, testing and imple-menting new technologies. Established global cor-porations with their huge resources can take thelead in creating momentum to ensure this collab-oration.

What Does It Mean for Executives?

In the first of the two special issues on globalcompetitiveness, published in November 1998,Hugh O'Neill and I have attempted to articulatesome of the key implications of the changingglobal marketplace for managers and companies.One of the key, though obvious, points is that rad-ical change will continue and will reshape thefrontier of the cognitive maps of industries, com-panies, and managers. Old recipes for competitionwill no longer suffice. That much we agree on. Yetour theories and analyses of the recipes for suc-cessful competition in the 2P' century appear in-adequate. Societies and companies will continueto transform themselves, whether through evolu-tion or quantum change.

Editing two issues of the Academy of Manage-ment Executive on global competitiveness hashelped drive home the following four basic, butsomewhat familiar, lessons.

Leadership is the key to competitiveness

In a dynamic environment that brings opportuni-ties and challenges, the role of senior leadershipin achieving organizational transformation andevolution is pivotal. Great leaders build great or-ganizations. While the influences of the firm's ex-ternal environment cannot be ignored, many com-panies rise and fall based on the quality of their

40 Academy of Management Executive February

leadership. ̂ ^ As Ireland and Hitt tell us in thisissue, this will be more true in the next century, ascompanies struggle with their missions, identities,and strategies.

Visionary leaders recognize the beginnings ofstrategic change in industry dynamics, see the fu-ture before it materializes, and move quickly tocapitalize on these changes. These leaders under-stand the global landscape, and the myriad offorces that can affect their companies' global suc-cess. They know that the secret lies in building anorganization that values change, innovation, andthe inclusion of diverse skills, views and back-grounds. These leaders realize that resources andstrategies are important for global success, but sodoes the soul of their organization.

A balanced corporate scorecard is needed

As I edited the papers submitted to the two specialissues of the Executive, I was struck by the lack ofany submissions about the effective ways manag-ers can evaluate their companies' performance inthe 21̂ * century. Perhaps, to some, this issue ispasse and has already been extensively writtenabout. My own explanation is that few of us arewilling to tackle this complex topic.

Managers around the globe continue to strugglewith the issue of measuring company perfor-mance. There are. of course, many well-estab-lished organizations and groups that analyze thecompany's progress in almost every conceivablefashion and then propose an agenda for manage-ment to follow. But managers have to face thedaunting task of identifying, understanding, andaddressing the complex demands of their stake-holders. Managers do this more and more underserious time pressures, frequently in real time.Technology has made it possible for differentstakeholders to follow almost every move a com-pany makes. Companies know this and many haveresponded by offering detailed explanations oftheir moves in real time.

These changes are likely to increase the trans-parency of managerial actions and corporate ac-countability. But these practices leave two funda-mental issues unresolved. The first is howmanagers lead their organizations for the long runin this environment. The second is how organiza-tional performance is measured. The challenges Inoted earlier regarding the growing emphasis ongreen productivity and human development high-light the need for a different, perhaps more bal-anced, score card.

Dynamic capabilities are required ior sustainedglobal competitiveness

If change is the norm, companies need to developdynamic capabilities that can be used as plat-forms from which to offer new products, goods, andservices. These capabilities are hard to develop.Once they are in place, they should be nurtured,replenished and upgraded.'^

One of the key ways of building and sustainingthese capabilities is to harvest the wellspring ofcreativity and knowledge among the company'semployees. This will require significant changesin organizational cultures, systems, and views ofhuman resources and will require investments inupgrading the firm's human capital.'^

A second way to build these dynamic capabili-ties is to selectively use external sources of organ-izational competencies to complement and aug-ment the firm's existing skills. It is fashionable tosuggest the use of outsourcing, joint ventures, andlicensing agreements as ways of gaining compe-tencies. There are. of course, many situationswhere these and similar strategies can give thefirm a competitive advantage. Yet I fear that com-panies are trading off growth and profitability forshort-term advantage. Building dynamic capabili-ties requires sustained investments in the firms'assets and resources in ways that set the companyapart from its rivals.

Building dynamic capabilities requiressustained investments in the firms' assetsand resources in ways that set thecompany apart from its rivals.

Intangibles will matter a great deal in creatingand sustaining competitiveness

If dynamic capabilities are essential for globalsuccess in the 2P' century, the firm should findways to develop, sustain, and protect these capa-bilities. Tomorrow's global marketplace will becrowded, with companies of diverse national ori-gin vying for success and prominence. For thisreason, the firm's intangible assets and resourceswill become key to building dynamic capabilitieswhile differentiating it from the competition. Suc-cess in the 21 '̂ century will demand greater atten-tion to building the firm's relationships with itsdiverse stakeholders in ways that lead to mutualtrust and respect. It will also require effectivelybuilding a favorable corporate image and identityand leveraging the company's reputations. At atime where customers appear to have seemingly

1999 Zahra 41

unlimited choices of brands, corporate reputationwill be a major asset.

An Overview of the Papers on Globalization

Ireland and Hitt focus on the crucial role of seniorexecutives in achieving and sustaining globalcompetitiveness. The authors also tackle the issueof group leadership, which is an important issuemanagers face in building effective organizations.Ireland and Hitt also discuss six areas that de-mand attention in developing senior leadership.Remaining focused on the future is an essentialcomponent of successful competitiveness.

In their paper. Petrick and colleagues focus onone of the most important issues companies haveto address in the global marketplace: their reputa-tional capital. The authors compellingly argue thatcompanies need to do more than accumulate thiscapital—they need to change the ways in whichthey define, measure, and use it to create a sus-tainable competitive advantage in global markets.The authors contend that this capital can be usedoffensively and defensively, depending on thefirm's strategic priorities and competitive setting.The authors offer managers several ideas to effec-tively use and protect their firm's reputational cap-ital.

The paper by Thomas. Pollock, and Gorman fo-cuses on the important issue of analyzing globalindustries. Building on a well established streamof research, these authors show how managers'outdated cognitive maps of the industry can blindthem to emerging changes in their markets. Thesecognitive maps influence and shape managerialdecisions, especially in terms of selecting the com-petitive arena and the group of rivals with whichthe firm will compete. Clearly, as Thomas andcolleagues argue, competition in the emergingglobal landscape will require different types ofanalyses. Reading the next three papers in thisissue reinforces this point.

The next two papers have much in common andhelp to reinforce the point that different ap-proaches are needed to obtain the knowledgeneeded for successful competitiveness. Tsang andSi and Bruton focus on the role of internationaljoint ventures in this process. Both articles drawheavily on the experiences of multinationals in theChinese market, where the competitive landscapeis not well defined. Companies in this and otheremerging markets face the daunting task of deal-ing with considerable economic and political am-biguities. The analyses offered by Si and Brutonare broader. Combined, the two articles offer someimportant lessons for companies seeking to navi-

gate the complex landscape of emerging econo-mies in pursuit of competitive advantage.

In the final article. Ali examines the readiness ofMiddle Eastern countries to compete globally. Alifirst recognizes these countries' great potential toemerge as global players. Next, he discusses sev-eral factors that inhibit these countries' ability tocompete. Ali takes note of several developmentsthat can enhance these countries' participation inthe global economy. Changes in political, socialand economic institutions are important for thistransformation to occur.

Conclusion

Predictions about the 21^' century abound. There isagreement that forces of globalization will con-tinue to escalate, bringing about fundamentalchanges in the traditional boundaries of nations,industries, and market. Globalization createsbountiful opportunities but poses significant chal-lenges for nations and executives. The changingcompetitive global landscape challenges tradi-tional rules of competition. Companies around theglobe are searching for innovative ways that allowthem to capitalize on the opportunities unleashedby the global economy. In such a dynamic andcompetitive economy, entrepreneurial leadershipwill take center stage.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge with gratitude thesupport of the Management Department. Beebe In-stitute, and The Institute of International Businessat the J. Mack Robinson College of Business atGeorgia State University in editing this and theprevious issue of the Academy oi ManagementExecutive. I am also grateful for the support of theCato Center for Applied Business Research andthe Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I havebenefited from my collaboration and discussionswith my colleagues and friends at Cairo University(Egypt). Academy of Economics in Poznan (Poland).Jonkoping International Business School (Sweden).Baptist University of Hong Kong, and the ESCGroupe in Grenoble (France). I have also benefitedfrom my work with Gerry George (Syracuse Univer-sity) and Anders Nielsen (Aalborg University. Den-mark). The support of Hugh O'Neill. Jerry Oster.and Patricia Zahra has been outstanding.

I would like to recognize and thank the followingindividuals for their excellent service as reviewersfor the two special issues on global competitive-ness. Their thoughtful, timely, and outstanding re-

42 Academy of Management Executive February

views helped make these two issues possible.

Abbas J. Ali. Indiana University of PennsylvaniaAchilles A. Armenakis. Auburn UniversityKendall Artz. Baylor UniversityD. Neil Ashworth. University of RichmondAlan Bauerschmidt. University of South CarolinaDebbie Bickford. University of DaytonDebra Cohen. The George Washington UniversityTeresa Joyce Covin. Kennesaw State UniversityDeepak K. Datta. University of KansasKofi A. Dazdi. Georgia State UniversityDavid L. Deeds. Case Western UniversitySevgin Eroglu. Georgia State UniversityRobert Gatewood. University of GeorgiaTed Herbert. Rollins CollegeRobert Hill. University of HoustonRichard C. Hoffman. Salisbury State UniversityJ. David Hunger. Iowa State UniversityAndrew Inkpen. Thunderbird (American Graduate

School of International Management)R. Duane Ireland. Baylor UniversityWilliam Judge. University of TennesseeBen L. Kedia. Memphis State UniversityD. Jeffrey Lenn. George Washington UniversityAnders P. Nielsen. Aalborg University (Denmark)Donald O. Neubaum. University of Central FloridaJoseph A. Petrick. Wright State UniversityThomas C. Powell. Bryant CollegeRobert F. Scherer. Wright State UniversityTerrance Sebora. University of Nebraska (Lincoln)Paul M. Swiercz. The George Washington UniversityAnisya Thomas. Florida Atlantic UniversityDavid D. Van Fleet. Arizona State University. West

CampusWilliam B. Werther. Jr.. University of Miami

Endnotes

' R. D. Stone. The Nature of Development. New York, NY:Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

^E. Graham, Global Corporations and National Govern-ments. Washington. DC: Institute for international Economics,1996.

^ M. A. Hitt. B. W. Keats and S. M. DeMarie, Navigating in thenew competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility andcompetitive advantage in the twenty-first century. Academy ofManagement Executive, in press.

^ Shaker A. Zahra, Governance. Ownership and CorporateEntrepreneuership: The Moderating Impact of Industry Techno-logical Opportunities. Academy of Management Journal, 1996(39) 1713-1735.

^ S. Garelli, World Compefifiveness Yearbook. World Compet-itiveness: New Frontiers in 1998.

^Richard Florida, The Globalization of R&D: Results of aSurvey of Foreign-Affiliated R&D Laboratories in the USA,Research Policy, 1997 (26), 85-103.

'' A. Hoffman, From Heresy to Dogma: An Institutional Historyof Corporate Environmentaiism. San Francisco, CA: New Lex-ington Press, 1997.

^ M. V. Russo and P. A. Fouts, A Resource-Based Perspectiveon Corporate Environmental Performance and Profitability.Academy of Management Journal, 1997 (40), 534-559.

^ S. L. Hart, A Natural Resource-Based View of the Firm.Academy of Management Review, 1995 (20), 986-1014.

'° Green Productivity: In Pursuit of Better Quality of Life.Tokyo, Japan: Asian Productivity Organization, 1997.

" D. A. Nadler, Champions of Change: How CEOs and TheirCompanies Are Mastering the Skills of Radical Change. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998.

'^D. Lei, M. A. Hitt and R. A. Bettis, Dynamic core compe-tences through meta-learning and strategic context. Journal ofManagement, 1992, 22, 549-569.

'•̂ D. Leonard-Barton, Wellsprings of Knowledge: Buildingand sustaining the Sources of Innovation. Boston, MA: HarvardBusiness School Press.

About the Special Issue Editor

Shaker A. Zahra is professor of strategic management at the J.Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.His research centers on entrepreneurship, innovation, and tech-nology management. The author of four books, he has also beenpublished in the Academy of Management Journal, StrategicManagement Journal, Journal of Management, Academy ofManagement Executive, Journal of Management Studies, Deci-sion Sciences. Journal of Business Venturing, and EuropeanManagement /ournaL Dr. Zahra has served as guest editor ofspecial issues of the £xecu/ive and the Academy of Manage-ment Review. He has received awards for excellence in teach-ing and research.