Structural Capability of an Organization toward Innovation Capability

Abstract

The scholars in the field of strategic management have developed two major approaches for attainment of competitive advantage: an approach based on environmental opportunities, and another one based on internal capabilities of an organization. Some investigations in the last two decades have indicated that the advantages relying on the internal capabilities of organizations may determine the competitive position of organizations better than environmental opportunities do. Characteristics of firms shows that one of the most internal capabilities that lead the organizations to the strongest competitive advantage in the organizations is the innovation capability. The innovation capability is associated with other organizational capabilities, and many organizations have focused on the need to identify innovation capabilities. 

This research focuses on recognition of the structural aspect of innovation capability and proposes a conceptual framework based on a Qualitative Meta Synthesis of academic literature on organizations innovation capability. This is proposed for the development of the concept of innovation capability in the organizations and this paper includes an expert based validation in three rounds of the Delphi method. And for the purpose of a better appreciation of the relationship dominating the factors of the conceptual framework, it has distributed the questionnaire in Iranian companies of the Food industry. At last, this research proposed a direct relationship between Innovation Capability and Structural Capability. Also, it offers the most important components and indices which directly influence and are related to the structural capability of innovation capability.