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The topic aims to bring together scholars interested in recent approaches to the understanding of how firms deal with their business environment to achieve competitive advantage. This topic aims to investigate how the following approaches inhibit or contribute to firm competitive advantage or superior performance in general: (1) Microfoundations of Strategy: how do they shape, mediate between, and explain firm-level strategic issues (strategic decision-making, strategic consensus seeking)? (2) Dynamic Capabilities: how do they promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and organizational learning? (3) Knowledge mechanisms: How to balance between internal knowledge accumulation and external knowledge absorption? We are interested in submissions that explore the interconnections between levels of analysis and combinations of the approaches above.

• Microfoundations of Strategy:

The aim is to advance the discussion what microfoundations of strategy look like for specific firm-level strategic issues. Microfoundations research builds on the analysis of individuals, their characteristics and their interactions in relation to firm-level strategic issues. Process and outcome strategic issues are both welcome, such as achieving competitive advantage, the strategy process, strategic decision-making, strategic renewal, routines and capabilities. The pivotal role attributed to individuals and their interaction is at the core of the micro-foundations argument. Research that identifies the salient properties for these individual actors (e.g. cognitive, personality, functional characteristics) combined with the (social) mechanisms (e.g. social networks, team dynamics) that constitute the emergent properties of the strategic issues is pivotal to the advancement of the microfoundations of strategy.

Both conceptual and empirical work that focuses on multiple levels of analysis and the links between these levels are central to the theme. This can mean a focus on strategic issues being more profoundly understood through a microfoundations approach, expanding or linking to existing bodies of strategy literature (behavioral theory of the firm, organizational learning, resource-based approaches), or drawing up (novel) frameworks that devote explicit attention to identify the bottom-up and top-down aspects through mixed methods or multi-level modelling.

• Dynamic Capabilities:

The dynamic capabilities theme aims to stimulate the discourse on how dynamic capabilities consolidates entrepreneurship, change management, innovation management, and organizational learning knowledge and in that way contributes to the development of firm competitive advantage and thus superior performance. The discourse aims towards the development of the well-grounded Dynamic capabilities theory, operationalization of dynamic capabilities concept based on multidisciplinary approach as well as providing insights into the dynamic capabilities and firm superior performance relationships.

Empirical and conceptual research may contribute to answer the questions on how dynamic capabilities view benefits from the knowledge of the other disciplines dealing with the explanation of the firm competitive advantage and superior performance; what is the domain of relevance of dynamic capabilities and thus the way of operationalization of the dynamic capabilities concept; what are the effects of the dynamic capabilities on firm competitive advantage and thus superior performance; is there a direct or indirect link between dynamic capabilities and firm superior performance and other related questions.

• Knowledge mechanisms:

Is learning embedded into strategic goals of organizations and how much does the new knowledge influence strategic choices? How is the balance between internal and external knowledge sourcing achieved? How is the use of outside information balanced by development of internally generated ideas? What are the mechanisms of knowledge processing within a firm?

What is the role of absorptive capacity for external knowledge sources? How can the knowledge inflow or creation be adequately measured and how can we capture the influences on organizational performance? Are there time limits to knowledge use? What is the role of employee initiative and cooperation between employees for fulfillment of strategic goals? How do firms adapt to environmental changes? How can a company keep up with fast-passed environment (can a continuing development mind-set be developed)? How do all of the above influence organizational performance?