THE TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCES OF THE WORLDS LARGEST FIRMS - COMPLEX AND PATH-DEPENDENT, BUT NOT MUCH VARIETY

Firm-specific technological competencies help explain why firms are di fferent, how they change over time, and whether or not they are capabl e of remaining competitive. Data on more than 400 of the world's large st firms show that their technological competencies have the following characteristics: 1. They are typically multi-field, and becoming more so over time, with competencies ranging beyond their product range, i n technical fields outside their 'distinctive core'. 2. They are highl y stable and differentiated, with both the technology profile and the directions of localised search strongly influenced by firms' principal products. 3. The rate of search is influenced by both the firm's prin cipal products, and the conditions in its home country. However, consi derable unexplained variance suggests scope for managerial choice. The se findings confirm the importance of complexity and path dependency i n the accumulation of firm-specific technological competencies, and sh ow that managers, are heavily constrained in the directions of their t echnological search. They also show the limits of the notion of compet ition through variety, given that the same specific field of technolog ical competence is often essential to the development of a range of po ssible product configurations. Technological imperatives still exist. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.