A performative perspective on sensing, seizing, and transforming in small- and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

This study investigates organizational sensing, seizing, and transforming, which are critical activities in developing and exercising dynamic capabilities (DCs)––an organization’s capacity to reconfigure its resources in response to a changing environment. Previous research on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has predominantly focused on well-established business processes that are considered functional DCs, including product development, portfolio planning, and customer management, highlighting their role in facilitating resource reconfiguration. However, these studies implicitly assume the existence of functional DCs, without explaining what contributes to their development. We build on recent theoretical arguments emphasizing the performative dimensions of the DC construct and examine how SME practitioners sense and seize opportunities and threats, and subsequently transform their resources and operations. Our findings highlight a series of practices employed in ongoing social interactions to develop functional DCs or reconfigure established routines. These practices are situated in social interaction contexts characterized by distinct modes of communication, including resonance, generativity, and call for action. By offering a communicative explanation of the performance and dynamization of sensing, seizing, and transforming, this study underscores the pivotal role of interpersonal dynamics in facilitating resource reconfiguration.