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Overview: Prior research has understood the process of digital transformation as shifts between digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation phases and has treated the digital transformation process tautologically. In the literature, digital transformation is understood as transforming the whole organization, including its business processes and value proposition. This understanding is problematic because it fails to capture the need for achieving alignment between the organization, the environment, and the strategy based on the finer details of an organization's context. Achieving this fit is important in a VUCA environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. We conducted a single case study of Linn Products, a UK-based high-tech company renowned for designing and manufacturing high-end home entertainment systems, including digital streaming products, music players, and speakers. This award-winning firm has not only embraced digital transformation but also sustained its performance proactively amidst the dynamic shifts in the consumable electronics industry. Our interpretive longitudinal study spans 2007 to 2023 and incorporates insights from 23 in-depth interviews. Our research provides valuable guidance for practitioners seeking to build resilience and adaptability in an era of digital disruption and polycrisis. In an era marked by polycrisis, organizations must cultivate a combination of threshold and core capabilities to attain organizational fitness amidst the challenges of a VUCA environment. To leverage digital transformation, companies must adopt a strategic approach, whether through providing digital support in business processes or opting for full digital participation. Success in digital transformations hinges on the harmonious alignment of strategy, an organization's unique circumstances, and the dynamic conditions of the VUCA environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2001, Corning faced a near-death experience. Growth had halted and revenues had plummeted. But Corning survived, and today it is thriving. The strength Corning built in facing that challenge helped it weather the global economic crisis of 2009 and 2010 and emerge stronger than before. How did Corning survive the 2001 disaster, with virtually no money to invest in rebuilding? How has it sustained its performance in an era of continual uncertainty and volatility? This article explains how Corning responded to both crises, describes the innovation-based strategy it pursued and articulates some of the lessons Corning learned from these crises and more than a century as an innovator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The importance of identifying and fostering corporate "capabilities" has been confused with creating competencies. Competencies are unique products or services, often created in the R&D labs, which can penetrate existing markets. Capabilities are the operational ability to deliver those new products and services efficiently, repeatedly and in sufficient volume. Capabilities' and competencies are both required to successfully place a product in the market. These must also be supported by corporate resources to ensure longevity The importance of aligning competencies, capabilities and resources can be explained through the analogy of an axe blade splitting dense wood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OVERVIEW: This management framework permits integrating positioning, competencies and acquisitions in the context of a dynamic process of platform strategy. The integration method suggested is the platform-market matrix, which can be used to capture the market dynamics and the platform dynamics simultaneously. In addition, with the proposed framework a company can quickly choose the action modes or platform strategies in an appropriate setting, along with their supporting strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on Europractice, a European Commission program aimed at providing access to a range of advanced microelectronic technologies and know-how. Five key market sectors in which core competencies offered by the program are applicable; Explanation of the components and applications of microsystems; Benefit of the program to Robert Bosch GmbH; Statistics of U.S. companies contracting Europractice members for prototypes and design projects.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Joseph Miller on the innovation recipe at Corning, one by Uma Chowdhry on the regeneration of firms via the disciplined development of new core competencies, and another by Henry C. Foley on public-private partnerships.