Dynamic capabilities of media entrepreneurial firms : a case study of Chinese new media startups

Abstract

Organizational capabilities greatly affect the performance of media firms in an uncertain and fast-moving environment. As such, media firms especially those new ventures should develop strong capabilities that would enable them to sustain competitive advantages and adapt to the changing situation. This study addresses some of the challenges faced by Chinese media entrepreneurial firms in adapting to the uncertain market. To address this problem, this study explains the organizational capabilities creation in a Chinese social media entrepreneurial firm —T company. This study adopts the Dynamic Capabilities (DC) framework (Teece et al, 1997) as the theoretical proposition and conduct a qualitative research based on a case study to obtain in-depth insights. As a result, 4 research gaps related to dynamic capabilities were filled: 1) insufficient attention to the DC of new ventures; 2) lack of attention to the creation of DC; 3) need for more literature on media management of DC; 4) lack of theoretical depth based on the context of Chinese media. At the end of the study, it was observed that leaders’ cognition, perception, human capital, social capital and leadership all positively contribute to the creation of dynamic capabilities, and the entrepreneurial instinct and expectation of entrepreneurs also facilitate the formation process. Meanwhile, for some specific elements, venture capital triggers sensing of the external environment, and the mobility of managers also serves as a guarantee.