Adapting to market liberalization: The role of dynamic capabilities, initial resource conditions, and strategic path choices in determining evolutionary fitness of Less Developed Country (LDC) firms

Economic liberalization leads to higher competitive intensity that spurs strategic changes in LDC domestic firms. I apply the dynamic capabilities lens to post-liberalization adaptation of LDC domestic firms. Based upon the logic of fit, I argue that initial resource conditions, strategic paths, and requisite dynamic capabilities must match to enhance evolutionary fitness of firms. I propose that LDC firms with strong core and complementary capabilities will adopt strategies of increasing scale and scope, along with cultivating an acquisition dynamic capability to enhance fitness. LDC firms with weak core but strong complementary capabilities could enhance fitness by forming rent-creating alliances with Multinational Enterprises (MNE), and building relational dynamic capabilities. Finally, LDC firms with weak core and complementary capabilities can gain benefits towards fitness by enacting political strategies supported by political dynamic capabilities.