Building a commercialization capability: A dynamic capability view

Firms live and die by their ability to successfully bring innovations to market, which places commercialization as a key capability. Contemporary research suggests that commercialization is a non-linear process with diverse activities and decisions that coincide and interact with the innovation process. By integrating dynamic capabilities as a theoretical lens, this study aims to enhance the understanding of the processual nature of commercialization. Through a longitudinal case study, we investigate how a firm's dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing and transforming help build its commercialization capability as it changes its offerings from a consultancy to an eHealth service provider. The study contributes to the literature on commercialization by focusing on the organizational processes that lead to a firm's building of a commercialization capability. Four organizational processes are identified: commercial alertness, market context learning, organizational agility and alignment, and credibility building.