Initiating Technology Convergence Through Knowledge Integration: The Critical Role of Dynamic Capabilities

In today's technology-driven landscape, companies face intense competition due to rapid technology application and industry convergence. Upon these phenomena, this study aims to comprehensively understand the factors that influence the success of interdisciplinary knowledge combinations and their impact on initiating technology convergence. Drawing the dynamic capabilities framework, this study explores how three dimensions of dynamic capabilities influence the initiation of technology convergence: the pace of assimilating prior knowledge, the diversity of cross-disciplinary knowledge integrations and refiguration, and the propensity for differentiated knowledge adoption. United States Patent and Trademark Office data from 1976 to 2019 are retrieved to measure these attributes. Findings reveal that firms fostering the initiation of technology convergence assimilate knowledge more rapidly, across diverse fields, and demonstrate a propensity for differentiated knowledge. It operationalizes the dynamic capabilities framework within the context of technology convergence and takes a proactive approach by examining the trajectories preceding the initiation of technology convergence. Executives and the R&D team can leverage these findings to assess their current positioning and determine the direction for future collaboration or exploration efforts.