Different Concepts of Dynamics in Strategy Research

The objective of this paper is to elicit what strategy scholars understand by the term "dynamics". An increasing number of studies in the field of strategic management address dynamic issues. This bears the question about the utilized conceptual understanding of dynamics. Based on our analysis, we can differentiate four conceptual understandings which differ espe-cially in the level of their conceptual richness. Most studies picture dynamics in a descriptive way. Only a few studies perceive dynamic issues as comprehensive as system dynamics re-searchers are used to, this includes feedback perspectives, nonlinearities and accumulations. With this study, we call for more research in strategic management that uses a conceptually rich understanding of dynamic phenomena. In addition, we provide recommendations for future work aimed at advancing the state of dynamic research in strategic management contexts.