Today, Korean conglomerates can no longer sustain competitive advantage solely through a fast-follower strategy amid digital transformation, technological convergence, and rapidly shifting consumer demands. Firms therefore need to support dynamic capa...
Today, Korean conglomerates can no longer sustain competitive advantage solely through a fast-follower strategy amid digital transformation, technological convergence, and rapidly shifting consumer demands. Firms therefore need to support dynamic capabilities—sensing environmental changes, seizing opportunities, and reconfiguring or transforming organizational resources—through internal institutional mechanisms. This study explores whether corporate venturing programs in Korean conglomerates, particularly in-house ventures, function as such institutional mechanisms to strengthen dynamic capabilities.
As a research method, this study selected Samsung Electronics’ C-Lab as a single case and conducted an interpretive analysis using multiple sources, including literature review, public data, and semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings indicate: first, C-Lab enhanced sensing capabilities through independent structures, internal–external linkages, and a culture of tolerance for failure. Second, institutionalized processes of resource allocation, evaluation, and exit strategies connected ideas to seizing capabilities. Third, decentralized decision-making, redeployment of human resources, spin-offs, and open innovation facilitated reconfiguring/transforming capabilities.
These results demonstrate that corporate venturing serves not merely as a tool for new business development but as an institutional experiment that supports strategic agility and long-term organizational renewal. In particular, institutional designs such as decentralized authority, autonomous operation, tolerance for failure, and external collaboration provide a foundation for continuous learning and adaptation under uncertainty. Accordingly, in-house ventures can be evaluated as strategic institutional mechanisms that alleviate the rigidity of Korean conglomerates, foster innovation-friendly cultures, and enable the everyday enactment of dynamic capabilities.