The Role of Environmental Dynamics in Building a First Mover Advantage Theory

We advance first mover advantage (FMA) theory by examining how the pace of market evolution and technology evolution potentially enables or disables FMA. Integrating several streams of literature, we elaborate on the interplay among these two environmental (macro) conditions and the “isolating mechanisms” that underpin FMA. We model these dynamics to help researchers negotiate the current debate, arising from conflicting empirical evidence, on the conditions necessary for FMA to exist.