Contingent influences of innovation characteristics and firm capabilities on early-mover advantage: A conceptual framework for high-tech environments

The literature on early-mover status and its effect on sustainable competitive advantage has produced equivocal results. Sarin et al. (2025) conducted in-depth interviews with senior tech industry executives, in which the authors explored contingencies that affect the early-mover status to sustainable competitive advantage relationship. In this study, we integrate insights from these qualitative interviews and the extant literature, to propose a conceptual framework. The proposed framework and accompanying propositions relate to the moderating effects of innovation characteristics and firm capabilities on the relationship between early-mover status and sustainable competitive advantage. Our study concludes with theoretical contributions, managerial implications and directions for future research.