Enacting shared industry recipes through dynamic managerial capabilities: evidence from the Hollywood film industry

Purpose This study examines how managers in incumbent and challenger Hollywood studios interpret and enact a shared industry recipe during green-lighting and how differences in resource access condition the configuration and exercise of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs). Design/methodology/approach An abductive comparative case design draws on 30 semi-structured interviews with senior executives from four Hollywood studios. Data were analyzed through iterative coding and within- and cross-case comparison. Findings Managers enacted a shared five-element industry recipe comprising intellectual property, financial capital, creative talent, marketing, and distribution. Incumbents relied more on internally controlled resources, whereas challengers depended more on external resource assembly and cross-boundary coordination. Communication integrated managerial human capital, social capital, and cognition into collective managerial judgment. Research limitations/implications Findings are context-specific to four US studios and do not support statistical generalization. Future research could examine the framework in other creative industries. Practical implications The five-element recipe offers managers a diagnostic for assessing whether key resources are internally controlled or externally assembled. Social implications The findings clarify how creative and commercial perspectives are integrated in cultural-production decisions. Originality/value The study links industry recipes with DMCs by showing how firms in different competitive positions enact common industry knowledge through distinct configurations of established DMCs. It identifies communication as an integrative mechanism and collective managerial judgment as the commitment mechanism linking DMC foundations to strategic resource commitment.