crisis within a group of seven subcontractors in the Swedish heavy

vehicle industry. Although the participating firms had similar exposures

to an abrupt and severe shift in demand, their performances during the

crisis varied extensively. One year after the crisis began, some firms were

still encountering financial problems threatening their survival, yet

others had orchestrated a recovery that was generating healthy cash

flows. Evaluation of in-depth interviews with key organisational

members and standardised financial indicators suggests that the

subcontractors' performances in the crisis were determined by their

ability to attain and evaluate 'deep knowledge' from stakeholders and

'wide knowledge' from other external actors. Hence, our findings not

only demonstrate an opportunity to extend existing research on crisis

management but also indicate that the subcontractors' performances in

the economic crisis were related to the implementation of dynamic

capabilities.