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From survival to revival : a dynamic capabilities perspective on dealing with deep uncertainty
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Norouzi Tioola, Kourosh (2022) From survival to revival : a dynamic capabilities perspective on dealing with deep uncertainty. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3816009
Abstract
Background: In today’s world of growing uncertainty and change, adaptability is in demand more than ever. Learning how to adapt and navigate this ‘new normal’ has become the de facto goal of many organisations, irrespective of their size and industry. In the management literature, surviving and thriving in such an environment requires specific organisational and managerial competencies known as dynamic capabilities (DCs) (Teece et al., 2016). This study uses the DCs framework to examine and determine how developing these superior capabilities helps organisations or nations in times of deep uncertainty? It brings together a range of historical, contextual, and empirical evidence to answer certain key questions: What are the nature and utility of DCs in a highly dynamic and uncertain environment in a non-market, political economy? Whether growing geopolitical uncertainties can trigger the development and deployment of DCs and, if so, at what level? (i.e., at the firm, industry, and country levels)?
Method: This study employed an embedded case study design (Yin, 2009)— a single case (i.e., Iran’s oil industry) that contains multiple units (the four key Iranian NOCs). Complicated by the country’s mixed economic system, unique governing structure, and unusual circumstances (e.g., a prolonged sanctions regime), this case offers an exciting and relevant context to understand the process of capability development under conditions of deep uncertainty. It also adopts a hybrid model, incorporating historical and process perspectives in a case study to examine how these superior capabilities are initiated, developed, and deployed in this setting? By whom, why, and at what level?
Results: The empirical findings of this study demonstrate that in a highly uncertain, dynamic, and resource-constrained environment, there is a greater need for developing and practising DCs. It identified three distinct forms of DCs: adaptive, absorptive, and innovative capabilities, which collectively help businesses adapt, survive, and even thrive in such an extreme context. The findings also illustrate how these difficult-to-build capabilities must be enhanced or updated periodically to deliver sustainable growth.
Unlike previous studies that considered DCs mainly the task and achievement of firm management, this study found that the development and deployment of DCs in a non-market, political economy context are not necessarily a firm-level approach but rather through more state-driven initiatives. Given the strategic nature of DCs, these capabilities are usually initiated and guided by the state and managed at a national level, a more of a top-down approach. In such contexts, these capabilities are deeply embedded in, and influenced by, the country’s national innovation system, which, in turn, is shaped by broader national and international developments. Although initiated and guided by the Government, it was through the collective efforts of state and non-state actors that these capabilities have been developed, deployed, and operationalised successfully. In other words, their development benefitted from collaborative stewardship from both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Conclusion: This study offers an original contribution to research on DCs and provides some important lessons and insights from which others in less extreme contexts can benefit. It advances our theoretical and empirical understanding of adaptability and survivability under adverse conditions.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD61 Risk Management |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Organizational change, Organizational change -- Management, Strategic planning, Uncertainty | ||||
Official Date: | April 2022 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Warwick Business School | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Bradshaw, Michael ; Elmes, David | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | x, 291 leaves : illustrations | ||||
Language: | eng |
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