Dynamic capabilities can help a firm to interpret and respond to an environment of rapid technological change. Although there is broad research consensus that they are higher order capabilities comprising routines, their nature and how they develop remains open to debate. A view of dynamic capabilities as capacities, which can shape and reshape and configure and reconfigure ordinary capabilities so as to remain competitive, is taken to examine how dynamic capabilities develop through learning. An emerging theme in the strategy literature is that managerial cognition may be important, even central, to the development of capabilities. In line with this theme, models are proposed on how managers learn to learn and how technological and organisational sensemaking practices can facilitate cognition. In addition, characteristics of two types of learning, expert and entrepreneurial, are proposed to explain how managers learn and recognise opportunities. The distinct learning patterns relate to content-oriented and process-oriented views of strategy respectively. Further, suggestions are made on how entrepreneurial learning in particular, may be beneficial in a highly dynamic environment. A process oriented, case study is conducted of three securities custodians facing an environment of increasing dynamism, competitiveness, and interconnectedness due to information technology developments in financial markets. The findings are shown to support the claim that managerial theories on learning are required to develop and sustain dynamic capabilities. In addition, the findings provide evidence that these theories may form through two learning patterns, depending on how managers frame problems and recognise opportunities. An important contribution of this study is the analytical framework of dynamic capability learning that was developed during the case analysis. The framework enables organisational learning experiences relating to dynamic capability development to be captured. The thesis concludes with implications for both managers and scholars. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / pagibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / PhD / Unrestricted

Diversity and Teamwork are currently some of the trendiest human resources strategies of boosting team performance and ultimately, organizational performance. This study analyzes the impact of gender, racial, age and employment status diversity on teamwork, and is one of the first studies on diversity and teamwork in the mature phase of Japanese transplants. The theoretical framework includes elements of the symbolic interactionist theory, Kanter.s theory on tokenism, revised contact hypothesis and perspectives on cultural diversity (Ely and Thomas, 2001). The data were collected from interviews with 87 workers from 16 production teams working on the assembly line at a top Japanese auto transplant in US, as well as from observation, analysis of corporate literature and the annual opinion survey. Furthermore, intermediary variables like team climate or team spirit have been found to mediate the relationships between diversity and team performance. Gender mixed teams reported a more enjoyable and pleasant experience in teams, whereas the male teams exposed more rivalry and competition and the female teams had more interpersonal conflicts. Similarly, the racially diverse teams have more fun and more interesting things to discuss at work, which alleviates the boredom caused by the routine of the assembly-line. Age-balanced teams also have optimal functioning in terms of productivity, quality, safety and problem-solving. Differences in employment status were found to bring inequality and different standards of performance for permanent and temporary workers, which can threaten the fundamental principles of teamwork.

Regional specialisation and economic volatility of Czech regions ABSTRACT This thesis deals with the assessment of the impact of regional specialization and regional diversity on economic performance of Czech regions by indicators of economic development: the growth of the average wage, employment growth, rising unemployment, increase in the number of patents and the GDP per person. The second aim is to assess the effect of types of diversity on regional performance. Finally, this thesis aims to assess the impact of diversity on regional resilience by analyzing the development of employment and GDP per person. Key words: Czech regions, diversity of industry, specialization, regional performance, regional resilience, related and unrelated variety, Jacobs' effects, Marshall's effects