Dynamic managerial capabilities are frequently viewed as a source of influence among decision-making managers within environments of volatility. Conversely, managers postulate that decision-making in rapidly changing environments is never perfect and faces a variety of influencing factors. In addition, industries represent a collection of firms that produce similar goods or services for a particular market. This recipe is often recognized by all industry related firms and adapted accordingly. Similarly, firms comprised as “incumbents” and “challengers” are firms that are well established in the industry and firms that seek to change the industry. Recognizing which influencers affect the managerial decision-making process is necessary to adapt and evolve a firm’s decision-making logic. This thesis presents a detailed study of the Hollywood Film Industry Recipe as it relates to the influencing factors within the green lighting process of feature films among incumbent and challenger studios. An inductive research approach is used to investigate four case studies throughout the Hollywood Film Industry. Two case studies are recognized as industry incumbents while the other two are recognized as industry challengers. The analysis identifies an industry recipe, firm adopted industry and adaptations, and dynamic managerial capabilities utilized through the influence of the process. In addition, an illustration of the industry recipes influence dynamic managerial capabilities adopted by firms. Findings suggest that dynamic managerial capabilities is an output of industry recipes adopted amongst firms, and that refinement of those capabilities is a circular renewal process between managerial judgement and firm/managerial dominant logics. In addition, industry recipes influence the way in which dynamic managerial capabilities are acquired, processed, and absorbed. This study contributes to the field of strategy as it suggests a coherent framework that illustrates how industry recipes influence incumbent and challenger studios within a given industry. Additionally, it also demonstrates how dynamic managerial capabilities are formed and structured based on the adopted industry recipe. Finally, it outlines how decisions are made by managers within incumbent and challenger firms, highlighting a circular process of decision-making with regards to the creation an distribution of an industry related product.

Market orientation has been primarily studied as a set of firm-level behaviours linked to the: generation of, dissemination of, and responsiveness to market intelligence (market-oriented behaviours). However, it has rarely been studied under an organisational culture perspective; the investigations that have conceptualised and operationalised market-oriented organisational cultures have overlooked a market-oriented managerial mind-set dimension. A concept to help address this research gap is the firm s dominant logic, which highlights the degree to which managers assumptions are manifested into their corporate cultures. The firm s dominant logic is integrated with the market orientation literature to conceptualise and operationalise the customer value-oriented dominant logic (CVODL) construct. The CVODL construct is defined as the extent to which managers assume that creating customer value should drive performance. The CVODL construct contributes to the marketing literature by extending current conceptualisations and operationalisations of market-oriented organisational cultures through a managerial mind-set viewpoint. This doctoral study examines the link between a CVODL and managers making resource investments into the departments of their corporations that they perceive to create value for their customers (an alternative to market-oriented behaviours). Functional resource investments are studied as an alternative form of implementing the marketing concept than market-oriented behaviours. A conceptual framework was developed to conceptualise the antecedents and consequences of the CVODL under the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. The conceptual framework was tested using a multi-industry and national-level sample of American corporations, through structural equation modelling (SEM). These results show that a CVODL drives different forms of implementing the marketing concept, namely, intelligence responsiveness and CVO functional resource investments, both of which were positively related to sales performance. The results also highlight a new driver of market-oriented behaviours under the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. This doctoral thesis helps managers to foster a market-oriented organisational culture, as well as investigating the ways in which such corporate cultures can drive sales performance. Limitations and avenues of future research are also discussed.

The digital environment we live in today puts pressure on businesses to adapt and digitally transform their organizations. In 2018 Örnsköldsviks municipality started Digilots, a program which aims to help organizations in the region with digital transformation. This thesis intention is to help the municipality and other actors in the public sector understand the challenges and needs of small to medium sized enterprises (SME) to better help them support these companies in their digital transformation. The study accomplishes this by looking at previous research on the subject as well as collecting empirical data from SMEs in the region of Örnsköldsvik. The purpose of the study is therefore to investigate how actors from the public sector can aid SMEs in their digital transformation. The study finds that there are multiple challenges faced by both the SMEs in the region and within the municipality. The challenges include mainly a lack of knowledge and resources needed to pursue a digital transformation. This thesis contributes to the current body of research in two ways. The first is a practical contribution to Örnsköldsvik municipality in the form of a new way for them to engage with SMEs and help them with their digital transformation. Secondly the study presents empirical evidence on the struggles of digital transformation of SMEs and how the public sector can help address issues faced by SMEs.

Background: IT has been reshaping competition and strategy for decades. However, the current wave of IT-driven competition is distinct from previous ones. As new digital technologies have a disruptive effect, organizations must adapt to remain competitive. Digital transformation particularly affects the automotive industry as digitalization has become the most important phenomenon since the creation of the industry. Managers in automotive companies need to thus become active in implementing strategic changes and utilize digital opportunities. For this, managers must apply their dynamic managerial capabilities to sense and seize digital opportunities and to transform the company. Research Problem: Despite the wide literature on dynamic capabilities, dynamic managerial capabilities, and digital transformation, research on these three concepts’ interlinkages is underdeveloped. There is furthermore little evidence on how the interaction of the underpinnings of dynamic managerial capabilities at an organizational level affect strategic change and performance in a changing environment. Research Purpose: The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of an automotive company’s development of dynamic managerial capabilities to facilitate its digital transformation. It aims at showcasing how managerial cognition, social capital, and human capital are relevant to sense, seize, and transform for digital transformation. A framework is developed to visualize the respective interlinkages. Research Question: How can dynamic managerial capabilities facilitate an automotive company’s digital transformation? Research Method: This study uses a qualitative approach. An in-depth case study aiming for theory-elaboration was conducted at Volvo Group. Data was purposefully collected through interviews, observations, and internal documents, and then analyzed through a thematic analysis. Conclusion: This paper’s main contribution lies in the application of dynamic managerial capabilities in the context of digital transformation. Our findings suggest that all dynamic managerial capabilities are important for sensing, seizing, and transforming for digital transformation. We find managerial cognition to be vital throughout all the dynamic capabilities steps, whereas managerial social capital has strong influence on the sensing stage. Managerial human capital in terms of industry experience plays a major role for the seizing and transforming stages of digital transformation. Our results indicate that it is important to build teams with complementing dynamic managerial capabilities to facilitate organizational digital transformation.

Purpose - In order to capture the implications of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted in-depth interviews with 8 middle level managers employed at a Large Enterprise based in Sweden.  Problem - The influence of the middle managers on change management initiatives is prominent. We conducted this research regarding remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to understand the managerial perspective on the phenomenon.  Method - We have adopted a qualitative research method and utilized social constructivism for the analysis of the interviews. We applied the theories of change management and dynamic managerial capabilities to the empirical data that we collected through in-depth interviews.  Results - The results of the analysis include the middle management perspective on change management, in our case; the impact of switching to remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research has provided us with their subjective perspective on remote work, as well as related issues regarding organizational changes in general. Conclusion - Finally, we reflect on the perspectives that we gained through the interviews and discuss the limitations of this thesis, as well as further research possibilities.

Background: With an increasing population and volume in global trade, pressures on supply chains have escalated immensely. Over the past five years, multiple events have caused disruptions in supply chains, affecting economies and products not arriving on time. It is essential for managers to understand why a crisis might arise and how to handle it most efficiently to minimize the impact on the organization.  Purpose: Establish what managers in Sweden have learned from recent supply chain disruptions and how they are responding to the current disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Method: The research was grounded on the interpretivism paradigm with convenience and purposeful sampling. Semi-structured interviews with seven participants were conducted and reviewed through thematic analysis with an inductive and deductive approach induced by exploratory research that led to qualitative data.  Conclusion: The findings in this report resulted in an understanding of the mechanisms used to handle recent disruptions. The focus was on securing the flow of materials through local and multiple suppliers, as well as warehouses with safety stock. Communication, transparency and other intangible competencies were also important. During the ongoing disruption, results showed that more emphasis was placed on local and multiple suppliers, mapping, and world assessment.

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