Capacidades dinâmicas e desempenho inovador: uma análise dos setores químico e eletroeletrônico brasileiros

Abstract

Dynamic capabilities, defined as “the firm’s ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments” (TEECE et al., 1997 p.516), are associated with innovation and firm performance. Extant conceptual work also highlights that the role of dynamic capabilities must be examined in connection with organizational environment and context, such as firm strategy (Wang and Ahmed, 2007). However, little empirical evidence exists regarding the above relationships. Motivated by this research gap, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between dynamic capabilities and innovation performance, taking in account the influence of environmental turbulence and firm strategy, drawing on quantitative data based on a large-scale survey in the Brazilian chemical and electronics sectors. A telephone survey resulted in a total of 471 firms operating in the Chemical and Electronic sectors in Brazil. The data collected were tested using the Structural Equations Modeling and Regression Analysis from which the model from Wang and Ahmed (2007) was tested. The key research constructs were validated using multidimensional scaling and demonstrated reasonable reliability and validity. The results of this study found a positive and significant relationship between all variables, with all hypothesis been confirmed, which implies that the environmental turbulence is an antecedent of dynamic capabilities and that dynamic capabilities positively influence the innovative performance. The study also showed that compared with adaptive, innovative and integrative capabilities, the clarity of organizational goals and absorptive capacity had stronger influence on innovation performance. This suggests that, in addition to sensing environmental change, acquiring and absorbing relevant information from the environment, the individuals in the firm must also have a sense of what the firm’s objectives are in order to improve innovation performance. The mediating effect of dynamic capabilities in the relationship between the environmental turbulence and firm’s competitive strategy was also proved, suggesting that as the environment becomes turbulent, the importance of dynamic capabilities increases and organizations adapt their strategy accordingly. These findings contribute to the understanding of the aspects towards dynamic capabilities, concerning its antecedents and effects on firm’s strategy, which is step forward in filling the gap found in the literature on innovative performance at firm level. Although the constructs built on dynamic capabilities and on innovative performance presented good reliability and validity, it is suggested further test for its consolidation.