Abstract
This dissertation contributes to the area of dynamic capabilities within the field of strategic management by utilizing and integrating other theoretical areas such as behavioral theory of the firm and social psychology. Essay 1 examines the contingent role of internal capabilities on gaining benefits from externally formed capabilities by studying the relationship between R&D (internal) capabilities and alliance (external) capabilities in the context of knowledge creation. Essay 2 examines the extent to which dynamic capabilities facilitate successful change initiatives. Taking organization ambidexterity as a well-defined dynamic capability, as well as an alternative to it, organizational vacillation, the role of these capabilities is inspected on the relationship between strategic change and firm performance. Essay 3 adopts a microfoundational approach to examine how individual and psychological factors might impact firms’ decision-makers, and in turn, firms’ dynamic capabilities. Overall, this thesis advances research within the dynamic capabilities field by introducing previously unexplored contingency factors and their interactions at the firm level, as well as a detailed theoretical framework based in the psychology literature to provide a microfoundational explanation of how capabilities might develop within the firm.