Matching External with Internal Complexity Project
Efthimios Poulis
Overview
Nowadays, organisations face a more complex and dynamic environment, which they have to address using their internal capabilities. However, the academic literature offers theories and frameworks that are static and consequently they do not take into consideration the dynamic nature of both the external and the internal elements of an organisation’s environment. A more dynamic approach has to be introduced, enriching the existing knowledge.
Abstract
The management literature is in a constant quest to offer new theories and unfold innovative business practices, inviting ideas from all scientific areas. This study attempts to link the external environment of an organisation to the internal one. The contribution rests in the author’s perspective in both aspects of the environment. For the presentation and analysis of the external environment, a notion stemming from biology, namely complexity, is introduced. For the internal environment, the notion of dynamic capabilities is used. Following a qualitative approach, eight case studies were selected, providing 43 interviewing with top managers of the biggest multinational and local organisations in shipping, super markets and higher education in Greece. The results show that these two notions, when interrelated, inform both theory and practice in strategic management. Organisations can address dynamic environments using their dynamic capabilities in ways that could not be thought of before, in static terms.
