Desenvolvimento e mobilização de capacidades gerenciais dinâmicas no Porto Digital

Abstract

This research aims to analyze how the Managing Board (Núcleo de Gestão, in Portuguese) of Porto Digital helps develop and mobilize Dynamic Managerial Capabilities (DMCs). More specifically, this study sought – through Systematic Literature Review (SLR) – to understand how researches address the role of the manager in theoretical approaches related to Managerial Capabilities (MC); to characterize the constituent elements of the DMC attributes in the Managing Board of Porto Digital; to identify the inter-organizational learning mechanisms bound to the DMC in the technological cluster in Recife/PE; and, to understand the role of the Managing Board in the governance of Porto Digital as a mediator in the relationship with companies, the government, and universities. To achieve the proposed objective, the research strategy adopted was to conduct a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), and a qualitative and exploratory case study. Data were collected from interviews with 11 managers, supervisors, directors and advisors of the Managing Board, by using semi-structured scripts, and from institutional documents analysis. For the analysis, the data were categorized, grouped, and classified according to the previously laid out dimensions and categories. The SLR evidenced both the need to develop empirical research to jointly address the DMC attributes, and the lack of studies on DMC in cluster environments. This study managed to characterize the constituent elements of the DMC attributes and the aspects that influence them; in addition, both formal Inter-organizational Learning mechanisms, related to social, human and cognitive attributes, and informal mechanisms, unrelated to Human Managerial Capital were identified. This study evidenced the importance of cluster management to mobilize the DMCs and to mediate the relationships with companies, the government, and universities. The findings led to developing an integrative framework that reveals the links among the DMCs, Inter-organizational Learning and cluster Governance, and demonstrates how they influence one another from two perspectives: outside in and inside out. The conclusion is that the Managing Board of Porto Digital develops the DMCs, which are consolidated through Inter-organizational learning. Moreover, they materialize through the cluster governance actions in the use of internal and external resources, and company-government-university relationships, in line with the Triple Helix model. The interactions between professionals in informal environments, casual meetings, and formal projects strengthen the cluster and stimulate collaboration among companies in search for ad hoc solutions; thus, such interactions present themselves as prominent elements for the learning and competitiveness of Porto Digital. Further studies can help to understand more deeply the daily routine of the professionals at Porto Digital; to know in a practical way the formal and informal mechanisms of Inter-organizational learning; and, to observe which of these mechanisms exert the greatest influence and how they are developed.