Virtuous and vicious cycles: Managerial capabilities, strategy processes, and firm capabilities in established South African insurers

Abstract

The path towards successfully transforming established and successful firms in the 21st century remains a subject of much debate among strategic managers. This research report attempts to provide clarity to aspects of this debate that relate to managerial capabilities. It propounds on the interrelations between top management capabilities and the capabilities of firms. Specifically, the top management and the capabilities they possess. The capabilities that predominate the functioning of a firm. Including the perspectives of top management and institutionalised processes that strategies are both formed and implemented through. The qualitative inquiry was composed of fifteen in-depth interviews. These narratives were subjected to a content and thematic analysis. The deduced themes and constructs offered insights into dynamic managerial capabilities. Along with the processes through which they function as these firms pursue their adopted transformation strategies. The outcomes were two-fold. A map of the dominant configurations of both firm and managerial capabilities, and their associated default schools of strategy thought. Highlighting the likely existence of strategic management gaps constraining the transformative capacity of South Africa’s established insurers. The proposal of a model theorising the relationship between the dynamic managerial capabilities and the firm capabilities was also proffered.