Adapt or grow obsolete : A study on developing dynamiccapabilities in a post-IPO setting

Sammanfattning: As technology accelerates the dynamism in the global markets, companies are forced to adapt to the changing landscape. A company’s success in navigating the external environment depends on their dynamic capabilities. One of the most critical moments for many companies’ is when they conduct an IPO. Research into how an IPO affects a firm is necessary since newly listed firms have been shown to underperform compared to private firms. Dynamic capabilities have been observed to be of critical importance for IPO firms and previous research suggests that an IPO changes processes that affects a firm's ability to develop dynamic capabilities. This study explores how the development of dynamic capabilities is affected by changes to microfoundations following an IPO. The study gains insight into the subject by conducting interviews with executives from Swedish firms that underwent the IPO process during 2018-2020. The empirical findings indicate that seven microfoundations are affected by going public. The study contributes to prevailing literature by laying the groundwork for future research on how a firm's ability to develop dynamic capabilities is affected by going public and it has the potential to be a practical tool when making strategic decisions during and after an IPO process.