Managing Resources in Highly Uncertain Environments -exploring a company’s resource management process

Abstract

One of the most debated triggers for change in a business is technology, and the continuous new development of technologies plays a critical role for the management of a company‟s resources. Companies increasingly experience that their industries drastically are changing due to the constant emergence of new technologies and innovations. Technological change also brings with it a high degree of uncertainty and makes it difficult, if not impossible, for companies to predict what lies ahead and how they should act and manage their resources. Therefore, this thesis highlights the importance of resource management under a high degree of uncertainty. Consequently, the research question is to study how resources are managed in highly uncertain environments. To answer the research questions a conceptual framework was formulated. These theories were empirically studied in a highly uncertain environment by examining a company that experienced radical changes in their industry in terms of technological innovations. The analysis of the company‟s resource management and theoretical findings resulted in the development of a model entitled: The Effectuative Resource Management Process. This model describes how resources are managed in highly uncertain environments in order to regain, maintain or create competitive advantage.