Supervisão colaborativa para uma educação inclusiva : um estudo com professores do ensino regular

Este trabalho, desenvolvido por uma professora de educação especial no contexto onde exerce funções, resultou da vontade de aprofundar o conhecimento sobre as dinâmicas de trabalho entre os professores do Ensino Regular e entre estes e o professor de Educação Especial. Desta forma elaborámos um projeto de investigação com o propósito de aprofundar o conhecimento sobre estas dinâmicas, no âmbito de uma oficina de formação, dinamizada pela investigadora, realizada no contexto de trabalho dos participantes. Neste âmbito, foi proporcionado um conjunto de experiências vivenciadas em conjunto, procurando contribuir para novas perspetivas teóricas sobre o conhecimento, bem como o envolvimento dos participantes em situações empíricas que lhes permitissem aplicar esses conhecimentos na resolução de problemas concretos emergentes no seu contexto de trabalho. A estratégia formativa baseou-se na colaboração como factor de desenvolvimento e de aprendizagem, surgindo como relevante e necessário o envolvimento dos formandos em processos de investigação da própria prática. A formação, na modalidade de Oficina, foi promovida através do Centro de Formação da Instituição onde a escola, um estabelecimento de ensino particular e cooperativo, se integra. Neste âmbito foi acreditada pelo Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua e envolveu dezasseis professores do 1.º, 2.º e 3.º ciclos do ensino básico. A formação desenvolveuse em duas fases - a primeira fase, constituída por 4 sessões, teve lugar entre maio e julho de 2011, e a segunda fase, igualmente constituída por 4 sessões, teve lugar de setembro a novembro de 2011, num total de 25 horas presenciais e 25 horas não presenciais. Trata-se de um estudo com uma dupla intencionalidade – formativa e investigativa – no qual se procura compreender (i) a relação entre as estratégias de formação e supervisão promovidas pela professora de educação especial e o desenvolvimento de dinâmicas de trabalho colaborativo entre os participantes (ii) e o impacto dessas dinâmicas no desenvolvimento profissional e nas suas práticas, tendo em vista a promoção de uma educação inclusiva. Configura-se como estudo de caso, na variante de multicaso apresentando, ainda, algumas características de investigação-ação. No âmbito deste estudo, utilizámos um conjunto diverso e complementar de procedimentos investigativos, nomeadamente, o inquérito por questionário aplicado a todos os participantes no início e no fim da oficina de formação; o inquérito por questionário de avaliação das sessões, tendo por base os objetivos do estudo; a entrevista semi-estruturada, realizada a quatro docentes do 1º CEB que constituem os subcasos e o portfolio reflexivo individual dos mesmos, os quais se constituem como estratégia de formação e de investigação. Recorreu-se, ainda, como fontes de informação secundária, ao Teaching portfolio do investigador, às videogravações das sessões de formação, aos registos em vídeo de alguns episódios relativos à intervenção dos formandos em sala de aula e aos projetos de investigação-ação, bem como aos dados recolhidos na entrevista dirigida ao Diretor do estabelecimento de educação e ensino, depois de concluído o programa de formação. Os resultados da análise parecem evidenciar a existência de dinâmicas colaborativas e um clima de inter-ajuda que caraterizou a interação ocorrida na formação, em torno de casos concretos, os quais tiveram um impacto significativo sobre o pensamento e a prática dos participantes. Todo o processo desenvolvido parece ter dado lugar à partilha de saberes e à procura conjunta de soluções para os problemas, tendo contribuído para que os professores passassem a ser mais interventivos, evidenciando novas aprendizagens e uma maior consciencialização do conceito de educação para todos e do que esta implica. Os resultados parecem ainda revelar o desenvolvimento de uma parceria estratégica entre os professores do ensino regular e a professora de educação especial, a qual passou a ser aceite como uma pessoa que pode ajudar a encontrar soluções para os problemas que surgem na sala de aula, de forma a garantir a inclusão de todos os alunos e não apenas dos que têm necessidades educativas especiais.

Fit in to stand out : An experience perspective on value creation

In order to grow and survive, a firm must create value with consumers in ways that both fit in with consumer demands and stand out from competitors. Focusing on and understanding consumer and firm assessments of value and creation of value has become a central scope in the contemporary strategic management and marketing literature for understanding and explaining firm survival and success. Consequently, the overall aim of this thesis is to provide a conceptually and empirically grounded understanding of consumers’ and managers’ value assessments and behavior in value creation. This thesis draws on a consumer experience perspective and theories on social construction, organizational identity, self-congruence, and the theory of attractive quality, and combines multiple qualitative and quantitative studies. The findings in this thesis shed light on the interplay between consumers, firms, and contextual structures in value creation. Contextual structural, cultural, and political forces are shown to affect and be affected by the shared and individual cognitions of value creation that firms and consumers use in their assessment and creation value. The results of the study enhance the understanding of how firms can adopt various strategic schemas or organizing logics to optimize different types of use value creation when choosing between opposing and contradictive demands in their value creation. Furthermore, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of the hierarchical nature of consumer judgments of value that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of firm prioritizations and as a foundation for future value-creating strategies.

Perceção do papel dos Recursos Humanos no posicionamento estratégico da empresa

A história da sociedade humana sempre foi fiel ao retrato das diferentes etapas do seu desenvolvimento. O ser humano sempre sentiu a necessidade de realizar os seus propósitos de sobrevivência, conjugando os diferentes elementos inerentes a este processo. As organizações se destacam na manipulação de recursos valiosos, que exigem a busca permanente de equilíbrios sustentáveis. Para tal, estas elaboram estratégias, que permitam o alcance de seus objetivos, garantindo a sustentabilidade interna e externa. O presente trabalho de pesquisa centrou o seu exercício na perceção do papel que a Área de Recursos Humanos no processo definição da estratégia, focalizando os diferentes modelos que vão desde o RH estritamente operacional ao RH estratégico. Esta dimensão evidenciou o papel decisivo do alinhamento do RH à estratégia, como parte integrante da estratégia global da organização, desde a formulação até a implementação. Foi realizado um estudo de caso qualitativo na Empresa Nacional de Exploração de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea (ENANA-EP), em Angola, caracterizado, pela recolha exaustiva de documentos relevantes da gestão da empresa, e concomitantemente a coleta de dados por via de um questionário escrito, que revelaram o estádio evolutivo da Área de RH, bem como o seu posicionamento ainda como órgão de consultoria interna, necessitando trabalhar novas ideias e estruturar procedimentos que integrem com maior facilidade a Área de RH no processo de definição da estratégia, configurando-a como gestora de talentos e competências, com foco no conhecimento e no capital humano.

O marketing em um hospital universitário na relação com o trabalho da enfermagem: um estudo de caso

No setor hospitalar, o marketing compõe um grupo interdependente de serviços e tem como objetivo principal aproximar clientes - externos, internos e corpo gestor -, através de estratégias específicas que promovem satisfação e qualidade. Esta organização possui uma larga diversidade de profissionais da saúde e o marketing, neste sentido, auxilia no processamento de seus serviços de forma a lapidá-los sob a ótica do cliente, buscando efetividade e produtividade. Neste cenário encontra-se o enfermeiro, cujo trabalho é composto pelas dimensões cuidar, gerenciar, educar/pesquisar, que se entrelaçam e caracterizam o serviço deste profissional. No entanto, costumeiramente, a enfermagem não declara o marketing como uma ferramenta estratégica ao seu processo de trabalho – fato verificável na exploração de publicações científicas -, e, paralelamente, depara-se com empecilhos na execução de seu trabalho que podem comprometer a sua excelência. Assim, este estudo busca analisar a relação do marketing com o trabalho do enfermeiro nas dimensões cuidar, gerenciar, ensinar/pesquisar. Para sua efetivação, optou-se pelo referencial metodológico Estudo de Caso, onde o fenômeno é verificado como ocorre em seu cenário real. Assim, a coleta, caracterizada por pesquisador e unidade únicos, ocorreu em um hospital universitário, geral e público no sul do país que declara publica e virtualmente o marketing institucional. Como fontes de evidência, foram utilizadas: entrevista focada com quatro sujeitos de áreas estratégicas para esta pesquisa; análise de documentação criada pela assessoria de marketing e observação direta. O tratamento e a análise dos dados ocorreram por meio da Análise Temática, que possibilitou a exposição dos resultados através de dois artigos: “A relação do marketing com o processo de trabalho do enfermeiro na dimensão cuidar” e “A relação do marketing com o processo de trabalho do enfermeiro nas dimensões gerenciar e educar/pesquisar”. Os resultados evidenciaram que o marketing no cuidar - auxilia a efetividade do cuidado através de novas estratégias de comunicação com o usuário, produz materiais elucidativos, lúdicos para sua continuação e manutenção e o divulga no meio intra e extra-hospitalar; no gerenciar - auxilia a o enfermeiro a ter um método mais inovador e criativo, a focar no cliente e no bom relacionamento interpessoal com a equipe; no educar/pesquisar - cria canais de comunicação interna e campanhas únicas que, além de auxiliar na realização da educação permanente e na atualização de enfermeiros, propicia meios para transmitir novos achados científicos à prática da enfermagem hospitalar. Através deste estudo, percebeu-se que ações de marketing podem contribuir para a efetividade do trabalho do enfermeiro em suas facetas dimensionais, aproximando este agente de saúde do usuário ao qual seu serviço é destinado e da gestão da organização, propiciando a este profissional maior visibilidade e valorização no espaço hospitalar e social.

Biblioteca Rio-Grandense: um estudo de caso sob o viés da educação patrimonial

Este trabalho buscou investigar a importância da educação patrimonial no processo de reconhecimento de bibliotecas históricas enquanto instituições patrimoniais e as possibilidades de atuação do profissional bibliotecário neste contexto, sendo o objeto de estudo desta pesquisa a Biblioteca Rio-Grandense, localizada na cidade de Rio Grande (RS). Nota-se que esta tem passado despercebida pela comunidade local, situação possivelmente explicada, segundo observações pessoais da autora, pelo comportamento da própria entidade, a qual denota pouca expressividade quanto a realização de atividades culturais, fato que possivelmente vem interferindo na relação e na possibilidade de maiores interações da mesma com a população entorno. Logo, esta pesquisa buscou averiguar quais têm sido as estratégias encontradas pela referida instituição para se fazer perceber junto à comunidade riograndina, especialmente sob o seu aspecto patrimonial. De caráter exploratóriodescritivo, seguindo uma abordagem qualitativa, assume a forma de estudo de caso. Para sua consecução se elaborou um questionário semiestruturado que foi aplicado no período de julho a agosto de 2015 junto às bibliotecárias e equipe gestora da Biblioteca Rio-Grandense, prosseguindo a tabulação e observação crítica das informações coletados adotando o método da Análise de Conteúdo. O conjunto de dados analisados implicou o surgimento de categorias temáticas: Temporalidade; Valor cultural sublimado; Pouco uso popular, quando se questionou se os sujeitos acreditavam que a Biblioteca Rio-Grandense seria reconhecida como elemento patrimonial pela comunidade local; Centralização do planejamento organizacional; Realização de atividades, acerca do planejamento estratégico e projetos para dar visibilidade popular à biblioteca e seu acervo; Serviços culturais restritos; Entrave financeiro, referente a quais ações culturais são executadas pela Biblioteca Rio Grandense; Práticas literárias; Uso do acervo; Público direcionado, relativas a quais atividades que desenvolveriam para divulgar a Biblioteca Rio-Grandense. Pensando ainda no aspecto da mediação cultural foram sugeridas algumas ações que a Biblioteca poderá empregar visando a uma maior aproximação e comunicação com a população local.

“Never Give up:” The Strengths and Strategies Used Among Undocumented College Students From Central America to Access and Persist in U.S. Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and strategies that undocumented college students from Central America used to access and persist in United States higher education. A multiple-case study design was used to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews and document collection from ten persons residing in Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, and Washington. Yosso’s (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth conceptual framework, an analytical and methodological tool, was used to uncover assets used to navigate the higher education system. The findings revealed that participants activated all forms of capital, with cultural capital being the least activated yet necessary, to access and persist in college. Participants also activated most forms of capital together or consecutively in order to attain financial resources, information and social networks that facilitated college access. Participants successfully persisted because they continued to activate forms of capital, displayed a high sense of agency, and managed to sustain college educational goals despite challenges and other external factors. The relationships among forms of capital and federal, state, and institutional policy contexts, which positively influenced both college access and persistence were not illustrated in Yosso’s (2005, 2006) community cultural wealth framework. Therefore, this study presents a modified community cultural wealth framework, which includes these intersections and contexts. In the spirit of Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) and critical race theory (CRT), the participants share with other undocumented students suggestions on how to succeed in college. This study can contribute to the growing research of undocumented college students, and develop higher education policy and practice that intentionally consider undocumented college students’ strengths to successfully navigate the institution.

Aplicação do Balanced Scorecard numa seguradora angolana

Mestrado em Contabilidade e Gestão das Instituições Financeiras

A generic method of engagement to elicit regional coastal management options

Stakeholder engagement is important for successful management of natural resources, both to make effective decisions and to obtain support. However, in the context of coastal management, questions remain unanswered on how to effectively link decisions made at the catchment level with objectives for marine biodiversity and fisheries productivity. Moreover, there is much uncertainty on how to best elicit community input in a rigorous manner that supports management decisions. A decision support process is described that uses the adaptive management loop as its basis to elicit management objectives, priorities and management options using two case studies in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The approach described is then generalised for international interest. A hierarchical engagement model of local stakeholders, regional and senior managers is used. The result is a semi-quantitative generic elicitation framework that ultimately provides a prioritised list of management options in the context of clearly articulated management objectives that has widespread application for coastal communities worldwide. The case studies show that demand for local input and regional management is high, but local influences affect the relative success of both engagement processes and uptake by managers. Differences between case study outcomes highlight the importance of discussing objectives prior to suggesting management actions, and avoiding or minimising conflicts at the early stages of the process. Strong contributors to success are a) the provision of local information to the community group, and b) the early inclusion of senior managers and influencers in the group to ensure the intellectual and time investment is not compromised at the final stages of the process. The project has uncovered a conundrum in the significant gap between the way managers perceive their management actions and outcomes, and community's perception of the effectiveness (and wisdom) of these same management actions.

El desarrollo de capacidades y la gestión del conocimiento en los potenciales de cambio y competitividad universitaria

El presente artículo se centra en la consideración de que hay empresas que desconocen los mecanismos necesarios para preservar y dinamizar los conocimientos que se generan en sus interacciones cotidianas a través de los roles y perfiles profesionales de quienes forman parte de ellas. Se parte del supuesto que estas empresas, por estar atentas a las cadenas de producción, no centran su mirada en la gestión del conocimiento, posibilitando la fuga del mismo hacia otros sectores, lo que constituye una pérdida irreparable respecto al potencial humano y al capital cognitivo. Con el objetivo de adquirir conocimiento sobre cómo se puede mejorar y desarrollar la capacidad profesional en lo que respecta al aprendizaje, las TIC y las estrategias de comunicación dentro de un marco de una organización competitiva se realizó el proyecto a partir de un estudio de caso en la Universidad de Medellín y su Departamento de Ciencias Básicas bajo una metodología cualitativa y usando el método etnográfico. Entre los resultados se puede resaltar: 1. Si la gestión que implica evaluar el desempeño de los docentes no funciona bien, existe la posibilidad de que se sientan desmotivados para realizar cambios profesionales; 2. El proyecto Permanencia con Calidad muestra un proceso de cambio y con ello un desarrollo de capacidades profesionales y una nueva práctica, lo cual se manifiesta en la manera en que los docentes se expresan sobre su rol profesional

Combined exposure to multiple mycotoxins in food: are we ready for risk assessment and risk management?

It is nowadays recognized that the risk of human co-exposure to multiple mycotoxins is real. In the last years, a number of studies have approached the issue of co-exposure and the best way to develop a more precise and realistic assessment. Likewise, the growing concern about the combined effects of mycotoxins and their potential impact on human health has been reflected by the increasing number of toxicological studies on the combined toxicity of these compounds. Nevertheless, risk assessment of these toxins, still follows the conventional paradigm of single exposure and single effects, incorporating only the possibility of additivity but not taking into account the complex dynamics associated to interactions between different mycotoxins or between mycotoxins and other food contaminants. Considering that risk assessment is intimately related to the establishment of regulatory guidelines, once the risk assessment is completed, an effort to reduce or manage the risk should be followed to protect public health. Risk assessment of combined human exposure to multiple mycotoxins thus poses several challenges to scientists, risk assessors and risk managers and opens new avenues for research. This presentation aims to give an overview of the different challenges posed by the likelihood of human co-exposure to mycotoxins and the possibility of interactive effects occurring after absorption, towards knowledge generation to support a more accurate human risk assessment and risk management. For this purpose, a physiologically-based framework that includes knowledge on the bioaccessibility, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of multiple toxins is proposed. Regarding exposure assessment, the need of harmonized food consumption data, availability of multianalyte methods for mycotoxin quantification, management of left-censored data and use of probabilistic models will be highlight, in order to develop a more precise and realistic exposure assessment. On the other hand, the application of predictive mathematical models to estimate mycotoxins’ combined effects from in vitro toxicity studies will be also discussed. Results from a recent Portuguese project aimed at exploring the toxic effects of mixtures of mycotoxins in infant foods and their potential health impact will be presented as a case study, illustrating the different aspects of risk assessment highlighted in this presentation. Further studies on hazard and exposure assessment of multiple mycotoxins, using harmonized approaches and methodologies, will be crucial towards an improvement in data quality and contributing to holistic risk assessment and risk management strategies for multiple mycotoxins in foodstuffs.

Perceptions of climate change, environmental variability and the role of agricultural adaptation strategies by small-scale farmers in Africa: the case of Mwanga district in Northern Tanzania

Abstract The potential impacts of climate change and environmental variability are already evident in most parts of the world, which is witnessing increasing temperature rates and prolonged flood or drought conditions that affect agriculture activities and nature-dependent livelihoods. This study was conducted in Mwanga District in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania to assess the nature and impacts of climate change and environmental variability on agriculture-dependent livelihoods and the adaptation strategies adopted by small-scale rural farmers. To attain its objective, the study employed a mixed methods approach in which both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used. The study shows that farmers are highly aware of their local environment and are conscious of the ways environmental changes affect their livelihoods. Farmers perceived that changes in climatic variables such as rainfall and temperature had occurred in their area over the period of three decades, and associated these changes with climate change and environmental variability. Farmers’ perceptions were confirmed by the evidence from rainfall and temperature data obtained from local and national weather stations, which showed that temperature and rainfall in the study area had become more variable over the past three decades. Farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of climate change vary depending on the location, age and gender of the respondents. The findings show that the farmers have limited understanding of the causes of climatic conditions and environmental variability, as some respondents associated climate change and environmental variability with social, cultural and religious factors. This study suggests that, despite the changing climatic conditions and environmental variability, farmers have developed and implemented a number of agriculture adaptation strategies that enable them to reduce their vulnerability to the changing conditions. The findings show that agriculture adaptation strategies employ both planned and autonomous adaptation strategies. However, the study shows that increasing drought conditions, rainfall variability, declining soil fertility and use of cheap farming technology are among the challenges that limit effective implementation of agriculture adaptation strategies. This study recommends further research on the varieties of drought-resilient crops, the development of small-scale irrigation schemes to reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture, and the improvement of crop production in a given plot of land. In respect of the development of adaptation strategies, the study recommends the involvement of the local farmers and consideration of their knowledge and experience in the farming activities as well as the conditions of their local environment. Thus, the findings of this study may be helpful at various levels of decision making with regard to the development of climate change and environmental variability policies and strategies towards reducing farmers’ vulnerability to current and expected future changes.

Platform management and early supplier involvement in NPD

Platform strategies reflect a firm’s technology policy towards its new product development (NPD) activities. Depending on the technological complexities embedded in the platform, certain degree of interdependence is created between the firm and its suppliers. Firms may decide to what extent the suppliers should be involved in its NPD activities. There has been an increasing interest with issues related to supplier involvement in NPD. Involving suppliers early in NPD can help firms reduce costs, reduce concept-to-customer development time, improve quality, and provide innovative technologies. However, it requires a great effort and many tradeoffs need to be considered. This paper discusses the implications of early supplier involvement in new product development, specifically regarding to sourcing decisions and NPD processes when new components are designed and incorporated into the new platform. We would like to understand to what extent the NPD collaborates with suppliers, and at which stage of the NPD process suppliers are invited to participate in platform designs. A case study of Oticon, a Danish manufacturer of hearing aids, is presented. We describe how the successful introduction of a new platform of hearing aids is realized as well as how and when Oticon’s suppliers were involved during this process.

Foreign direct investment motives and location decision factors under economic recession: Three cases of Finnish FDI in Portugal

The purpose of this thesis was to study how uncertainty in economic conditions of the FDI host country affects location decision of an investment, and what kinds of motives are behind the investment decision to a country in economic recession, in this case Portugal. The country has attracted foreign direct investment steadily, but it is evident that most multinational firms and investors tend to be more interested in emerging economies in general. The aim was to find out also which host country specific advantages are important in this kind of cross-border investment and which factors are important for an FDI to succeed under economic uncertainty at the host country. The study was done by analyzing three Finnish case companies: a private equity and real estate investment firm Pontos Group, A wave energy technology research and development company AW Energy and NSN, Nokia Solutions and Networks, a global telecommunications company. The research was done empirically, by interviewing experts on the subject, mainly persons representing these companies. In addition relevant articles, journals and content from case companies’ web-pages is used for the desk research regarding the topic. The results of this thesis showed that the FDIs with strategic asset-seeking investments seem most profitable FDI types under uncertain economic conditions. This kind of investments aim to strengthen the company’s long-term strategy, including the time after recession. Firm-specific ownership advantages that bring competitive advantage proved out to be important under these circumstances, as well as first-mover advantages and externally created assets such as government promotional policies regarding FDI incentives. Also the location was considered suitable for resource- or efficiency seeking motives, based on the lowered price level at the host country. Problems were related mainly to financing, but as foreign companies receive financing usually from their home countries, the economic recession of the host country does not have significant effect for FDI decision, according to this study

Business model evolution and firm performance of entrepreneurial companies

This research explores the business model (BM) evolution process of entrepreneurial companies and investigates the relationship between BM evolution and firm performance. Recently, it has been increasingly recognised that the innovative design (and re-design) of BMs is crucial to the performance of entrepreneurial firms, as BM can be associated with superior value creation and competitive advantage. However, there has been limited theoretical and empirical evidence in relation to the micro-mechanisms behind the BM evolution process and the entrepreneurial outcomes of BM evolution. This research seeks to fill this gap by opening up the ‘black box’ of the BM evolution process, exploring the micro-patterns that facilitate the continuous shaping, changing, and renewing of BMs and examining how BM evolutions create and capture value in a dynamic manner. Drawing together the BM and strategic entrepreneurship literature, this research seeks to understand: (1) how and why companies introduce BM innovations and imitations; (2) how BM innovations and imitations interplay as patterns in the BM evolution process; and (3) how BM evolution patterns affect firm performances. This research adopts a longitudinal multiple case study design that focuses on the emerging phenomenon of BM evolution. Twelve entrepreneurial firms in the Chinese Online Group Buying (OGB) industry were selected for their continuous and intensive developments of BMs and their varying success rates in this highly competitive market. Two rounds of data collection were carried out between 2013 and 2014, which generates 31 interviews with founders/co-founders and in total 5,034 pages of data. Following a three-stage research framework, the data analysis begins by mapping the BM evolution process of the twelve companies and classifying the changes in the BMs into innovations and imitations. The second stage focuses down to the BM level, which addresses the BM evolution as a dynamic process by exploring how BM innovations and imitations unfold and interplay over time. The final stage focuses on the firm level, providing theoretical explanations as to the effects of BM evolution patterns on firm performance. This research provides new insights into the nature of BM evolution by elaborating on the missing link between BM dynamics and firm performance. The findings identify four patterns of BM evolution that have different effects on a firm’s short- and long-term performance. This research contributes to the BM literature by presenting what the BM evolution process actually looks like. Moreover, it takes a step towards the process theory of the interplay between BM innovations and imitations, which addresses the role of companies’ actions, and more importantly, reactions to the competitors. Insights are also given into how entrepreneurial companies achieve and sustain value creation and capture by successfully combining the BM evolution patterns. Finally, the findings on BM evolution contributes to the strategic entrepreneurship literature by increasing the understanding of how companies compete in a more dynamic and complex environment. It reveals that, the achievement of superior firm performance is more than a simple question of whether to innovate or imitate, but rather an integration of innovation and imitation strategies over time. This study concludes with a discussion of the findings and their implications for theory and practice.