Understanding healthcare sector organizations from a dynamic capabilities perspective

Purpose Dynamic capabilities (DCs) need renewing to respond to changes emerging in the environment, and organizations must build up their capacities to sustain good performance levels. This study aims to identifying and characterizing the DCs existing in public health sector organizations by surveying the DC-related areas in health organizations, contributing to broader and more systematized knowledge in this field. Design/methodology/approach The authors sent a questionnaire to 245 professionals with leadership and management positions in healthcare organizations in this study. The authors used multivariate methods to validate the variables used to measure the DCs. Findings In addition to highlighting the impact of DCs on public health organizations' performance, the study's results allowed the authors to identify hidden capacities in the organizations of this sector, which only emerge when resource management difficulties occur. These changes and difficulties may interact with users and/or professionals' needs and make organizational management a particular challenge aggravated by quick responses to ensure the organization's survival. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature's call for a deeper understanding of the role of DCs and contribute to a greater practical understanding of how these capabilities influence the performance of such organizations.