PurposeThis study aims to explore the mechanism by which intellectual capital and corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence the sustainable competitive performance of small and medium-sized ...enterprises (SMEs), with the mediating role of organizational innovation in an emerging economy.Design/methodology/approachThe data collection was conducted through a survey completed by 208 owners and top managers operating in the service, trading and manufacturing sector SMEs, positioned within twin cities of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized for data analysis.FindingsThe results of the study suggest that intellectual capital and CSR have a markedly positive influence on the sustainable competitive performance of SMEs. The organizational innovation appears to mediate these relationships.Originality/valueThis study pioneers research on the links between intellectual capital, CSR organizational innovation and sustainable competitive performance of SMEs. The current research contributes to the literature by defining intellectual capital and CSR as an antecedent and organizational innovation as an intervening variable for the sustainable competitive performance of SMEs. In addition, this study underlines the significance of intellectual capital and CSR activities as valuable intangible assets for the achievement of sustainable competitive performance of SMEs.
Purpose
Brand managers can choose among two fundamentally different brand positioning strategies. One is a broad brand strategy, focusing on many favorable brand associations. The other is a narrow ...brand strategy, focusing on just a few and thus more mentally accessible associations. Building on associative memory theory, this paper aims to examine which of these brand positioning strategies performs better under dynamic market conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments test the effect of brand positioning strategy on memory accessibility and competitive brand performance. Study 1 tests how brand strategy (broad vs narrow) affects defensive brand performance. Study 2 tests how broad vs narrow brands perform differently in a brand extension scenario (offensive brand performance). Study 3 uses real brands and situation-based attributes as stimuli in a defensive scenario.
Findings
The results show that a narrow brand positioning strategy leads to a competitive advantage. Narrow brands with fewer and more accessible associations resist new competitors more easily and have higher brand extension acceptance than do broad brands.
Research limitations/implications
The study shows how to use accessibility as evidence of associative strength and test how accessibility influences competitive brand performance in a controlled experimental context.
Practical implications
Brand managers would benefit from a narrow brand positioning strategy in accordance with the unique selling proposition (USP) school of thought used by many marketing practitioners.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates that narrow brand positioning performs better than broad brand positioning in dynamic markets, and to the knowledge is the first to do so.
The objective of this work is to measure and analyze the management of resources and strategic capacities of the agroindustrial organizations of the first transformation of the province of La Pampa, ...Argentina. The strategic management of the network, measured in aggregate terms, can be classified as intermediate. The most positive aspects are maintaining the image of the company, the importance of price, and the strategic value that know-how has for businesses. As factors with performance to improve, there are the lack of conventions and agreements with scientific and technical organizations that promote innovation processes and the nonuse of a command board for the strategic and operational management of the business. The flour, dairy, and balanced food complexes were the ones that presented the best strategic management performance. The strategic management of first-transformation agroindustries is directly related to capacities (management training and seniority in the business) and resources (scale).
The answer to the challenging question, “Should one either invest in tangible resources or intangible resources/capabilities?” is still fragmented. In prior studies, more emphasis is given to ...tangible resources, while intangible resources have comparatively received minor attention, despite their significant role in the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Particularly the role of the intangible skills; intellectual capital, financial literacy (FL), and business experience (BE) in resource acquisition and sustainable competitive performance has missed in prior studies. Grounded on the resource-based view and upper echelon theory, this study examines the role of intellectual capital in sustainable competitive performance with a mediating role of resource acquisition. This research also assesses the moderating role of financial literacy and business experience between intellectual capital and resource acquisition. Data are collected through structured questionnaires from 384 owners/managers of Pakistani SMEs. After analyzing the data through structural equation modeling (SEM), the results indicate that intellectual capital helps managers in acquiring valuable resources, which in turn enhance sustainable competitive performance. Resource acquisition partially mediates the relation between intellectual capital and sustainable competitive performance. Financial literacy is a significant predictor of resource acquisition, but it does not significantly moderate the relation between intellectual capital and sustainable competitive performance. Business experience significantly boosts the acquisition of resources and strengthens the path between intellectual capital and resource acquisition. SMEs should encourage their managers to acquire unique, rare, and immutable external resources in the turbulent markets.
Literature notes that firms are keen to develop big data analytics capability (BDAC, e.g. big data analytics (BDA) management and technology capability) to improve their competitive performance (e.g. ...financial performance and growth performance). Unfortunately, the extant literature has limited understanding of the mechanisms by which firms’ BDAC affects their competitive performance, especially in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using resource capability as the theoretical lens, this paper specifically examines how BDAC influences SMEs’ competitive performance via the mediating role of business models (BMs). Also, this study explores the moderating effect of COVID-19 on the relationship between BDAC and BMs. Supported by Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and data from 242 SMEs in China, this study finds the mediating roles of infrastructure and value attributes of BMs in enhancing the relationship of BDAC on competitive performance. Furthermore, the improvement of financial performance comes from the matching of BDA management capability with infrastructure attributes of BMs, while the improvements in growth come from the matching of BDA management capability and BDA technology capability with value attributes of BMs. The result also confirms the positive moderating effects of COVID-19 on the relationship of BDA management capability and value attributes of BMs. This study enriches the integration of BDAC and BMs literature by showing that the match between BDAC and BMs is vital to achieve competitive performance, and it is helpful for managers to adopt an informed BDA strategy to promote widespread use of BDAs and BMs.
Purpose: The research aims to determine the extent to which green manufacturing strategies are applied in two Iraqi companies belonging to the public sector, as well as diagnosing the level of ...competitive performance in the two companies under study, in addition to shedding light on the impact of applying these strategies in reducing the costs of products and their role in providing a large financial return for the company and in a way that contributes to enhancing its competitive performance and increasing its productivity.
Theoretical Framework: Green manufacturing is a comprehensive system for all production stages embodied in the form of a sustainable approach to the design activities involved in the process of producing or developing products or operating the system in order to reduce environmental impact, reduce the depletion of natural resources, rationalize the use of raw materials and recycle them to make those products more efficient.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The study sample was represented in (190) views in the two companies (Northern Cement Associate and Southern Cement State Company), as the answers obtained from the aforementioned sample were analyzed through the statistical analysis package (SPSS).
Findings: One of the most prominent results of the research is the presence of a state of convergence between the two companies regarding the variables in general, which is due to a basic element that the two companies follow the same reference represented by the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and therefore the performance adoptions in its general framework are almost similar, including instructions, general directions and strategies that are adopted by the supervisory institution It is the responsibility of the operating departments to adopt them and work under the general policies of the ministry.
Research, Practical & Social Implications: One of the most important recommendations of the research is that the Ministry of Industry and Minerals adopts a policy that obliges its affiliated companies to provide clean products that contribute to reducing environmental pollution and enhance their competitive performance, as well as adopting control systems that follow the process of applying green manufacturing strategies from before these companies.
Implication/ Originality/Value: The Originality of this research is examines impact of applying green manufacturing strategies in reducing the costs of products in the two companies under study, and the role that these green manufacturing strategies in providing a large financial return for the company and enhancing its competitive performance and increasing its productivity.
PurposeThe construction of digital supply chains to integrate internal and external resources is becoming an important path for manufacturing enterprises to gain competitiveness. However, at present, ...research on the internal mechanisms of digital supply chain capabilities (DSCC) and enterprise sustainable competitive performance (ESCP) has not been sufficiently studied. Based on contextual ambidexterity theory, this study investigates whether DSCC could enable the realization of supply chain ambidexterity and further explains the mediating role of supply chain ambidexterity on DSCC and ESCP, and the boundary conditions of supply chain governance on supply chain ambidexterity and ESCP.Design/methodology/approachWith a survey data set of 232 Chinese manufacturing enterprises from different industries, the study empirically tests a moderated mediating model and conducts hierarchical linear modeling and bootstrap to test the study's hypotheses.FindingsThe results demonstrate that: (1) DSCC positively enhance ESCP; (2) supply chain ambidexterity, which can be regarded as a synergic ability of supply chain alignment and adaptability, partially mediates the positive relationship between DSCC and ESCP; and (3) supply chain governance such as incentive governance positively moderates the association between supply chain ambidexterity and ESCP, but there is no evidence that relational governance moderates their relationship.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new interpretive perspective to understand digital supply chains. More importantly, it reveals the importance of DSCC in contributing toward supply chain ambidexterity and ESCP, and demonstrates the differential regulating action of incentive and relational governance on the association between supply chain ambidexterity and ESCP, with implications for both academics and practitioners.
Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the potential impact of blockchain technology on supply chain performance (SCP). This study further delves into the enablers of blockchain adoption ...(BA) in SCM and investigates both the direct and mediated effects of blockchain assimilation on garnering a competitive edge in the supply chain and bolstering innovation proficiency, ultimately enhancing SCP. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative approach, leveraging partial least squares structural equation modelling. Empirical data were sourced from 500 validated data sets obtained through questionnaires. Findings The results indicate that technological readiness and knowledge sharing are key drivers for integrating blockchain into supply chains, with technology readiness displaying a substantially stronger influence. Furthermore, BA significantly enhances supply chain innovation capabilities (SCIC), competitive performance (CP) and overall supply chain efficiency. Notably, both SCIC and CP mediate and amplify the positive effects of blockchain on SCP, emphasising the vital role of innovation and competition in optimising the benefits of blockchain. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to bridge the gap in the literature connecting SCM and blockchain. The established model augments the theoretical discourse on the SCM-blockchain, offering scholars a validated framework that can be adapted and built upon in future studies.
Market conditions in emerging economies are often reported as less stable and volatile. The business sector, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies, face several ...shortcomings including lack of resources, lack of finance, lack of support and lack of human skills, etc. Hence, they look to international support and resources to survive in a long run in the dynamic markets. This research examines the role of international finance, international technology, international experience and international network in SME firms’ Sustainable Competitive Performance (SCP) in Pakistan. SMEs are a major source of employment and value creation and, therefore, are very relevant to Pakistan economic and social development and improved sustainability. Hypotheses were tested on the data set collected from 304 emerging SMEs. After Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied in Analysis of a Moment Structures (AMOS), the results indicate that international finance, international experience and international network significantly positively contribute to SCP, but international technology is not a significant predictor of SCP. This research recommends top managers and policy makers to give enough attention to the particular international resources and capabilities in order to configure their firm survival in the turbulent market.
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