Strategic advantage through social inclusivity: An empirical study on resource based view in health insurance firms in India

Abstract

Strategic social advantage in firms has emerged as a concept that balances the social and fiscal goals of firms. Towards this end, restructuring organizational designs to reduce societal inequalities is gaining prominence. Disruptive technologies are transforming the social and economic context of businesses. Given this background of altered technological, social and economic contexts, a strategic social advantage framework, based on managerial perceptions, has been proposed in this study by integrating the theories of competitive advantage and social orientation of firms. The goal of this study was to develop a social strategic advantage model for firms in the context of micro health insurance business in India. Using Structural Equation Modeling supported by Hayes’ multiple mediation model a socially embedded strategic advantage framework was developed. The study methodology was based on the perceptions of 565 managers in health insurance services. The results indicated that inclusive emerging technologies, product innovation, knowledge management practices, and socio-technical expertise formed the multiple mediators that connected inclusive service delivery and people orientation in firms to strategic social advantage of firms. Managerial experience had a moderating effect on the relationship between management of inclusive emerging technologies and knowledge management practices of firms. This finding implied that with higher experience, firm managers perceived that effective management of inclusive emerging technologies leads to robust knowledge management practices in firms. While younger managers were expected to be passionate about modern-day technologies, this counterintuitive outcome entailed that with more experience regarding market dynamics, managers would ardently drive implementation of emerging technologies to achieve strategic social advantage.