Building Competitive Advantage Research Articles

Building Competitive Advantage Through Information Technology Integration in Marketing and Branding Management Strategies

This study delves into the crucial role of information technology (IT) integration in marketing and branding management strategies, highlighting its significance as a pivotal element for businesses aiming to secure a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. In an era marked by digital transformation, the confluence of innovative IT solutions with traditional marketing and branding frameworks emerges as a strategic necessity for companies navigating the complexities of today’s marketplace. This research posits that such integration is instrumental in revolutionizing how organizations communicate with their target audiences, offering new pathways for differentiation and value creation. Exploring the paradigm shift induced by the advent of digital platforms, social media, and data analytics, the paper examines how these technologies have expanded the opportunities for businesses to engage with consumers on a more personalized and impactful level. It asserts that the digital transformation enables the harnessing of data-driven insights, thereby optimizing marketing strategies, brand positioning, and customer relationships. This integration transcends operational enhancements, dictating the long-term success and sustainability of businesses through strategic necessity. Moreover, the study addresses the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of digital technologies, emphasizing the importance of agility and innovation in exploiting new tools and platforms to maintain competitive superiority. It explores the potential of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and augmented reality in enhancing marketing effectiveness and brand appeal. However, it also acknowledges the challenges inherent in IT integration, such as data privacy, cybersecurity, and the need for continuous adaptation and employee skill development. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks and practical case studies, this research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the role of IT in enhancing marketing and branding strategies. It seeks to offer insights into the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities within the digital marketing landscape, facilitating a deeper understanding of how businesses can leverage technology to foster a sustainable competitive advantage. Ultimately, this paper endeavors to illuminate the strategic importance of IT integration in marketing and branding, guiding businesses towards more effective and innovative practices in the digital age.

Creative Management and Innovation: Building Competitive Advantage in The Contemporary Era

In the world of business and enterprise, competition is something that cannot be avoided. Especially in this contemporary era, business practices are experiencing very rapid changes due to advances in digital technology which requires business people to be ready to face competition. In an effort to face competition in business, an attitude of discipline, creativity and innovation is needed by business people or businesses. In an effort to maintain market share, an entrepreneur must be able to see an opportunity and have the courage to take a risk. It is through courage and opportunity that an entrepreneur becomes equipped to remain capable and even win market competition. This research aims to find out what kind of creativity and innovation are carried out by business actors in dealing with changes in market share in the current era. This research uses a qualitative research method using a case study approach. The results of this research are that the application of creative management and innovation carried out by the UMKM industry, Ms. Sumiatin's peanut brittle business and the restaurant industry, namely Lim's Cafe Kisaran and Bang Kendik Cafe Rantauparat, has had a positive impact and is able to create competitive advantages in the contemporary era.

브랜드 이미지와 고객 만족, 재구매 의도간의 관계 연구

To cope with various changes in consumer consumption patterns, companies are trying to enhance their brand awareness or use marketing to increase their competitiveness. Therefore, companies need to make efforts to gain a competitive advantage by forming a brand image and driving customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions.
 The study aims to analyze the relationship between the brand image of a beauty training institution and the repurchase intentions, such as trainees' satisfaction, linked training, or retraining, and to present the directions and implications necessary to strengthen competitiveness through building competitive advantage and brand activation. To this end, a survey was conducted with a sample of about 280 people training at beauty training institutions in the metropolitan area. Using SPSS WIN 12.0, frequency analysis to identify general characteristics and reliability analysis (Cronbach' a) were performed for each measurement item of variables. Multiple regression analysis and mediation effect analysis were conducted on the relationship between brand image, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intentions.
 The hypothesis was established by dividing the brand image into functional image and symbolic image, and the relationship between the brand image of the training institution along with the satisfaction of the trainees and the intention of repurchase was analyzed. As a result, it was found that the functional and symbolic image of the brand had a positive (+) effect on customer satisfaction, and the affected customer satisfaction had a positive (+) effect on consumer repurchase intentions. The mediated effect of customer satisfaction was partially adopted.
 Although this study has limitations that did not consider all the characteristics of beauty fields such as hair beauty, makeup, skincare, and nail beauty, the importance of brand image was emphasized once again in the environmental change of the beauty industry due to the popularization and specialization of the existing small beauty industry. Furthermore, the brand image will draw more attention, providing the basis for training institutions to be competitive and seek ways to develop the company.

Building Competitive Advantage Through Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard in Improving Company Performance

The purpose of this research is to identify strategy maps for PT. TA company based on the problems faced by the company, to identify the right balanced scorecard design for PT. TA, to find out the best competitive strategy that can be used by PT. TA to be able to compete with other heavy equipment rental companies in Central Java. The research approach used is a qualitative research method. The results show PT. TA faces problems of dependence on a single product, low production efficiency, and high production costs. To overcome this, they can implement several strategies. First, they can open new markets or explore markets that have not been optimally exploited through a map strategy. In addition, they can also develop new products or product variations of existing products, as well as product diversification. In addition, companies need to improve production processes, increase the efficiency of resource use, improve product quality, and improve production technology in order to reduce high production costs and increase production efficiency. By implementing these strategies, PT. TA can increase competitiveness and ensure the continuity of the company's business in the long term. PT. TA can adopt a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) design to continuously monitor strategy implementation. By using BSC, companies can ensure that all important aspects of business are well integrated in the company's strategy. Business goals can be achieved in a directed and measurable manner through the implementation of the BSC.

INSIGHTS INTO DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS

The article offers insights into theoretical and applied issues related to digital marketing concept development in the works of foreign and national scholars. It is observed that in most cases digital marketing is primarily viewed as a marketing communication tool but not as an independent element of marketing management in the online environment. This research offers etymology justification to the concepts of digital marketing, Internet marketing, online marketing and digital marketing, since yet there is no clear definition of a digital marketing concept in the international and domestic academic literature (most often it is referred to as equivalent to e-commerce, e-business or e-trade). The paper suggests a digital marketing management framework to be used by businesses in the context of digitalization. It is emphasized that a focus of digital marketing management should be placed towards meeting the online customers’ needs and expectations which ultimately translates into added value of organization's goods or services and contributes to building competitive advantages, eliminating potential conflicts of interest. This paper presents a set of digital marketing tools that integrates the principles of Internet marketing modeling (designed by an outstanding American marketer R. F. Wilson) based on the approach of including an Internet platform element into the P3-Place – a classic marketing mix which enables companies to select an optimal Internet platform within their interaction patterns of communication with target segments. According to the research findings, the digital marketing mix covers the following four classical tools, such as "Product", "Price", "Place" (Distribution), and "Promotion". It is also noted that the Distribution tool includes an Internet platform element. A special emphasis is put that each of the digital marketing mix instruments is adapted to the needs of target audiences. The study argues that the added Internet platform element embedded into the Distribution component is critical in managing digital marketing, since the application of the classic marketing mix in the virtual environment is associated with the choice of optimal Internet platforms for searching and communicating with target audiences of consumers.

The Analytical Aspects of Personnel Management in the Foreign Economic Activity of Enterprise

The article is aimed at studying the analytical prerequisites for efficient management of enterprise personnel as human capital in the context of activation of economic activity of enterprise in foreign markets. The article specifies that the contemporary category of «human capital» has several definitions and is constantly being updated. Thus, it was defined that nowadays the human capital of an enterprise represents a set of qualitative characteristics of a person, an object of investment, part of the total capital, a stock or a set of individual potentials of a person, and can also be considered as an opportunity to use the knowledge and skills of employees. During the study, it was emphasized that today it is the company’s personnel that allows building competitive advantages and achieving results in the professional activities of the enterprise. The authors summarize that this issue is especially relevant for enterprises operating in international markets, since the qualification of an employee should allow timely response to drastic changes that are characteristic of markets of such scale and be responsible of making effective business decisions. The article highlights the currently relevant methods and criteria for analyzing human capital in an enterprise. In particular, the main goals and stages of analyzing the state of the personnel of a company which has a foreign economic vector, are identified. Attention was focused on the difference in the assessing and accounting of personnel (human capital) in national and foreign practices and noted that there is no specific set and uniform indicators for assessing human capital at the enterprise level. In continuation of this statement, the article considers quantitative and qualitative indicators in the context of a comprehensive assessment of human capital of an enterprise – subject of foreign economic activity. In the course of the study, the main quantitative indicators (coefficients) of the impact of human capital on the development of the enterprise were analyzed: the coefficient of seniority, the stability coefficient, the health coefficient, the coefficient of professional growth, the coefficient of personnel education. In accordance with the normative values of such indicators, the necessary managerial decisions and actions in each of the simulated situations were interpreted. As a result of the study, the importance of taking into account the quality of personnel (human capital) for making managerial decisions at enterprises – subjects of foreign economic activity was emphasized.

Building competitive advantages and business success: the role of learning orientation, reward systems and entrepreneurial orientation

PurposeThe complexity of the firm’s external environment, with its constant changes, forces managers to develop novel strategies that can meet new strategic needs. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of reward systems (RSs) in strategic management, as well as their relationship to learning and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), commonly referred to as the driving force behind growth, competitive advantages (CAs) and improved performance. It also focuses on the study of the relationship between EO and business performance (BP), the introduction and testing of the possible antecedents of this relationship and potential mediating factors.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model was tested on a sample of 1,190 Portuguese firms using a structural equation model.FindingsIt is shown for the first time that learning orientation (LO) is an antecedent of the RSs and, subsequently, of EO. Additionally, the CAs of differentiation and cost leadership play a mediating role in the relationship between EO and BP. Furthermore, RSs are also a driving force behind both CAs.Originality/valueThis study makes several empirical and theoretical contributions, addressing the gap in the literature about the role of RSs in strategic management. It tests the relationship between LO and the firm’s performance by taking the mediating effects of RSs, EO and CAs into account. Additionally, we discuss LO as an antecedent strategic variable of human resources practices, in particular, RSs. Finally, we broaden the scope of our research by examining these issues in the context of Portuguese SMEs from different industries.

Building Competitive Advantage Through Halal Assurance System and Employee Performance

By general destination from research this u for test and find out by real about influence implementation of HAS on employee performance and excellence Compete in Industrial Fast food in Central Java .Study this useful approach quantitative with the number of samples is 101 respondents. With purposive sampling technique, analyzed use descriptive and inferential with analysis technique with using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) which is operated through the AMOS program. The results of this study are existence influence real that SJH will could explain happening enhancement performance employees. Show existence influence real that performance employee will could explain happening enhancement superiority compete. Show no existence influence real that SJH will could explain happening enhancement superiority compete. Sshow that in the industry food fast Halal certified fast food. Implementation of HAS in the production process capable create employees who produce high performance and performance employee proven take effect positive significant to superiority compete. That is, performance employee will also cause happening superiority compete.

Building competitive advantage for hospitality companies: The roles of green innovation strategic orientation and green intellectual capital

This study aims to investigate the influence of green innovation strategic orientation on competitive advantage in the hospitability industry, with the mediating role of green intellectual capital. This study adopts a structural equation model to test hypotheses using a three-way time-lagged sample data of 264 restaurants and hotels in Vietnam. Empirical results show that green innovation strategic orientation has a positive influence on hospitality companies’ competitive advantage. Furthermore, green intellectual capital, including green human capital, green structural capital, and green relational capital have positive mediating effects in the relationship between green innovation strategic orientation and competitive advantage. Findings of this study provide implications for researchers and practitioners regarding building competitive advantage through green innovation strategic orientation and green intellectual capital in the hospitality industry.

Knowledge Sharing is The Key Success Factor to Building Competitive Advantage in Indonesia: a Review and Hint for Future Research

Today's development of information and technology requires companies to focus on managing knowledge management, Knowledge Sharing. This is one of the drivers in the company's progress to can compete. This study aims to review and integrate the literature from several previous studies regarding Knowledge Sharing, which examines the implications of implementing knowledge sharing for companies and what things encourage people to share knowledge in Indonesia. This study conducted a narrative review of the literature using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method in Scopus indexed journals. 121 articles were selected with four filtering stages to produce 20 articles. The results of the study are: Knowledge Sharing can be applied in different fields; Research on Knowledge Sharing is subjective due to differences in work values and interactions with technology from time to time; Factors that influence Knowledge Sharing include motivation, learning, sharing opportunities, relationships, communication, trust, satisfaction, environmental culture, nature of knowledge, hard rewards, a pleasure to help others, soft rewards, and self-efficiency; and Knowledge Sharing can have a positive impact on the company.

The Role of (PIF) Palestinian Investment Fund in Building Competitive Advantage of Palestinian Economy

The Role of (PIF) Palestinian Investment Fund in Building Competitive Advantage of Palestinian Economy

Circular Economy and Strategic Management of the Construction Company

Abstract One of the EU’s main priorities is sustainable development, which imposes the leading concept of a circular economy - an alternative economic model of the traditional linear economy. This poses new challenges to the company and managers and requires significant changes in strategic management, aimed at building competitive advantages by creating, offering and realizing additional economic, social and environmental value for the client, stakeholders and society as a whole. From this point of view, the research aims to: 1) Develop a model of strategic management - relationship between the circular development and the building of competitive company advantages, 2) Empirical study of the indicated connections and dependencies in the model and the influence on the process of building competitive advantages in companies operating on the construction market.

Strategy to Build Competitive Advantage of Islamic Higher Education at an University in Surabaya

This study aims to reveal and analyze the strategies used by STAI Ali bin Abi Talib to build a competitive advantage and how to develop its advantages in order to become a sustainable advantage. This research is a field research with a qualitative descriptive approach. The research results obtained are (1) Ali bin Abi Talib's STAI strategy in building competitive advantage is to formulate a curriculum that combines the national curriculum and international curriculum in modern Arabic learning, prepare competent human resources, and create a learning environment with boarding schools; (2) The competitive advantage development program owned by STAI Ali bin Abi Talib is to evaluate and develop a curriculum according to the needs of the times and the demands of the government, improve the quality of human resources with programs for developing academic competence and spiritual competence of lecturers, develop a boarding system with additional infrastructure and various programs to develop the talents and interests of students.

Higher education strategy in digital transformation.

Digital transformation in the global higher education industry determines the future roadmap to a sustainable education management strategy. This research paper aims to develop a qualitative model that advocates how digital transformation as a propelling force could be used to build competitive advantages for universities. Building competitive advantage is a relative, evolving, and important concept in strategy formulation. In recent years, specifically in the education industry, the notion of building competitive advantage is challenged by global phenomena such as digital transformation globalization, information exchange, digitization and social media in most of the global industries. These phenomena have collectively made the process of building competitive advantage rapidly changing, short-term and contextual. These findings aid the evolution of strategic management practices in universities by providing empirical insights in determining the impactful changes and their connection to evolutionary learning. It also stresses the importance of using the developed model as a decision support system to generate, regulate and retain student experience and expectations. This research paper provides first-hand insight into the impactful changes affecting universities’ vision and how they can turn these changes to their advantages and set a road map to design-develop models to integrate and regulate these essential changes in their strategies using evolution learning mechanism and digital transformation strategy.

Sources of Competitive Advantage of Enterprises in Selected Sectors of the Polish Economy

Purpose: Study impact of business activities on selection of sources of enterprises’ competitive advantage. The research hypothesis is advanced as H1: scope of business objects (sector) is a factor differentiating selection of sources of competitive advantage by enterprises. The concept and essence of competitiveness are discussed, methods of building competitive advantage by enterprises are detailed. Design/Methodology/Approach: The theoretical section follows a comprehensive review of leading specialist literature. The hypothesis is verified in the empirical section by means of position measures (arithmetic mean, median) and variability measures (standard deviation, coefficient of variability). Kruskal-Wallis test is also used to verify the research hypothesis. Findings: The paper contains results of a survey of 253 large Polish enterprises. Kruskal-Wallis test serves to determine impact of a sector on selection of sources of enterprise competitive advantage. Sector has no effect on choice of such sources as: quality management system, cost reduction, advertising, public relations, enterprise image, highly qualified managerial staff, knowledge and skills of employees, new technologies, or customer trust. Practical Implications: The results can be utilised by enterprises as guidelines for selection of sources of competitive advantage. Originality/Value: The paper contains an original study of a representative group of large enterprises that can be generalised to the whole population assuming a confidence level α=95% and maximum error β=6%.

An integrated theory of the firm approach to environmental, social and governance performance

AbstractThe literature seeking to explain why firms conduct environmental, social and governance (ESG) activity is substantial and growing but remains underdeveloped. This paper offers a holistic and multi‐disciplinary theoretical framework to situate ESG activity as integral to firm performance. Drawing on established theories of the firm, these theories together assist the firm identify salient stakeholders, and how their contributions and claims may be integrated into firm activity. This approach places ESG considerations as an important element of firm activity in terms of developing and maintaining a firm’s social licence, the way it manages risks, and building competitive advantage.

Competitiveness, Manufacturing and Infrastructure: The Asian Paradigm

Emerging Asian economies are at the cusp of marking a structural shift from being factor driven to the one driven by efficiency. This is translated into their actions towards strategising their growth drivers so as to achieve factor-based efficiency through industrial infrastructure creation, namely MSME clusters, economic corridors, economic cities, infrastructure enablers and logistics hub. While the traditional tenets of competitiveness are based on building competitive advantage in manufacturing of certain products and their integration in the global value chain, this article builds upon the concept of competitiveness as a function of its constituent pillars as defined by the World Economic Forum. The objective of this article is to present a holistic view on the constituent pillars of competitiveness that have contributed maximum to the increased per capita GDP and trade for East Asian economies. Through an examination of select countries as case studies and studying their development through time, this article presents policymakers with strategies that can be used for designing manufacturing development strategy for emerging economies.

BUILDING DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES – A FACTOR FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRM

Purpose: In recent years, every firm is facing serious challenges related to the implementation of the principles of sustainable development, which requires a significant change in strategic behavior, strategic decisions and company actions.The aim of the study is to develop a practicable model of dynamic capabilities supporting the sustainable development of the firm, which includes recognizable, understandable and measurable components for managers, and ensures the realization of competitive advantages in the three dimensions (economic, environmental and social) and performance, taking into account the dynamics of the environment. Method: The study uses a method based on data collection through an online survey and statistical analysis of dependencies in the model, using a correlation coefficient. Results: The results of an empirical study conducted in 123 firms operating in different markets will prove the interrelationships and dependencies in the developed model of dynamic capabilities, supporting sustainability and their impact on the process of building competitive advantages. Conclusions: The research and the conclusions made prove the necessity from building dynamic capabilities, supporting the sustainable development of the firm, as a factor that ensures the realization of competitive advantages in the three dimensions (economic, environmental and social) and performance, taking into account the dynamics of the environment.

The Competitive Function of Online Advertising. An Empirical Evaluation of Companies’ Communication Strategies in a Digital World

Online advertising is a significant instrument of companies’ rivalry, competing for buyers and their attention, shaping brand preferences and affecting buying decisions. A rapid development of information and communication technologies provides firms with a wide range of advertising tools in a digital World. They enable advertising to perform its informative, persuasive as well as competitive functions. The paper aims to identify and empirically evaluate the significance of online advertising in developing corporate competitive strategies in the world of online advertising. A quantitative research study was conducted in January 2020 on a sample of 103 Polish enterprises. The analysis was based on random-quota sampling among the population of all Polish companies. The results of the analysis indicate that companies make a conscious use of online advertising in sectoral market competition; they monitor and analyse competitors’ advertising activities, creating the content that has a major impact on consumer behaviour. The intensity of sectoral competition encourages companies to take advantage of their information superiority over consumers and creates a moral hazard in advertising messages and the process of building competitive advantage.

Building competitive advantage with sustainable products – A case study perspective of stakeholders

Sustainability has gained momentum in literature as government and non-governmental policymakers identify measures to fight climate change. While sustainability principles can be good for business and the economy, businesses have been slow to replace non-sustainable products with sustainable ones. One reason for this, we argue, is because businesses have a harder time seeing how to build a stronger competitive advantage with sustainable products than they have with the products they already offer. This study thus addresses the question of how sustainable innovators can build competitive advantage around sustainable products. Stakeholder theory advises business owners to build products around the interests of all stakeholders. This paper thus uses a grounded theory approach based on a series of interviews with 15 key business from stakeholders these categories: entrepreneurs, investors, customers, and academics/NGO representatives. Our study identifies four major and interconnected findings, viz: (1) investors are the most doubtful concerning sustainable innovations, while customers are receptive and keen to be involved; (2) sustainable entrepreneurs are subsequently advised to make sure that the underlying business case of their firm is well developed as much as the product; (3) the overall barrier hindering the success of some sustainable innovations is not their cost, but the human nature to put off change until problems become critical; and (4) at the moment, investing in sustainable innovations is more attractive in regions with positive sustainability regulations such as California and some European countries.