Organizational Competitive Advantage Research Articles

How do businesses achieve sustainable success and gain a competitive advantage in the green era?

PurposeTo attain green economic efficiency, small, micro and medium-sized firms must follow environmental paradigms. This research aims to discover the relationship between green intellectual capital, green entrepreneurial orientation, green marketing, green organizational culture and competitive advantage strategies to attain sustainable manufacturing business success.Design/methodology/approachToday, many companies have accepted their responsibilities, that their operations should not harm the environment. This paper aims to discover the relationship between green factors and competitive advantage strategies to succeed in sustainable manufacturing. The employees of the large manufacturing firms in China are the sample population of the present investigation. Through simple random sampling, surveys were distributed via email. The present study was a quantitative analysis. The analytical tool utilized here was structural equation modeling and SmartPLS program applications.FindingsThe empirical outcomes find that green intellectual capital positively influences competitive advantages and sustainable success in business. In addition, the impact of green entrepreneurial orientation on competitive advantages and sustainable success is positive and significant. The findings illustrated that green marketing is an essential factor in competitive advantage and sustainable success in business. Another point is that green organizational culture positively affects competitive advantages and sustainable success. Finally, competitive advantages have significantly affected sustainable success in business.Practical implicationsThe outcomes help specialists enhance their practices to reflect sustainable business efficiency and competitive advantages.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examined businesses' sustainable success and green factors in a comprehensive model and using a specific sample of manufacturing companies based on green technologies.

Digital technology driven knowledge sharing for job performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how digital technologies are used for facilitating knowledge sharing and decision-making through enhanced coordination and communication and their impact on job performance in organizations.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed within the background of the social capital theory through a comprehensive review of the related literature for exploring how digital technologies can improve knowledge sharing and decision-making via enhanced communication and coordination between individuals in organizations for better job performance. This model is then tested and validated based on structural equation modeling of the collected survey data in Australia.FindingsThis study shows that digital technology enhanced coordination and communication have significant impact on knowledge sharing. It finds out that digital technology driven coordination significantly influences decision-making and digital technology driven knowledge sharing significantly influences decision-making. Furthermore, this study reveals that enhanced decision-making and knowledge sharing can lead to better job performance in organizations.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to explore the role of digital technologies in enhancing knowledge sharing and decision-making for better job performance in a digitalized working environment in organizations. The validated model can be used as the foundation to further investigate the changing role of digital technologies in driving knowledge sharing for better performance of individuals and competitive advantages of organizations.

Trends of organizational branding strategies- systematic review and research agendas

Branding is among the activities that seek new ways to balance competition in the business environment to sustain organizational competitive advantage. Hence, this study aims to identify how the concept has been considered in the literature and its evolution in the marketing literature. To achieve the objectives of the systematic study review was conducted from 2010 to 2021 years and identified 98 articles. The collected data were documented in Microsoft Word and retained in Mendeley referencing software. The study revealed that brand and product management lacks conceptual clarity, which influences their measurement and subsequently their management. The review also demonstrates as economic, identity, consumer-based, personality, relational, community, cultural, and sensory approaches, respectively, are the respective evolutions of the concepts.

The Effect of HRM Pratices on Employee Engagement with Clan Culture as Moderating Variables

To maintain and improve competitiveness, exploring potentials and innovations to survive in the competition aimed at attracting student interest and gaining public recognition at the national and global levels (World Class University), universities must improve employee engagement. Because high employee engagement is a source of organizational competitive advantage in achieving its vision, mission, main goals and implementing organizational strategies at the global level. To improve employee engagement with improving HRM Practices. In this study, testing the effect of HRM practices on employee engagement with clan culture as a moderating variable. The results of these tests are expected to be a reference for organizations to improve employee engagement. Questionnaires were distributedto 154 employees of universities in Surabaya with varying criteria. After the questionnaires were collected, statistical tests were performed using Partial Least Square (PLS). The results of statistical testing found that employee engagement are influenced by training & development, performance appraisal and compensation. Meanwhile, clan culture only moderates the relation between compensation for employee engagement, and does not moderate the relations between training & development and performance appraisal on employee engagement. Results of this study may be employed as a policy consideration and further contribute to the literature of management studies.

Influence of financial information systems on increasing competitive advantage: Evidence from Jordan

The study aims to measure the influence of financial information systems (FIS) on competitive advantage in organizations listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). To achieve the objectives of the study, a quantitative approach is used. The study sample adopted in this study is a self-administered questionnaire handled by a study sample of 66 financial managers, internal auditors, information systems managers, and heads of departments in organizations listed on the ASE, categorized by the following competitive advantage variables, including service efficiency, cost flexibility, learning organization, and service variety. The results of the study accept the main hypothesis stating that financial information systems can increase competitive advantage within organizations. In addition, the results show that the service efficiency and learning organization variables have a positive and strong relationship with FIS and are highly influenced by it on the one hand. On the other hand, service variety has a medium relationship, while cost flexibility has a weak and positive relationship. The study recommends focusing on training programs that support employees’ skills in using the financial information systems in all their forms, in line with continuing technological developments and activating creativity in the organization in all its forms to achieve competitive advantage.

Leveraging Knowledge Sharing to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Organizations

The importance of knowledge sharing for sustainable competitive advantage has been emphasised by [1], [2] among others. Knowledge application enables the organization to provide good quality goods and services, improve productivity and innovation, improve delivery lead times, manage complexity and effectively respond to change. Competitiveness can be achieved through new ways of managing [4],[5],[1],[6], among others have suggested movement away from bureaucratic management, process improvement, and enhanced customer knowledge, brainstorming for knowledge sharing as avenues for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Additionally, [1], [2], [7], have emphasized the importance of new cultures based on transparency and trust, continuous learning, continuous employee development through coaching, mentorship and training. In order to encourage change of employee behaviour, [1], [5], [7], have emphasized use of human resource management approaches that encourage risk taking, recognises knowledge sources, and establishment of flexible reward systems based on team contribution. Managers are also encouraged to delegate responsibility, empower workers and provide task flexibility and autonomy. Technology can be used to share knowledge and improve interaction for value generation. Key Words Sustainable competitive advantage: continuous improvement in quality, creativity and efficiency [2]. Knowledge: is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information [2]. Trust: confidence in other’s character and competencies [1]

Leading to an organisation's competitive advantage: antecedents and outcomes of the industry and university collaborative relationships

Leading to an organisation's competitive advantage: antecedents and outcomes of the industry and university collaborative relationships

Green Human Capital and Green Human Resource Management as Critical Factors for Organizational Competitive Advantage

This study investigates the impact of Green Human Capital (GHC) on achieving competitive advantage with the mediating role of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) in the healthcare sector (hospitals) of Punjab, Pakistan. The study also investigates environmental knowledge’s moderating effect between GHRM and competitive advantage. Resource Based View (RBV) theory is used to explain the framework. Quantitative research methods were used, and data were collected from the hospitals through a convenient sampling technique. The population of this study ranges from 20000-30000, and the determined sample size is 371. Statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 23 and plugins of Hayes Process Marcos were used to analyze the data. The study’s results revealed that GHC significantly influences competitive advantage, and the mediation of GHRM exists between them. However, the study did not find the moderating influence of environmental knowledge on the relationship between GHRM and competitive advantage. This study will extend the literature on GHRM as it is an overlook research field in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan is facing critical environmental issues; environmental consciousness is very relevant in human resources and industries alike, as stakeholders will resolve these environmental issues, thus forcing corporate leaders to adopt proactive environmental policies to minimize environmental issues.

An exploration of organizational readiness factors for Quality 4.0: an intercontinental study and future research directions

Purpose Quality 4.0 incorporates the role of automation and digitization and provides competitive advantage for organizations by enhancing customer experience and increase profitability. The purpose of this study is to critically examine the organizational readiness factors for the successful implementation of Quality 4.0 implementation and assess their importance.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a quantitative research methodology to examine readiness factors of Quality 4.0 in organizations by 147 senior management professionals in various organizations including manufacturing and service companies in America, Asia and Europe participated through an online survey.FindingsThe readiness factors for Quality 4.0 were critically ranked amongst manufacturing and service organizations by senior management professionals from three continents. Five significant reasons for non-adoption of Quality 4.0 were lack of resources, inability to link Quality 4.0 with the corporate strategy and objectives, lack of understanding of benefits, high initial investment and the current quality management strategy and methods are already delivering good results hence unsure of the need for Quality 4.0. The handling of big data in quality management was the most important factor for adopting Quality 4.0, irrespective of the size and nature of the organization. More accuracy and less errors and improved decision-making the factors of adopting Quality 4.0 in service sector were not significant for manufacturing sector. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reported that costs and time savings over the long run were not so significant.Practical implications This study is focussed on the significance of pros and cons of adopting Quality 4.0 in organizations. Senior managers in both large and SMEs can benefit immensely from understanding before investing heavily towards implementing Quality 4.0. The importance of identified organizational readiness factors for the successful adoption of Quality 4.0 can be used as indicators to understand how ready an organization is to implement Quality 4.0. The top three readiness factors for the successful adoption of Quality 4.0 were identified as: top management commitment, leadership and organizational culture. Improved understanding of the readiness factors can be highly beneficial to senior quality professionals in both manufacturing and service companies in the journey towards successful implementation of Quality 4.0.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study on assessing Quality 4.0 readiness factors at an intercontinental level and therefore serves as a foundation for many future studies. The study provides a theoretical foundation for the Quality 4.0 in terms of organizational readiness for successful adoption and overcoming implementation challenges. During the planning, implementation and progress review of Quality 4.0, review the readiness factors while planning and resourcing a Quality 4.0 implementation strategy to ensure effective performance.

An Evaluation of the Relationship Between Human Resource Practices and Service Quality: An Empirical Investigation in the Canadian Hotel Industry

Human resource (HR) practices have been recognised as a key function in enhancing organisational productivity and competitive advantage. It has been noted that most studies that are based on the relationship between HR practices and performance indicators (e.g., service quality) in hotels hide an important element that tells hoteliers which factors to concentrate on in cases of poor performance. Our study aimed to examine the influence of HR practices on service quality in the Canadian hotel industry. This study seeks to investigate how HR practices (recruitment and selection, training, rewards and incentives, and internal career opportunities) help to improve the service quality. We used a qualitative method by establishing three sets of semi-structured interviews to obtain data from the top to the bottom of the hierarchy within hotels. We found that HR practices help in delivering high service quality. A key contribution of this study that it offers a workable definition of service quality and then a robust model for the relationship between HR practices and service quality that contributes to enhance knowledge of the causal relationship between them. In addition, our study contributes by identifying which HR practices a hotel could adopt to gain a service quality advantage in the marketplace. The data gathered for the proposed study may limit the findings' applicability to independent hotels that are not affiliated with international hotel chains. However, because of the low number of empirical research and the need to get a deeper knowledge of the link between HR practices and service quality, generalisation of the findings from the current descriptive-qualitative study is not a concern. Further research may include some control and context variables (e.g., hotel ownership type, position level, gender) that we did not include in this investigation. In addition, in the future, we recommend using mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) in order to come up with more generalisable results.

Responsible behavior

Purpose: This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design: This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings: Sustainable supply chain management is linked to positive and effective organizational performance and competitive advantage. Originality: The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

EFFECT OF LEADERSHIP ON BMI AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SMES

This study investigated the relationships between transformational leadership (TL), entrepreneurial leadership (EL), business model innovation (BMI) and competitive advantage, as well as the role of environmental uncertainty in these relationships. The importance of BMI and leadership style for the firms and the gaps identified in literature motivated the need for this paper. Previous literature has not fully explained in detail the antecedents of BMI or how BMI improves competitive advantage of organisations. Thus, an empirical model was used to analyse data gathered from a survey of 474 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from several sectors in Greece. The findings reveal the contribution of leadership styles on BMI, the direct contribution of TL and EL on competitive advantage, as well as the contribution of BMI in competitive advantage in all responding SMEs, those SMEs with low scores of business environmental uncertainty and those SMEs with high scores of business environmental uncertainty.

Marketing Information Systems and Competitive Advantage at Consolidated Bank of Kenya Limited

Business today is a challenge because of the dynamics involved, marketers whose responsibility is to ensure that the business makes profits also have to be dynamic on how they organize their marketing strategies in a way that is relevant to today’s market. Whatever the kind of establishment, market and purchaser information is necessary if organization objectives are to be met and consumers needs fulfilled, having an efficient marketing information system is one of the channels through which an organization can acquire the information it needs from its customers thereby giving the organization competitive advantage. This study therefore sought to establish the impact of marketing information systems on competitive advantage at Consolidated Bank of Kenya Limited. The study used a case study. Primary data was collected using an interview guide and data collected from the heads of departments particularly from marketing, alternative business channels and business development, who are highly involved in formulation and implementation of strategy. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. The study established that the marketing environment in the banking industry is very competitive and therefore marketers must adapt to the ever-changing marketing environment. Further, improvements in the bank’s products, services and the brand image have enhanced competitive advantage of the bank. Finally, the study also revealed that Marketing Information Systems are of value to the organization. In conclusion the study established that the company has in place a marketing information system which the bank uses to acquire relevant information from customers, which is in turn used to develop products and services that meet the customer’s needs while still maintaining lower costs. The study recommends that management should ensure continued improvement in the marketing information system to enable the bank to maintain sustainable competitive advantage. There need for management to set aside resources and invest in marketing information systems to enable the bank to compete effectively in its marketing environment.

Розвиток організаційної культури закладу вищої освіти у контексті забезпечення його конкурентоспроможності

Abstract. Introduction. Higher education institutions are a multicomponent centers of professional development of future specialist and centers of formation of human and social capital of country. An important condition for ensuring the competitive functioning of education institution, its ability to increase spiritual and intellectual potential of country is the development of organizational culture of institution. Organizational culture is a collective characteristic of the sociopsychological environment of educational institution, formation and development of which is determined by adaptability to external changes. Effective organizational culture contributes to the achievement of intellectual and cultural social goals by clearly defining the mission, goals and development strategy of higher education institution. Purpose. The purpose of the article is investigation the formation and development of powerful organizational culture of higher education institutions and presentation of its role in achieving competitive advantages of organizations at educational services market. Results. The essence of organizational culture of higher education institution is investigated. The views of scholars on interpretation of the terms «organizational culture» and «corporate culture» are presented and generalized. There is noted that organizational culture is a basis for formation of corporate culture of organization. Factors influencing the formation and development of organizational culture of higher education institution are identified and characterized, such as: professional activity of management, personal and professional development of teachers and students, macroeconomic environment, structural and organizational characteristics of institution. The influence of organizational culture on achievement of higher educational institutions' competitive advantages due to improvement of effective indicators of educational and scientific activity is presented. Modern tendencies in educational services market caused by migratory moods of youth, aging of the population are presented. The main measures to improve the organizational culture of higher education institutions at different levels (administrative, teaching, student and service) are described, which will increase the competitive position of organization. Conclusions. Organizational culture is very important for ensuring the quality and effectiveness of educational, scientific and cultural processes of higher education institutions, uniting the values, goals and norms of behavior and communication between all participants in educational process, regardless of positions and social roles. The full development of organizational culture of higher education institutions requires the coordination of values, skills and abilities of all representatives of organization to achieve a synergistic effect.

Human Capital Efficiency and Employee Productivity: A Comparative Analysis of the Manufacturing Sector vs. Service Sector Public Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

Human capital is one of the most vital organizational knowledge assets, which is a part of organizational Intellectual Capital. Therefore, it contributes to organizational competitive advantage through enhancing employee productivity. Hence, the objective of this study was to find out the relationship between Human Capital Efficiency (HCE) and Employee Productivity (EP) in manufacturing sector companies and service sector companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange as a comparative study. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) is a method used to measure the value creation efficiency of a company and HCE is one component of VAIC, which has a substantial impact on EP. Therefore, it is vital for finding out the relationship between HCE and EP in the practical scenario. But, there is a dearth of studies related to the relationship between HCE and EP in Sri Lanka. This study is carried out as a solution for bridging this empirical and contextual gap. Data were collected from 25 manufacturing companies and 25 service sector companies (Hotel and travel sector) during the period from 2015 to 2019. The data were analyzed using the Pearson Correlation and regression. The results of the data analysis indicated that the relationship between HCE and EP is moderate and significant in service sector companies, while an insignificant weak relationship was found in manufacturing sector companies. Further, a significant impact of HCE on EP was found in the service sector, but that impact was not significant in the manufacturing sector. It can be concluded that service sector companies pay more attention to enhance the HCE since the knowledge and skill embedded in employees are more valuable in providing services to their customers than manufacturing sector companies. Ultimately, the results show that good HCE can indeed improve EP, which has significant meanings for investors, company management, decision-makers, and industry regulators.
 Keywords: Employee Productivity, Human Capital Efficiency, Manufacturing sector, Service sector

Swot Analysis Implemented With Fuzzy Inference to Support Decision Making

Current market conditions require organizations to understand the business environment in order to achieve strategic planning and decision-making processes. An organization's competitive advantage is associated with an understanding of how to determine the potential of these companies when examining internal and external conditions (insertions) and the effort to meet customer needs. Among the many tools that contribute to this understanding, the SWOT analysis stands out, which can assist organizations to better understand the internal and external environment and formulate strategic plans in a collaborative way. This work aimed to implement an evaluation model for SWOT analysis using fuzzy inference methods. The adopted methodology started from a survey on the internal and external characteristics of the organization, definition of the linguistic criteria of the SWOT matrix, correlation between the variables found and elaboration of the fuzzy inference system for crossing the inputs. The approach proposed by the Fuzzy Inference model for the SWOT matrix proved to be simplified and efficient for a better collection of information that allows the prediction of the future environment, enabling reasoned strategies resulting from the model presented.

The problem of staffing for the digital transformation of the entrepreneurial sector and the directions of its solutions

The active development of digitalization can have a significant impact on the formation of competitive advantages of organizations in the entrepreneurial sector, which was clearly manifested with the onset of the pandemic. The generalization of the results of business surveys in the entrepreneurial sector of the EU countries and Russia, presented in the work, revealed that the problem of staffing occupies a prominent place among the constraints on the development of digital transformations. It is shown that the current situation is characterized by an increasing demand for qualified specialists in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for various sectors of the economy against the background of a low level of digital skills in the workplace. At the same time, both in the entrepreneurial sector of the EU countries and in Russia, the coverage of organizations with advanced digital technologies is insignificant, in contrast to the basic segment technologies. Using the principal components method, generalized characteristics were constructed for reflecting the active use of advanced digital technologies in various fields, which made it possible to further assess their relationship with the set of indicators of investment in human capital. The implemented approach showed promising directions for solving the problem of staffing the digitalization of the business sector, which seems relevant for both Russian and European entrepreneurship.

A new method for human resource allocation in cloud-based e-commerce using a meta-heuristic algorithm

PurposeThe human resource (HR) allocation problem is one of the critical dimensions of the project management process. Due to this nature of the problem, researchers are continually optimizing one or more critical scheduling and allocation challenges in different ways. This study aims to optimize two goals, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing costs using the imperialist competitive algorithm.Design/methodology/approachCloud-based e-commerce applications are preferred to conventional systems because they can save money in many areas, including resource use, running expenses, capital costs, maintenance and operation costs. In web applications, its core functionality of performance enhancement and automated device recovery is important. HR knowledge, expertise and competencies are becoming increasingly valuable carriers for organizational competitive advantage. As a result, HR management is becoming more relevant, as it seeks to channel all of the workers’ energy into meeting the organizational strategic objectives. The allocation of resources to maximize benefit or minimize cost is known as the resource allocation problem. Since discovering solutions in polynomial time is complicated, HR allocation in cloud-based e-commerce is an Nondeterministic Polynomial time (NP)-hard problem. In this paper, to promote the respective strengths and minimize the weaknesses, the imperialist competitive algorithm is suggested to solve these issues. The imperialist competitive algorithm is tested by comparing it to the literature’s novel algorithms using a simulation.FindingsEmpirical outcomes have illustrated that the suggested hybrid method achieves higher performance in discovering the appropriate HR allocation than some modern techniques.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a useful method for improving HR allocation methods. The MATLAB-based simulation results have indicated that costs and waiting time have been improved compared to other algorithms, which cause the high application of this method in practical projects.Originality/valueThe main novelty of this paper is using an imperialist competitive algorithm for finding the best solution to the HR allocation problem in cloud-based e-commerce.

Corporate entrepreneurship, employee engagement and innovation: a resource-basedview and a social exchangetheory perspective

PurposeSynthesizing theoretical and empirical literature, this study aims to build a theoretical model linking the constructs; corporate entrepreneurship, employee engagement and innovation.Design/methodology/approachUsing an integrative review method the current study conducted an examination of related literature on the areas of corporate entrepreneurship, employee engagement, as well as innovation and developed an integrated model which combines the three constructs. The study bases itself on the resource-based view (RBV) for looking into corporate entrepreneurial ecosystems as organizational capabilities and employee engagement as a human resource. The social exchange theory (SET) was also used to analyse the interrelationships.FindingsAn RBV synthesis made on corporate entrepreneurship, employee engagement, as well as innovation literature shows that while corporate entrepreneurship has been recognized as beneficial to bring positive organizational outcomes, attempts to tie it in the core resource, capability and competence input-output linkage are scanty. The study shows that the RBV can be a good way to see human resources as a source of organizational competitive advantage and corporate entrepreneurship as the capability to product innovation as a competence. The study also shows that by combining the RBV with the SET corporate entrepreneurship, employee engagement and innovation can be integrated as a basis for developing organizational competitiveness.Practical implicationsThe implication of this paper to future empirical studies is that corporate entrepreneurship can be integrated with the RBV to relate it to the core competitive advantage development endeavour. The implication for policymakers and management practitioners on the other hand is that managers can consider corporate entrepreneurship as a major capability to bring the employee resource on board the innovation process. The study further implies that management practitioners need to provide time, freedom, boundary, reward and support to get their employees engaged in innovation. Hence, managers can integrate the SET into their motivation principles.Originality/valueThe study is original in its attempt to integrate the SET and RBV for studies in the area of corporate entrepreneurship, employee engagement and innovation.

The current state of measuring return on investment in user experience design

Incorporating user experience (UX) design into system development processes can give an organisation competitive advantage over its rivals. Embedding UX design into system development processes requires investment in skilled professionals, who in turn follow a methodical process to make UX design an integral part of the organisation. Despite the value that can be added by UX design, demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) in UX remains a perennial challenge because of the difficulty associated with explicitly linking UX design with good ROI, to the exclusion of other system development processes. In this paper, we report on the current state of measuring ROI in UX design in a selection of South African organisations. We interviewed 33 UX professionals from four organisations to get insight into how ROI in UX design is measured in their respective organisations. The results showed that some participants were aware of the metrics that could be used to measure ROI in UX design. However, none of the four organisations were specifically calculating ROI in UX. Rather, ROI was being calculated on entire project.