Strategic Capabilities Research Articles

Sustainability Reporting and Financial Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Quoted Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria

This study was conducted to examine the influence of sustainability reporting on financial performance of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The population of the study comprises eleven (11) quoted oil and gas companies derived from the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the secondary data used emanated from the audited financial statements of the quoted Oil and gas companies investigated. Sustainability reporting was the independent variable, while financial performance as the dependent variable was measured by means of return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on capital employed (ROCE). The linear regressions was used to test the hypotheses. The results designate that sustainability reporting has a positive and significant influence on return on asset, return on equity and on return on capital employed; financial The study therefore concludes that, sustainability reporting significantly influences financial performance of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria, and recommends that, to enhance success, managers should focus on building a strategic capability in sustainability reporting. that will enable firms to satisfy market-based stakeholders and realize significant strategic benefits in terms of robust financial performance.

Strategic capability, financial management practices, and human resource management of SMEs in China: Basis for improved HRM framework for SMEs

Strategic capability, financial management practices, and human resource management of SMEs in China: Basis for improved HRM framework for SMEs

The Role of Service-Dominant Logic Strategic Orientations in Driving Customer Engagement in Online Retailing

Motivating customers’ engagement can be a crucial differentiating factor for the dynamically changing landscape of online retailing. This study draws on service-dominant (S-D) logic and behavioral literature to propose a conceptual model that depicts how a firm's S-D orientation and strategic capabilities stimulate customer engagement, leading to enhanced performance. The model captures the underlying mechanism of value cocreation in an online retailing context. The authors test the model using an experimental research design: 872 participants navigated a quest toward a hypothetical purchase in nine versions of a mock e-commerce website specializing in cycling equipment, and which contained various cues representing different S-D orientations. Findings suggest that S-D orientation has a positive impact on customers’ brand attitudes, affecting their engagement dispositions, purchase intentions, and ultimately (dis)engagement behaviors. In addition, relational, individuated, and developmental strategic capabilities appear to have a stronger impact on customer engagement in online retailing.

India–US Strategic Cooperation through the LEMOA Lens

Since Narendra Modi took office, India and the United States’ strategic ties have become stronger. It took almost 12 years to sign the ‘Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)’. The LEMOA offers a framework for governing the logistical assistance, supplies and services exchanged between the Indian and US forces on a reciprocal and reimbursable basis. Concerns in India’s strategic elite and political class over the endangerment of India’s strategic autonomy and compromising India’s sovereignty for a long time prevented the execution of this agreement. However, after the BJP government came to power in 2014, it negotiated this agreement with the United States. India has strategically moved closer to the United States by signing this agreement, which will have a lot of positive effects on the development of India’s strategic capabilities and the strengthening of Indian defence forces’ operational capabilities. It will also allow India to expand its strategic influence in the Indo-Pacific region. This study analyses the LEMOA, its implications for India’s strategic autonomy, and its subsequent implications for expanding India’s strategic footprint in the region.

INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (STUDY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

International strategic management is a comprehensive and ongoing process of management planning aimed at developing and implementing strategies that enable businesses to compete effectively in an international environment. The process of developing an international strategy is of course often referred to as "strategic planning". Strategic planning is usually the responsibility of senior management at company headquarters and in the company's domestic and international operating branches. Most large companies also have population planners who provide technical assistance to top management in formulating strategy. For example, five Disney planners first collected the demographic and economic data policy makers needed, and then used that data to select France as the location for Euro Disney. International strategic management leads to the formulation of various international strategies. It is a comprehensive framework for achieving the company's fundamental goals. Conceptually, there are many similarities between developing strategic capabilities in one country and developing competitive strategies in many countries. According to Hill and Jones (2012), international strategic management is “the process of establishing, developing, and implementing corporate strategic actions aimed at gaining competitive advantage in global markets”. Method Descriptive qualitative method is a research method used to gain a deep understanding of phenomena through description, interpretation and analysis of qualitative data.

Huawei smartphone business competition – fighting, surrendering, winning or losing?

Learning outcomes This case study is focused on strategic management of Huawei in sustaining the competitive position in the smartphone market. The discussions in the case study begins with the big picture of “Made in China 2025” policy and China’s 14th Five-Year Plan 2021–2025 attempting to change the country’s image from imitation to innovation. The case study then focuses on Huawei, the major provider of network equipment and smartphones, with the alignment of the national policy. The case demonstrates the difficulties faced by Huawei as a result of US ban. The students are challenged to perform in-depth discussions on various issues guided by the instructor using this Teaching Note. The teaching objectives are as follows: students should be able to analyse Huawei business environment and its strategic capabilities in the smartphone market; students should be able to evaluate the extent to which the effects of US sanction would have on Huawei smartphone operation; and students should be able to evaluate the strategies for Huawei to regain a leading position and achieve competitive advantage in the global smartphone market. Case overview/synopsis Huawei is the leading company in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Ren Zhengfei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Huawei, has set the vision of building a global company that could rival the best in the world. Huawei’s heavy investments in research and development (R&D) have brought the company to be a leading brand in the international market. Huawei was charged as a security threat by the Donald Trump administration in 2019. The USA and its allies banned Huawei products, causing the smartphone shipments plummeted dramatically. The case presents a protagonist, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, who built the business from a small company to a leading global ICT company. The growth of Huawei was struck by the US sanction with the supply chain being disrupted by a shortage of advanced chip technology to run the smartphone business. The dilemma addressed in this case study is concerned with how Ren Zhengfei could steer the company out of the crisis. Complexity academic level This case study was written for use in the courses of Innovation Management and Technology Strategy. The case is designed to support learning at various levels including the graduate, postgraduate and executive classes. Apart from the guided questions (assignment questions provided in the next section), the instructors should consider which specific areas of Huawei should be further explored to support the class discussions to benefit the students at different levels. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CCS 11: Strategy.

How does corporate social responsibility contribute to innovation performance? The moderating role of social media strategic capability and big data analytics capability

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on innovation performance and examine the moderating role of social media strategic capability and big data analytics capability. Specifically, the authors explore the effects of both external and internal CSR on innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data from 221 senior, middle and research and development (R&D) managers of high-tech firms in China, using a questionnaire survey with a six-month interval.FindingsThe empirical results show that both external and internal CSR positively influence innovation performance. Furthermore, social media strategic capability has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between CSR and innovation performance, while big data analytics capability moderates the relationship between external CSR and innovation performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe data comes from high-tech firms in China, which may limit the generalizability and external validity of the findings. Future studies should replicate this study in other industries and types of organizations.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that high-tech firms should engage in both external and internal CSR activities to promote innovation performance. Moreover, leveraging social media strategic capability and big data analytics capability can enhance innovation performance.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on CSR outcomes by empirically exploring the effects of external and internal CSR on innovation performance, thus extending stakeholder theory. Additionally, by revealing the contingency effects of social media strategic capability and big data analytics capability, this study enriching the research on dynamic capabilities theory in the context of digital transformation.

Strategic Capabilities and Performance of Insurance Firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya

The insurance sector has witnessed growth in both the corporate and private sectors driven by increased insurance uptake among corporations and individuals. However, despite the dynamic nature of the sector, some insurance firms face significant challenges in keeping up with their counterparts. To address the performance variations in the insurance sector, it is crucial to examine strategic capabilities such as technical knowledge, innovation, learning culture and service quality and their impact on performance of NSE listed firms in Kenya. This study aims to investigate how strategic capabilities influence the performance of these firms. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine the effect of innovation capability on the performance of NSE-listed insurance companies in Kenya; to determine the effect of service quality capability on the performance of NSE-listed insurance companies in Kenya; to investigate the effect of technical knowledge capability on the performance of NSE-listed insurance companies in Kenya and to examine the effect of learning culture capability on the performance of NSE-listed insurance companies in Kenya. The study was anchored on the Resource based view theory, Knowledge based view and Dynamic capabilities theories. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was adopted targeting 258 senior staff members of six listed insurance firms on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. A sample size of 156 respondents was determined by Yamane formula and stratified random sampling technique used for sample selection. Structured questionnaire was used for primary data collection with a pilot test involving 16 respondents to ensure the validity and reliability of the research instrument. Data analysis was performed with an aid of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) software employing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression models. The findings revealed that innovation strategic capability, service quality strategic capability, technical knowledge strategic capability and learning culture strategic capability all had a positive significant relationship with performance of NSE-listed insurance companies in Kenya. The study therefore recommended that insurance firms listed at the NSE should invest in innovation, service quality, technical knowledge and learning culture to enhance their performance.

Entrepreneurial Strategic Capability and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya

The performance of most small and medium enterprises in Kenya has been declining, which is evidenced by increased cases of closure after short operating period. This study sought to examine the influence of entrepreneurial strategic capability on the performance of small and medium enterprises in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design and the target population was 2400 small and medium enterprises in Thika town’s light industrial area. The study sampled 331 small and medium enterprise owners using stratified random sampling. Results indicated that entrepreneurial strategic capability had a positive and significant influence on the performance of small and medium enterprises (β=0.697 P < .000). The study concluded that strategic capability has a positive and statistically significant influence on the performance of small and medium enterprises. The implication is that strategic capability is paramount in determining the performance of small and medium enterprises. The recommendation was that business owners should strengthen their competitive advantage capabilities. The focus should be on product/service differentiation, competitive prices, business segment awareness, and quality products/services.

Cyber Threats and Their Impact on the U.S. National Security

The cyberspace has been turned into a new arena for the international struggle between the major powers in order to impose hegemony and influence on cyberspace, and these developments imposed a rethinking of the structure and the concept of national security of the state. As a result, the issue of cyberspace security became part of the national security strategies of many developed countries in order to prevent the exposure of their vital infrastructure to cyber threats and risks, and the United States is one of the first global powers to realize the importance of the impact of cyberspace on the global balance of power, as it considered it an essential element of the comprehensive forces of the state. Therefore, the United States focused on technological and information superiority in cyberspace in order to increase its strategic capabilities and deprive opponents of it within its national strategy for the twenty-first century. Since the cyberspace is one of the sources of threats facing the United States of America, it is necessary to develop several strategies to deal with threats and risks poses by cyberspace that threaten US national security.

HYPERSONIC WEAPON SYSTEMS – A NEW WAVE OF ARMS RACE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION

Technological advancements and tactical applications have always played a significant role in determining the outcomes of military conflicts. The emergence of Hypersonic Weapon Systems is considered a game-changer in contemporary and future warfare, as it can potentially dominate the early stages of conflict. Major powers like the US, China and Russia are pursuing technological superiority by developing hypersonic weapons, which could undermine conventional strategic capabilities and render even the most advanced air and missile defences obsolete. However, there has been limited discussion on the impact of deploying hypersonic weapons in the Indian Ocean region and its implications on strategic stability in the Pakistan-India military matrix. This paper examines the induction of hypersonic weapons by the Indian Navy, utilising insights from security dilemma and conventional deterrence theories to navigate the complex strategic landscape in the region. It contributes to the ongoing debate on the relationship between the arms race and conventional deterrence in Pakistan and India, highlighting the risks of an arms race in the Indian Ocean region. Without strategic dialogue on regulating hypersonic weapons systems, the chances of escalation and conflict could increase significantly. Bibliography Entry Raza, Imran and Nasir Mehmood. 2023. "Hypersonic Weapon Systems – A New Wave of Arms Race in the Indian Ocean Region." Margalla Papers 27 (1): 28-39.

Does green innovation mediate corporate social responsibility and environmental performance? Empirical evidence from emerging markets

PurposeThis paper examines the mediation role of green innovation in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and environmental performance of manufacturing firms in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe paper chose African emerging markets and surveyed managers from manufacturing firms. With 301 questionnaires qualified for this study’s final analyses, the authors adopt the multiple regression with mediation models to estimates the nexus among study variables.FindingsResults evidence that both corporate social responsibility and green innovation has a positive and significant impact on environmental performance. Interestingly, the authors find that corporate social responsibility significantly improves environmental performance through green innovation indicating that firms could essentially build their dynamic resource and innovation capabilities in sustainability leading to enhanced environmental performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper develops a dynamic resource-based view of firm environmental performance illustrating how firms use resources to build strategic capabilities for competitive advantage, which leads to improved environmental performance. The paper highlights the mediation role of green innovation on corporate social responsibility and environmental performance relationships.Practical implicationsThis study's results provide significant insights to owners and managers of manufacturing companies to integrate corporate social responsibility and green innovation to ensure environmental performance and sustainability. Furthermore, policy makers should encourage green innovation when design sustainable development systems in the manufacturing industry.Originality/valueThe paper provides a valuable model showing how green innovation mediates corporate social responsibility to improve environmental performance and build competitive advantages considering both small, medium, and large manufacturing enterprises in emerging countries.

Determining number of suppliers, duration of supply cycle and allocation to in-house production under supply uncertainty

Supply chain management has become an increasingly critical strategic capability to gain competitive advantage in the global business environment. The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with geopolitical conflicts, has caused unprecedented disruptions to global supply chains. Suggested strategies to cope with the uncertain supply environment include better supplier selection, review of the number of demand periods in the supply cycle and the possibility of in-house production. This research proposes a novel approach that considers the aforementioned strategies by considering that both the suppliers and the manufacturer have the capability to increase supply and production, respectively. The proposed model is applicable in manufacturing environments characterized by mature products and a well-consolidated pool of preferred suppliers. The effectiveness of the proposed model is evaluated through a set of experiments, revealing significant trade-offs among decision variables and model parameters. These trade-offs provide valuable managerial insights, such as the optimal percent allocation of in-house manufacturing increasing when both supplier and in-house manufacturing flexibility increase up to a certain point, but then decreasing. Overall, this research presents a valuable contribution to supply chain management literature, highlighting important insights that can inform decision-making in complex manufacturing environments.

Evolyuciya i ogranichivayushchie faktory strategii SShA v Central'noj Azii

The essence of the development of five successive US strategies for the Central Asia during the past 30 years was the evolution of America's strategic perception, instead of its absolute strategic capability in this area. Meanwhile, the efficiency of its strategic implementation has been affected by two dimensions of uncertainty that of the future of the regional integration and Afghanistan problem.

Empowering middle managers to free their strategic capabilities

PurposeThis article aims to better understand how empowered middle manager engage in change translation? Relying on the notions of building and dwelling strategizing, the authors analyze the micro-practices of middle managers during organizational change, when middle managers are freed from time-consuming administrative activities.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical study relies on a qualitative embedded case study approach that involves comparing two banking units belonging to a large French bank. The qualitative data were collected from three different sources: exploratory and semi-structured interviews, observations and secondary data. The coding analysis enables to distinguish middle managers' dwelling and building strategizing during organizational change.FindingsThe study’s findings show how managers translate organizational change relying on both building and dwelling strategizing. By doing so, managers enable to adapt the prescribed strategy to local circumstances and foster front-line empowerment.Research limitations/implicationsEven though the findings are based on the analysis of a single organization, the authors provide several theoretical insights. First, the authors contribute to the recent academic debate in strategy-as-practice literature by showing the recursive relation between building and dwelling strategizing. The authors also shed a new light on middle managers' strategizing by emphasizing the idea that middle managers are not only passive change “translators” but that middle managers enact a real agency in the organizational change process.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial perspective, the study’s findings enable to enlight what empowering middle managers means in practice. Indeed, the authors show clear empirical illustrations of how middle managers can be empowered by both organizational structure and top-management support. The results also reveal how empowering middle managers enable to empower their team by three different activities: (1) federate the team spirit to facilitate collaboration; (2) develop employees' capabilities and (3) adjust managers' activity according to employees' needs.Originality/valueWhile multiple current new ways of organizing encourage to transform organizations from inefficient bureaucracies into flatter and more dynamic project-based teams, calling into question the importance of middle managers' strategic role, this study provides an original case study of an organization that chose to run against the tide and created an additional middle management level.

LINKING THE ANTECEDENTS OF A KEY PLAYER IN NATIONAL’S PALM OIL SECTOR IN ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: MODERATING EFFECTS OF ORGANISATION’S AGE

The concept of strategic positioning as a fundamental element in strategic management used to understand one of the government agencies, the key player in the plantation industry, determines its external environment, internal strategic capabilities factors and understanding its stakeholders' influences-expectations towards achieving competitive advantage. This study aims to examine all the competencies level and the correlation between the external environment, internal strategic capabilities, and understanding its stakeholders' influences-expectations and achieving competitive advantage. This study tries to examine the moderating variable that could affect the relationship between determinants of strategic positioning and achieving competitive advantage, namely the organisation’s age. This study employed quantitative and qualitative approaches by using triangulation techniques. Through cross-sectional design, there were 162 completed survey questionnaires returned, but only 150 were useable. The data collections conducted through interviews with the Agency's Board members and surveys. The survey questionnaires distributed to managers who are involved and engaged in the planning and the implementation of strategies/policies relating to the Agency. Findings indicate that the internal strategic capabilities which had created an important correlation in organisations for realising competitive advantage. Besides, the findings demonstrate the indirect effect of age of organisation in the relationship between all the determinants and their position to achieve competitive advantage. Finally, the research outcomes of this study will hopefully provide the reference to other public sector organisations to emulate the model of the Agency in positioning its organisation. It also hoped to set a direction and roadmap for the Agency to go forward as well as enable them to compete domestically and internationally on the scale of competitions.

The impact of customer-focus on the performance of business organizations: evidence from SMEs in an emerging West African economy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of customer-focus on small medium enterprise (SME) performance from the perspective of a resource-based view (RBV).Design/methodology/approachThis research study implemented a survey strategy to gather data from 255 respondents on the registered list of Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA) in the eastern region of Ghana. Scales used to gather data were operationalized from previous research studies. A structural equation modeling (SEM) path analysis was used to estimate the impact of customer-focus on the performance of SMEs.FindingsThe outcomes of this study indicate that customer-focus has a significant positive impact on SME performance, hence backing the current demand for investigating the distinct influence of customer-focus on SME performance. The results show that customer-focus has a positive and significant relationship with financial performance, customer performance, internal business process performance and learning and growth performance, thus supporting the literature on the positive impact of customer-focus on SME performance. Therefore, customer-focus determinants used in this study, including co-creation, networking ties, customer insight and artificial intelligence marketing (AIM), are critical to the optimization of SME performance.Research limitations/implicationsNotwithstanding the importance of this research study mentioned earlier, the study has limitations. Notably, the sample size of this study can be increased to capture SME respondents in other geographical zones that were not included in this study. Future research studies may address how business environment conditions moderate the relationship between customer focus and performance, and also the cause-effect of the relationship between customer focus and business environment conditions on SME performance.Practical implicationsThe practical implications consist of two main items. First, this study empowers SME owners and managers to develop a customer focus technique as a central strategic goal in their quest for SME performance optimization. Second, SME owners and managers should progressively exploit the four determinants of customer focus which include co-creation, networking ties, customer insight and (AIM in order to accrue important resources for effective utilization of their customer focus competences as a way to enhance their performance.Social implicationsThis study is targeted at the sound development of SMEs to bring about poverty alleviation and employment. Poverty, unemployment and poor living standards are recognized as vital social challenges in most emerging economies. The establishment of customer focus as an important strategic capability provides opportunities for SME survival, profitability and growth.Originality/valueGenerally, the findings of this research study provide a strong backing to RBV perspective and the proposition that customer-focus and its determinants (i.e. co-creation, networking ties, customer insight and AIM) should be acknowledged as a vital strategic resource for optimizing the performance of SMEs. This research study also provides new knowledge contribution to the present body of knowledge on customer-focus orientation and management literature, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

The impact of strategic capabilities in achieving sustainable competitive advantage

The research aims at the impact of strategic capabilities as an independent variable through its dimensions (technical knowledge to build value, the ability to generate and own resources, and the technology used) on the sustainable competitive advantage as a dependent variable and its dimensions (Cost, quality, delivery, flexibility) The research topics are among the current issues aimed at helping companies discover and build strategic capabilities that support the researched company in a confrontation between competing companies and the ability of the studied company to stabilize and ensure success, excellence and creativity. The researchers used the questionnaire as the primary tool for collecting Data related to the selection of a random sample of (95) respondents to analyze and display the responses of the sample members and their perceptions of the study variables and their sub-dimensions and to test the study hypotheses using descriptive and inferential statistical methods, as well as the use of field observations and personal interviews as aids in data collection. The researchers relied on statistical programs (16. SPSS V.25, Excel V) in processing and analyzing data by using the most appropriate statistical methods. The researchers reached a set of results, the most important of which is the existence of a relationship and the effect of the correlation between the independent variable, strategic capabilities and its dimensions, and the dependent variable, the sustainable competitive advantage and its dimensions. This means that sustainable competitive advantages derive the ingredients for achieving them from the components of the services provided by the researched company. Whenever the research sample companies possess the technical knowledge to build value in the presentation in delivering products and services to customers, whenever they can achieve sustainable competitive advantages within their work environment.

Supply chain resilience: a conceptual evolution analysis

Research related to resilience in the supply chain has taken great interest in recent years, especially due to major disruptions such as COVID-19. Generating actions to minimize the impacts caused by these disruptive events has become a paramount in operations management and has become a strategic capability of the supply chain. Therefore, it is essential to know how the concept of resilience has evolved by identifying their capabilities. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was carried out, focused on gathering the concepts of resilience in supply chain management present in the literature, generating a keyword correlation analysis to establish their action approaches, and jointly analyzing the conceptual evolution. From this literature, a new definition is proposed integrating the different aspects found. Finally, conclusions are exposed.

An Exploratory Study of the Critical Success Factors of the Global Shipping Industry in the Digital Era

The global shipping industry faces many uncertainties which impact on how organisations within this sector will perform in the future. Research in the critical success factors which impact the global shipping industry in the digital era is lacking. This study plugs the gap in the literature by identifying four key critical success factors which are innovation capability, risk governance capability, leadership and strategic capability, and technological capability. In addition, this study also found three organisational performance measures that are useful for senior management teams within the industry, namely, financial performance, operational performance and marketing performance. The results were then triangulated and validated by the case study method using a global shipping organisation. The findings establish a set of critical success factors and the corresponding relationships between the identified critical success factors and the identified organisational performance measures. The paper also provides managerial insights for industry practitioners for defining, prioritising and allocating resources in order to improve organisational performance.