Sustainable Competitive Advantage For Firms Research Articles

Sustainable competitive advantage under digital transformation: an eco-strategy perspective

Purpose This study aims to investigate how a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage is influenced by the combination of entrepreneurial ecological orientation, digital transformation and dynamic capabilities. Design/methodology/approach Based on the qualitative comparative analysis method, this study systematically explores the significant key conditions and configuration effects that affect the growth of sustainable competitive advantage. This study uncovers the causal relationship and complex mechanisms underlying the sustainable and unsustainable competitive advantages for new ventures, by examining the grouping effects of the above three factors – entrepreneurial ecological orientation, digital transformation and dynamic capabilities on those advantages. Findings A single factor fails to constitute a necessary condition for sustainable competitive advantage. Three types of configurations are beneficial to sustainable competitive advantage, namely, flexible and responsive type, dynamically adjusted type and type of opportunity resource integration, whereas four types of configurations lead to the unsustainable competitive advantage of new ventures, namely, type of organizational rigidity, informal entrepreneurial type, information-blocking type and technology-deficient type. Originality/value According to this study, adopting an entrepreneurial ecological orientation is a novel strategic move. This study offers an extensive review of three aspects of entrepreneurial ecological orientation, dynamic capacities and digital transformation and their mutually synergistic cascading effects on the sustainable competitive advantage of new ventures. This study investigates how three dimensions interact to achieve sustainable competitive advantage for firms, ultimately contributing to the study of sustainable competitive advantage strategies from an entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective.

Future-Oriented Skills in Strategic Decision-Making: A Case Study of a Leading Technology Firm

This study explores the impact of future-oriented skills on the strategic decision-making and business performance of a leading technology firm in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environment. Hines’ Foresight Outcomes Framework was utilized to analyse this impact. Data collection was conducted through a semi-structured interview and documentary analysis. Codes and themes were identified systematically by using NVivo as an initial tool, and the date were later manually refined through Braun and Clarke’s six-phase approach. The findings revealed that foresight and adaptability are critical aspects in navigating market trends and driving innovation. The outcomes further demonstrated that proactive leadership, market trend awareness, and user-focused product adaptation significantly influence a firm’s resilience in a VUCA environment. Moreover, it was suggested that the integration of foresight into strategic planning processes promotes a continuous learning culture that is crucial for a sustainable competitive advantage for firms. This study tries to fill the gap in the literature by offering valuable insights for businesses aiming to succeed in a dynamic environment through providing empirical evidence on the practical application of future-oriented skills in strategic management processes.

Organizational Mergers and Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Almasi Beverages Limited, Kenya

In recent times, sustainable competitive advantage has become a common phenomenon worldwide. Organizations have been forced to adopt sustainable competitive advantage as a crucial strategic tool to deal with the ever-increasing global market competition. In many companies, mergers are strategic growth plans which not only helps them stay in competition but also extends their dominance, market share and margins in the global setting. Mergers facilitate firms’ fast growth and a capital market discipline mechanism improving efficient management and profit maximization. The goal of the study was to evaluate how the Kenyan beverage industry sustainable competitive advantage was affected by mergers. Specifically, the study sought to investigate the effect of economies of scale, diversification and also synergy on sustainable competitive advantage of Almasi Beverages Limited in Kenya. The study was underpinned on the following theories; the theory of efficiency, the resource-based view theory, and the hubris theory. The research utilized the descriptive research design. Secondary and primary data was utilized. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire. Blank responses were not included when analyzing the data. Descriptive statistical methods such as mean, frequency, percentages were used for analysis. Research findings were presented through graphs charts and tables. Findings revealed that revealed that Almasi Beverages sustainable competitive advantage was positively and significantly influenced by economies of scale, by diversification, and by synergy. The study concluded that economies of scale led to the firm enjoying large discounts and cheaper more affordable prices, improved capital equipment and production processes, and having quality managers working in various departments. Diversification led the firm to have a wide range of products on their product line, new designs within the organization that were aesthetically designed and were more superior in branding, and new products offerings in the organization contributed to sustainable competitive advantage. Synergy led the firm to have a stronger bargaining power for inputs, stronger bargaining position for cost of capital, and ensuring that the organization was running efficiently and in an effective manner, expediency of the logistics team in terms of their speed and responsiveness, and financial independence would all enhance the organizations sustainable competitive advantage. The study recommends that the organization should adopt a culture of continuous improvement around product improvement through innovation to ensure that it gives the firm sustained competitive advantage in the long run. In order to remain different from competitors, Almasi Beverages should focus on high product quality, fast delivery, design and new products, and unique product features. To achieve this, the study recommends that the firm should embrace differentiation as the key competitive strategy and set sufficient resources. Further, positive competitive advantage should be attained by more beverage firms in Kenya through their firm consolidation via the merger strategy.

Strategic Choices for Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Marketization Degree, and the Executive-Employee Compensation Gap

Responding to the latest demand for strategic human resource management research, the paper investigates the links between the strategic choice of sustainable competitive advantage for firms and the executive-employee compensation gap (EECG), and the moderating role of marketization degree in influencing such links between the two. A balanced panel of data consisting of 3900 annual observations of companies listed in China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share manufacturing industries from 2008 to 2017 is used as the research sample, using SPSS 23.0 and STATA 16.0 software. The paper makes empirical analysis using several methods, including factor analysis, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis based on OLS/2SLS, and fixed effect regression analysis, respectively. The empirical results confirmed that the differentiation strategy had a positive effect on EECG, and the marketization degree would strengthen the positive effect; and that the cost leadership strategy had an inhibitory effect on EECG, and the marketization degree would strengthen the inhibitory effect. Further exploration has found that both differentiation and cost leadership strategies can effectively improve firm performance and enhance sustainable competitive advantage when matched with a moderately higher EECG; the level of participation of female executives in corporate governance would harm the performance consequences of differentiation strategy, while improving the performance consequences of cost leadership strategy.

Strategic orientation, business model innovation and corporate performance-Evidence from construction industry.

In the highly competitive Chinese construction market, developing a strategic orientation alone fails to maintain the sustainable competitive advantage of firms. In this paper, the mechanism of strategic orientation and business model innovation on corporate performance in a dynamic environment is investigated. Based on a sample of 356 Chinese construction firms, the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was adopted to test the hypotheses. It is found that entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation affect corporate performance differently. Unlike market orientation, which directly affects corporate performance, entrepreneurial orientation through business model innovation exerts influence instead of direct affection. Business model innovation plays a fully mediating role between entrepreneurial orientation and corporate performance and partially between market orientation and corporate performance. Meanwhile, environmental dynamism can positively moderate the relationship between business model innovation and corporate performance. This paper deepens the research on strategic orientation, business model innovation and corporate performance. The findings can provide a reference for construction firm managers to develop strategies and conduct business model innovation, which can finally help seek sustainable development in a dynamic environment.

EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION: DRIVING ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE TOWARD COMPETI-TIVE ADVANTAGE

There are two important aspects that usually influence the organizational competitive advantage, i.e. organizational capabilities and organizational change. This study aimed to frame the role of organizational capabilities and organizational change based on exploration and exploitation in the form of balancing and ambidexterity toward organizational competitive advantage, and justify that the organizational capabilities and organizational change are becoming important in organizational competitiveness, and those are becoming more effective if there are complementary relationships between exploration and exploitation. For this purpose, a systematic thematic approach is applied by collecting, synthesizing, reviewing, and understanding previous related scientific articles. Sustainable competitive advantage of firms may lay in the firm's ability to simultaneously balancing exploration and exploitation. Organizations that focus exclusively either on exploration or exploitation, as well as neither on exploration nor exploitation, may become obsolete. Balancing both exploitation and exploration activities creates an ambidextrous organization and allows this organization to be creative and adaptable at the same time, and it can drive organizational capabilities and organizational change in generating the realization of superior competitive organizations.

Technology-Independent Directors and Innovative Knowledge Assets: A Contingency Perspective

In the current dynamic and competitive environment, the sustainable competitive advantage of firms has flowed to the development of innovative knowledge assets. Drawing on resource dependence theory, this paper develops a contingency research model to explore how technology-independent directors affect innovative knowledge assets. A sample of Chinese manufacturing firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges between 2010 and 2019 was used for the regression analysis. By employing the fixed effect model, the results show that technology-independent directors have a significant positive impact on innovative knowledge assets. Furthermore, the impact of technology-independent directors on innovative knowledge assets is strengthened in the firms that are state-owned, larger, and older. These results provide important insights related to innovation research.

Editorial: The Innovation and Project Management Department in the Journal of Operations Management

Editorial: The Innovation and Project Management Department in the <i>Journal of Operations Management</i>

Law, Strategy, and Competitive Advantage

Firms aggressively seek a competitive advantage over rivals. A voluminous body of strategy scholarship has identified numerous sources of competitive advantage. Yet, the notion that law may be a source of competitive advantage remains largely unexplored. This is surprising given the significant time and resources managers dedicate to legal issues. This article examines whether legal resources can generate a sustainable competitive advantage for firms. This article also identifies firm attributes and managerial attitudes that might encourage legally strategic thinking. This article concludes that law can be a source of a sustainable competitive advantage and numerous variables exist worthy of future study.

Eco-Innovation and Cleaner Production as Sustainable Competitive Advantage Antecedents: The Mediating Role of Green Performance

This main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between eco-innovation (EI) and cleaner production (CP) variables and sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) with the mediating role of green performance (GP). In this study, data are collected from 196 Iranian SMEs using an email survey. The proposed hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that the EI and CP are related in different ways to the SCA in a firm. A positive relationship is observed between EI and GP and also between CP and GP. The results also show a sequential positive relationship from EI and CP via GP to the SCA of firms. Managers can use the findings to monitor and influence the EI and CP in a firm to increase overall firm green perform GP and finally achieve SCA. Earlier studies have shown a positive relationship between eco-innovation, cleaner production and firm's performance. However, the green performance and business sustainable competitive advantage were neglected.

Role of HRM in knowledge integration: Towards a conceptual framework

Knowledge integration (KI) is a source of sustained competitive advantage for firms. This paper draws upon the knowledge-based view of the firm and ability-motivation-opportunity framework to develop a theoretical and empirical model showing the role of human resource management (HRM) practices in achieving KI. Findings suggest three ability-enhancing practices (training and development, focused hiring, and knowledge questioning values), four motivation-enhancing practices (project-specific performance, competency-based performance management, project-based information dissemination, and information and knowledge sharing forums) and five opportunity-enhancing practices (team working, information and knowledge sharing, verticalisation of business, geographical information and knowledge sharing, and structural change) that facilitate KI. The paper concludes with managerial implications, directions for future research and the study's limitations.

An Econometric Analysis of the Effects of Human Resources and other Factors on Firm Creation

Abstract Intangible assets and knowledge are key drivers of today’s economy, called knowledge economy, as a consequence of globalisation process and information and communication technology development. Knowledge and intellectual capital became leading factors that provide basis for gaining superior performance and sustainable competitive advantage of firms in dynamic and uncertain business environments. Invisible goods based on knowledge are becoming more important in generating and successful managing businesses. The purpose of this research is to test the impact of human resources on creation of the firm or, in other words, to examine individual’s inclination toward becoming an entrepreneur in transition economy such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. While investigating the relationship between human resources and firm creation, additional social, economic and emotional factors are included in analysis. Proposed theoretical model is tested using logistic regression model to analyse a sample of 2.015 individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a participant in GEM project in 2014. Obtained results show that the amount of individual’s knowledge, skills and expertise and its capability to seek and recognize new entrepreneurial opportunities, considered as human resources owned by individual, increase probability to generate a firm in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Beside human resources, certain economic and social factors, such as work status and social perception of entrepreneurship as an attractive profession, are important for firm creation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Surprising Duality of Jugaad: Low Firm Growth and High Inclusive Growth

AbstractWestern theories on creativity emphasize the importance of access to resources and the generation of innovations as a source of sustainable competitive advantage for firms. However, perhaps the emphasis on slack resources and the firm as the level of analysis may be less appropriate for understanding the benefits of individual creative problem solving in resource‐poor environments of the east; focusing solely on the firm is not sufficiently inclusive and may underestimate the benefits of creative problem solving under resource scarcity. Through an inductive interpretive case study of 12 problem solvers in the highly resource‐poor environment of rural India, we identified the antecedents, dimensions and duality of outcomes for an Indian cultural source of creative problem solving called jugaad. Jugaad relies on assertive defiance, trial‐and‐error experiential learning and the recombination of available resources to improvise a frugal quick‐fix solution. Our inductive framework provides new insights into the dual outcomes of creative problem solving from an eastern perspective; jugaad is unlikely to be a source of competitive advantage for firm growth but represents a source of enhanced wellbeing for inclusive growth.

Unifying the Role of IT in Hyperturbulence and Competitive Advantage Via a Multilevel Perspective of IS Strategy

While information technology (IT) serves as a new source of sustainable competitive advantage for firms, it also induces hyperturbulent environments (or hyperturbulence) that erode that sustainable competitive advantage. In this paper, we posit that these contradictions might be due to cross-level nonlinear causality between firm-level IT-based strategic actions and collective-level IT-induced hyperturbulence. We develop a multilevel perspective of IS strategy for theorizing this causality, and unifying novel with established research. Complex adaptive systems theory is employed as the overarching framework for its strength in formalizing cross-level nonlinear causal paths. Using literature-based theorization and agent-based modeling, we establish two bottom-up nonlinear causal paths by which IT drives hyperturbulence: IT can act as an external force (i.e., component IT innovation) to locally instigate firm strategic actions that aggregate to temporary hyper-turbulence or as an internal force (i.e., architectural IT innovation) to drive pervasive firm strategic interactions that aggregate to persistent hyperturbulence. Each causal path produces varied amounts of reducible and irreducible uncertainties and thereby renders a top-down nonlinear effect that reshapes the opportunity for IT to contribute to competitive advantage. This multilevel theorization paves the way for new, IS-specific theory regarding IT's unique role in inducing nonlinear dynamics and in affording new business strategies in today's competitive environments.

A externalização em P&amp;D como estratégia de organizações industriais de base tecnológica

A capacidade de inovar tornou-se determinante para o diferencial competitivo sustentável das organizações. A necessária transversalidade desse processo, entretanto, tem provocado polêmica quanto à externalização ou não dessas atividades. Alguns autores argumentam que a externalização minimiza custos de supervisão e controle de processos internos, permite a aquisição do conhecimento externo e aumenta a produtividade de P&amp;D e, portanto, a taxa de inovação. Outros destacam que a internalização de P&amp;D viabiliza a gestão do conhecimento internamente desenvolvido, idiossincrático, não imitável, insubstituível e raro, para a construção do diferencial competitivo da organização. A temática é contemporânea e relevante, principalmente para o posicionamento estratégico das empresas. Este artigo foi construído com base em resultados obtidos em um estudo de casos múltiplos em três organizações industriais de base tecnológica. Os resultados permitiram evidenciar que a decisão sobre externalizar as atividades de P&amp;D é central para fundamentar o posicionamento estratégico dessas organizações.

The Impact of Educational Diversity and Horizontal Mismatch on Technical Innovation

Innovation by technical employees is an important means of creating sustained competitive advantage for firms in the high-technology sector. The relationship between employee and innovation at the ...

Service delivery innovation architecture: An empirical study of antecedents and outcomes

The research examines service delivery innovation architecture and its role in achieving sustainable competitive advantage of firms. The study develops and empirically examines an antecedent based model of service delivery innovation. We collected data from 203 service sector professionals working in Mexican financial and information technology firms, and tested the proposed relationship. Further, the study investigates the moderating role of customer orientation on innovation driven performance outcomes. Results show that customer orientation strengthens the service delivery–performance relationship. This paper aims to contribute to the strategic planning of service firms by guiding their resource allocation to ensure sustainable growth.

The Role of Supply Chain Antecedents on Supply Chain Agility in SMEs: The Conceptual Framework

Firms must be agile for the reason that being responsive is a crucial competency for them in present global economy. Organizations that are agile happen to be more successful. The agility of an organization is dependent on the agility of its supply chain. The main aim of this paper is to give a new dimension in explaining how Trust, Information Technology (IT) and agility can create sustained competitive advantage for firms and develop an integrated framework to facilitate this. For the literature review of the related academic articles for the previous studies has been taken by international journals in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and Operations Management. Achievement of supply chain agility (SCA) is linked to the other organization’s resources, namely trust, IT and firm performance that play mediator role between them. IT is considered as a competitive tool by researchers and practitioners. Therefore, it is crucial for managers to apply their firms' IT and trust as lower-order organizational capabilities to improve agility as a higher-order organizational capability. Hence, the current article gives a conceptual framework to ascertain factors which affect SCA and finally firm performance. The findings of this study will present interesting information and insight about how to improve agility in small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the information presented in this study will be the foundation of future supply chain capability studies. To aid the study, this present study for develop the framework has been used the RBV theory. The paper also proposes the framework for future research in empirical investigation in companies. The study related the gap by developing a framework for measuring SCA, which enables any organization to identify critical success factors for sense and respond to market.

Capturing strategic competences: cloud security as a case study

PurposeThis paper intends to propose a concept for capturing the strategically important competences of a firm.Design/methodology/approachA case study accompanies the development of the concept advanced in this paper. The case study relies on project findings within the context of cloud security in the health, banking and telecommunications industries.FindingsThe strategic competences of a firm can be recognised effectively when managers follow the sequential steps “elicit‐solve‐categorise‐formulate‐map‐prioritise‐conduct” as an analysis instrument. Different patterns of action are required for treating the competences identified, according to their strategic significance.Research limitations/implicationsScholars are invited to improve the proposed concept and enrich it with more empirical cases or data.Practical implicationsThe concept suggested in this paper may serve as a basis for managers to pursue durable advantages by recognising and embarking on strategic competences.Originality/valueCompetences are commonly acknowledged as sources to achieve sustained competitive advantage for firms. Many authors have commented on the properties that competences must possess in order to be strategic. Few, however, have discussed the potential of a more general concept for capturing and treating strategically important competences. A structured framework is therefore suggested in this study.

Leaving sustainable competitive advantage through employee competency in the sawmill industry in Ghana

The study was carried out to assess the role of organizational competency in leveraging sustainable competitive advantage for firms in the sawmill industry in Ghana. The main objective of the study was to determine whether firms in the sawmill industry can improve their competitive position on the international market by establishing and developing the individual and collective set of competencies available to the organization. A hypothesis test was carried out to examine the influence of organizational competency (the independent variable) on competitive advantage (the dependent variable). The chisquare statistical technique was used for the test at the significance level of 0.05. The result of the test indicated that the observed value of 38.3 was greater than the critical value of 26.3, meaning that competitive advantage varies directly with organizational competency.