Showing papers on "Competitive advantage published in 2017"

Networks, platforms, and strategy: Emerging views and next steps

Abstract: Research summary: A substantial and burgeoning body of research has described the influence of platform-mediated networks in a wide variety of settings, whereby users and complementors desire compatibility on a common platform. In this review, we outline extant views of these dynamics from the industrial organization (IO) economics, technology management, and strategic management perspectives. Using this review as a foundation, we propose a future research agenda in this domain that focuses the on the relative influence of network effects and platform quality in competitive outcomes, drivers of indirect network effects, the nature and attributes of complementors, and leveraging complementor dynamics for competitive advantage. Managerial summary: In many industries, such as social networks and video games, consumers place greater value on products with a large network of other users and a large variety of complementary products. Such “network effects” offer lucrative opportunities for firms that can leverage these dynamics to create dominant technology platforms. This article reviews current perspectives on network effects and the emergence of platforms, and offers several areas of future consideration for optimal strategies in these settings. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Workplace resources to improve both employee well-being and performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employees in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. The happy worker-productive worker thesis suggests that workers who experience high levels of well-being also perform well and vice versa, however, organizations need to know how to ensure such happy and productive workers. The present review and meta-analysis identifies workplace resources at the individual, the group, the leader and the organizational levels that are related to both employee well-being and organizational performance. We examine which types of resources are most important in predicting both employee well-being and performance. We identified 84 quantitative studies published in print and online from 2003 to November 2015. Resources at either of the four levels were related to both employee well-being and performance. We found no significant differences in employee well-being and organizational performance between the four levels of workplace resources, suggesting that interventions may focus on any of these levels. Cross-sectional studies showed stronger relationships with well-being and performance than longitudinal studies. Studies using objective performance ratings provided weaker relationships between resources and performance than self-rated and leader/third party rated studies.

Strategic human resource management, human capital and competitive advantage: is the field going in circles?

Abstract: The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has been consistently used as a backdrop in strategic human resource management (SHRM) research and has the potential to bridge the ‘micro–macro’ divide. The tension between the SHRM and the strategic human capital literature, however, signifies that RBV has not reached its potential. In this paper, we begin with a brief review of the conceptual logic linking human resource management (HRM) practices and firm outcomes that aim at highlighting the different treatment of RBV in the SHRM and strategic human capital literatures. We then propose a conceptual model that suggests that HRM practices are not simple levers that enable firms to create sustainable competitive advantage, as most of the strategic human capital research postulates. On the contrary, we argue that HRM practices can contribute to a firm's sustainable competitive advantage not only by enhancing employees' ability, and offering motivation and opportunities, but also by shaping supply-side and demand-side mobility constraints.

Nonmarket strategy research through the lens of new institutional economics: An integrative review and future directions

Abstract: Research summary: We use a novel theoretical framework to synthesize ostensibly disparate streams of nonmarket strategy research. We argue that faced with weak institutions, firms can create and appropriate value by either adapting to, augmenting, or transforming the existing institutional environment, and can do so either independently or in collaboration with others. We use the resulting typology of six distinct nonmarket strategies to provide an integrative review of nonmarket strategy research. We then extend this framework to examine the choice between nonmarket strategies, arguing that this choice depends upon whether the existing institutional environment is incomplete or captured, and discussing other drivers of nonmarket strategy choice, the relationship between these strategies, and their social impact, so as to provide an agenda for future research. Managerial summary: The pursuit of competitive advantage often requires firms to operate in contexts where existing rules and regulations provide inadequate protection. Disruptive technologies open up new opportunities for value creation, but it takes years before appropriate regulations are introduced. Economic reforms open up new markets, but these are often regulated to favor incumbents and politically connected insiders. In such environments, managers must decide whether to adapt their strategies to the existing institutional environment, devote resources to improve it, or try to transform it altogether. In this article, we develop an integrative theoretical framework that connects and synthesizes research examining each of these options, and offers some preliminary thoughts on how managers may choose among these different approaches. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sources of technological innovation: Radical and incremental innovation problem-driven to support competitive advantage of firms

Abstract: A fundamental problem in the field of management of technology is how firms develop radical and incremental innovations that sustain the competitive advantage in markets. Current frameworks provide some explanations but the general sources of major and minor technological breakthroughs are hardly known. The study here confronts this problem by developing a conceptual framework of problem-driven innovation. The inductive study of the pharmaceutical industry (focusing on ground-breaking drugs for lung cancer treatment) seems to show that the co-evolution of consequential problems and their solutions induce the emergence and development of radical innovations. In fact, firms have a strong incentive to find innovative solutions to unsolved problems in order to achieve the prospect of a (temporary) profit monopoly and competitive advantage in markets characterised by technological dynamisms. The theoretical framework of this study can be generalised to explain one of the sources of innovation that supp...

Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long Run Survival

Abstract: Research summary: Emerging markets are characterized by underdeveloped institutions and frequent environmental shifts. Yet, they also contain many firms that have survived over generations. How are firms in weak institutional environments able to persist over time? Motivated by 69 interviews with leaders of emerging market firms with histories spanning generations, we combine induction and deduction to propose reputation as a meta-resource that allows firms to activate their conventional resources. We conceptualize reputation as consisting of prominence, perceived quality, and resilience, and develop a process model that illustrates the mechanisms that allow reputation to facilitate survival in ways that persist over time. Building on research in strategy and business history, we thus shed light on an underappreciated strategic construct (reputation) in an undertheorized setting (emerging markets) over an unusual period (the historical long run). Managerial summary: Why are some firms able to persistently survive in challenging, uncertain, and underdeveloped business environments? To explore this question, we analyze in-depth interviews with leaders of emerging market firms that have survived over decades and even centuries. We find that firm reputation is a key strategic driver, and propose new ideas about the ways through which reputation facilitates survival. We elaborate how a favorable reputation allows a firm to more fully utilize its existing resources by decreasing uncertainty. We also propose that reputation has offensive and defensive properties that make it valuable to firms during both positive and negative economic cycles. Finally, we discuss why a reputation-based source of competitive advantage is hard to imitate, and outline three general approaches for building reputation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Customer experience management in hospitality: A literature synthesis, new understanding and research agenda

Abstract: Purpose In the contemporary hospitality industry, superior customer experiences are essential to gaining customer loyalty and achieving a competitive advantage. However, limited research addresses this subject. The aim of this study is to advance scholarly research on customer experience management (CEM) in the hospitality field by providing a comprehensive overview of the key elements of CEM, a framework for managing customer experience, and a rich agenda for research. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review produces a comprehensive overview of existing knowledge of CEM. A synthesis of prior literature reveals a need for additional, contemporary information sources. The study is therefore supplemented by invited commentaries on CEM from senior scholars and hospitality managers. Findings The proposed model takes a holistic perspective on managing a positive customer experience, through collaboration among marketing, operations, design, human resources, and strategy, in association with ...

Internal Drivers and Performance Consequences of Small Firm Green Business Strategy: The Moderating Role of External Forces

Abstract: Growing detrimental effects on the bio-physical environment have been responsible for a large number of small firms to adopt a more strategic stance toward exploiting green-related opportunities. This article aims to shed light on how internal company factors help to formulate a green business strategy among small manufacturing firms, and how this, in turn, influences their competitive advantage and performance. Based on data received from 153 small Cypriot manufacturers, we propose and test a conceptual model anchored on the Resource-based View of the firm. The findings underscore the critical role of both organizational resources and capabilities in pursuing a green business strategy. The adoption of this strategy was more evident in the case of firms operating in more harmful, as opposed to less harmful, industries. The implementation of a green business strategy was found to generate a positional competitive advantage, with this association becoming stronger under conditions of high regulatory intensity, high market dynamism, high public concern, and high competitive intensity. It was also revealed that this competitive advantage is conducive to gaining heightened market and financial performance. Our study makes a fivefold contribution: it injects a theoretical perspective into a relatively atheoretic field, underlines the role of organizational resources/capabilities as drivers of eco-friendly initiatives, highlights the often neglected strategic aspects of small firms’ ecological business activities, stresses the contingent role of external forces in moderating the positive impact of small firm green business strategy on competitive advantage, and focuses on the performance implications of the small firm’s engagement in environmental operations.

Development of an Assessment Model for Industry 4.0: Industry 4.0-MM

Abstract: The application of new technologies in the manufacturing environment is ushering a new era referred to as the 4th industrial revolution, and this digital transformation appeals to companies due to various competitive advantages it provides. Accordingly, there is a fundamental need for assisting companies in the transition to Industry 4.0 technologies/practices, and guiding them for improving their capabilities in a standardized, objective, and repeatable way. Maturity Models (MMs) aim to assist organizations by providing comprehensive guidance. Therefore, the literature is reviewed systematically with the aim of identifying existing studies related to MMs proposed in the context of Industry 4.0. Seven identified MMs are analyzed by comparing their characteristics of scope, purpose, completeness, clearness, and objectivity. It is concluded that none of them satisfies all expected criteria. In order to satisfy the need for a structured Industry 4.0 assessment/maturity model, SPICE-based Industry 4.0-MM is proposed in this study. Industry 4.0-MM has a holistic approach consisting of the assessment of process transformation, application management, data governance, asset management, and organizational alignment areas. The aim is to create a common base for performing an assessment of the establishment of Industry 4.0 technologies, and to guide companies towards achieving a higher maturity stage in order to maximize the economic benefits of Industry 4.0. Hence, Industry 4.0-MM provides standardization in continuous benchmarking and improvement of businesses in the manufacturing industry.

Drivers, Benefits and Challenges of ICT adoption by small and medium sized en-terprises (SMEs): A Literature Review

Abstract: In the knowledge society, firms need to develop competitive advantages based on an adequate and intensive use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), which is an essential ele- ment of success in today's market. This fact is especially relevant for small and medium sized en- terprises (SMEs), whose survival depends, among other factors, on the use they make of ICTs to develop new organizational models, compete in new markets or enhance their internal and external communication relationships. Given the relevance of this topic, the present work studies the impact of the adoption of ICT among SMEs. To do this, we first analyze the current situation of the use of ICT among SMEs in order to show their increasing penetration into the business environment. Then, we study the ob- jectives as well as the main challenges behind the adoption of ICT among SMEs. Later, we ana- lyse the entrepreneur as well as the innovation orientation as key factors in the ICT adoption proc- ess. Finally, we conclude by reviewing the main benefits that ICT can bring to certain areas of SMEs.

How to Work a Crowd: Developing Crowd Capital Through Crowdsourcing

Abstract: Traditionally, the term crowd was used almost exclusively in the context of people who self-organized around a common purpose, emotion or experience. Today, however, firms often refer to crowds in discussions of how collections of individuals can be engaged for organizational purposes. Crowdsourcing, the use of information technologies to outsource business responsibilities to crowds, can now significantly influence a firms ability to leverage previously unattainable resources to build competitive advantage. Nonetheless, many managers are hesitant to consider crowdsourcing because they do not understand how its various types can add value to the firm. In response, we explain what crowdsourcing is, the advantages it offers and how firms can pursue crowdsourcing. We begin by formulating a crowdsourcing typology and show how its four categories (crowd-voting, micro-task, idea and solution crowdsourcing) can help firms develop crowd capital, an organizational-level resource harnessed from the crowd. We then present a three-step process model for generating crowd capital. Step one includes important considerations that shape how a crowd is to be constructed. Step two outlines the capabilities firms need to develop to acquire and assimilate resources (knowledge, labor, funds) from the crowd. Step three addresses key decision-areas that executives need to address to effectively engage crowds.

Innovating for sustainability: a framework for sustainable innovations and a model of sustainable innovations orientation

Abstract: In an environment characterized by growing awareness of environmental sustainability among various stakeholders in organizations, innovating for sustainability can be expected to grow in importance from the standpoints of organizational legitimacy, reputation, and performance. Relatedly, a firm’s sustainable innovations capabilities as a source of competitive advantage and the sustainability related attributes of a firm’s product offerings as bases for market segmentation, target marketing, positioning, and differentiation can also be expected to grow in importance. The emergence of sustainability as a major driver of innovation highlights a number of important issues that merit investigation, such as potential avenues for sustainable innovation and sustainable product innovation and factors underlying differences between firms in their commitment to a sustainable innovations orientation. In an attempt to gain insights into these issues, this paper presents (1) a conceptual framework delineating potential avenues for sustainable innovations and (2) a conceptual model delineating a number of firm-related and industry-related antecedents of sustainable innovations orientation, along with performance outcomes of sustainable innovations orientation. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Information technology for competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains: A review

Abstract: This paper offers a systematic review of the literature on the use of information technology (IT) in logistics and supply chain management to achieve competitive advantage. While IT has revolutionized traditional logistics and supply chains to achieve numerous benefits such as increased efficiency and responsiveness, it is not still clear to what extend IT has contributed to competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains. This paper contributes to this debate by: (i) reporting the literature on the role of IT in achieving competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains based on the linkages between ‘adaptation’, ‘alignment’, and ‘agility’, (triple A’s) (Lee, 2004), and (ii) discussing managerial implications and identifying future research directions.

Is that an opportunity? An attention model of top managers' opportunity beliefs for strategic action

Abstract: Research summary: Exploiting opportunities is critical to a firm's competitive advantage. Not surprisingly, there has been considerable interest in the processes by which top managers allocate attention to potential opportunities. Although such investigations have largely focused on top-down processes for allocating attention to the environment, some studies have explored bottom-up processes. In this article, we consider both top-down and bottom-up processing to develop a model by which top managers form opportunity beliefs for strategic action depending on the allocation of transient and sustained attention. Specifically, this attentional model provides insights into how a top manager's attention is allocated to identify potential opportunities from environmental change and explores how different modes of attentional engagement impact the likelihood of forming beliefs about radical and incremental opportunities requiring strategic action. Managerial summary: Managers are interested in noticing and exploiting opportunities because the exploitation of an opportunity represents an important strategic action. Noticing and exploiting opportunities depends on how and where top managers allocate their attention. Managers can focus attention based on their knowledge and experience or as a result of something in the environment capturing their attention. In this paper, we consider both knowledge-driven and environment-driven processes for allocating attention to form opportunity beliefs. This opportunity belief arises from a two stage process. The first stage explains how a top manager identifies environmental changes as potential opportunities. The second stage explains how the top manager forms a belief that these identified environmental changes represent a radical or incremental opportunity worthy of exploitation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mapping the Field: A Bibliometric Analysis of Green Innovation

Abstract: The topic of green innovation (GI) has increasingly attained organizational relevance due to its contribution to the satisfaction of environmental needs while concurrently enabling companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and hence attain sustainable competitive advantages. In this context, we conducted a detailed analysis of 618 papers on green innovation from the Web of Science (WoS) database for the 1971–2015 period. This paper develops a bibliometric analysis with the aim of assessing the key papers in the field and identifying the most substantive contributions to the literature. This study presents the following findings: (i) the chronological development of the discipline; (ii) the research trends and popular issues in this field; (iii) the antecedent variables acting as key drivers of GI in these studies; and (iv) the main outcomes of GI. Therefore, this paper provides the past, the present and the potential future of this specific topic and serves as an orientation and guide for researchers who are new to the topic of GI; it also enhances their knowledge concerning which journals, authors and articles they may consult while creating their theoretical framework or designing future research models.

Sustainable improvement of competitiveness in rural tourism destinations: The quest for tourist loyalty in Spain

Abstract: Rural tourism in Spain has developed intensively in recent years and although this branch of tourism is now well established, it still faces some challenges that causal marketing research can address. Tourism destinations now must operate in extremely competitive markets, forcing destination managers to seek out innovative strategies and sustainable competitive advantage, including cultivating tourist loyalty. This paper focuses on developing a better understanding of how destination loyalty is generated in rural tourism by identifying factors that contribute to this loyalty. The paper first examines previous theoretical analyses of the importance of loyalty as a sustainable competitive advantage and the capacity of rural tourism destinations to generate tourist loyalty. It then presents a structural model that includes the main antecedents of destination loyalty that are applicable to Spanish rural tourism. Based on a sample of 464 rural tourists and data analysis using the partial least squares technique, the results indicate that image, quality and destination attribute satisfaction are the direct antecedents of rural tourism destination loyalty. The findings also show that these are indirect precursors of loyalty through overall satisfaction.

Future applications of blockchain in business and management: A Delphi study

Abstract: Blockchain has the potential to become a significant source of disruptive innovations in business and management. There is a scarcity of knowledge and understanding of blockchain techniques that hinders its academic research and practical application. Business managers need to understand the potential impact and threat of blockchain applications in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Blockchain applications appear to offer considerable performance improvement and commercialization opportunities.

Knowledge management as a factor for the formulation and implementation of organization strategy

Abstract: Purpose Knowledge management (KM) and organization strategy are both important to the success of an organization. This study aims to assess the research needs of their interrelationship. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a collection of over 200 interviews of KM worldwide experts. Their inputs have been categorized based on the frequency of their occurrence. Findings This study looked at the research themes recommended by the experts and concluded that KM is to be regarded as a factor for the formulation and implementation of the organization strategy. Research limitations/implications The sample of scholars and practitioners interviewed, the analysis approach used and the use of broad questions and dimensions are some of the limitations of this study. Nevertheless, a variety of effects KM has on the formulation and implementation of company strategy has emerged. Practical implications Organizations would improve their chances of success in a changing and competitive world by integrating the KM approach, methods and goals within the articulation of their strategy. Originality/value This study is original in variety because of the wide demographic sample supplied, and to its involvement both of KM academic experts as well as of practitioners. Its value is in the recommendations on the research of KM and organization strategy that would be of value, not only to organizations looking for ways to make their strategy more effective but also to those willing to implement KM in a better way.

Towards a Prescriptive Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategic Choice, Learning, and Competition

Abstract: The field of strategy has mounted an enormous effort to understand, define, predict, and measure how organizational capabilities shape competitive advantage. While the notion that capabilities influence strategy dates back to the work of Andrews (1971, The Concept of Corporate Strategy, Irwin: Homewood), attempts to formalize a “capabilities-based” approach to strategy only began to take shape in the past 20 years. In particular, the publication of Teece and Pisano (1994, Industrial and Corporate Change, 3(3), 537–556), Teece et al. (1997, Strategic Management Journal, 3, 509–533), and Eisenhardt and Martin (2000, Strategic Management Journal, 21, 1105–1121) works on “dynamic capabilities” triggered a flood of debate and discussion on the topic. Unfortunately, the literature on dynamic capabilities has become mired in endless debates about definitions and has engaged in an elusive search for properties that make organizations adaptable. This article argues that the research program on dynamic capabilities needs to be reset around the fundamental strategic problem facing firms: how to identify and select capabilities that lead to competitive advantage. To this end, the article develops a framework that attempts to connect firms’ capability search strategies with their strategies in product markets. It frames firms’ capability search strategies as choices among different types of capability enhancing investments. The key distinguishing feature of capabilities in this framework is their degree of fungibility: capabilities span a continuum ranging from highly general-purpose (e.g., quality management) to highly market-specific (e.g., knowing how to manufacture an airplane wing). To illustrate the potential of the framework to shed new light on traditional strategy questions, the article applies the framework to explore some unexplained features of Penrosian diversification strategies. The article concludes by suggesting a research agenda for dynamic capabilities.

Determinants of green competitive advantage: the roles of green knowledge sharing, green dynamic capabilities, and green service innovation

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the relationship among green knowledge sharing, green dynamic capabilities, green service innovation, and green competitive advantage The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and CFA The results are as follows: First, the author found that latent variables have good reliability, as well as discriminant and convergent validity Global model analysis of green knowledge sharing yields acceptable results Second, according to structural equation modeling analysis, the overall fit measures of the green knowledge sharing model scale passes the threshold standard (χ2 = 81066, p < 05, GFI = 083, RMSEA = 0094, NFI = 087, CFI = 090, SRMR = 0051, NNFI = 088, PNFI = 076, CN = 10195, χ2/df = 443) Third, the author discovered that green knowledge sharing improves green dynamic capacities, green service innovation, and green competitive advantage Green dynamic capabilities positively affect green service innovation and green competitive advantage Furthermore, it was found that green dynamic capacities and green service innovation mediate the positive relationship between green knowledge sharing and green competitive advantage The results demonstrate that green dynamic capabilities and green service innovation mediates the positive relationships between green knowledge sharing and green competitive advantage In addition, this study indicates that green service innovation partially mediates the positive relationships between green competitive advantage and its antecedent—green dynamic advantage