Strategic orientations and performance of young ventures

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 666-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Chandra Balodi

Purpose Considering that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) are antecedents of firm performance, and that technological turbulence (TT) and competitive intensity (CI) are present in different degrees in the business environment, the purpose of this paper is to address the following question in the context of young ventures: What is the contingent effect of TT and CI on MO–performance and EO–performance relationships? Design/methodology/approach This paper follows a deductive research approach. First, the literature on strategic orientation, opportunities, and dynamic capabilities (DCs) view are reviewed to formulate hypotheses. Then moderated hierarchical regression analysis is used on data collected from entrepreneurs/top managers of a multi-country (India and the UK) sample of young ventures. Findings The results of this study provide empirical evidence to the argument that both EO and MO, when looked from the universal approach, positively affect young ventures’ performance. The results show that young venture should consider environmental contingencies while choosing a strategic orientation. For resource-starved young ventures, EO is beneficial when the environment is intensely competitive, and MO is advantageous when the environment is technologically turbulent. Originality/value This study relies on the literature on opportunities and DCs view to arrive at hypotheses specific to young ventures. The paper empirically tests the assertions, finds support for the majority of them and reports unbiased estimates of the coefficients. It also clarifies the contrary observation made by some researchers in their study of orientation–performance relationship.

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeel Tariq ◽  
Yuosre Badir ◽  
Supasith Chonglerttham

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of green product innovation performance (GPIP) on a firm’s financial performance (i.e. a firm’s profitability and risk). In addition, it has adopted the resource-based view and contingency theory to explore how GPIP and a firm’s financial performance relationship is manifested when subject to the moderating role of a firm’s market resource intensity and certain environmental factors, such as technological turbulence and market turbulence. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 202 publicly listed Thai manufacturing firms. This research has used hierarchical regression analyses to empirically test the proposed research hypotheses. Findings The findings reveal that GPIP exerts a significant influence on a firm’s financial performance, i.e. higher the GPIP, higher the firm’s profitability and lower the firm’s financial risk. Moreover, findings support the theoretical assertions that the higher level of market resource intensity, market turbulence and technological turbulence further strengthens GPIP and a firm’s financial performance relationship. Originality/value By considering the independent moderating role of market resource intensity, market turbulence and technological turbulence, this research has contributed to reconcile the previously disparate findings regarding the GPIP and a firm’s financial performance relationship. Moreover, this research has highlighted the role of the essential moderators that business managers must understand and adjust to capitalize on and achieve superior financial performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Chevrollier ◽  
Fons Kuijf

Purpose This paper aims to explore how the dynamic capabilities sensing and seizing could support a sustainable (either instrumental or stewardship) strategic orientation in the apparel industry. Design/methodology/approach Through qualitative and inductive research design, ten companies from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, specifically focusing on brands, were researched. Employees in strategic positions were interviewed. Subsequently, thematic analysis was realized to extract findings from both instrumental and stewardship organizations. Findings Instrumental organizations focus on increasing their brand, mainly by following market demands. They sense opportunities via a hierarchical organizational structure that allows for incremental innovation based on internal competition. Stewardship organizations believe in a collective approach toward conducting business effectively. While building a “sustainable case for business”, a stewardship-oriented company senses by involving their stakeholders and seeks unorthodox opportunities using a long-term internal compass as a beacon for decision-making. Originality/value Key capabilities are revealed that allow businesses and managers to reach higher levels of sustainability in a specific sector: the apparel industry. Especially the capabilities of stewardship-oriented companies and its ambidexterity provide a fertile base for future research at the nexus of organization development and sustainability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Mugarura ◽  
Patience Namanya

Purpose This paper aims to examine how central Banks (in the narrow purview of Bank of Uganda) exercise their supervisory mandate to foster an efficient sound business environment for banks to operate efficiently. The authors were motivated to write on the subject of bank supervision because of the closure of Crane Bank and putting it under administration in 2016. The closure of this bank generated a lot of controversies on both sides of the political divide and in the press. Initially, the popular view was that Crane bank was poorly supervised, and as a result, it was exploited by insiders to commit money laundering, fraud, insider dealing, just to mention but a few. This put Bank of Uganda (the Central Bank) in a negative spotlight for failure to provide the required oversight of this bank. In Uganda, the supervision of banks and other financial institutions is the responsibility of Bank of Uganda. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted a qualitative research approach using secondary data sources, including books, journal papers and websites, and evaluating primary legislation but also empirical evidence both in Uganda and other jurisdictions. The secondary data was evaluated to draw comparative analyses of causes of banks failures in countries both in Africa, Europe, USA and others jurisdictions across the globe. Findings It would be onerous to charge central banks with the responsibility of preventing bank failures, even though they would are required to institute measures to prevent banks from collapsing and its ripple effects on the economy. Effective banking supervision is a core factor for the success of every bank, but it cannot single-handedly prevent a bank from collapsing. A well-supervised bank can also fail not necessarily because of inherent weaknesses within its banking supervision, but it could fail because of extraneous factors beyond the control of individual banks. For example, Lehman Brothers Ltd (a highly leveraged of broker dealers) collapsed due to factors beyond its control, the Northern Rock and Royal Bank of Scotland in the UK were nationalised by the British Government. Research limitations/implications The limitation of the paper was that data on central banks and failed banks both in Uganda and other jurisdictions (the scope of the paper) was overwhelming, and it was daunting to sift through and analyse it in depth. Practical implications Banks play a fundamental role in the social-economic development of countries, and how they are regulated is significantly important for the stability of economies. They provide loans, guarantees and other financial products to businesses, and they are engines for economic growth and development. Social implications Banks affect, people, societies, businesses, markets and governments. Therefore, this paper has wider implications for the foregoing constituencies. Originality/value The originality of the paper is that this paper is unique, draws experiences across jurisdictions and evaluates in the narrow purview of banking regulation in Uganda.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonali Bhattacharya ◽  
Netra Neelam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how internship value is manifested in the context of a business school. The authors have examined the internship experience in terms of experiential learning and employability. Specifically, the authors investigate the factors that determine internship at four phases: design, conduct, evaluation and feedback. Design/methodology/approach The authors have applied a mixed method approach. In all, 110 students of a busines school were first surveyed on their expectation, motivation and level of preparation through a self-administered questionnaire before internship. Based on the survey result, eight of these students were interviewed in details about internship expectations from industry, the selection process for internship, communications or exchanges between intern and companies prior to internship and perceived industry expectation from interns. At the next phase, authors used a qualitative research approach by conducting semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 14 interns and their mentors after internship period. They were interviewed on design, conduct, evaluation and feedback process of the internship. Interviews tried capture what kind of leader-member exchange led to satisfactory internship experience and outcome from view of both inter and mentor. Findings The authors find that at various stages of internship program quality of mentor – intern exchanges (as defined by leadership exchange theory), and task characteristics as indicated by autonomy, task variety, task significance and performance feedback determine intern’s performance. An intern’s performance is antecedent to an intern’s and a mentor’s satisfaction and overall internship value. The authors also found that intrinsic capability of intern such as critical thinking ability and learning orientation result in enhanced value of internship experience. The proposed models, postulate that at designing stage, lower the level of communication from employers, higher the feeling of ambiguity and lower the perceived internship value in terms of experiential learning and perceived employability. Feeling of ambiguity is moderated by existence of prior work experience of interns. At conduction stage, mentor-intern exchange is directly related to flexibility in structure of the program and inversely related to dependency on peer learning. Mentor-intern exchange also related to mentor and intern’s learning value. However, the learning value is moderated by learning orientation of the intern. Originality/value The authors have tried the summer internship experience from the perspective of interns and mentors. This is the uniqueness of the research.


2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 2071-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Vanharanta ◽  
Alan J.P. Gilchrist ◽  
Andrew D. Pressey ◽  
Peter Lenney

Purpose – This study aims to address how and why do formal key account management (KAM) programmes hinder effective KAM management, and how can the problems of formalization in KAM be overcome. Recent empirical studies have reported an unexpected negative relationship between KAM formalization and performance. Design/methodology/approach – An 18-month (340 days) ethnographic investigation was undertaken in the UK-based subsidiary of a major US sports goods manufacturer. This ethnographic evidence was triangulated with 113 in-depth interviews. Findings – This study identifies how and why managerial reflexivity allows a more effectively combining of formal and post-bureaucratic KAM practices. While formal KAM programmes provide a means to initiate, implement and control KAM, they have an unintended consequence of increasing organizational bureaucracy, which may in the long-run hinder the KAM effectiveness. Heightened reflexivity, including “wayfinding”, is identified as a means to overcome many of these challenges, allowing for reflexively combining formal with post-bureaucratic KAM practices. Research limitations/implications – The thesis of this paper starts a new line of reflexive KAM research, which draws theoretical influences from the post-bureaucratic turn in management studies. Practical implications – This study seeks to increase KAM implementation success rates and long-term effectiveness of KAM by conceptualizing the new possibilities offered by reflexive KAM. This study demonstrates how reflexive skills (conceptualized as “KAM wayfinding”) can be deployed during KAM implementation and for its continual improvement. Further, the study identifies how KAM programmes can be used to train organizational learning regarding KAM. Furthermore, this study identifies how and why post-bureaucratic KAM can offer additional benefits after an organization has learned key KAM capabilities. Originality/value – A new line of enquiry is identified: the reflexive-turn in KAM. This theoretical position allows us to identify existing weakness in the extant KAM literature, and to show a practical means to improve the effectiveness of KAM. This concerns, in particular, the importance of managerial reflexivity and KAM wayfinding as a means to balance the strengths and weaknesses of formal and post-bureaucratic KAM.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Huston ◽  
Arvydas Jadevicius ◽  
Negin Minaei

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to sketch the UK housing backdrop, review the student private rented sector (PRS) and assess the experience of post-graduate university student tenants in the PRS. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review puts the issues of student-PRS responsiveness into context and helps to untangle some UK housing issues. The private sector’s size, growth and performance is assessed by reviewing secondary data. In-depth interviews were then conducted at a regional university campus. Findings – The study confirms accumulating evidence of an unbalanced UK housing market. The study identified four main PRS issues: first, rapid university expansion without accompanying residential construction has sparked rampant PRS growth with, second, quality issues, third, in tight letting market conditions, rented agent service levels fell and fourth, part of the problem is complex PRS management procedures. Research limitations/implications – The research has three noteworthy limitations. First, the macroeconomic analysis integrated secondary research without independent modelling. Second, the views of letting agents, university property managers, planning officers or landlords were not canvassed. Finally, the pilot interviews were geographically restricted. Practical implications – When they expand, universities, local authorities and industry players need to give due consideration to plan for, design and develop quality student accommodation. Over-reliance on the PRS without informed oversight and coordination could undermine student experience and erode long-term UK competitiveness. Social implications – The lack of quality student rented accommodation mirrors a general housing malaise around affordability, polarisation and sustainable “dwelling”. Standards and professionalism in the rented sector is part of the overall quality mix to attract global talent. Originality/value – The preliminary investigation uses mixed-methods to investigate PRS service delivery. It illustrates the interplay between professional property management and wider issues of metropolitan productivity, sustainability and resilience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro Dias ◽  
Pereira Renato

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer an operationalization of an aggregate construct and a decisive contribution to building a dynamic capabilities theory with marketing implications. The authors investigate the influence of dynamic capabilities, specifically routine creation through embedding learning and knowledge, on marketing capabilities and performance in Portugal. The authors examine the direct relationship between dynamic capabilities and marketing capabilities, which is indirectly linked to performance depending on the effectiveness of the resulting new resource configuration. Design/methodology/approach The authors used four construct dimensions: knowledge creation routines, knowledge transfer processes, marketing capabilities, and firm performance. The study was based on an inter-industry random sample of firms selected from a commercial list. During a nine-month period the authors gathered data from a questionnaire delivered in hand to participating firms and collected through in-depth personal interviews. It was filled out by directors of Portuguese firms who agreed to participate in this study. Findings First, dynamic capabilities play an important role in the evolution of marketing capabilities and the maintenance of competitive advantage. Specifically, the authors identified a link between knowledge creation routines and knowledge transfer processes with marketing capabilities. Second, the effect of dynamic capabilities on performance can be considered to be substantially indirect. However, the results also show a direct link between knowledge transfer and performance. Originality/value First, the development of a model establishing the contribution to the evolution of marketing capabilities in order to compete in a changing environment, considering the critical effect of knowledge creation and transfer in a non-static market configuration. Second, the analysis of marketing capabilities from different layers, from strategic to more operational aspects.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahriar Akter ◽  
Md Afnan Hossain ◽  
Qiang (Steven) Lu ◽  
S.M. Riad Shams

PurposeBig data is one of the most demanding topics in contemporary marketing research. Despite its importance, the big data-based strategic orientation in international marketing is yet to be formed conceptually. Thus, the purpose of this study is to systematically review and propose a holistic framework on big data-based strategic orientation for firms in international markets to attain a sustained firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a systematic literature review to synthesize research rigorously. Initially, 2,242 articles were identified from the selective databases, and 45 papers were finally reported as most relevant to propose an integrative conceptual framework.FindingsThe findings of the systematic literature review revealed data-evolving, and data-driven strategic orientations are essential for performing international marketing activities that contain three primary orientations such as (1) international digital platform orientation, (2) international market orientation and (3) international innovation and entrepreneurial orientation. Eleven distinct sub-dimensions reflect these three primary orientations. These strategic orientations of international firms may lead to advanced analytics orientation to attain sustained firm performance by generating and capturing value from the marketplace.Research limitations/implicationsThe study minimizes the literature gap by forming knowledge on big data-based strategic orientation and framing a multidimensional framework for guiding managers in the context of strategic orientation for international business and international marketing activities. The current study was conducted by following only a systematic literature review exclusively in firms' overall big data-based strategic orientation concept in international marketing. Future research may extend the domain by introducing firms' category wise systematic literature review.Originality/valueThe study has proposed a holistic conceptual framework for big data-driven strategic orientation in international marketing literature through a systematic review for the first time. It has also illuminated a future research agenda that raises questions for the scholars to develop or extend theory in this area or other related disciplines.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchi Agarwal ◽  
Sanjay Kallapur

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the best practices for improving risk culture and defining the role of actors in risk governance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an exemplar case of a British insurance company by using a qualitative case research approach.FindingsThe case study shows how the company was successful in changing from a compliance-based and defensive risk culture to a cognitive risk culture by using a systems thinking approach. Cognitive risk culture ensures that everybody understands risks and their own roles in risk governance. The change was accomplished by adding an operational layer between the first and second lines of defense and developing tools to better communicate risks throughout the organization.Practical implicationsPractitioners can potentially improve risk governance by using the company’s approach. The UK regulator’s initiative to improve risk culture can potentially be followed by other regulators.Originality/valueThis is among the few studies that describe actual examples of how a company can improve risk culture using the systems approach and how systems thinking simultaneously resolves several other issues such as poor risk reporting and lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Ndou ◽  
Giovanni Schiuma ◽  
Giuseppina Passiante

PurposeThe creative process through which the territorial resources, knowledge and culture are used, exploited and configured to match needs and to achieve congruence with the changing business environment has become a crucial process for competitiveness. This is even more relevant for economies of developing countries which are continuously struggling to reap the benefits of globalisation, as well as to grasp the new opportunities for competitiveness. As such, this paper aims to try to concentrate on the dynamic perspectives of the creative economy of countries by distinguishing between the potentialities and performance. The paper tackles the influence that creativity capacities might have on performance of countries.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology consists in identifying creative economy indicators from a diverse data set of the World Economic Forum and distinguish them between potential and performance indicators.FindingsData reveal as good progress and emphasis is being devoted to increasing the level of creativity; however, the Balkan countries still holdup in their capacity to boost innovation.Practical implicationsThe paper provide a new focus of research on creativity measurement that is significant for understanding what creative capacities territories possess and the ability to make proficient use for growth and innovation.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new operational framework for measuring and interpreting the creative economy indicators by identifying not only indicators that gauge the potentialities of a country, but also indicators that are linked with the performance dimension, as well as the relationship amongst them.


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