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This study attempts to explore the linkages between reliable big and cloud data analytics capabilities (RB&CDACs) and the comparative advantage (CA) that applies in the manufacturing sector in the countries located in North Africa (NA). These are considered developing countries through generating green product innovation (GPI) and using green process innovations (GPrLs) in their processes and functions as mediating factors, as well as the moderating role of data-driven competitive sustainability (DDCS).

To achieve the aim of this study, 346 useable surveys out of 1,601 were analyzed, and valid responses were retrieved for analysis, representing a 21.6% response rate by applying the quantitative methodology for collecting primary data. Convergent validity and discriminant validity tests were applied to structural equation modeling (SEM) in the CB-covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) program, and the data reliability was confirmed. Additionally, a multivariate analysis technique was used via CB-SEM, as hypothesized relationships were evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and then the hypotheses were tested through a structural model. Further, a bootstrapping technique was used to analyze the data. We included GPI and GPrI as mediating factors, while using DDCS as a moderated factor.

The empirical findings indicated that the proposed moderated-mediation model was accepted due to the relationships between the constructs being statistically significant. Further, the findings showed that there is a significant positive effect in the relationship between reliable BCDA capabilities and CAs as well as a mediating effect of GPI and GPrI, which is supported by the proposed formulated hypothesis. Additionally, the findings confirmed that there is a moderating effect represented by data-driven competitive advantage suitability between GPI, GPrI and CA.

One of the main limitations of this study is that an applied cross-sectional study provides a snapshot at a given moment in time. Furthermore, it used only one type of methodological approach (i.e. quantitative) rather than using mixed methods to reach more accurate data.

This study developed a theoretical model that is obtained from reliable BCDA capabilities, CA, DDCS, green innovation and GPrI. Thus, this piece of work bridges the existing research gap in the literature by testing the moderated-mediation model with a focus on the manufacturing sector that benefits from big data analytics capabilities to improve levels of GPI and competitive advantage. Finally, this study is considered a road map and gaudiness for the importance of applying these factors, which offers new valuable information and findings for managers, practitioners and decision-makers in the manufacturing sector in the NA region.

Recent trends in total quality management (TQM) argue in favor of incorporating environmental concerns into TQM and considering external stakeholders. The aim of this study is to bring environmental consciousness in the soft TQM dimension of human resource management (HRM) and assess its interrelationship with stakeholder integration towards achieving a competitive advantage.

An empirical study was conducted in the transportation sector, specifically targeting managers in Greek shipping companies involved in global cargo transport and vessel operations. A structured questionnaire was administered, yielding 109 responses. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal the positive effect of both green HRM (GHRM) and stakeholder integration on the innovation differentiation advantage and market differentiation advantage of shipping companies. Results confirm the complementary (partial) mediating effect of GHRM in the relationship between stakeholder integration and both types of competitive advantage.

The primary limitation resides in data collection exclusively from shipping companies in Greece. A longitudinal approach would be beneficial for examining how the relationship between variables changes over time.

The findings of the study could assist shipping managers in their decisions to allocate resources for developing GHRM practices and for involving stakeholders in organizational practices to overcome competition.

This study contributes to the discourse on TQM by empirically investigating the combined impact of GHRM and stakeholder integration on competitive advantage – an aspect that has been relatively overlooked in existing literature.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between strategy intent (product-service innovation intention) and outcome (product-service innovation outcome), and the role that external sources of innovation play in influencing this relationship.

Using data obtained from the community innovation survey, we apply a logit regression to a sample of 1,419 Portuguese firms. By examining the moderating effect of open innovation breadth, we assess how the relationship between differentiation intent and outcome is contingent upon the involvement of external stakeholders.

Our findings reveal that the relationship between differentiation intent and outcome is contingent upon the moderating effect of open innovation breadth. Our analysis suggests that the negative influence of different sources of innovation can be addressed by adopting a paradox lens.

This research provides valuable insights for managers. By simultaneously pursuing a differentiation strategy and engaging in collaboration with external sources, firms may compromise their ability to effectively differentiate their offer. Managers should consider the potential tensions arising from internal and external stakeholder relationships to optimize their innovation strategies.

This study contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the role of external innovation sources in influencing the relationship between differentiation intent and outcome and the importance that information systems may have in this relationship. By exploring the moderating effect of open innovation breadth, we provide a nuanced understanding of how firms can navigate organizational tensions and leverage innovation for competitive advantage.

Based on the intellectual capital (IC) theory and the resource-based view (RBV), the paper seeks to elucidate the direct and indirect relationships between IC and competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therewithal, besides examining the mediating role of innovation capabilities in the IC-competitiveness link, it scrutinizes the moderating effect of entrepreneurial orientation in causing IC to boost competitiveness in SMEs through flourishing innovation capabilities.

Data were collected from 206 participants working in SMEs operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the help of a structured questionnaire distributed through LinkedIn. Partial least square (PLS)-based structural equation modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS 4.0 has been performed to calibrate the auxiliary and structural models.

Based on the empirical analysis, IC significantly and directly enhances the competitive advantages of SMEs. Additionally, innovative capability has been found to be a complementary partial mediating condition in enabling IC to foster competitiveness in SMEs. Furthermore, the moderated mediation analysis reveals that innovation capabilities strongly mediate the association between IC and competitiveness in SMEs, characterizing higher entrepreneurial orientation.

The study provides significant insights to academicians and practitioners seeking to comprehend or configure interactions among IC, innovation capabilities, and entrepreneurial orientation in maturing competitiveness among SMEs, especially in emerging economies. Furthermore, the study provides a valuable integrative perspective on SMEs’ competitiveness by involving three voguish constituents of contemporary scholarly discourse grounded into the leading underpinning theoretical perspectives, such as IC theory, RBV, and entrepreneurship theory.

The uniqueness of this model lies in its rich theory-laden conceptualization and explanation that could extend theoretical debate and managerial action to the next levels.

The ability of a business to outperform its rivals is known as its competitive edge, and it presents special difficulties in the context of the “digital revolution,” or the fourth industrial revolution. To obtain a competitive edge in the startup operations 4.0 era, this study aims to examine the organizational, technological and competence-related challenges presented by Industry 4.0. It does this by concentrating on the tools, competencies, methods, approaches, tools and strategies that are crucial. Using the Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) technique, the goal is to find, analyze and classify enablers for startup operations 4.0.

A closed-ended questionnaire and planned interviews were used in the data collection process. In startup operations 4.0, the cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification method is used to rank and categorize competitive advantage factors, whereas the TISM technique is used to analyze how components interact.

The study highlights the critical significance of the “Internet of Things (IoT),” “information technologies,” “technological platforms,” “employee empowerment,” “augmented reality (AR)” and “operational technologies” in its identification of 12 enablers for startup operations 4.0.

The main focus of the study is on the variables that affect startup operations 4.0’s competitive advantage.

Academics and important stakeholders can better understand the factors influencing competitive advantage in startup operations 4.0 with the help of this research.

Large businesses have been profoundly impacted by Industry 4.0 principles; however, startup operations 4.0’s competitive advantage has not received as much attention. This paper offers a fresh take on the concept of competitive advantage in startup operations 4.0 research.

This article focusses on the hybrid strategy, a simultaneous combination of cost leadership and differentiation strategy. The study aims to examine the impact of hybrid strategy on firm performance through its anticipated positive effects on process and product innovation. In addition, we study the moderating role of adaptive capacity in the direct relationships of hybrid strategy with process and product innovation.

Structural equation modelling was used to analyse 1,842 Spanish firms with fewer than 250 employees. We randomly selected small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Spain from the Spanish Central Business Directory (2021) database. The overall sample design was based on stratified sampling.

We found that hybrid strategy is positively related to firm performance and to process and product innovation. Additionally, in firms implementing hybrid strategies, process innovation fostered firm performance. Finally, adaptive capacity strengthened the relationships of hybrid strategy with process and product innovation. This sheds light on how and when hybrid strategy is most effective in fostering SME performance.

We highlight that SMEs need to establish strategies that use diverse resources and capabilities and not just generate competitive advantage using one strategy (cost leadership or differentiation strategy). This requires an agile and flexible systems and structures.

Our research provides novel results by proposing the adoption of hybrid strategies instead of pure strategies (cost leadership and differentiation strategy) as a way for SMEs to survive during crises. Unlike “stuck in the middle” strategies, our study demonstrates the importance of hybrid strategies in a comprehensive model that links them to innovation and firm performance, with adaptive capacity being a determining factor.

The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated conceptual framework to better understand the psychological pathways connecting consumer perceptions to purchasing intentions for premium sustainable products.

The study develops a conceptual model that theorizes relationships between consumer perceptions of a firm’s innovation, competitive advantage, sustainable practices and stakeholder orientation. It proposes that stakeholder orientation mediates the effects of these perceptions on consumers’ willingness to purchase premium sustainable products. Additionally, lifestyle is hypothesized as a moderator. The model advances knowledge through eight testable propositions.

The conceptual framework specifies indirect, mediated and moderated relationships that have not been fully captured by past literature. It theorizes that perceptions of a firm’s innovation, competitive advantage from sustainable practices and stakeholder orientation indirectly influence purchase willingness through the mediating role of stakeholder orientation. Lifestyle is proposed to moderate these relationships.

This conceptual model offers insights for cultivating consumer perceptions that strengthen a firm’s stakeholder image and endorsement of premium sustainable products. Its validated theoretical lens and propositions can provide strategic guidance for addressing the challenges of higher price points for sustainable products through capturing psychological drivers of values-based decision-making. Future empirical assessment is recommended to validate the specified relationships in the model.

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of green intellectual capital (GIC) and innovative work behavior (IWB) on green process innovation performance (GPIP), with green knowledge sharing (GKS) as a mediator, in Pakistan’s hospitality industry. The aim is to provide a paradigm for assisting companies in transforming strategic green processes of green hotel innovation and its practices.

A total of 203 questionnaires were administered to front-desk officers of 15 hotels in Pakistan. Smart PLS-SEM 4 was used for analysis, and demographic statistics were analyzed using SPSS 21.0.

GIC (green human capital, green organizational capital and green relational capital) and IWB significantly and positively influence GPIP. GKS strengthens the relationships of GIC and IWB with GPIP. Finally, all hypotheses were significant and the constructs showed a positive association.

Research studies have revealed the impact of GIC on the hotel industry’s competitive advantage. However, the mechanisms underlying those impacts remain relatively underexplored. This study makes valuable contributions by providing crucial evidence from Pakistan’s hospitality industry.

The purpose of this study is to simultaneously investigate a comprehensive analysis of the extent to which strategic orientations, namely, imitation and innovation orientations, and knowledge management affect firm performance.

Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of the resource-based view and dynamic capability theory, this scholarly inquiry has proposed a comprehensive framework that delineates the relationships amongst imitation, innovation, absorptive capacity (ACAP), innovation performance and financial performance. To scrutinize the proposed research model, bootstrap routines were used through Smart partial least squares to estimate the procedures. To collect the necessary data, a questionnaire and financial statements were acquired from a sample of 100 Iranian firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The findings of the study have important implications for both scholars and practitioners seeking to enhance firm performance through the effective utilization of imitation, innovation and ACAP.

The results indicate that imitation activities have directly led to the improvement in innovation performance, even in the presence of innovation and ACAP. However, the relationship has not been confirmed by financial performance.

Imitation and innovation orientations have been identified as pivotal strategic orientations that can significantly affect firm performance. As far as the authors know, this investigation represents the first comprehensive examination of both imitation and innovation activities as a critical transition in emerging markets (EMs) characterized by complex economies, such as Iran. The findings may aid firms in enhancing their performance by providing insight into the strategic importance of imitation and innovation orientations in EMs.

This study aims to investigate how international entrepreneurial firms (IEFs) successfully commercialise innovative products/services internationally. In doing so, the authors examined the role played by the international dynamic marketing capability (IDMC) in the relationship between explorative and exploitative innovation and commercialisation. In addition, the authors also evaluated how the breadth and depth of international networks facilitate IEFs in upholding the effects of the IDMC to influence commercialisation.

To test the research model, structural equation modelling is used based on time-lagged survey data drawn from 201 Malaysian IEFs. To validate the results, additional robustness tests and endogeneity analyses have been performed.

The findings show that the IDMC positively mediates the relationship between explorative and exploitative innovation and commercialisation. Furthermore, the finding exhibits that the effects of the IDMC on commercialisation are positively moderated by the breadth and depth of international networks.

Given the fragmented and general nature of the extant marketing research on the IDMC, the study contributes to the international marketing literature by providing rich and nuanced pertinent knowledge. This study advances dynamic capability theory in relation to IEFs by establishing the IDMC as a functional capability suited to enable them to successfully commercialise the products/services resulting from explorative and exploitative innovation.