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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2003

Jay Weerawardena

It has been argued that a firm's capacity to learn from its market is a source of both innovation and competitive advantage. However, past research has failed to conceptualize…

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Abstract

It has been argued that a firm's capacity to learn from its market is a source of both innovation and competitive advantage. However, past research has failed to conceptualize market‐focused learning activity as a capability having the potential to contribute to competitive advantage. Prior innovation research has been biased toward technological innovation. However, there is evidence to suggest that both technological and non‐technological innovations contribute to competitive advantage reflecting the need for a broader conceptualization of the innovation construct. Past research has also overlooked the critical role of entrepreneurship in the capability building process. Competitive advantage has been predominantly measured in terms of financial indicators of performance. In general, the literature reflects the need for comprehensive measures of organizational innovation and competitive advantage. This paper examines the role of market‐focused learning capability in organizational innovation‐based competitive strategy. The paper contributes to the strategic marketing theory by developing and refining measures of entrepreneurship, market‐focused learning capability, organizational innovation and sustained competitive advantage, testing relationships among these constructs.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 37 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 March 2022

Piyush Ranjan and Jogendra Kumar Nayak

The purpose of this study is to highlight the need for developing pricing capability (PC) for business-to-business firms to effectively manage and execute the pricing activities…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to highlight the need for developing pricing capability (PC) for business-to-business firms to effectively manage and execute the pricing activities in the organization and succeed in a competitive market. Using the firms’ resource-based view, organizational learning theory and organizational capabilities literature, this study develops a conceptual framework in which market-focused learning and firm innovativeness are potential antecedents of PC and pricing value and business performance (BP) are consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted an online e-mail-based survey to collect primary cross-sectional data from the 127 Indian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was used to empirically validate a conceptual framework as well as the research hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that market-focused learning and firm innovativeness have a substantial influence on PC, which in turn positively affects both pricing value and BP. Moreover, pricing value demonstrates a partial mediating effect on the link between PC and BP.

Research limitations/implications

This research has certain limitations, namely, using cross-sectional data and limited sample size. More empirical research on the antecedents of PC is required.

Practical implications

The empirical findings enlighten the SMEs on the significance of developing specialized PC in delivering superior pricing value to customers and achieving greater BP.

Originality/value

The existing literature lacks empirical data on the development and antecedents of PC, particularly in the SME context. The current study empirically examines the impact of market-focused learning and firm innovativeness on PC.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Yusif Baba

Many changes taking place in the nonprofit sector have created an environment in which organizational learning could be regarded as representing a high-profile notion with…

1204

Abstract

Purpose

Many changes taking place in the nonprofit sector have created an environment in which organizational learning could be regarded as representing a high-profile notion with strategic importance for nonprofit organizations (NPOs), but its application in the nonprofit sector has not received adequate research attention. The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical test of the relationship between learning orientation and NPO performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature on organizational learning is briefly reviewed and a marketing-focussed perspective on learning is adopted. Then drawing from resource-based theory and relationship marketing, a conceptual model is developed that links learning orientation to NPO performance, predicting that noneconomic performance would mediate between learning orientation and economic performance. Using Baron and Kenny’s mediation regression procedure, this prediction is subjected to an empirical test with survey data collected on 118 NPOs operating in Ghana.

Findings

The paper finds a general support for the view that noneconomic performance is the primary organizational feature that drives economic performance and that learning orientation is an outgrowth of this characteristic.

Originality/value

This study addresses the important question of whether paying attention to their mission helps NPOs acquire critical resources from their funding entities, discussing this issue in the context of organizational learning to respond to RBT scholars’ call for more research that highlight the underlying processes through which strategic resources (such as organizational learning) contribute to the organization’s financial outcomes.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2019

Babak Taheri, Umit Bititci, Martin Joseph Gannon and Renzo Cordina

This study aims to examine how comprehensive performance measurement systems (CPMS) influence entrepreneurial orientation, market-focussed learning (MFL) and employees’…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how comprehensive performance measurement systems (CPMS) influence entrepreneurial orientation, market-focussed learning (MFL) and employees’ perceptions of firm performance within a service-provision context. It also considers the moderating effect of low and high levels of perceived market-turbulence (low-turbulence environments [LMT] vs highly turbulent environments [HMT]) on the relationships between these concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

PLS-SEM was used to test the hypothesised relationships using survey responses from 198 employees of a leading multi-branch travel agency in Iran.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that CPMS positively influence MFL and, in doing so, have a positive effect on perceptions of firm performance. However, the findings also suggest that CPMS negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation, and therefore can also negatively influence perceptions of firm performance. Further, the relationships between CPMS, entrepreneurial orientation, MFL and firm performance are stronger for HMT when compared to LMT for all relationships.

Practical implications

Industry managers should adapt their CPMS to include measures specific to intra-organisational entrepreneurship and innovation and should pursue greater understanding of changing customer preferences.

Originality/value

This study highlights the importance of MFL as a means of avoiding the negative impact of underdeveloped market research on performance in the turbulent Iranian context. Contrary to previous literature, it provides an example of how CPMS can negatively influence entrepreneurial orientation in such environments.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Itzhak Gnizy, William E. Baker and Amir Grinstein

Although small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of international trade, little is known about the role of strategic orientation culture in…

4702

Abstract

Purpose

Although small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant portion of international trade, little is known about the role of strategic orientation culture in improving their foreign launch success. Three orientations – market, entrepreneurial, and learning are all related to organizational learning priorities and reflect a higher order dynamic capability (DC), proactive learning culture (PLC). The authors assert that PLC is particularly important to SMEs whose lack of market power and resources render them vulnerable in risky foreign market launch. Marketing program adaptation and local integration are examined as behavioral mediators of the impact of PLC on foreign market launch success. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The DC framework guides the study. The authors employ a model with a higher order PLC, two mediating behaviors, and firm foreign market launch success to report on an empirical study of US SMEs that operate in foreign markets. The authors used hierarchical regression analysis and extensive post hoc analyses/robustness checks.

Findings

Consistent with the DC framework, SMEs’ foreign launch success is driven by higher and lower order behaviors. The impact of the higher order PLC construct was mediated by two lower order behaviors, marketing program adaptation and local integration. Notably, PLC's influence is stronger than the influence of any subset of its one/two/three first order components.

Practical implications

SMEs need to pay attention to an array of organizational learning processes that combine to engender a PLC, which help optimize the deployment of more tangible, lower order behaviors required for foreign launch success.

Originality/value

Introducing PLC as a DC that enables firms to proactively develop market-oriented, innovative capabilities using a knowledge-based approach. The elements of PLC reflect a more complete view of the role of learning in driving the assembly of lower order behaviors in foreign market launch, which requires both a market-oriented approach and the ability to innovate under conditions of uncertainty. While each element of PLC is valuable, the higher level impact of all three facilitates a more effective culture for those firms, which choose to enter new markets.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 June 2022

Mohammad Talari and Mina Khoshroo

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of industry competitive intensity (ICI) on brand performance with the mediating role of market orientation and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of industry competitive intensity (ICI) on brand performance with the mediating role of market orientation and organizational learning using theoretical and experimental materials in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) firms.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the research hypotheses, a model was designed and tested on 124 chief executive officers from 30 FMCG firms active in both food and chemical industries using structural equation modeling and partial least squares methodology.

Findings

The research findings showed that ICI has significant effect on market orientation and organizational learning. It also has significant effect on the firm’s brand performance through developing the market orientation capability as a mediating variable, but the development of organizational learning capability (as a mediating variable) is not effective in the relationship between ICI and brand performance.

Originality/value

Since the early 1990s, addressing intraorganizational capabilities and resources has been a major topic of strategic and marketing research. In this regard, many theoretical and experimental contents have been presented so far. However, little research has simultaneously addressed the industrial environment and the development of competitive capabilities. A manager’s understanding of the competition rate of an industry has the potential to influence the development of organizational capabilities through strategic responsiveness to his/her perception of the environment. This study attempts to show that managers and firms that consider their industrial environment to be volatile must develop their learning capabilities and market orientation, leading to superior brand performance.

Details

Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 December 2022

Yen-Chun Chen, Todd Arnold, Ping-Yu Liu and Chun-Yao Huang

This research aims to investigate how entrepreneurial orientation influences a firm’s differentiation–cost advantage ambidexterity (DCAA) and performance indirectly through…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to investigate how entrepreneurial orientation influences a firm’s differentiation–cost advantage ambidexterity (DCAA) and performance indirectly through dynamic capabilities, while also investigating the impact of the interactive effect of the level and consistency of entrepreneurial orientation on dynamic capabilities. The goal of this study is to better understand the importance of consistently following an entrepreneurial orientation, as well as the linkage of such a consistently implemented strategy upon gaining both a cost and differentiation positioning enhancement.

Design/methodology/approach

Two empirical studies are conducted to test the proposed hypotheses – one longitudinal with multiple forms of data (i.e. text data, survey data and archival data) from 100 Taiwanese electronics firms and the other using primary data from a survey of senior managers.

Findings

Entrepreneurial orientation improves dynamic capabilities, which in turn promote superior DCAA and enhanced firm performance. In addition, as captured through a unique measure of consistency allowed through computer-aided text analysis, the results indicate that the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on dynamic capabilities is amplified when a firm consistently adopts entrepreneurial decisions and actions.

Research limitations/implications

The specific context was a sample of electronics firms in Taiwan. This limits the generalization of findings, as would be possible with assessing the hypotheses in other industries.

Practical implications

This research clearly demonstrates the significance of consistency in pursuing a strategic orientation. The consistent support and deployment of resources facilitates an organization’s achieving positive outcomes associated with an entrepreneurial orientation.

Originality/value

While entrepreneurial orientation contributes to firm performance, extant knowledge on the internal process through which entrepreneurial orientation affects performance is relatively limited. The findings not only highlight the full mediating role of dynamic capabilities and DCAA, but also shed light on the importance of consistency in entrepreneurial orientation over time.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 57 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2002

Robert E. Spekman, Joseph Spear and John Kamauff

Supply chain management has received in recent years a great deal of attention by practitioners and academics alike. The benefits that accrue to firms that effectively manage…

7666

Abstract

Supply chain management has received in recent years a great deal of attention by practitioners and academics alike. The benefits that accrue to firms that effectively manage their supply chain partners range from lower costs to higher return on investment (ROI), to higher returns to stockholders. Yet, effective management of one’s supply chain is not easily accomplished. In this paper, we develop this capability as a core skill that will ultimately separate the winners from the losers. We develop the concept of supply chain competence and use learning as a proxy. We explore the pre‐conditions for learning to emerge and the impact of learning on supply chain performance. A number of factors that affect partner‐like behavior also affect learning. Also, learning appears to have a positive impact on performance measures relating to end‐customer satisfaction and being a more market‐focused supply chain. Learning does not appear to affect supply chain performance related to cost.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2023

Rebecca Parkerson

The purpose of this paper is to inform readers about the use of gamification and active learning as effective learning methods, particularly in hybrid, diverse and global…

159

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to inform readers about the use of gamification and active learning as effective learning methods, particularly in hybrid, diverse and global organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes an advisory approach based upon experienced delivery of blended learning and gamification in an human resources (HR), training and development environment.

Findings

The introduction of gamification and blended learning is like any other method of development. It is only as good as the planning. Gamification as a novel way of learning will not last the distance without setting objectives, planning how to reach them, evaluation and ongoing support for behavioural change.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the viewpoint of the author and has not been published elsewhere.

Details

Strategic HR Review, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1475-4398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 February 2020

Xiaoning Liang and Yuhui Gao

Driven by the growing pressure to justify the contributions of marketing activities, marketers have shown considerable interest in improving their marketing performance…

2018

Abstract

Purpose

Driven by the growing pressure to justify the contributions of marketing activities, marketers have shown considerable interest in improving their marketing performance measurement systems (MPMSs). The purpose of this study is to examine the neglected mediating effect of marketing capabilities on the MPMS–firm performance relationship and to focus on specific aspects of MPMSs that have been largely omitted in the prior research, namely, the comprehensiveness and uses of MPMSs.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted with marketing and senior managers from 210 Irish-based companies. The proposed research model was tested by using the SPSS Process macro and structural equation modeling in AMOS 24.

Findings

The three characteristics of MPMSs influence firm performance in different manners: while the diagnostic use of MPMSs hinders the development of market-linking capability and thus negatively influences firm performance; the comprehensiveness of MPMSs positively influences firm performance through its impact on architectural marketing capability; and the interactive use of MPMSs via externally focused learning and market-linking capabilities.

Research limitations/implications

Although this study used objective firm performance data to validate subjective data, the use of single-informant and self-reported measures may still be a concern, as the strong relationships between variables may be because of single-informant bias.

Practical implications

This study provides insights into how companies can use a comprehensive MPMS to cultivate specific crucial marketing capabilities and thereby enhance firm performance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the marketing performance measurement literature by proposing and empirically validating the mediating effect of marketing capabilities on the MPMS–firm performance relationship.

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