Search results

This paper aims to analyze the impact of gender in leadership on strategic orientation and the relative impact of these strategic orientations on organizational performance with the leadership of each gender.

Cross-sectional survey-based data were collected from 1,260 logistics companies, and 503 responses were found suitable for further data evaluation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analysis were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses.

Results show that managers' gender affects only the aggressiveness subdimension (p = 0.018 and ß = 0.114) in strategic orientation decisions and that male managers tend to be more aggressive-oriented than female managers. Strategic orientation is more effective on organizational performance. More clearly, when female executives use the same strategic orientation as their male counterparts, organizational performance is higher than that of male executives.

Managers' power is related to social norms about their valuable contribution to the organization and roles are associated with experiences. Thus, at different levels of management, different results will be obtained.

Organizations should only define leadership roles in masculine terms with information or research that explains how women leaders can contribute to the organization's outcomes.

The lack of fit model should not be expected when determining executive-level female leaders' performance.

There is a significant potential in studying strategic decision-making and whether the ability to provide effective organizational outcomes is related to a person's gender. Even if previous literature suggests that gender stereotypes affect perceptions of men's and women's fit for executive positions, the strategic conception of organizational decisions is immune to gender, but strategy execution is not.

This study aims to investigate the ways that human capital influences the strategic orientation variables entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO), which ultimately leverage the firm performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.

This study used a quantitative method with a total of 274 SMEs in the Regency of Gresik, East Java, Indonesia, as the observable population. Furthermore, the identified samples obtained through the random sampling technique were determined using the Slovin formula with 163 SMEs used for analysis. As the means of analysis, this study used a statistical approach by using PLS-SEM statistics from SmartPLS software. This analytical tool has been proven to be a robust statistical tool that has been used in many marketing studies.

This study found that human capital is a key determinant of EO and MO as strategic orientations of SMEs. Furthermore, this study highlighted that SMEs’ strategic orientations (i.e. EO and MO) provide a valuable thrust that leverages firm performance. Moreover, the role of human capital in leveraging firm performance was found to be significant with the role of the joint effect of EO and MO as mediator. This implies that human capital is not solely a single determinant that leverages SMEs’ performance.

There are few aspects of limitations in this research that could be enhanced by other scholars in the discipline of entrepreneurship. First, the strategic orientation concept being indicated by EO and MO had yet to provide a comprehensive view of strategic orientation. Second, this research used samples that represent the traditional furniture cluster in East Java and had yet to explore other clusters such as food processing and services cluster which may be relevant to the context of SMEs in Indonesia.

As a practical implication, this study would benefit policymakers in Indonesia, such as the Ministry for Cooperatives and SMEs to provide assistance to SMEs to progressively nurture capacity-building through formal and informal education to leverage human capital. Moreover, it could benefit other relevant businesses, such as national banks in Indonesia whose interests are significant, especially in providing financial access to SMEs in Indonesia.

The social implication of this research lay the focus on the suggestion by which SMEs must be able to optimize their capabilities by enhancing levels of human capital particularly for traditionally managed SMEs. The ability to survive external pressures for would be able to contribute to the social well-being of their society as many people are dependent heavily in the operation of the SMEs.

The significance of this study is twofold. Although the use of human capital as a determinant of firm performance has been discussed in the literature, few studies to date has sought to predict human capital with EO and MO as mediators of firm performance. Furthermore, the joint impact of EO and MO as a strategic orientation needs to be holistically explored and explained, particularly in an emerging economy context.

In this study, the authors examine the influence of market orientation on small firms' performance. The authors theorize that the association between market orientation and small firm performance provides an incomplete picture in a competitive environment. The application of configuration approach which involves simultaneous consideration of market orientation, strategic flexibility and competition intensity is crucial to examine driver of firm performance.

The sample of the research study consists of 272 small firms from an emerging economy, India. Ordinary least squares regression has been used to investigate the hypothesized relationships.

The authors noted that the three-way interaction between market orientation, strategic flexibility and competition intensity elucidates variance in small firm performance over and above a contingency model and a direct relationship.

The findings contribute to the existing literature by exhibiting the effect of market orientation on firm performance. The configuration model suggests that small firms can outperform competitors in a lower competitive environment if they have high market orientation and high strategic flexibility investment. To leverage market opportunities and achieve better firm performance, small firms’ owners should analyze the usefulness of current capabilities in a changing competitive environment concurrently and align market orientation to those conditions.

The strategic management and marketing literature suggests that relationship between market orientation and performance is ambiguous. The findings offer insights to managers regarding the appropriate use of strategic flexibility in leveraging the benefits of market orientation in a highly competitive environment. Furthermore, by collecting data from the context of an emerging economy, India, the authors attempt to strengthen the applicability of market orientation in different contexts.

The aim of this paper is to explore the specific relationship between managerial power and enterprise innovation performance. Combined with managerial power theory and stewardship theory, financing constraints and strategic orientation, including, strategic market orientation and strategic technology orientation are included in the analysis framework to test how managerial power influences enterprise innovation performance in detail from the perspective of enterprise internal influence mechanisms.

Based on the A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen covering the period from 2001 to 2017, this paper uses the ordinary least square method (OLS) to explore how managerial power affects enterprise innovation performance.

The results show that managerial power has a positive impact on enterprise innovation performance. Furthermore, the authors find that financing constraints, strategic market orientation and strategic technology orientation all have partial mediating effects in the relationship between managerial power and enterprise innovation performance.

This paper verifies the application of managerial power theory and stewardship theory in the relationship between managerial power and enterprise innovation performance in Chinese A-share listed companies, contributing to the literature on enterprise innovation. Moreover, by introducing the mediating mechanisms of financing constraints, strategic market orientation and strategic technology orientation, this paper builds an effective path for in-depth study to analyze how managerial power influences enterprise innovation performance and finds ways to improve enterprise innovation performance from the inside view of the enterprise.

The purpose of the research was to examine the effect of strategic orientation on organizational innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, in order to highlight the constructive role of strategic orientation, the study also observes the intervening role of strategic alignment and moderating role of strategic flexibility.

Data were collected from 209 owner/managers of SMEs through self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, correlation and hierarchical regression were used for testing the study hypotheses.

Results revealed that strategic orientation is positively related to SMEs innovativeness. Strategic alignment mediates between the strategic orientation and innovativeness link. Furthermore, the findings also established that the association between strategic orientation and strategic alignment is stronger when SMEs are strategically flexible.

Organizational innovativeness is of vital importance for SMEs strength, especially in the context of developing economies. Although researchers have acknowledged several antecedents of SMEs innovativeness, however, it is still unclear how strategic orientation influences organizational innovativeness. Moreover, the study focuses on another important element of strategic alignment through the integration of goals and strategies to achieve innovativeness.

Innovation has become extremely important, especially concerning manufacturing firms, as it is known to foster robust and healthy competition. The study aims to examine the effect of innovation orientation and supply chain integration on structural flexibility and strategic business performance.

Using the quantitative approach, 315 questionnaires were distributed to manufacturing firms in three cities (Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi) in Ghana out of which 305 usable responses were retrieved. The partial least square structural equation modeling technique and the statistical package for social sciences software version 27 were used for the data analysis.

The findings showed that supply chain integration and innovation orientation have a strong beneficial association. A substantial favorable association between structural flexibility and supply chain integration was found in the study once more. What is more, the research revealed a strong positive relationship between supply chain integration and strategic business performance. Furthermore, the study found a strong relation between innovation orientation and strategic business performance.

The research paper adds to the body of knowledge by examining how supply chain integration affects the relationship between innovation orientation, structural flexibility and strategic business performance.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and utility of two theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance and to examine the role of innovation in the relationship while avoiding circular arguments. The universalistic approach suggests that strategic orientations have independent and parallel effects on firms’ performance, and that innovation does not influence this relationship. The holistic approach proposes that strategic orientations in a complementary and interrelated view have both direct and indirect effects on firms’ performance through innovation.

A meta-analytic path analysis applying two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM) was conducted on data from 132 primary studies and 33,063 observations.

The holistic approach was demonstrated to be superior due to its more explanatory power in linking more complex relationships through simultaneous direct and indirect effects and its capacity for including the interrelatedness and complementarity of strategic orientations. It was found that innovation has a full mediating role in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance, and a partial mediating role in the relationship between market orientation (MO) and learning orientation (LO) and firm performance.

The study used observed variables instead of latent variables for meta-analytic path analysis, which may reduce some sources of endogeneity. However, causal inference is not possible due to the nature of meta-analysis. The scope of the final sample was limited by some studies not reporting the estimates of correlations between constructs.

Managers can improve an organization's chances of success in the marketplace by adopting a holistic view of strategic orientations focusing on customer satisfaction, learning from the external environment and pursuing new market opportunities. Furthermore, an organization can gain a competitive advantage through innovation by creating products and services that are different from what is currently available in the market. To be successful, an organization must not only create innovative products and services but also market them effectively to consumers.

This study is the first to meta-analytically assess the explanatory value of two theorized models linking strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance. It also clarifies the role of innovation in the relationship between strategic orientations and firm performance.

The vulnerability of the tourism industry to an array of risks, encompassing family-related, small- and medium-sized enterprise-specific, strategic, tourism-specific and external factors, highlights the landscape within which small and medium family enterprises (SMFEs) operate. Although SMFEs are an important stakeholder in the dynamic tourism sector, they are not one homogenous group of firms, but have different strategic orientations. This study aims to investigate the interplay between strategic orientation and risk perception to better understand SMFEs risk perception as it is impacting their decision-making processes, resilience and long-term survival. The authors investigate how different strategic orientations contribute to different perspectives on risk among owner-managers.

Based on a qualitative data corpus of 119 face-to-face interviews, the authors apply various coding rounds to better understand the relationship between strategic orientations and the perceptions of risks. Firstly, the authors analysed the owner–manager interviews and identified three groups of different strategic orientations: proactive and sustainability-oriented SMFE, destination-affirmative and resilience-oriented SMFE and passive SMFE. Secondly, the authors coded the interviews for different risks identified. The authors identified that the three groups show differences in the risk perceptions.

The data unveil that the three groups of SMFEs have several differences in how they perceive risks. Proactive and sustainability-oriented SMFEs prioritize business risks, demonstrating a penchant for innovation and sustainability. Destination-affirmative and resilience-oriented SMFEs perceive a broader range of risks, tying their investments to destination development, emphasizing family and health risks and navigating competitive pressures. Passive SMFEs, primarily concerned with external risks, exhibit limited awareness of internal and strategic risks, resist change and often defer decision-making to successors. The findings underscore how different strategic orientations influence risk perceptions and decision-making processes within SMFEs in the tourism industry.

The authors contribute to existing knowledge include offering a comprehensive status quo of perceived risks for different strategic orientations, a notably underexplored area. In addition, the differences with respect to risk perception shown in the paper suggest that simplified models ignoring risk perception may be insufficient for policy recommendations and for understanding the dynamics of the tourism sector. For future research, the authors propose to focus on exploring the possible directions in which strategic orientation and risk perception influence one another, which might be a limitation of this study due to its qualitative nature.

Varying strategic orientations and risk perceptions highlight the diversity within the stakeholder group of SMFE. Recognizing differences allows for more targeted interventions that address the unique concerns and opportunities of each group and can thus improve the firm’s resilience (Memili et al., 2023) and therefore leading to sustainability destinations development. The authors suggest practical support for destination management organizations and regional policymakers, aimed especially at enhancing the risk management of passive SMFEs. Proactive SMFE could be encouraged to perceive more family risks.

Viewing tourism destinations as a complex stakeholder network, unveiling distinct risk landscapes for various strategic orientations of one stakeholder has the potential to benefit the overall destination development. The proactive and sustainability-oriented SMFEs are highly pertinent as they might lead destinations to further development and create competitive advantage through innovative business models. Passive SMFEs might hinder the further development of the destination, e.g. through missing innovation efforts or succession.

Although different studies explore business risks (Forgacs and Dimanche, 2016), risks from climate change (Demiroglu et al., 2019), natural disasters (Zhang et al., 2023) or shocks such as COVID-19 (Teeroovengadum et al., 2021), this study shows that it does not imply that SMFE as active stakeholder perceive such risk. Rather, different strategic orientations are in relation to perceiving risks differently. The authors therefore open up an interesting new field for further studies, as risk perception influences the decision-making of tourism actors, and therefore resilience.

This paper aims to examine how market globalization orientation (i.e. a firm’s strategic commitment to developing the target markets beyond national borders) influences business-to-business (B2B) practices to achieve competitive performance outcomes.

A conceptual framework shows how to translate strategic orientation into integrated organizational practices for competitive outcomes. A research model defines key variables (drivers, B2B practices and performance outcomes). The research model is tested using an international survey of 439 firms from four continents. And the analysis results are reported.

The results suggest that market globalization orientation influences organizational practices and external B2B network processes to achieve desirable performance outcomes. Integrated product development is a crucial linkage mechanism that enables firms to translate strategic network coordination and product innovation goals into improved manufacturing and firm performance.

First, macro-level factors (e.g. the changing attitudes of domestic stakeholders toward globalization) do not necessarily dictate the critical aspects of the micro-level responses (e.g. firm-level practices). Despite negative narratives of globalization at the macro-level (e.g. economic inequality, unwanted immigration that spreads transmissible diseases, supply chain disruptions), firm-level responses toward global markets are determined by their missional direction and strategic priorities for achieving competitive advantage by expanding their B2B supply chains and market frontiers (Adams et al., 2019; Kobrin, 2020; Witt, 2019; Zinn and Goldsby, 2020). Second, the findings suggest that many firms take globalization orientation as an essential strategic driver that governs critical operational and network practices for achieving desirable performance outcomes. Market globalization orientation motivates B2B firms of all sizes –including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – to pursue globalization in their unique paths of differentiation. Globalization orientation expands their spheres of influence beyond their local, regional and domestic fronts. The globalization orientation of business leadership motivates firms to stretch their business frontiers without self-imposed geographical constraints.

Competitive firms choose market globalization orientation in their supply flow and implement strategic and operational practices to pursue global market opportunities. Globalization orientation is imperative to firms that seek new growth engines to achieve competitive performance that appeals to diverse market segments of the world.

Outstanding firms expand their value frontiers to secure a flexible supplier base and reach out to diverse B2B customers in their domestic and global market segments. This study also suggests that firms with a market globalization orientation aim to develop novelty products, offer essential services, support the livelihood goals of people and pursue a shared vision of a sustainable planet.

In the context of conflicting societal attitudes and political priorities toward globalization, this study examines the crucial role of market globalization orientation. Using an empirical study, this paper suggests that globalization efforts succeed as firms deploy their internal and network resources to address people’s essential and timeless needs beyond national boundaries.

The identification of a successful mix of strategic orientations is a big challenge for corporate sustainability and management research. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the interrelationships among multiple variants of strategic orientations (i.e. entrepreneurial orientation (EO), market orientation (MO), technology orientation (TO) and sustainability orientation (SO)) that lead to the superior performance of sustainability-oriented small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country context.

This study utilized the case-study method to explore a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the interplay among multiple strategic orientations. The data were collected from the top management of SMEs working in Pakistan through semi-structured interviews, complemented with the data obtained through a structured survey and the firms’ documentary evidence. Interviews were content analyzed to reveal more rigorous and comprehensive results.

The findings of this study suggest that the strategic framework of successful firms utilizes the aspects from multiple orientations (EO, MO and SO) to create an appropriate alignment that ensures superior performance in a highly dynamic environment.

The key finding of this study is the identification of a configurational framework, Entrepreneurial Responsible Orientation, if successfully implemented, it has the potential to drive sustainable performance of the small firms particularly, and sustainable development of the country, generally.