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1 – 10 of over 125000Bas P. Singer, Bart A.G. Bossink and Herman J.M. Vande Putte
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisations use a corporate real estate strategy to support their competitive strategy. It provides a theoretical and empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisations use a corporate real estate strategy to support their competitive strategy. It provides a theoretical and empirical overview and analysis of effective combinations of firms' real estate and competitive strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper constructs a model that integrates three real estate strategies and three types of competitive strategies. Case studies in ten multinational firms in The Netherlands apply the model, and describe and analyse the combinations of the firms' real estate – and competitive strategies.
Findings
A standardisation real estate strategy supports all three competitive strategies: lowest costs, differentiation, and focus. A value‐based real estate strategy supports a competitive strategy of differentiation and differentiation‐focus, and does not contribute to a competitive strategy of lowest costs, or lowest costs‐focus. Finally, an incremental real estate strategy is ambiguous, and does not support any of the three competitive strategies.
Originality/value
The paper constructs a literature‐based model that combines real estate strategy and competitive strategy. It applies the model in a study of ten cases. Practitioners can use the model to analyse and reconsider the combination of their organisation's real estate strategy and competitive strategy. Academics can use the qualitative research results to design further research that qualifies and quantifies the relationship between various elements of real estate – and competitive strategy.
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This article investigates the relationship between the functional areas of manufacturing and human resources by analysing the practices of human resource management associated…
Abstract
This article investigates the relationship between the functional areas of manufacturing and human resources by analysing the practices of human resource management associated with the competitive priorities of manufacturing strategy, e.g. quality, delivery performance, flexibility and cost. Within strategic business management, both the competitive priorities of manufacturing and the practices of human resource management need to be observed by the whole organisation. In this way, this study presents how human resource management practices are aligned to business strategies based on cost reduction, quality, delivery performance and product innovation. These practices may also be arranged in different ways in a particular competitive strategy.
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Cristina Jönsson and Dwayne Devonish
The purpose of this paper is to examine a typology of competitive strategies, which has not been extensively researched in the context of the accommodation sector in Barbados, a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a typology of competitive strategies, which has not been extensively researched in the context of the accommodation sector in Barbados, a small developing island state in the Caribbean.
Design/methodology/approach
Data is collected through self‐administered questionnaires from 51 per cent of the hotels in Barbados. Respondents are Human Resource Managers, General Managers or Managing Directors.
Findings
Hotels in the five‐star and higher category place substantial strategic focus in the area of defining service standards and performance, as compared with hotels in the one‐star category. This study suggests that hoteliers should focus on a combination of different strategies advanced by Vandermerwe et al. as a means of securing a competitive advantage. Changes in strategy should be accompanied by training employees as the service and the quality of hotels change. As their customers' demands change, and as the competition changes, the competitive strategies of hotels will change.
Research limitations/implications
Due to cultural differences among the islands in the Caribbean, the findings in this study need to be confirmed by undertaking similar investigations in other islands. Future research should consider the use of a more qualitative approach to better understand the nature of these competitive strategies in the hotel sector. Future research should examine the link between these strategies and company performance in order to determine the best combination of competitive strategies needed for maximum organisational performance.
Practical implications
This study highlights many challenges to be met and opportunities to be seized by managers in Barbados's accommodation sector. Systematically linking different strategies highlighted by Vandermerwe et al. and proactively managing the hotel is one way to do both.
Originality/value
Few studies in this area have been undertaken in small developing island states in the Caribbean. This study attempts to fill this gap by comparing and contrasting the competitive business strategies employed by hotels in Barbados.
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Yahya N. Al Serhan, Craig C. Julian and Zafar U. Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to develop and justify a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between manufacturing strategy, business strategy, time-based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and justify a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between manufacturing strategy, business strategy, time-based manufacturing competence, capability and competitiveness and their impact on firm performance for firms operating in the manufacturing sector. Many executives and scholars have argued that time is an important component for developing a brilliant strategy to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a theoretical framework primarily concerned with the relationship between time-based manufacturing competence, competitive priorities and firm performance. The framework suggests that firms focusing on time as a strategic factor at both strategic levels – business strategy and manufacturing strategy – can achieve a multi-competitive advantage, and, in turn, high performance.
Findings
To realize the level of performance associated with time-based manufacturing competence, it is essential for firms to identify the areas in which time can be reduced. These include reduction in design lead time, product concept to production; time-based competition for product-to-market firms; time-based manufacturing competence; product development activities; fast-to-product; and customer service.
Originality/value
This article provides a theoretical framework for linking manufacturing strategy to business strategy and performance to help expand the body of knowledge for other researchers to follow.
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This study investigates the relationship between a firm's competitive strategy and strategic plan intensity, defined as the emphasis placed on strategic planning in guiding the…
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between a firm's competitive strategy and strategic plan intensity, defined as the emphasis placed on strategic planning in guiding the future decisions and activities carried out by organisational members. The research question addressed is “Under what competitive strategy contexts does high strategic plan intensity lead to greater performance?” The competitive strategies considered are low‐cost, differentiation and competitive strategy segmentation. Strategic plan intensity is viewed as the combined emphasis a firm places on mission/vision, long‐term objectives, planned activities, short‐term objectives and policies in guiding the decisions and activities of organisation members.
Fiona Edgar, Jing A. Zhang, Nataliya Podgorodnichenko and Adeel Akmal
One of the most cited literature in SHRM is Schuler and Jackson’s (1987) behavioural model. This model proposes that organisational performance is dependent on the extent to which…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the most cited literature in SHRM is Schuler and Jackson’s (1987) behavioural model. This model proposes that organisational performance is dependent on the extent to which HRM practices can be effectively connected to competitive strategy and desired employee behaviours. Importantly, this model recognises the salient role of employee behaviour in performance outcomes and, moreover that different competitive strategies imply both promulgation and reinforcement of different sets of employee skills and behaviours. Surprisingly, despite its significant influence on SHRM, studies rarely examine this model in its entirety. Motivated by the need to better understand this model’s arguments in contemporary settings, our study uses a multi-actor design to explore the connections between competitive strategies (cost reduction and differentiation), employee behaviours, and HRM practices in service environments.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a multi-level, multi-actor survey design, our exploratory deductive study assesses the utility of strategic HRM’s (SHRM) behavioural model. Drawing on data from a sample of service organisations and using univariate analyses, we compare operationalised HRM practices and employee behaviours across different strategy types.
Findings
Results lend provisional support for the behavioural model, particularly in the case of a differentiation strategy where notable differences in HRM practices and employee behaviours were observed. Findings suggest growing levels of memetic and competitive isomorphism may be occurring, with this likely attributable to the increased incidence of idea generation and information sharing about best practices occurring amongst practitioners, as well as a growing nuance in operating markets, managerial preferences, employee expectations, stakeholder objectives, and the like.
Research limitations/implications
Our study suggests refinements to the behavioural model are needed. Some support for the model’s key tenets is found, but these appear context specific. Thus, the merit in developing a priori typologies linking strategy type to HRM practices and employee behaviours where organisations operate in environments which are particularised and tumultuous appears debatable.
Practical implications
This study highlights the behavioural model’s nuance to modern service organisations and, by doing so, practitioners are provided with a behavioural pathway for achieving competitive advantage through their HRM practices. Findings also suggest that increasingly competitive environments might be encouraging practitioners to engage in isomorphic behaviours.
Originality/value
The use of a comparative research design allowed our study to contribute much needed empiricism to the largely conceptually informed stylised typologies depicting the linkages between different competitive strategies, implied employee role behaviours and HRM practices, thereby supporting the need for model refinement.
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Decisions about strategies to be implemented and organization design are important in having competitive advantage for companies. Although this statement widely takes place in…
Abstract
Decisions about strategies to be implemented and organization design are important in having competitive advantage for companies. Although this statement widely takes place in management literature, very little research has been done on this subject in Turkey. The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of competitive strategies in the impact of organizational flexibility on competitive advantage in order to extend about empirical literature of the structure-strategy-competitive advantage paradigm based on the resource-based view (RBV). In this context, the data were collected from the top 500 industrial enterprises in Turkey. The data were tested via structural equation model. The findings of our research show that the direct effect of organizational flexibility on competitive superiority was marginally significant and when three different competitive strategies were included between these two variables in the model, the marginally significant effect of organizational flexibility on the competitive advantage disappeared. In other words, the full mediating role of applied competition strategies in the effect of organizational flexibility on competitive advantage has been identified. Our findings are similar to the findings of other studies that consider organizational structure as a valuable resource and examine the relationship between the structure and the strategy according to the RBV.
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Abdulkader Zairbani and Senthil Kumar Jaya Prakash
The purpose of this paper is to provide an organizing lens for viewing the distinct contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an organizing lens for viewing the distinct contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing the impact of competitive strategy on company performance in general, and the influence of cost leadership and differentiation strategy on organizational performance in detail.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology was based on the PRISMA review, and thematic analysis based on an iterative process of open coding was analyzed and then the sample was analyzed by illustrating the research title, objectives, method, data analysis, sample size, variables and country.
Findings
The main factor that influenced the competitive strategy is strategic growth; strategic growth has a significant influence on competitive strategy. Furthermore, competitive strategy will boost firm network, performance measurement and organization behavior. In the same way, the internal goal factor will enhance organizational effectiveness. Also, a differentiation strategy will support management practice factors, strategic positions, product price, product characteristics and company performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by identifying a framework of competitive strategy factors, company performance factors, cost leadership strategy factors, differentiation strategy factors and competitive strategy with global market factors. This study provides a complete picture and description of the resulting body knowledge in competitive strategy and organizational performance.
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It Nguyen Van, Thanh Tiep Le and Anna Kotaskova
This study aims to show how market orientation (MO), brand (BR) and business strategy (cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy), which play mediating and moderating…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to show how market orientation (MO), brand (BR) and business strategy (cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy), which play mediating and moderating roles, respectively, can increase competitive advantage (CA). With a focus on brand, market orientation, cost leadership strategy (CS) and differentiation strategy (DS), as well as an analysis of variance control on varying business sizes per business seniority, the current study made a theoretical contribution.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study was created using a quantitative methodological technique. The surveyed data were collected from 379 managers or owners who participated in a face-to-face survey at different food processing companies in Vietnam. To test the hypotheses, the gathered information was examined utilizing multigroup analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The brand was found to have the greatest positive impact on competitive advantage, followed by a business strategy that positively influenced competitive advantage, and, finally, business strategies that significantly moderated the third strong positive impact between market orientation and competitive advantage. Market orientation has the fourth strong positive impact on competitive advantage, whereas brand has the lowest positive impact on market orientation.
Originality/value
This is the first investigation, according to the authors’ knowledge, into the role of market orientation as a mediator in the relationship between brand and competitive advantage in addition to the regulatory role of business strategy at two strategic levels: cost leadership and strategic focus as well as the difference between competitive advantage and market orientation in the Vietnamese food sector.
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Eva M. Pertusa‐Ortega, José F. Molina‐Azorín and Enrique Claver‐Cortés
Decisions about the design of the organization and the competitive strategy of a firm are very important in order to gain competitive advantage and to improve firm performance…
Abstract
Purpose
Decisions about the design of the organization and the competitive strategy of a firm are very important in order to gain competitive advantage and to improve firm performance. The relationship between organizational structure, competitive strategy, and firm performance has usually been analyzed using the contingency approach. The objective of this paper is to extend the relevant empirical literature of the strategy‐structure‐performance paradigm by comparing the resource‐based view (RBV) with contingency theory. To that end, the paper seeks to examine how organizational structure affects firm performance, taking into account the relationship with competitive strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of large Spanish firms was studied using the partial least squares (PLS) technique.
Findings
The results support both the RBV and the contingency approach, but the RBV is more strongly supported. The findings show that organizational structure does not exert a direct influence on performance, but has an indirect influence through competitive strategy.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are limited to large firms. Therefore, they cannot be generalized to smaller companies. In addition, the use of opinion scales gives the study a subjective character. However, in this respect, most of the characteristics of organizational structure and competitive strategy are difficult to measure with objective data.
Originality/value
Researchers have studied the relationship between strategy and structure for a long time based on contingency theory. This study provides an alternative formulation for organizational design theory, based on the RBV, which makes it possible to reframe the relationships between strategy and structure by analyzing the organizational structure as a valuable resource and a source of competitive advantage.
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