Orlando Rua, Alexandra França and Rubén Fernández Ortiz
With its focus on the context of small firm internationalization, this paper aims to assess the important contribution of strategic determinants that influence export performance…
Abstract
Purpose
With its focus on the context of small firm internationalization, this paper aims to assess the important contribution of strategic determinants that influence export performance (EP), considering the mediating effect of competitive strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on survey data from 247 Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting textiles, members of the Portugal’s Textile Association (ATP), this research adopted a quantitative methodological approach, conducting an exploratory and transversal empirical study.
Findings
The paper finds suggest that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has a positive and significant influence on differentiation and EP. Moreover, the results also highlight the role of intangible resources (IR) in the design of both differentiation and cost leadership strategies, which drives EP. Finally, absorptive capabilities (ACAPs) are highly related with EP.
Practical implications
The paper provides empirical evidence that EO, IR and ACAPs are predictors of competitive strategies and EP. Moreover, and alongside with firm’s resources, this study validates that competitive strategy does matters for small firm managers and the development of one type of competitive advantage is also a major performance enhancer.
Originality/value
This study provides fresh insights into entrepreneurship and strategic management literature, as it considers the importance of multiple factors to SMEs business growth. Moreover, this paper presents empirical evidences of the strategies that small firm managers should pursue and policy makers should support. Finally, this is an original study applied to the Portuguese textile industry.
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Alexandra França and João Ferreira
Involving customers to create value is an important strategy for firms to compete, satisfy customized demands and gain competitive advantage. This potentially important alternate…
Abstract
Purpose
Involving customers to create value is an important strategy for firms to compete, satisfy customized demands and gain competitive advantage. This potentially important alternate viewpoint for strategic management aims to widen avenues of business opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
To date in the strategy discipline, profuse research has been undertaken to identify the typology of resources/capabilities that explain firm’s unique competitiveness and superior performance. However, very little research has been undertaken to explain how firms attempt to create customer value, how resources become valuable for customers maximizing benefits and how investments in dynamic capabilities allow the firm to (co) create value. This paper is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of resources and capabilities (RC) through the lens of value co-creation and provides initial guidance for future empirical studies.
Findings
The authors organize and integrate the diverse body of past literature relating to RC and, in doing so, develop a synthesized conceptual model. A critical interpretation of previous literature relating to RC and co-creation reveals how little attention has been paid to these connections and what exists is only partial.
Originality/value
The authors develop a first initial constructing of the past theory which is subsequently refined and strengthened into a conceptual model advancing on theoretical development in the field.
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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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Peter Bannister, Elena Alcalde Peñalver and Alexandra Santamaría Urbieta
This purpose of this paper is to report on the development of an evidence-informed framework created to facilitate the formulation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI…
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to report on the development of an evidence-informed framework created to facilitate the formulation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) academic integrity policy responses for English medium instruction (EMI) higher education, responding to both the bespoke challenges for the sector and longstanding calls to define and disseminate quality implementation good practice.
Design/methodology/approach
A virtual nominal group technique engaged experts (n = 14) in idea generation, refinement and consensus building across asynchronous and synchronous stages. The resulting qualitative and quantitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics, respectively.
Findings
The GenAI Academic Integrity Policy Development Blueprint for EMI Tertiary Education is not a definitive mandate but represents a roadmap of inquiry for reflective deliberation as institutions chart their own courses in this complex terrain.
Research limitations/implications
If repeated with varying expert panellists, findings may vary to a certain extent; thus, further research with a wider range of stakeholders may be necessary for additional validation.
Practical implications
While grounded within the theoretical underpinnings of the field, the tool holds practical utility for stakeholders to develop bespoke policies and critically re-examine existing frameworks.
Social implications
As texts produced by students using English as an additional language are at risk of being wrongly accused of GenAI-assisted plagiarism, owing to the limited efficacy of text classifiers such as Turnitin, the policy recommendations encapsulated in the blueprint aim to reduce potential bias and unfair treatment of students.
Originality/value
The novel blueprint represents a step towards bridging concerning gaps in policy responses worldwide and aims to spark discussion and further much-needed scholarly exploration to this end.
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Marc Oberhauser, Dirk Holtbrügge and Igor Gurkov
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the attitudes of Russian managers are affected by personal attributes, environmental conditions and also cognitive processes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the attitudes of Russian managers are affected by personal attributes, environmental conditions and also cognitive processes.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on social cognitive theory, the authors developed hypotheses and tested them against data collected from 173 Russian managers via an online survey. A linear regression analysis revealed several determinants of ethical attitudes within the Russian context.
Findings
The findings suggest that personal values (i.e. political orientation), environmental conditions (i.e. hierarchical level, ownership – state-owned versus private – of the current employer, industry in which a manager works) as well as cognitive processes (i.e. the presence (absence) of multilingualism at the workplace) strongly affect ethical attitudes of Russian managers in several issues related to both job ethics (relations inside the organization) and business ethics (relations outside the organization).
Practical implications
Revealing a positive effect of multilingualism as cognitive process on managers' ethical attitudes, this study calls for incorporating a second lingua franca, for example, English, within the working context.
Originality/value
The study provides an in-depth investigation of the determinants of ethical attitudes in Russia. Conducting a single-country study, the authors are able to reveal locally meaningful determinants that may otherwise be overlooked.
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Hande Turkoglu, Lorraine Brown and Philippa Hudson
Employees eat at least one meal per day in the workplace on a regular basis, carrying implications for their physical and emotional well-being. For migrants, this can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees eat at least one meal per day in the workplace on a regular basis, carrying implications for their physical and emotional well-being. For migrants, this can be challenging, owing to food culture differences. This study explores migrant workers’ perceptions of the food eaten in the hospitality workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
Eleven in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were carried out with migrant workers in three- and four-star hotels in the southwest of England.
Findings
The findings show that the food eaten in the workplace is perceived as unhealthy and fattening and therefore unappealing. This partly informs a decision to eat home country food away from work.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed across many more organisations to investigate whether this would actually have the positive impact on employee well-being (migrant or home national) and employer reputation.
Practical implications
Providing additional “off-menu” meals for migrant employees is recognised. However, staff turnover within the hotel environment may mean that dishes acceptable to one nationality may not be acceptable to another. Alternatively, it may be that attention to such details and the provision of a food offering that is seen as fit for purpose by staff may reduce turnover and demonstrate “care” on the part of the employer. An annual staff survey could be conducted to gauge employee opinion.
Social implications
This study helps to show the significance of food for migrant well-being. It highlights that in increasingly globalised workplaces, food provision is important for both emotional and physical health. The study's findings have relevance to other multicultural workplaces where the food provided to staff may have consequences for employee well-being.
Originality/value
Little research has focused on the link between the food consumed in the hospitality workplace and migrant worker well-being. This study therefore makes an important contribution to knowledge by exploring feelings about the food eaten at work from the perspective of migrant workers themselves.
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Alexandra McCormick and Seu’ula Johansson Fua
This chapter presents a survey of education development in Oceania, a region of diversity held together by its commonalities, shaped by the largest ocean on the planet. The…
Abstract
This chapter presents a survey of education development in Oceania, a region of diversity held together by its commonalities, shaped by the largest ocean on the planet. The chapter outlines the regional contexts of Oceania and offers a brief historical overview of formal education. Oceania, like most regions, has struggled to mediate between global agendas and national and regional aspirations for sovereignty and self-determination. The chapter recounts ongoing efforts to navigate education in the post-colonial period, efforts to negotiate some of the aspirations of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA), and other global agendas of the early 2000s with, more recently, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this survey, we hope to demonstrate collective efforts to respond to global agendas, to shape and strengthen regionalism, while maintaining sovereignty in a globalized world. We also highlight the evolving identities of the region, in particular the relationships between Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific countries that collectively make up Oceania.