Moujib Bahri, Ouafa Sakka and Rahim Kallal
This paper aims to investigate the moderating effect of political instability and regulatory obstacles on the relationship between corruption and export intensity in the context…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the moderating effect of political instability and regulatory obstacles on the relationship between corruption and export intensity in the context of Tunisian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES). The sample consists of 537 Tunisian SMEs. The partial least squares method was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The direct effect of corruption on export intensity was found to be non-significant. It was significantly negative when corruption was combined with regulatory obstacles, whereas it was positive when corruption coexisted with political instability. Additional analyses revealed that results were sensitive to firm size (small versus medium) and sector of activity (service versus manufacturing).
Research limitations/implications
This paper has some limitations related to the use of secondary data. Enhanced variable measurements and more detailed data collection are recommended for future studies.
Practical implications
This paper is useful to researchers and policymakers who are interested in understanding the effects of a poor institutional environment on SME exports in developing countries.
Originality/value
This paper considers the impact of corruption on the export intensity of SMEs in the presence of political instability and regulatory obstacles in Tunisia. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the joint effect of these institutional variables on the exports of firms has not been examined in previous research.
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Worachet Onngam and Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol
Despite the increasing numbers of research studies about social media business, the concept of social media agility is still an emerging topic that has been understudied…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the increasing numbers of research studies about social media business, the concept of social media agility is still an emerging topic that has been understudied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of social media agility on business performance by using a sample of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand. Moreover, this study explored whether the effect of social media agility on business performance could be moderated by the characteristic of firm in terms of size, as well as the characteristic of market environment in terms of environmental dynamism.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample of 337 firms was obtained from the business directory using the simple random sampling method, and the model assessment was performed by using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The data analysis indicated that social media agility positively affected the business performance of SMEs. Moreover, the moderating effect analysis showed that smaller firms tended to gain higher business performance from social media agility than larger firms. In addition, social media agility positively affected business performance to a greater extent when firms operated under low environmental dynamism than when they operated under high environmental dynamism.
Practical implications
Because SMEs are the key driving of economic development and economic growth, the recommendations from this study could be helpful for the government sector responsible for the competency development of SMEs to offer a development program that might enable entrepreneurial firms to develop social media marketing competencies and enhance their potential to be successful in the digital transformation.
Originality/value
The authors found new evidence showing that the degree to which social media agility affected business performance depended significantly on the firm characteristics in terms of firm size, as well as the environmental factor in terms of environmental dynamism. These findings provide valuable contributions to the existing literature that still lacks evidence about the moderating conditions that could increase or reduce the benefits that firms obtain from social media agility.