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This study aims to investigate the relationships between firms’ strategic planning (SP), leadership and technology transfer competence (TTC) by specifically incorporating the mediating role of strategic quality management (SQM).

This study performs structural equation modeling using AMOS on survey data collected from 200 Turkish firms operating in multiple industries and sectors.

This study finds that leadership in Turkish firms operating in multiple sectors is positively associated with SQM. This study further finds that SQM positively influences Turkish firms’ TTC and mediates the roles of SP and leadership in TTC.

A key research implication from this study relates to the mediating role of SQM in TTC in an emerging economy context. This study highlights that SP and leadership can play an essential role in TTC through the mediating mechanism of SQM. Consequently, SQM emerges as a crucial linking pin in conveying the impact of quality management practices on technology transfer in emerging markets.

An essential managerial implication of this study relates to the critical roles of leadership, SP and SQM in TTC. For the managers of firms operating in a relatively uncertain emerging context such as Turkey, it is essential to adopt a supportive and empowering leadership style, where open communication and innovative activities are viewed positively and SQM is adopted holistically. Also, SP should be streamlined throughout the firm and followed by SQM to support TTC.

This paper links the technology (and knowledge) management and the strategy and leadership literature streams by focusing on the mechanisms of technology transfer and delving into the linkages between SQM, leadership, SP and TTC. It specifically presents SP and leadership as precursors to SQM in their joint influence on TTC. Accordingly, this research bridges technology, strategy and leadership research and provides a broader picture of technology transfer that encompasses the joint role of different processes in firms’ TTC.

In this study, some of the internal and external determinants of innovation for Turkish companies are examined. The purpose of this paper is to determine which factors significantly influence innovativeness of Turkish companies.

The study begins with literature research. The knowledge gained from literature is used to develop a research model, which displays internal and external determinants of innovation and innovation types as product and process innovations. In order to test the model, the data of “Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey”, provided by the World Bank, are used. The data are collected from 1,152 Turkish companies in 2008. Some statistical tests are conducted to determine significant relations between the determinants of innovation and innovation types. Finally, results are discussed in the light of previous literature.

The authors' results provide clues that the companies involved in product innovation activities mostly perform process innovations. There is also a group of companies which invest in capabilities, but are not involved in any of the innovative activities. R&D activities, licensed technology usage, formal training programs, and experience of managers are significant internal factors, although the investments accomplished are not significant. International relations are an outstanding external factor for Turkish companies.

The data used in this study come from secondary source data, and it is not aimed at exploring innovation‐related issues. Also, this study does not aim to rank influencing factors for Turkish companies. Thus, it is not possible to reach a conclusion that compares internal and external factors.

This is a pioneer study that deals with internal and external influencing factors of both product and process innovations for Turkish companies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the causal links among operations strategy (OS), environmental dynamism (ED) and firm performance (FP) within the context of a key emerging economy, Turkey.

Drawing on a structured questionnaire, data for the study was collected from a sample of 211 firms that are listed in the database of the Turkey’s largest 1,000 manufacturing firms. The research framework was tested using partial least squares method, which is a variance-based structural equation modeling approach.

The results indicate that ED is positively and significantly related to OS dimensions. ED is also found to have a strong and positive influence on FP. Some strong support has also been found regarding the effect of OS on FP.

The study’s narrow focus on Turkish companies precludes the generalization of findings to other emerging countries as well as other sectors that may benefit from OS. Also, the collection of data from a single respondent in each firm might be a cause for possible response bias.

This study provides managers with a useful tool for evaluating the efficiency of their OS relative to their competitors in dynamic business environments. Moreover, the findings of this study are envisaged to aid company managers in their endeavors to craft and execute successful strategies where appropriate environmental considerations and new operations capabilities should be incorporated to their broader strategic plans.

The main contribution of this study stems from its examination of the causal links among OS, ED and FP within the context of a key emerging economy, Turkey.