Market orientation, competitive advantage, and performance: A demand-based perspective

This study assesses how customer value affects a firm's market orientation and consequently, competitive advantage and organizational performance in a service industry — the global hotel industry. The findings show that if a firm perceives its customers as valuing service, the firm is more likely to adopt both a customer and a competitor orientation; if the firm thinks its customers are price sensitive, the firm tends to develop a competitor orientation. Moreover, the greater a firm's customer orientation, the more the firm is able to develop a competitive advantage based on innovation and market differentiation. In contrast, a competitor orientation has a negative effect on a firm's market differentiation advantage. Finally, innovation and market differentiation advantages lead to greater market performance (e.g., perceived quality, customer satisfaction) and in turn, higher financial performance (e.g., profit, market share).     

The Influence of Corporate Environmental Ethics on Competitive Advantage: The Mediation Role of Green Innovation

This study utilizes structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the positive effect of corporate environmental ethics on competitive advantage in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry via the mediator: green innovation performance. This study divides green innovation into green product innovation and green process innovation. The empirical results show that corporate environmental ethics positively affects green product innovation and green process innovation. In addition, this study verifies that green product innovation mediates the positive relationship between corporate environmental ethics and competitive advantage, but green process innovation does not. Therefore, corporate environmental ethics can not only affect competitive advantage directly, but also influence it indirectly via green product innovation in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing companies can increase their corporate environmental ethics and green product innovation to enhance their competitive advantages.     

绿色饭店核心竞争力评价指标体系构建初探

绿色饭店是在循环经济理论和可持续发展思想指导下形成的一种新型饭店业发展模式。本文对绿色饭店核心竞争力要素进行分析和评价,在此基础上构建绿色饭店核心竞争力评价指标体系。该体系的构建有利于绿色饭店企业客观认识自身的竞争优势,探索提升其核心竞争力的途径,为我国饭店业可持续发展提供客观依据。     

‘Organizational learning culture’: an ingenious device for promoting firm's innovativeness

The present study focuses on the relationship between organizational learning culture (OLC) and firm's innovativeness. The area of innovation as well as organizational culture is crucial for organizations and for entrepreneurs because both provide the basis for sustainable competitive advantage and improved firm performance. The notion of OLC offers a set of customs and principles that enhances imperativeness of an organization. Information acquisition, information interpretation, and behavioral and cognitive changes (BCC) were used as elements of the organizational learning process. Constructs comprising innovativeness are innovative culture, and technical and administrative innovation (innovations). Data were collected from 50 randomly selected Pakistani organizations. The results show significant and positive relationships among all hypothesized variables except for between BCC and innovations.     

包容型领导对员工创新行为的影响：基于组织和谐的中介作用及组织创新氛围的调节作用

员工创新行为是组织塑造竞争优势的重要环节。尽管已有研究表明领导风格能够对员工创新行为产生显著影响,但目前对于二者之间的作用机制和边界条件却知之甚少。文章基于国内新能源行业422名在职人员的有效调查问卷数据,构建并检验一个被调节的中介效应模型。实证研究结果表明：包容型领导对员工创新行为具有显著正向影响;组织和谐能够在包容型领导与员工创新行为关系中起中介作用;组织创新氛围在包容型领导和组织和谐之间起着正向的调节作用,组织创新氛围越强,包容型领导对组织和谐的影响程度随之增强。文章解释了包容型领导对员工创新行为的作用机理,不仅打开了二者之间的“黑箱”,也为员工在组织中如何有效增强创新行为提供了管理启示和对策建议。     

Designing Green Entrepreneurship Model in Sustainable Development Consistent with the Performance of Tehran Industrial Towns

The purpose of this paper design a green entrepreneurship model in sustainable development path consistent with the performance of industrial towns in Tehran (center of IRAN). The population was the active small/medium enterprises (SMEs) with full capacity in industrial towns of Tehran, which were about 3000 active units, accounting for 20% of the companies in Tehran industrial towns. Sample size was obtained as 514, which was used in calculations. The results showed that green entrepreneurship mediates the effect of green innovation, organizational culture, competitive advantage, and social-environmental responsibility of company on the financial performance of company. There was no mediating role concerning the effect of state laws and regulations on company’s financial performance. Additionally, market turbulence moderates effect of green entrepreneurship on organization financial performance, but financial shocks do not modulate the effect of green entrepreneurship on organization finance.     

The Role of Private Label Brands in Enhancing Service Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry: Comparing Luxury and Boutique Hotels

ABSTRACT

This research proposes private label branding as a strategy that can have a positive effect on guest satisfaction and loyalty in hotels that cater to travelers seeking a special hotel experience. We test this using a sample of guests in two hotels: a five-star luxury hotel (N = 225) and a boutique hotel (N = 101). Findings show that in the luxury hotel but not the boutique hotel, perception of a private label had a direct impact on loyalty, and an indirect impact on loyalty through its effect on guest satisfaction. The theoretical implications and recommendations for hoteliers based on the findings are discussed.     

Exploring hotel brand attachment: The mediating role of sentimental value

Brand attachment is at the core of building strong consumer brand relationships, which has important strategic significance for hotel enterprises and brands in acquiring a sustainable competitive advantage. Currently, neither the mechanisms underlying brand attachment nor the factors influencing hotel brand attachment are clearly understood. Functional, symbolic, and hedonic needs influence brand selection. This paper analyzed the effect of these three factors on consumers’ perceived value and brand attachment. The mediating effects of customer sentimental value were also evaluated. This study expands our understanding of what determines brand attachment by showing that sentimental value mediates the relationships between functional value, symbolic value, hedonic value, and brand attachment. It also has managerial implications for the hotel industry.     

Error management culture and turnover intent among food and beverage employees in deluxe hotels: the mediating effect of job satisfaction

This study aimed to investigate interrelationships among organizational error management culture (EMC), job satisfaction, and turnover intent among food and beverage in a deluxe hotel. This study also investigated the mediating effects of employees’ job satisfaction on the relationships between organizational EMC and turnover intent. A total of 321 food and beverage employees in South Korea participated in the study using a self-administered questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine the hypothesized relationships between the constructs. The results showed a positive relationship between organizational EMC and employee job satisfaction. An employees’ job satisfaction reduces his or her turnover intent. Another important finding of this study was that job satisfaction appears to play a mediating role between organizational EMC and turnover intent. These findings have important implications for controlling and facilitating EMC in the hotel industry. This study implies that active EMC can be an important variable that can effectively manage turnover intent. It is important to build a system that can facilitate communication in the case of error occurrence and prevent the recurrence of the same error by sharing experience of and knowledge about errors. Moreover, a system that can instantly respond to and analyze an error situation should be developed and implemented. It is important to systematically manage errors as part of a firm’s culture through the appropriate use of EMC. Thus, it might be useful to identify and prioritize EMC specifically in the hotel industry, which could lead to higher job satisfaction, lower turnover intent, and higher profitability.     

论我国饭店品牌创立的必要性与方法

随着饭店业由卖方市场向买方市场转变的时期,各饭店之间的竞争越来越激烈,他们纷纷采取多种对策和措施来建立竞争优势,使自己在市场处于领先地位。在众多观点中,笔者认为,根据饭店品牌独特优势以及结合饭店业特点的要求,创立饭店品牌才是饭店业长久和稳定发展的最好策略。以下从初创饭店品牌、宣传饭店品牌、发展和完善饭店品牌三个方面讨论创立饭店品牌的步骤和方法。     

Competitive Strategy,Environmental Characteristics and Performance in African Emerging Economies: Lessons from Firms in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the impact of the implementation of competitive strategy on organizational performance in response to economic liberalization policies using survey data from organizations in Ghana. We also examine how the perceived intensity of industry competition and industry sector moderate the relationship between competitive strategy and organizational performance. The results show that the implementation of the competitive strategies of low-cost, differentiation, and integrated low-cost and differentiation were all positively related to performance (return on assets and return on sales). We also find that both industry competition and industry sector moderate the relationship between differentiation strategy and return on assets. Moreover, industry competition moderates the relationships between both low-cost and differentiation strategies and return on sales. The results indicate that implementing a clearly defined competitive strategy is beneficial to organizations experiencing significant changes in the environment due to economic liberalization. The findings also suggest that while low-cost strategy is more beneficial to organizations in a highly competitive industry, differentiation strategy is more beneficial to firms in lowly competitive industry. At the same time, organizations in the manufacturing sector benefit more than those in the service sector when they implement the differentiation strategy. Managerial implications are presented.     

Alliances and Networks: Creating Success in the UK Fair Trade Market

Data from a longitudinal study into the key management success factors in the fair trade industry provide insights into the essential nature of inter-organizational alliances and networks in creating the profitable and growing fair trade market in the UK. Drawing on three case studies and extensive industry interviews, we provide an interpretive perspective on the organizational relationships and business networks and the way in which these have engendered success for UK fair trade companies. Three types of benefit are derived from the networks: competitive developments through virtual integration in which the organizations remain flexible and small while projecting size to the market; intellectual developments through the sharing of intellectual capital with a diverse network of organizations in many fields; and ideological developments through an ideological network of like-minded individuals by which the companies can prevent the co-opting of the original purpose of fair trade. However, relative success at leveraging these benefits is influenced by three managerial factors: partner choice, partner use and partner management.     

Sales Training in a Dynamic Market

Abstract

The Singaporean hotel industry is examined, with particular emphasis on me differences between global and local sales force training. Empirical evidence indicates that there is a wide divergence between global and local practices. It appears that global firms perceive that sales training leads to greater sales force performance and view sales training as being part of their strategic marketing plan. Global firms also employ a more formal training curriculum, focus on “soft” competencies, and have an established training culture. Conversely, local firms rely upon “on-the-job training (OJT)” and appear not to understand that sales training programs can be a source of competitive advantage. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Antecedents of green behavioral intentions: a cross‐country study of Turkey,Finland and Pakistan

Quality of life of the future generations depends on the efforts of current generations to protect environment. The purchase decisions based on their green behavioral intentions not only helps the society, but also helps companies to gain a green competitive advantage. In this study, the relationships between green satisfaction, green trust, green equity and behavioral intentions are examined. Data were collected from Turkey, Finland and Pakistan with self‐administered questionnaires regarding with green white goods. The hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling. Results of a structural model reveal positive relationships green satisfaction, green trust and green brand equity across three countries. In addition, green brand equity plays a remarkable role in behavioral intentions towards green white goods in general. Managers should consider green trust, green satisfaction, and green brand equity while implementing green marketing strategies in a global marketplace.     

Multi-item models for evaluating managerial and organizational resources in service firms

Services are the primary source of wealth in almost every nation around the world. Domestic competitiveness increasingly depends on the health of its service firms. Then understanding the source of competitive advantage for the case of service industry is a challenge that cannot be deferred. Resource-Based View literature gives sound evidences that intangible assets like managerial and organizational resources are the primary source of competitive advantage, especially in the service industry. However, the development of managerial tools for measuring and managing these resources remains as an open gap. In the last few years, some academic work has been devoted to develop intangible assets measurement devices. Nevertheless, these scales are either oriented towards manufacturing industry or do not take specifically into account the distinctive features of service delivery. This study replies the multi-item model proposed by Camisón (Manag Res 3(1):27–48, 2004) over a sample of 152 medium and large services companies. We have taken different tests to demonstrate validity and reliability of the scales. Results show that these scales may also be suitable for being used in all the types of service companies. However, some partial modifications should be done in order to give more relevance to soft managerial competences and to organizational human capital. This study was carried out as part of research project (reference GV2007-075) which has been subsidized by the “Valencian Government Programme Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects”.     

Relationship Between Competitive Intensity,Internal Resources,and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indian ITES Industry

The purpose of this article is to investigate how competitive intensity impacts the relationship between crucial firm resources (human capital, organizational capital, management capability) and firm performance. Using a sample of 105 service providers from the Indian information technology–enabled services (ITES) industry, I find that competitive intensity positively moderates the relationship between firm resources and firm performance such that the relationships become stronger when competitive intensity is high than when it is low. Results imply that top managers' evaluation of the performance implications of internal firm resources are significantly shaped by the perceptions of intensity of competition encountered by their firms. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How humble is your company culture? And,why does it matter?

Humility as a virtue of leadership has attracted increased attention in recent years. We introduce the concept of a humble organizational culture and define it as a culture that promotes humility as a key success factor and a source of competitive advantage, and one that institutionalizes six values and norms: (1) employee development, (2) mistake tolerance, (3) transparency, (4) accurate awareness, (5) recognition, and (6) openness. We position a company culture of humility as key to extraordinary success in the marketplace. Humility in individuals includes a willingness to see the self accurately and a propensity to put oneself and others in perspective. In this article, we offer a set of recommendations to help executives build a company culture of humility that supports the six behavioral norms and values that create the foundation for a firm’s competitive advantage. We collected information on organizational cultures of humility for a sample of Fortune 500 firms using data from company mission statements, company websites, and news articles.     

The Driver of Green Innovation and Green Image – Green Core Competence

This study proposed a novel construct – green core competence – to explore its positive effects on green innovation and green images of firms. The results showed that green core competences of firms were positively correlated to their green innovation performance and green images. In addition, this research also verified two types of green innovation performance had partial mediation effects between green core competences and green images of firms. Therefore, investment in the development of green core competence was helpful to businesses for the enhancement of their green innovation and green images. Furthermore, this study found that green core competence, two types of green innovation performance, and green images of medium & small enterprises (SMEs) were all significantly less than those of large enterprises in the information and electronics industry in Taiwan. Therefore, there was the advantage of firm size for the green core competence in this industry, and it was imperative for SMEs to develop and create their green core competences to strengthen their green innovation performance, and green images.     

The Influence of Green Innovation Performance on Corporate Advantage in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the performance of the green innovation brought positive effect to the competitive advantage. This study found that the performances of the green product innovation and green process innovation were positively correlated to the corporate competitive advantage. Therefore, the result meant that the investment in the green product innovation and green process innovation was helpful to the businesses. This study argued that the businesses should cognize the correct value and positioning of the green innovation.Dr. Chen is the assistant professor in the Department of Business Administration in National Yunlin University of Science & Technology in Taiwan. His research focused on management of technology, innovation management, corporate environmental management and intellectual capital. Dr. Lai is the professor in the Department of Business Administration in National Chengchi University in Taiwan. His research focused on management of technology, new product development and operation management. Dr. Lai is also the legislator in Taiwan. Dr. Wen is the professor in the Graduate Institute of Technology and Innovation Management in National Chengchi University in Taiwan. His research focused on corporate environmental management, marketing management of technology and entrepreneurship management. Dr. Wen is also the head of the EMBA (Executive MBA) program in the College of Commerce in National Chengchi University in Taiwan.     

Innovation, organizational learning, and performance

Literature examines the relationship between innovation and performance and asserts a positive relationship between organizational learning and both performance and innovation. However, few empirical studies analyze these relationships together. This article explores those relationships using SEM with data from 451 Spanish firms. The findings show that both variables — organizational learning and innovation — contribute positively to business performance, and that organizational learning affects innovation. Another finding of this study is that size and age of the firm, industry and environmental turbulence moderate these relations.