Innovation orientation and long-term performance: The mediating role of market perception capability

This paper examines the relationship between the orientation towards innovation of SMEs and long-term performance, considering market perception capability as a mediating variable. This research topic is important because it can provide a better understanding of the relationship between innovation orientation and performance, since most of the previous papers that have analyzed this relationship have done so from a short-term perspective. But the effect of innovation orientation on performance may not be immediate and short-term, but long-term, and may be influenced by the company’s ability to develop marketing capabilities. A sample of 77 independent hotels is taken for empirical contrast and a system of structural equations is modelled using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique. The results show that the company’s capacity to understand the market in which it operates functions as a mechanism that intervenes in the relationship between innovation orientation and long-term result, with a mediating effect that explains the positive effect of innovation orientation on the long-term results.

     

Technology transfer, specific local knowledge and entrepreneurial partner control in international joint ventures

Previous research has sought to demonstrate the influence of control of an IJV on achieving the learning objectives of the partners involved. However, the effect that certain types of learning have on the control of the IJV, which are vital for the success of the internationalization of the entrepreneurial firm, has yet to be explored. The results from case studies of six IJVs show that, during the post-formation stage, the configuration of entrepreneurial partner control over the IJV is conditioned by both technology transfer and by learning specific local knowledge by the entrepreneurial partner. The study also shows that the negative relation between trust and control suggested by the literature is limited to cases where trust has broken down. Greater levels of trust are also compatible with greater control with a view to appropriately exploiting when firms see the need to intensify control or need to implement new control mechanisms in order to properly exploit the resources contributed to the IJV.     

Management in social enterprises: the influence of the use of strategic tools in business performance

If social enterprises are to be competitive in the marketplace, they must use Strategic Management tools to improve efficiency, while maintaining their effectiveness levels. They can achieve this goal by introducing new management methods that make use of innovation. The aim of the current study was to analyze the effect of the use of management tools in social enterprises, referred to here as Social Management, on the effectiveness and efficiency levels of these enterprises. From a sample of 129 work integration social enterprises (WISEs), this study shows the existence of a statistically significant relationship between the application of Strategic Management tools, more commonly found in for-profit organizations, and the effectiveness and efficiency of WISEs in the social economy. The influence of the use of these tools was found to be positive in the case of social effectiveness (improving the employment rate) but negative in the case of economic effectiveness (profitability).     

E-commerce entrepreneurship as a national priority: the case of Thailand

Thailand has been one of the most successful developing countries. This progress came to a sudden halt in 1997 when the Asian financial crisis hit this country. Thailand responded by creating a favourable environment for business incubation as a high priority at the national government level. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the steps taken by the Thai government to encourage e-commerce entrepreneurship as a key component of its successful reaction to the economic crisis of 1997 and e-service as a source for its future national competitiveness.