Strategy, ICT Investment, BPR And Business Performance: An Empirical Investigation

The study on the links between strategy, structure and performance has been for long time a fundamental and highly important research topic for the management researchers and practitioners. In this direction this paper presents a ‘holistic’ empirical investigation of the whole network of relations between business strategy (at a first level), information and communication technologies (ICT) investment, non-ICT investment and BPR (at a second level), and finally business performance (at a third level). It is based on firm-level data from 271 Greek firms, which are used for the estimation of structural equation models (SEM) connecting the above variables, theoretically based on the Cobb-Douglas Production Function. It is concluded that none of the three generic business strategies defined by M. Porter (cost leadership, differentiation and focus) has a significant effect on ICT and non-ICT investment; on the contrary, particular strategic choices (differentiation and focus strategy) have been found to drive process change. Also, it has been found that all the investigated internal factors, ICT investment, non-ICT investment and BPR, have a positive impact on business performance. Concerning their interrelations, ICT investment affects positively BPR, which indicates that BPR is a partial mediator in the relationship between ICT and performance; on the contrary, this does not happen with non-ICT investment, indicating an important difference between these two types of capital investment as to their relation with process change

Influence of Balanced Scorecard on Organizational Performance in Institutions of Higher Learning: A Case Study of University of Nairobi and Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa

The balanced scorecard is a framework that enables an organization to implement the chosen strategy as it helps in providing adequate linkages. This enables organizations implement complex and intricate activities in their corporate strategies and monitor activities of the firm with the intent of achieving their strategic objectives.  There is no empirical evidence on the influence of the balanced scorecard in institutions of higher learning in Kenya.  The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of balanced scorecard on organizational performance in institutions of higher learning with emphasis on the University of Nairobi (UON) and Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA).  Findings of the study will assist in adoption of the scorecard by institutions of higher learning that have not adopted its use as a management tool.  The study was guided by the following specific objectives; investigation on customer perspective influence on performance in institutions of higher learning; exploration on whether financial perspective influences organizational performance in institutions of higher learning; an assessment of the internal process perspective and its influence on organization performance in institutions of higher learning and an examination of whether the innovation and learning perspective influences organization performance in institutions of higher learning. A descriptive study was carried out by use of a questionnaire to collect data and interpreted in sections focusing on each of the research questions and study hypotheses.  From the study, it was found that there is a positive relationship between the balanced scorecard and organizational performance, with performance depending on the four perspectives.  Customer perspective was found to be the most popular of the four perspectives.  Findings from the study should be used in serving as a basis for implementation of balanced scorecard in organizational performance in institutions and other public institutions in other sectors. Keywords: Balanced score card, Organizational performance, Knowledge management

Explaining export regional involvement through marketing strategy : the case of Spanish companies exporting to Latin America

The equivalence between the absence of arbitrage and the existence of an equivalent martingale measure fails when an infinite number of trading dates is considered. By enlarging the set of states of nature and the probability measure through a projective system of topological spaces and Radon measures, we characterize the absence of arbitrage when the time set is countable

Testing for linear and quadratic effects between price adaptation and export performance: The impact of values and perceptions

Managerial perceptions are essential in explaining strategic decisions. It is, therefore, surprising that despite the number of studies that have examined the impact of managerial characteristics in exporting, little research has been reported in the export literature that investigates the importance of managers' perceptions on strategic decisions and resultant performance outcomes. To address this gap in the literature, the authors examine the key determinants of managers' psychic distance as well as its influence on international pricing decisions, and this in turn, on the export performance of SMEs. We also examine the quadratic effects of price adaptation on export performance. This is particularly relevant since price adaptation and export performance have been assumed in the literature to have a linear relationship. The results show that managers' perceptions have a significant impact on pricing decisions and resultant performance outcomes. Our findings also indicate that price adaptation has an inverted U-shaped relationship with export performance

Measuring Organizational Performance in Strategic Human Resource Management: Looking Beyond the Lamppost

A major challenge for Strategic Human Resource Management research in the next decade will be to establish a clear, coherent and consistent construct for organizational performance. This paper describes the variety of measures used in current empirical research linking human resource management and organizational performance. Implications for future research are discussed amidst the challenges of construct definition, divergent stakeholder criteria and the temporal dynamics of performance. A model for performance information markets to address these challenges is introduced. The model uses a multi-dimensional weighted performance measurement system and a free information flow exchange mechanism for determining performance achievement criteria

The moderating effect of brand orientation on inter-firm market orientation and performance

While prior research has shown that market and brand orientation are key contributors to successful business performance, research to date has not fully explored how inter firm collaboration for these two key orientations can enhance business performance. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the relationship between inter-firm market and performance; to test for the moderating role of brand orientation in that relationship. A total of 169 completed pairs of surveys were collected of small and medium enterprises operating internationally in a variety of industries in Switzerland. The results show that inter-firm market and brand orientation are two antecedents of marketing and financial performance. The impact of inter-firm market on marketing and financial performance is significant when the brand orientation is favorable. This study extends previous research by examining the moderating role of brand orientation on inter firm market orientation, which is important, especially for firms wanting to increase their brand reputation by entering into partnerships with other firms. Further research is indicated, to identify the key moderators of the driving force of inter-firm market in relation to business performance and the reason why maintaining a strong brand presence is important in the international marketplace

The impact of knowledge management processes on organisational performance

Copyright @ 2012 ISEing.In today's increasingly competitive business environment, the use of knowledge to gain a competitive advantage has become a serious concern for all organisations. However, despite the increasing number of studies relating to Knowledge Management (KM) in developed countries, few studies have explored this issue within the context of developing countries. Moreover, some industries have been affected more acutely than others in the transition to a knowledge-based economy. Towards covering this gap, this study aims at investigating the impact of Knowledge Management processes on Organisational Performance (OP). In this paper, the authors propose a conceptual model through an in-depth investigation of the previous and current studies in the area of Knowledge Management and Organisational Performance. Through an extensive classification of Knowledge Management processes, the proposed model explores the impact of each Knowledge Management process on improving the level of Organisational Performance. It is envisaged that this model can play a role in guiding the process of Knowledge Management implementation in order to maximise the beneficial effects of Knowledge Management processes on Organisational Performance

When corporate social responsibility matters: An empirical investigation of contingencies

Rather than re-examine the question of whether doing good generally helps a company to do well, this study draws on contingency theory to empirically examine when doing good helps a company do as well as possible. Using panel data, we examine the effects of industry life cycle, munificence, and instability on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Our findings indicate that life cycle has a significant impact on the CSR-CFP relationship, as does industry instability. These findings suggest that CSR helps the bottom line considerably – if it is applied at the right time

The Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance – Evidence from Empirical Studies

The aim of this article is to examine correlations between CSR and financial corporate performance, based on empirical studies conducted by other authors in different countries. In total, the analysis comprises 53 studies and the results obtained for 16,119 companies