STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF COOPERATIVES IN IFUGAO, PHILIPPINES: BASIS FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING MODEL

Multi-purpose cooperatives need to operate and effectively focus their efforts on certain tasks to avoid getting astray or deviate from their targets.  As required of all well-managed organization, the right external and internal environment with the right people in it is essential.  For a cooperative organization to accomplish its objectives, a sense of direction needs to be set and some sort of rules or guidelines have to be established and observed.  This research aims to examine the effect of strategic management practices on the business performance of selected multi-purpose cooperatives in Ifugao.  Specifically, it seeks to measure the level of application of strategic management tasks by these cooperatives and correlate it with its financial and operational performance as a basis for a strategic planning model. This study utilized primary and secondary data.  To assess the relationship between strategic management and financial and operational performance, the researcher used simple regression analysis. Result of the study showed a positive relationship between strategic management and financial performance which is supported by the analysis made on the financial statements of the cooperative which shows an increasing trend on the net profit margin, ROA and ROE.  A positive relationship also occurs between strategic management and operational performance of the multi-purpose cooperatives in Ifugao. This study hopes to contribute not only in addition to literature but also to be of help to the management of the cooperatives to suggest strategies that would be of great help towards a positive business performance.  Moreover, this study will be serving as a reference material for both academicians and practitioners.  Keywords: Competitive Advantage, Financial Performance, Operational Performance, Planning Model, Strategic Managemen

Business strategy and performance of Algerian exporting SMEs

Despite the importance of business strategy to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the literature reveals that there are limited studies that have attempted to investigate business strategy and organizational performance among the exporting SMEs in Algeria. This has resulted in little information and knowledge about the relationship between business strategy and the performance SMEs in Algeria. Given this, this study initiates an attempt to examine the linkage between six types of business strategy and organizational performance of exporting SMEs in Algeria. By using structured questionnaire, the data for the study was collected from exporting 72 SMEs located in the northern region of Algeria. The correlation analysis was used to test the hypotheses developed in the study. The results of the study show that the six types of business strategy are significantly associated to the performance of the exporting SMEs as measured in terms of sales, net profit, number of employees and number of products

Environmental Scanning, Anticipatory Information and Associated Problems: Insight from Kuwait

This article investigates the strategic behaviors of Kuwaiti executives from 86 companies with regard to environmental scanning characteristics in the form of eight hypotheses. The main results show that Kuwaiti executives have trouble dealing with environmental scanning and weak signal suggested by Ansoff (1975). Results also suggest that executives must recognize the role of strategic information and begin actively to manage and plan its collection as a corporate resource. It is suggested that a computer-based system for environmental scanning would probably have to be primarily oriented for educating and training purposes

Business coping strategy, entrepreneurial orientation, improvisational competence, and crisis readiness of the Malaysian medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in recessionary times

The main issue of this thesis was the hampered performance of the manufacturing small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia during economic recessions. The bona fide respondents of the study were the medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (MMEs). Crisis readiness (CR) was proposed as the surrogate measure for firm performance. While CR was examined in relationships to business coping strategy (BCS) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), this study also assessed the mediating effect of improvisational competence (IC) on the BCS-CR relationship. Altogether, a three-pronged-objective research framework was theoretically underpinned by resource-based view. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the targeted respondents. Of the 295 usable responses, a random near-split-half of 145 and 150 were used for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis respectively. Statistically significant positive relationships were found in two direct relationships: BCS-CR and EO-CR, while IC was found to mediate the BCS-CR relationship. Significant positive relationships were also evident between all dimensions of EO and CR, except risk-taking. While CR was a new performance surrogate, its examination with BCS, EO, and IC contributed nascent theoretical insights. Other theoretical gaps included the development and validation of the BCS and bricolage scales, psychometric revisions of the CR and IC scales, and the incorporation of a vignette into the measurement to provide standardization as to the recessionary context understudied. Practically, the findings provided the manufacturing entrepreneurs some guidance on the appropriate response strategy and decision making which would better-position them in recessionary situations. Likewise, the understandings may also assist the policy makers to develop or to adjust policies to better-fabricate assistance channelled to MMEs. Towards the end, methodological limitations and potential avenues for future research were also identified

Exploring the Dimensions of Innovation Culture in the Public Higher Education Institutions: Towards Improved Organizational Performance in Research and Development

This paper extends the concept of innovation culture to the academic organizations, particularly public higher education institutions (HEIs). Through a case study approach, a total of 40 individuals composed of research and development (R&D) managers and administrators, innovators, and faculty research personnel from four selected public HEIs participated in the in-depth interviews and FGDs. Institutional statements were also used as secondary data. Through synthesis of previous studies, we learned the different organizational, human, and collaborative dimensions of innovation culture, however in the context of private manufacturing organizations. Results revealed that in academic organizations like public HEIs, the aspects of innovation and the concept of innovation culture were embedded in the institutional statements as well as in the values of the participants. It was also found that innovation culture is a widely understood concept in terms of its attributes or building blocks. Through this study, we understood the importance of innovation culture in promoting performance amidst the challenges of doing R&D in public HEIs. We learned that creativity and flexibility, innovation resources, training and capacity development, and coaching and mentoring were the key elements of innovation culture that can help address the managerial and institutional challenges in doing R&D in academic organizations. Lastly, identifying and assessing the specific dimensions and elements of innovation culture in academic organizations as well as determining their impacts of innovation culture on research productivity in academic organizations were relevant research areas to explore in future studies

The effects of social capital, mentoring and innovation practices on small business performance : the moderating role of environmental turbulence

This research studies the relationship between social capital, innovative practice, mentoring, and SME performance of manufacturing firms in Punjab, Pakistan. The primary objective is to identify the moderating role of environmental turbulence on the relationship between social capital, innovative practice, mentoring, and SME performance. A theoretical model based on Contingency theory and Resource Based View (RBV) approach to the business performance of SMEs is developed. A survey method is employed, and questionnaires were used to obtain information from the owner/managers of SME in Punjab, Pakistan and cluster sampling is used for sample selection. Therefore, 500 questionnaires are distributed to the owner/managers of a small enterprise and only 340 of them are returned, giving a response rate of 68% percent. However, only 313 useable questionnaires are used for further analysis using the PLS-SEM. The high response rate is achieved due to the survey instrument being personally distributed by the researcher to the owner/managers of SME. The findings revealed that innovative practices and mentoring are positive and significant predictors of SME performance. While study fails to find the relationship between social capital and SME performance. Meanwhile mixed results are found upon investigating the moderating effect of environmental turbulence on the relationships between social capital, innovative practices, mentoring and SME performance. The findings of this study provided significant insights for both managers and researchers to further understand the effects of these variables on SME performance. The study concluded with a discussion of practical, theoretical and methodological contributions, the study limitations and suggestions for future research

What effect does web-based information sources have on dynamic capabilities, and furthermore performance, in service firms compared to manufacturing firms?

This article examines the effect web-based information sources have on dynamic capabilities, and furthermore performance, in service and manufacturing firms. To our knowledge, there are no studies that address a comparison between service and manufacturing firms inside the aforementioned research area. Previous research points to several differences in the aforementioned firm types, which underlines the importance of a comparison between service and manufacturing firms regarding this topic. The research question of the thesis is therefore: “What effect does web-based information sources have on dynamic capabilities, and furthermore performance, in service firms compared to manufacturing firms”. We have made a research model that makes the foundation of our approach to this study. The study is a quantitative study, where we utilize a questionnaire to approach managers and board members of service and manufacturing firms. Additionally, it is a correlation study, which is based on a deducting strategy, with testing of hypotheses. We used the data analysis program AMOS 23, using structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyze the gathered data material from the questionnaire. The result of the study shows that the effect web-based information sources have on the dynamic capabilities sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring, and furthermore performance, is just as strong, and in most cases more so, in manufacturing firms in comparison to service firms

What effect does web-based information sources have on dynamic capabilities, and furthermore performance, in service firms compared to manufacturing firms?

This article examines the effect web-based information sources have on dynamic capabilities, and furthermore performance, in service and manufacturing firms. To our knowledge, there are no studies that address a comparison between service and manufacturing firms inside the aforementioned research area. Previous research points to several differences in the aforementioned firm types, which underlines the importance of a comparison between service and manufacturing firms regarding this topic. The research question of the thesis is therefore: “What effect does web-based information sources have on dynamic capabilities, and furthermore performance, in service firms compared to manufacturing firms”. We have made a research model that makes the foundation of our approach to this study. The study is a quantitative study, where we utilize a questionnaire to approach managers and board members of service and manufacturing firms. Additionally, it is a correlation study, which is based on a deducting strategy, with testing of hypotheses. We used the data analysis program AMOS 23, using structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyze the gathered data material from the questionnaire. The result of the study shows that the effect web-based information sources have on the dynamic capabilities sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring, and furthermore performance, is just as strong, and in most cases more so, in manufacturing firms in comparison to service firms