The effect of strategic planning on competitive advantages of small and medium enterprises

This research starts from a phenomenon that indicates that the competitive advantage of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in increasingly fierce business competition has not yet achieved in Sukabumi, Indonesia. This is indicated by the inefficiency of production costs felt by SMEs which are not capable of creating competitive prices and the difficulty of making unique products. The purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of the influence of dimensional strategic planning on the competitive advantage of SMEs. The results of the analysis and discussion are expected to find a concept regarding SME strategic planning. This study uses a quantitative approach, with an explanatory survey design that explains and describes the level of influence of strategic planning on the competitive advantage of SMEs in Sukabumi Regency, Indonesia. By using data analysis of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the results of the study indicate that there is a significant influence of strategic planning on the competitive advantage of SMEs in Sukabumi, Indonesia. Strategic planning which consists of three dimensions, namely: the desires of external stakeholder, the company's internal encouragement, and the company's database, significantly influences the competitive advantage of SMEs. Of the three dimensions of strategic planning, the dimensions of external stakeholder have the highest influence, while the company's database have the lowest effect. These results practically imply for SMEs to increase the consideration of company database in preparing the SME strategic planning. Keywords: Strategic planning Competitive advantage SMEs Cost leadershi

Romanian SMEs Internationalization in the Light of Internal Capabilities and External Conditions. A Secondary Data Analysis

The topic of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the framework of the internationalization phenomena has often hewed the paths for many conceptual and empirical analyses all the more so as the global environment has pushed smaller actors out of their regular habitat. Issues such as the support of SMEs innovative capabilities, of knowledge sharing mechanisms and collaborative networks via cross-border operations or as the thorough adjustment to the new market conditions have sprung as pivotal concerns for both academics and practitioners interested in business development, performance, innovation and effectiveness from a myriad of perspectives. Giving credit to these research and real-life priorities, the current paper aims to discuss different facets of the SMEs internationalization process, laying emphasis on their internal capabilities and external conditions. The empirical undertaking relies on a secondary data analysis which covers the facts and figures comprised by European official reports. The focus is on the Romanian SMEs internationalization variables which are descriptive of the current state of cross-border dynamics. The findings advance that Romanian entrepreneurs and SMEs have been supported in the recent years by a series of European and national governmental initiatives, yet many additional measures and facilitation instruments are needed to properly improve their overall performance on international markets

A Bibliometric Analysis of a Four-Construct Framework: Innovation Management, Competitive Advantage, Agility and Organizational Performance

In a globalized economy, innovation is a priority of ensuring the competitive advantage and organizational performance of agile companies, competitiveness being the core of the development in any economic activity. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to provide an overview regarding the connections between four main constructs, respectively innovation management, competitive advantage, agility and organizational performance, through performing a bibliometric analysis by using the VOSviewer visualization tool. The information has been selected from the Web of Science Core Collection database (WoS) during February 2023. This preliminary study aims to grant relevance to the potential research areas prone to be exploited when discussing the matter of innovation management in relation to organizational performance, competitive advantage achievement and agility. The main premise is that every company has its particularities and acts accordingly to stay competitive through innovating its business model and through an articulate innovation management, also encompassing agility, with a view to reach organizational performance and strong competitive advantage. In terms of findings, the bibliometric analysis conducted confirms the existence of compelling relationships between constructs, thus supporting further scrutiny in this direction

Preliminary Insights into SMEs Opportunities and Vulnerabilities in the European Context. A Qualitative Approach

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Preliminary Insights into SMEs Opportunities and Vulnerabilities in the European Context. A Qualitative Approach

The current study aims to theoretically investigate the opportunities and vulnerabilities apposite for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), insisting on the internationalization conditions, and to empirically explore the European initiatives meant to support the SMEs in their various endeavors, from accessing relevant knowledge to deploying successful operations in foreign markets. To this end, a qualitative research was conducted through the case study method. Over 10 European initiatives were described and more than 20 relevant documents available on official European websites were analyzed. The underlying assumption for conducting this study resided in the fact that a better understanding of the European context describing SMEs performance would provide valuable insights to the actors interested in their future business activity, specifically in their cross-border projects and operations. Moreover, a refined outlook would enlarge their vision of the existing opportunities and thus catalyze the process of converting current challenges into positive results

Digitization and internationalization : a study on portuguese companies during the covid-19 crisis

Mestrado Bolonha em Economia e Gestão de Ciência, Tecnologia e InovaçãoNos últimos anos a globalização se mostrou uma ferramenta muito utilizada por empresas como facilitador da internacionalização, visto que o processo auxilia a integração entre as diferentes partes do globo. Com isso nasceram diversas teorias que buscam explicar como funciona o processo de expansão das empresas para além-fronteiras, como A teoria do Ciclo do Produto de 1966, o Modelo Uppsala de 1977, a Teoria do Paradigma Eclético de 1980. No decorrer dos anos, o contexto mudou com a utilização dos meios de comunicação e, consequentemente, o surgimento da internet. Teorias que estudam a internacionalização e a digitalização, como as Born Globals e Born Digitals Companies, surgiram com o intuito de trazer uma abordagem mais atualizada dos processos que se tornaram mais dinâmicos e velozes, atrelado muitas vezes as empresas menores, mas não menos competitivas, diferente do que era visto nas primeiras teorias. Em um momento em que muito se avançou em relação as trocas internacionais, surge a pandemia de Corona vírus, levando o mundo a entender a sua interdependência e levando todos a uma espécie de caos generalizado gerado pelo fechamento de escolas, comércios, indústrias, levantando incerteza e imprevisibilidade. A digitalização dos negócios, antes vista como uma evolução lenta, tornou-se obrigatória e acabou por salvar empresas que tiveram agilidade para entender o momento em que se encontravam. As gigantes da tecnologia valorizaram-se graças a busca por soluções para negócios, estudos e relações. O trabalho a seguir busca, através de uma abordagem quantitativa, entender se o grau de digitalização apresentado por empresas portuguesas durante a crise de Covid-19 mitigou o impacto negativo gerado pela crise. Para isto, foi realizada uma pesquisa através de questionário, com 260 empresas internacionalizadas portuguesas, observando aspectos estruturais (visão internacional, capacidade de gestão operacional e de gestão), estratégias (grau de digitalização, internet como facilitador de internacionalização, internet como fator relevante no combate a crise, rápida internacionalização e impacto geral do covid) e performance destas empresas (crescimento do grau de internacionalização eperformance durante a crise). Foram criadas 8 hipóteses a partir dos três grupos(aspetos estruturais, estratégias e performance), para identificar possíveis relações que influenciassem os resultados no combate a crise, sendo que 75% das hipóteses obtiveram comprovação estatística. Os resultados encontrados demonstram que a performance durante a crise é impactada diretamente por dois fatores: o impacto generalizado da Covid na empresa e a rápida internacionalização. Já a digitalização (grau de digitalização, internet como fator relevante e internet como facilitador de internacionalização) não foi um fator diferencial para mitigar os impactos negativos, ressaltando que a pesquisa foi realizada com empresas portuguesas de diversos setores, podendo diferenciar-se em outros contextos ou em áreas específicas.In the recent years, globalization has proved to be a tool widely used by companies as a facilitator of internationalization, since the process helps the integration between different parts of the globe. With this, several theories were born to explain how the process of expansion of companies beyond borders works, such as The Product Cycle Theory of 1966, the Uppsala Model of 1977, the Eclectic Paradigm Theory of 1980. Over the years, the context has changed with the use of the media and, consequently, the emergence of the Internet. Theories that study internationalization and digitization, such as Born Globals and Born Digitals Companies, emerged in order to bring a more up-to-date approach to processes that have become more dynamic and faster, often tied to smaller but no less competitive companies, different from what was seen in the early theories. At a time when much progress has been made in relation to international trade, the Corona virus pandemic arises, leading the world to understand its interdependence and leading everyone to a kind of widespread chaos generated by the closure of schools, shops, industries, raising uncertainty and unpredictability. The digitization of the business, once seen as a slow evolution, became mandatory and ended up saving companies that had the agility to understand the moment they were in. The technology giants have valued themselves thanks to the search for solutions for business, education and relationships. The following work seeks, through a quantitative approach, to understand whether the degree of digitization presented by Portuguese companies during the Covid-19 crisis mitigated the negative impact generated by the crisis. For this, a questionnaire was conducted with 260 Portuguese internationalized companies, observing structural aspects (international vision, operational management and management capacity), strategies (degree of digitization, internet as a enabler of internationalization, internet as a relevant factor in combating the crisis, quickly internationalization and overall impact of covid) and performance of these companies (growth of the degree of internationalization and performance during the crisis). Eight hypotheses were created from the three groups (structural aspects, strategies and performance), to identify possible relationships that influenced the results in combating the crisis, and 75% of the hypotheses obtained statistical proof. The results show that performance during the crisis is directly impacted by two factors: Covid's widespread impact on the company and rapid internationalization. On the other hand, digitization (degree of digitization, internet as a relevant factor and internet as a enabler of internationalization) was not a differential factor to mitigate the negative impacts, emphasizing that the research was conducted with Portuguese companies from various sectors, being able to differentiate in other contexts or in specific areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estratégia digital de internacionalização da Zippy

Na atualidade o panorama da internacionalização das empresas está em constante mudança e este processo torna-se essencial para um elevado número de empresas. A estratégia de internacionalização dá assim resposta aos desafios da globalização e apresenta-se como uma solução para os problemas de crescimento das empresas. Esta decisão é de extrema importância dentro da organização e implica que as empresas tenham um elevado conjunto de recursos humanos e económicos, capacidades e competências que permitam que as marcas se diferenciem nos mercados para onde vão internacionalizar, tendo em vista a obtenção de vantagens competitivas. Perante a decisão de internacionalizar, o processo de internacionalização digital, apresenta vários desafios e opções de escolha por entre muitos canais disponíveis a ao alcance de todas as marcas. As principais decisões estratégicas que os gestores têm que tomar são a escolha dos mercados prioritários, quais as motivações para a internacionalização e quais os métodos de entrada mais adequados a cada mercado, se através da exportação, criação de franchising ou até mesmo joint ventures e quais as melhores estratégias a adotar no meio digital. O objetivo do presente projeto era que este se tornasse uma ferramenta de apoio à tomada de decisão de internacionalização por parte dos gestores, bem como auxiliar na definição das melhores estratégias adotar no seu processo de internacionalização digital. São sugeridas estratégias de SEO, redes sociais e de criação de conteúdo. Nesta investigação enveredou-se pela metodologia qualitativa intervencionista, utilizando o método do estudo de caso único e a análise documental. Deste estudo foi possível concluir que as caraterísticas do mercado podem influenciar de forma positiva a obtenção de vantagem competitiva, bem como identificar e definir as melhores estratégias de internacionalização no meio digital.Today, the landscape of internationalization of companies is constantly changing and this process becomes essential for a large number of players. The internationalization strategy responds to the challenges of globalization and presents itself as a solution to the growing problems of enterprises. This decision is of extreme importance within the organization and implies that companies have a high set of human and economic resources, capacities, and skills that allow brands to differentiate themselves in the markets they are going to internationalize, to obtain competitive advantages. Faced with the decision to internationalize, the process of digital internationalization presents numerous challenges and options to choose from the many channels available to all brands. The main strategic decisions that managers have to make are the choice of priority markets, what are the motivations for internationalization and what are the most appropriate entry methods for each market, whether through export, franchising, or even joint ventures, and what are the best strategies to adopt in the digital environment. The objective of this project was that it became a tool to support the decision-making process of internationalization by managers, as well as to help define the best strategies to adopt in their digital internationalization process. SEO, social media, and content creation strategies are suggested. In this research, the qualitative interventionist methodology was used, using a single case study method and documentary analysis. From this study, it was possible to conclude that the characteristics of the market can positively influence the achievement of competitive advantage and identify and define the best strategies for internationalization in the digital environment