Improvisation-performance link and the moderating effects: A case of Malaysia technology-based companies

This research aims to examine the relationship between organisational improvisation and firm performance as well as to identify the effect of environmental turbulence on improvisation performance relationship.Given the lack of studies on these relationships in the previous literature, there is significant contribution to the theories as well as for managerial practices. 128 responses from top management of technology-based companies in Malaysia were used as a sample in this study. The finding of the direct association between organisational improvisation and firm performance implies that improvisation provide the enhancement of firm performance as a whole.In testing moderating effects on the improvisation–performance link, the strength and type of relationship between improvisation and firm performance did change when moderated by environmental turbulence.The research findings identified both technological and competitive turbulence moderate the relationship between organisational improvisation and firm performance. Technological turbulence shows a negative moderating effect; meanwhile the competitive turbulence demonstrates a positive moderating effect on the improvisation–performance link

The role of information and memory in shaping organisational improvisation

Improvisation has recently emerged in managerial studies as a crucial element for organisations to survive.In the mean time, the role of information and memory within the organisation is also imperative in order to achieve improvisational actions.This study proposesan examination on the potential link between organisational improvisation and information and memory.Specifically the aim of this study is to identify the effect of organisational information and memory on organizational improvisation.Two hypotheses are put forward in order to achieve the aforementioned research goal.The research is expected to be beneficial to both relevant practitioners and theorists in the field of business management

Internal capabilities and SMEs performance: A case of textile industry in Pakistan

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role on the growth of the econ-omies of developing countries. In Pakistan, SMEs hold about 90 percent of the total businesses in-cluding the textile industry. The performance of SMEs in the textile industry is influenced by sev-eral factors including the internal capabilities of the firms. Hence the primary objective of the study is to examine the relationship between the internal capabilities namely Innovation Capability, Absorptive Capacity and SMEs Performance among textile firms in Pakistan. The study is conducted using quantitative research. There are 377 questionnaires distributed among textiles SMEs of Pakistan and they were analyzed using some statistical tests. The results reveal that innovation capability and absorptive capacity influenced the performance of SMEs, positively

The Mediating Role of Quality Leadership in Lean Practices and GLCs Performance

Lean practices are expected to eliminate wastes and consequently increase the bottom line profit of an organization. The benefits not only go to the organization, but also to the customers as well. The government-linked companies (GLCs) are always known for their big-sized establishment. Hence, managing the resources of the GLCs is very challenging. Therefore, investigating the leanness of Malaysian GLCs, and how lean practices affect the organizational performance are important. This paper would examine the relationship of lean and performance of the GLCs in Malaysia. A total of 281 managers in the GLCs were surveyed. The direct relationship and mediation effects were analysed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) structural equation modelling. The findings showed that the level of leanness was relatively high among the GLCs, while the lean management practice was significantly related to the organizational performance. The quality leadership partially mediates the relationship between lean practices and organizational performance. The findings suggest that lean practices are critical for the GLCs performance, while quality leadership is significant in order these companies to have better performance. The findings can also be applied to other organizations as well

The Effect of Business strategy on Innovation capability, Absorptive capacity and Performance of SMEs in Pakistan

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in the development of the economy of any country. In Pakistan SMEs hold about 90 percent of the total businesses.The performance of SMEs depends upon many factors.The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Innovation Capability, Absorptive Capacity and Performance of SMEs in Pakistan.This conceptual paper also extends to the vague revelation on Business Strategy in which act as a moderator between Innovation Capability, Absorptive Capacity and Performance of SMEs.Conclusively, this study proposes a new research directions and hypotheses development to examine the relationship among the variables in the context of SMEs in Pakistan

Understanding organisational improvisation : foundations and performance implications

This research is grounded in strategy process theory and contingency theory and the main research aims are to investigate the antecedent factors affecting organisational improvisation and to identify how improvisation determines firm performance. This study is the first to examine the antecedent factors, which are categorised onto managerial and organisational factors that drive improvisation. The managerial factors contain the reasoning ability of managers (intuitive and rational) and managers' characteristics (selfconfidence, manager's expertise and attitude towards risk‐taking). Whilst the organisational factors include organisational structure and characteristics (goal clarity, organisational structure, organisational flexibility and organisational risk‐taking), and information processing (organisational information and organisational memory). Environmental turbulence (technology, market and competitive) is examined as an external moderating factor to the improvisation–performance relationship. Fifteen hypotheses were developed and examined in this study. A cross sectional survey methodology was used to test the hypotheses of this study. A postal questionnaire primary data was collected from 128 top management executives of high technology‐based companies in Malaysia. In summary, the findings confirm that a total accumulated variance in organisational improvisation was collectively explained by managerial factors and organisational factors; thus confirming that those aforementioned factors have statistically significant associations with organisational improvisation. Based on the study of the improvisation–performance relationship, the results revealed a positive significant relationship between both factors. Surprisingly, once the environmental turbulence factors were introduced as a moderator, the result on the association between improvisation and firm performance was greater than before; thus demonstrating a significant moderating effect on the relationships between organisational improvisation and firm performance. However, mixed results were identified when the association between each antecedent and improvisation was tested and the effect of each moderating factor was individually examined. This study on the effect of internal and external factors on organisational improvisation and firm performance makes novel contributions to the existing body of knowledge as well as to practitioners. It is noticeable that organisational improvisation in strategic management is crucial as a decision‐making mechanism for improving organisational performance. Hence, managers themselves as well as other relevant factors within firm hierarchy should facilitate and induce necessary condition that may drive organisational improvisation to happen.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Effect of Business strategy on Innovation capability, Absorptive capacity and Performance of SMEs in Pakistan

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in the development of the economy of any country. In Pakistan SMEs hold about 90 percent of the total businesses.The performance of SMEs depends upon many factors.The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Innovation Capability, Absorptive Capacity and Performance of SMEs in Pakistan.This conceptual paper also extends to the vague revelation on Business Strategy in which act as a moderator between Innovation Capability, Absorptive Capacity and Performance of SMEs.Conclusively, this study proposes a new research directions and hypotheses development to examine the relationship among the variables in the context of SMEs in Pakistan

Examining Organizational Improvisation: The Role of Strategic Reasoning and Managerial Factors

—Recent environmental turbulence including financial crisis, intensified competitive forces, rapid technological change and high market turbulence have dramatically changed the current business climate.The managers firms have to plan and decide what the best approaches that best fit their firms in order to pursue superior performance.This research aims to examine the influence of strategic reasoning and top level managers’ individual characteristics on the effectiveness of organizational improvisation and firm performance.Given the lack of studies on these relationships in the previous literature, there is significant contribution to the body of knowledge as well as for managerial practices. 128 responses from top management of technology-based companies in Malaysia were used as a sample.Three hypotheses were examined and the findings confirm that (a) there is no relationship between intuitive reasoning and organizational improvisation but there is a link between rational reasoning and organizational improvisation, (b) top level managers’ individual characteristics as a whole affect organizational improvisation; and (c) organizational improvisation positively affects firm performance.The theoretical and managerial implications were discussed in the conclusions

From Supplier Relations to Triad in the Automotive Industry

This paper presents a review of the literature of supplier relations in the automotive industry towards triad and how this has an impact on the supplier selection for buyers. This paper focuses on the automotive sector specifically. The paper suggest that triads reflect the supplier relations attributes in previous literature yet stress on the need for further emphasis on the supplier-supplier relationshi