Moderating Effect of Environmental Dynamism on the Relationship between a Firm’s Entrepreneurial Orientation and Financial Performance

The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance has been the focus of numerous empirical studies over the past decade. The conclusions and findings reported are diverse and often conflicting. One possible explanation for mixed findings is that past studies do not take into account the dynamic nature of the industry environment. Using a sample of 192 Swiss firms from several different industries, this study examines the direct effect of entrepreneurial orientation on financial firm performance along with the moderating effect of a dynamic environment on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Results of this study suggest that for firms competing in a highly dynamic environment, the positive effect of an entrepreneurial orientation on financial performance is enhanced

Exploring the antecedents of effectiveness and efficiency

Our knowledge of determinants of effectiveness and efficiency of firms continues to expand. How-ever, this knowledge remains quite fragmented and non-cumulative in the service industry. Herein,this study explores the effect of entrepreneurial and financial orientations as two key contributors toperformance in the service industry. Data for this study were collected from 182 hotels in Switzerlandto examine the effect of a financial strategic orientation and an entrepreneurial strategic orientationon two widely-used standards of business performance—effectiveness and efficiency. We hypothesizedthat these effects would be more pronounced under certain dynamic environment conditions. Findingsprovide new insights about the merits of building bridges between the entrepreneurial orientation andfinancial orientation. Within the context of existing research on strategic management, we discuss theimplications of our findings for hotel managers and address the study’s limitations and future research directions

The importance of human-related factors on service innovation and performance

Firm size, collaboration, foreign ownership and the level of formal training for employees are just some of the key inputs considered to be important in the amount of Service innovation in Tourism firms. However work has called for a greater empirical understanding on service innovation in Tourism and deeper consideration of employment focused practices as front line employees are crucial to innovation. The relationship customers have with service providers is a key determinate of satisfaction and as such the aim of this research is to unpick further the human-related factors associated with this area of study. Data for this research paper were gathered from 201 tourism service firms located throughout Japan. Whilst the results indicate that committed front-line employees and leadership are found to be the primary antecedents of service innovation, knowledge management and instilling creativity through the firm are also key. Our results suggestion that organizations can leverage the benefits associated with human-related factors to enhance service innovation behaviours and increase business performance

Environment-strategy and alignment in a restricted, transitional economy: Empirical research on its application to Iranian state-owned enterprises

Successful innovation strategy relies on experience gained from a complexity of understanding, anticipating and managing the global business environment. But, although much research has examined strategies of private sector organizations inWestern economies, there are relatively few studies of innovation in public sector organizations of transitional and protected economic environments, such as Iran. Consequently, this work investigates Iranian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and how senior managers’ approach towards innovativeness and learning can affect organizational performance. These managers work in an uncertain environment, regulated by the state but subject to business environment challenges created by UN sanctions, as well as global market competition. This study draws on innovation and learning orientation theory to develop a strategy-centered model based on a survey of 127 Iranian SOEs. Despite the limitations of a stateprotected economy and restrictions generated by sanctions and environmental uncertainty, senior managers of SOEs can influence organizational culture for innovation, a normative dimension, and learning, a cognitive dimension. Both dimensions can relate to improvements in delivery speed, costs and quality, as well as confidence in future company performance. However, some ongoing problems arise from a highly regulated hostile business environment, forming a regulatory dimension that impedes organizational learning. Further research is required to understand the contextual factors that influence internal company culture, as well as how the impact of a restricted business environment appears to vary from service to retail and manufacturing industries. This research represents a rare opportunity to investigate SOE strategy in a restricted transitional economy, such as Iran

Educational immigrants: Evidence from Chinese young entrepreneurs in the UK

Purpose While the contribution of educational students to the economies of developed countries is critical, educational immigrants rarely find employment in the regulated unionized sectors of these countries and are found instead setting up their own business. The purpose of this paper is to understand how educational immigrants use their cultural and social heritage for entrepreneurial purposes. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative method was undertaken, comprising face-to-face in-depth interviews with 12 respondents, involved in the hospitality industry for various purposes such as inspiration, challenges, frustrations and attracting investments. A convenience sampling method coupled with snowball sampling was chosen because of the availability of the informants and their willingness to be a part of the study. A thematic analysis was conducted in the transcripts of interviews to understand the aim and motivation factors of each individual followed by content analysis process. Findings The findings reveal that, while the informants suffer of language barriers, lack or shortage of experience in understanding the laws and legislations, unfamiliarity with the host culture, as well as financial constraints, the entrepreneurial sprite drives them to establish their businesses. Research limitations/implications This study has important consequences for understanding how educational immigrants transition from an educational to a business setting. Practical implications As the increase in educational immigrants becomes more important to the economic and social performance of countries, it is important to understand how young entrepreneurs start their businesses. Originality/value Educational immigrants are an important source of regional innovation and development. This paper focuses on the role of international higher education and the link to entrepreneurship by focusing on young Chinese entrepreneurs

How entrepreneurial bricolage drives sustained competitive advantage of tourism and hospitality SMEs: The mediating role of differentiation and risk management

When confronted with challenging conditions, becoming innovative by recombining available resources is considered a critical determinant of tourism and hospitality (T&H) SMEs' resilience to risk and staying ahead of rivals. Grounded on the resource-based view theory and dynamic capabilities paradigm, this paper investigates how entrepreneurial bricolage drives the sustained competitive advantage of T&H SMEs despite resource constraints. Following the mixed-methods research design, empirical data from nine in-depth interviews and a survey with 246 T&H SMEs in Japan reveal that differences in strategic management initiatives in the form of risk management and differentiation advantage mediate the positive effects of entrepreneurial bricolage on achieving sustained competitive advantage. Consequently, this paper extends the potential of the dynamic capabilities view as an underlying theory in tourism and hospitality literature

Tourism hospitality and digital transformation: The relevance for society

This book is timely with its critical examination of such forces and how the two industries should strategize and respond to changes effectively

Supply chain involvement in business continuity management: effects on reputational and operational damage containment from supply chain disruptions

Purpose Does internal integration extend to business continuity and to managing supply chain disruptions (SCDs)? Despite the voluminous literature on supply chain integration, evidence on its effectiveness on risk management and disruption response is scant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of business continuity management (BCM) and of supply chain involvement in BCM (SCiBCM) on reputational and operational damage containment in the face of SCDs. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on Simons’ Levers of Control framework to explain how the involvement of supply chain in BCM affects firm capabilities in containing damages caused by major SCDs. The authors develop and test hypotheses by analyzing large-scale questionnaire responses from 448 European companies. Findings Results of the data analysis suggest that BCM improves reputational damage containment, whereas SCiBCM improves operational damage containment. The findings also show that the significant effects of BCM and SCiBCM on reputational and operational damage containment, respectively, were amplified for the firms facing higher supply chain vulnerability. Post-hoc analysis further reveals the complementarity effect between BCM and SCiBCM for the companies exposed to high supply chain vulnerability. Originality/value Evidence on the effects of BCM and its internal integration on performance is limited. This study offers empirical evidence on the topic. Also, while supply chain integration can improve information sharing and coordination, some may not fully recognize its potential benefits in addressing SCDs. This study theoretically and empirically demonstrates the role played by internal integration, in the form of SCiBCM, in improving organizational damage containment efforts

Learning from near-miss events: an organizational learning perspective on supply chain disruption response

Studying near-miss events – occasions when a company comes close to being negatively impacted – can help identify systemic issues and thereby enhance organizational resilience. However, what is not known is how firms learn from near-miss events, and how their learning is translated into response strategies in the face of supply chain disruptions. In this study, we address the following research questions - How does exposure to near-misses reflect in organizational response strategies to supply chain disruptions? Using single and double-loop learning from organizational learning theory, we examine how firms implement response strategies based on near-miss events. In addition, we examine the moderating effects of institutional pressures (from regulatory bodies and industry associations) into the model. We test the hypotheses using responses from 448 organizations in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Our results indicate that exposure to near-miss events leads firms to strengthen their focus on procedural response strategies and to lower their focus on flexible response strategies. Industry pressure furthers the effects of near-miss exposure in applying procedural strategies and limiting the application of flexible strategies. Regulatory pressure furthers the effects of near-miss exposure in limiting the application of flexible strategies. This study extends the body of supply chain disruption management to the concept of near-misses and explains how institutional context play a major role in learning of supply chain disruption responses