The Resource-Based View, Dynamic Capabilities and SME Performance for SMEs to Become Smart Enterprises

 This article explores critical areas for enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs in the globalized economy. Due to the fiercer nature of current competitiveness, the business sector has to adapt and enhance their capability in response to rapid environmental changes. This article explores the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capability perspective and their effects on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This review shows that the concept of RBV contributes to driving SME performance. Dynamic capability, which is part of the management process, also helps in stimulating RBV to enhance the performance of SMEs and their competitive advantages. Additionally, this article provides several useful implications for policy that is related to the development of SMEs. It will, hopefully, contribute to the process of developing effective strategies within their organizations. It will also be of great value for researchers and practitioners who are involved in the SME sector

Acceptance of Mobile App “Racadi” Among Small Retailers: An Action Research

Small retailers often find it challenging to cope with the changes and competition in the business. One of the primary problems that small retailers are now facing is their clinging to the old ways of doing business. In this study, we introduced a sales management mobile application called “Racadi” (which means “good-priced” in the Thai language) to help address this inherent concern. In particular, we employed an action research design to study why some small retailers choose to accept or reject this mobile application. Based on several technology acceptance models, our research was divided into three phases. Phase 1 involved learning the needs of small retailers and the design of Racadi, whereas Phase 2 involved identifying retailers’ difficulties in the use of Racadi. In Phase 3, we sought to understand why some retailers maintain their use of Racadi. Data are primarily collected through in-depth interviews with 50 retailers over nine months. The findings show that the three prominent theories (TAM, UTAUT 2, and DIT) are not sufficient to explain mobile application adoption among small retailers as not all critical factors involved are identified. New factors revealed by this study are 1) Entrepreneurial Spirit, 2) Ability to Use, and 3) Perceived Risk. Several important theoretical and practical implications have emerged from this present research

Dynamic capabilities and high performance organization of hotel business: empirical investigation into world class tourism destination

Purpose – The fact that Thailand has been a popular destination among global tourists has created challenges for hotel businesses to achieve high performance with excellent services that are responsive to the needs of global travelers. This article aims to provide empirical evidence on the causal relationships among the effects of the dynamic capabilities, high-performance organization and organizational performance of hotel businesses in a world-class tourism destination. Design – Theoretical views on management were gathered to create a conceptual framework that is the source of different performance results and that has 2 main factors: (1) dynamic capabilities and (2) the high-performance organization. Methodology – This paper is quantitative research, using questionnaires to collect data from 109 hotel businesses located on Samui Island, Thailand. The data were first analyzed using descriptive statistics and were then compared by groups of hotel characteristics using t-tests and ANOVA. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted. Findings – This study shows that hotel characteristics differently affected dynamic capabilities, the high-performance organization and performance. The results also indicate that the highperformance organization not only has a direct positive effect on performance but it also completely meditates the relationship between dynamic capabilities and performance. Originality of the research – The findings should be useful for hotel managers who aim to improve their hotels’ dynamic capabilities to enhance the high-performance organization and firm performance

Nature, drivers, and consequences of convergence and overlap in performance management systems

Performance management (PMgmt) is a relatively nascent field that is still evolving to provide managers with tools, intelligence, and perspectives needed to meet challenges arising from rising competition and accelerating change. Most of the work in this field has been reactive and (over the last decade) subject to rapid obsolescence. This thesis seeks to provide PMgmt academics and professionals with the encouragement and means to shift to a more proactive and, thus, enduring stance. Long-term trends in the development and use of PMgmt systems are investigated by using relevant literature as proxies of experience. The rationale is that tracing and analysing patterns, shifts and trends in how PMgmt concepts and practices endlessly adapt to meet the evolving needs of organizations will provide important insight as to how they develop and change over time. The research operational flow is as follows: 1) The literature review gathered common perspectives on how PMgmt changed from the 1980s until now, 2) Qualitative content analysis, incorporating grounded theory, was used to identify patterns in the changes to PMgmt systems from 1998 to 2007, to reveal desired attributes of PMgmt systems which have evolved to fit current managerial needs, 3) Speculative thought was used to highlight the emerging phenomenon of functional overlap of PMgmt systems as a consequence of the forces of convergent evolution (an influence/force revealed via the content analysis). 4) A framework for creating utilities from the functional overlap is proposed. A number of key findings are deduced from this thesis: 1) Management needs, derived from a highly competitive and changing evolving business environment and focused on creating and sustaining competitive advantage, drive the development and use of PMgmt systems into an evolutionary progression. The evolutionary change occurs via four major paths: from operations to strategic, economic-profit to stakeholder, measurement to management, and static to dynamic focus. 2) PMgmt systems have evolved from differing origins toward what can be visualised as archetypical forms—including, measurement-embedded, horizontally and vertically integrated, strategic-oriented, and fact-based information systems. These systems have the common intent to perform strategic functions—including, creating and maintaining strategic alignment, supporting decision making, assisting formulation and execution of strategy, influencing organizational behaviors, and facilitating organizational learning. This is a convergent evolution of PMgmt systems. 3) Functional overlap emerges as a consequence of convergent evolution. An analysis revealed that a substantial functional overlap occurs across a broad array of extant PMgmt systems—a few, or even many, of which may operate concurrently in a given organization. 4) A framework for understanding the benefits and costs of allowing functional overlap consists of three dimensions: perspectives, processes and applications. The first dimension seeks to make sense of the positive and negative aspects of the functional overlap that occurs in rapidly changing environments; the second seeks to understand the transformation of functional overlap from a new concept toward being a tool in organizational innovation while the third focuses on how functional overlap fits into the strategy-management capability of an organisation. This thesis draws from accounting, management and other disciplines to provide an interdisciplinary perspective that seeks to reframe the mindsets of scholars and managers who deal with PMgmt systems. Ongoing research will be needed to refine and expand the notions of convergent evolution and functional overlap and to keep them current—they are dynamic and evolving concepts that risk becoming dated and irrelevant if allowed to degenerate into static/fixed forms. If established as common dynamic concepts, the notions will increase the awareness of senior managers and, by shifting organisations from reactive to proactive perspectives, should greatly enrich the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of PMgmt-systems and accelerate and their rate-of-response

A speculation of the presence of overlap and niches in organizational performance management systems

Suwit Srimai, Chris S. Wright, Jack Radfor

An interdisciplinary perspective on the evolution of strategic performance management systems

This paper provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the evolution of organizational performance management (PM) systems that transcends the limited perspectives currently found within certain academic disciplines. It looks for the presence of convergent evolution in those management systems. A review of the many management systems that have been harnessed into strategic systems suggests that pressure to be best at the same or similar tasks causes such management systems to converge to common forms and functions. Forms of PM are: 1) Measurement-embedded systems, 2) Horizontally and vertically integrated systems, 3) Strategic-oriented systems, and 4) Fact-based information systems. Functions of PM are: 1) Creating and maintaining strategic alignment, 2) Supporting decision making, 3) Assisting formulation and execution of strategy, 4) Influencing organizational behaviours, and 5) Facilitating a learning organization