STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

Jusuf ZEKIRI; Alexandru NEDELEA

2011-01-01

This paper is organized in three parts. A brief overview of the importance of strategies within companies, as well as literature review is presented along with traditional approaches on strategies for achieving competitive advantage, and new approaches for gaining a competitive advantage. The main objective of the paper is to outline and discuss the relevant issues and challenges from a theoretical viewpoint related with the possible strategy formulation of companies in order to achieve a com...

Features of formation of competitive advantages: a strategic dimension

OpenAIRE

O.Р. Pashchenko

2015-01-01

The article examines the features of formation of competitive advantages, the depth of theoretical and methodological basis for the formation of competitive advantages at an enterprise. The author has reviewed the approaches to the formation of stable and long-term competitive advantages. The author has also overviewed the requirements which are to be met by competitive advantages of a company and the factors that affect the possibility of competitive advantages. The author develops her ow...

Competitive Priorities and Competitive Advantage in Jordanian Manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Awwad, Abdulkareem S.; Al Khattab, Adel A.; Anchor, J.R

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research was to explore and predict the relationship between the competitive priorities (quality, cost, flexibility and delivery) and the competitive advantage of firms in the Jordanian Industrial Sector. A population of 88 Jordanian manufacturing firms, registered on the Amman Stock Exchange, was targeted using a cross-sectional survey employing a questionnaire method of data collection. The results of the data analysis indicate a significant relationship between competit...

Brokers and Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Michael D. Ryall; Olav Sorenson

2007-01-01

The broker profits by intermediating between two (or more) parties. Using a biform game, we examine whether such a position can confer a competitive advantage, as well as whether any such advantage could persist if actors formed relations strategically. Our analysis reveals that, if one considers exogenous the relations between actors, brokers can enjoy an advantage but only if (1) they do not face substitutes either for the connections they offer or the value they can create, (2) they interm...

The Competitive Advantages of Retail Enterprises: the Factor and the Result of Competitive Relations

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Chorna Maryna V.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at systematization and development of a conceptual-categorical apparatus of the essence of competitive advantages. The approaches to their interpretation have been allocated. The essential characteristics and stages of the life cycle of competitive advantages are considered. As active stages it is suggested to consider the following: formation, implementation, and development. The basic properties of competitive advantages such as dual character have been substantiated and supplemented. Both the factor and the effective nature of competitive advantages are characterized. On the basis of the mentioned approaches together with the identified features, a definition of the concept of «competitive advantages» as economic category has been proposed. Its use as a base along with taking into consideration the functional specificity of trade enterprises has allowed: clarifying the essence of competitive advantages of retail enterprises; suggesting their definition as a factor and as a result of competitive relations. The identification of dual character will increase the possibilities to assess competitive advantages. Prospects for further researches in this direction are connected with allocating of peculiarities and kinds of competitive advantages of retail trade enterprises with the purpose of increasing the of validity of decisions on their formation, implementation, and development.

Logistics potentials in business competitive advantage creation

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Rafał Matwiejczuk

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Companies constantly search for ways to achieve and sustain long-term competitive advantage. Among the factors influencing the competitive advantage creation there are so called logistics potentials, which constitute a component part of a business strategic potentials. Logistics resources, logistics capabilities and logistics competences are the main components of the logistics potentials structure and hierarchy. Methods: In order to recognize the logistics potentials which determine the competitive advantage creation one may use the assumptions and elements of contemporary management concepts, including strategic management. In particular the article deals with Resource-Based View (RBV, Dynamic Capabilities Concept (DCC and - first of all - Competence-Based Management (CBM. Results and conclusions: Several significant research projects have presented a wide scope and a large number of possibilities of logistics potentials (and logistics competences in particular influence on business competitive advantage creation. The article briefly presents the research results conducted by: (1 Michigan State University (USA, (2 European Logistics Association (ELA in cooperation with A.T. Kearney, (3 Computer Sciences Corporation and (4 Capgemini. The research results have pointed out to differentiated but at the same distinctive symptoms of logistics competences influence on competitive advantage creation. The article also refers to the results of the research carried out by the Chair of Logistics & Marketing at Opole University (Poland in companies operating in Poland. The research has been mainly dealing with the significance of logistics competences in competitive advantage creation.

Features of formation of competitive advantages: a strategic dimension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.Р. Pashchenko

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article examines the features of formation of competitive advantages, the depth of theoretical and methodological basis for the formation of competitive advantages at an enterprise. The author has reviewed the approaches to the formation of stable and long-term competitive advantages. The author has also overviewed the requirements which are to be met by competitive advantages of a company and the factors that affect the possibility of competitive advantages. The author develops her own approach to the definition of «competitive enterprise strategy», suggests to understand the concept as the perspective of company development, the way of achieving the goals a company sets for itself guided by its policy, using internal and external competitive advantages. The author implements the model of strategic management of enterprise development based on competitive advantage creating. The suggested model will take into account the maximum possible factors that impact on the development and implementation of strategies. Due to the model risks will also be reduced. The paper determines that the important stage of enterprise development strategic management based on competitive advantage creating is the management of changes and the management of resistance to changes caused by the influence of factors of external and internal environment.

BUSINESS COMPETITORS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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SUCIU TITUS

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the concept of competition, both from the perspective of the economic sector –where it is characteristic for pure monopole, oligopoly, monopole competition and pure competition, as well asfrom the market’s point of view – where it determines the strategies, objectives, advantages and weaknesses of acompany. The main point of the paper is the criticism of the pure and perfect competition theory. Concluding,the author insists on innovation, especially on the model of open innovation.

Competitive advantage, what does it really mean?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr. Haijing de Haan; Hongjue Yan

2013-01-01

Competitive advantage is probably the most popular business concept today (Mooney, 2007). This article aims to investigate critically the discourse on competitive advantage, as expressed by business literature, by locating its meanings in the public higher education sector. This research reveals

Strategic Positioning for Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Organizational learning is increasingly being considered as one of the fundamental sources of competitive advantage within the context of strategic management. However, most literature has not clearly linked organizational learning with sustainable competitive advantage. This paper, therefore, explores and discusses the ...

Generating Relational Competitive Advantage from Strategic Technological Partnership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yimei; Zhang, Si; Li, Jizhen

2012-01-01

Collaborating with external partners on strategic technological partnerships (STPs) have been popular phenomena for long, which leads new development in existing theories on competitive advantage. Under the relational view, the competitive advantage is jointly generated by alliance firms. Though...... the relational view of competitive advantage has been proposed for more than a decade, few in-depth empirical researches are down within this field, especially case study on R&D strategic alliance from this perspective. Based on these considerations, we investigate an STP between a Danish transnational...... corporation and a Chinese private firm aiming to understand how to generate relational competitive from an STP? Based on the explorative case study, we find that there are three key processes related to relational competitive advantage: partner selection, relational rents generation and relational rents...

Structural capital management creates sustainable competitiveness and prolonged first-mover advantage

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C. R. Van Zyl

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Structural (SC capital is part of the intellectual capital that is owned by an organisation and its efficient and dedicated management is essential for the creation of shareholder value, sustainable competitive advantage, and prolonged first-mover advantage. SC consists of three types of capital, namely: innovation, organisational and process capital. Organisational capital consists of organisational culture, management philosophies etc. and has received a large amount of management attention. However, organisational capital is not as valuable towards the creation of sustainable competitiveness and first-mover advantage as innovation and process capital are. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate how a thorough understanding and the efficient management of innovation and process capital enables organisations to achieve the afore-mentioned benefits. Innovation capital management consists primarily of patent and brand management, which are particularly important as patent management forms a high-margin justification for the implementation of organisation-wide intellectual property management, and the management of high-equity brands secures a loyal customer base and associative sustainable competitiveness and first-mover advantage benefits. Although not as obviously valuable as innovation capital, the article also explores the value that the efficient management of unique organisational processes and methodologies contribute towards the achievement of prolonged first-mover advantage and the provision of protection against competitor actions. This exploration involved an examination of contemporary literature, theories and business cases and subsequently revealed that SCM is a vital discipline/philosophy that must be implemented by any organisation wishing to achieve greater sustainable competitiveness. Innovation and process capital are of particular importance as these assets can be made tangible, leveraged and integrated into existing

Influence of innovation in the customer-supplier re lationship on competitive advantage

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Božidar Lenarčič

2012-10-01

Full Text Available RQ: The excellence of a company is also the result of the relationship to the supplier. A good relationship is shown on the results in developing innovative ideas. In this study we were interested in the relations between the buyer and the supplier and how this effects their innovation development, which is later expressed as a competitive advantage, and if this relation effectson the creation of innovation ideas.Purpose: The purpose is to explore the relationship between suppliers and customers, their common innovative activity and the impact of joint innovation ideas in competitive advantage.Method: A literature review and a quantitative analysis with an opinion questionnaire was used in this study. Data analysis was carried out with frequency statistics and χ2-test.Results: The result shows that the relationship between buyers and suppliers has a greater impact on competitive advantage than the number of innovations.Organization: The research study impacts the customer-supplier relationship, mutual expectations and common creation of innovative ideas to increase competitive advantage. The results will be informative in adapting decisions and measures in strengthening the relationship for the creation of an innovative environment withininterpersonal relationships.Society: Society is aware of the importance of customer-supplier relations. Society will be able to obtain information on the degree of the customer-supplier mutual relationship in collaborating and developing innovative ideas, the level of awareness in the importance of innovation in the mutual relation of creating a competitive advantage.Originality: The originality of the research is to learn aboutthe impact of customer-supplier relations and on innovation as one of an organization’s competitive advantages.Limitations: The research is limited to one company and a smaller sample-size of suppliers in an organization.

CREATING A CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

ENGİNOĞLU, Didem; ARIKAN, Cenk Laçin

2016-01-01

Current competitive environment is rapidly changing. In today’s business environment, organizations are having an increasingly difficult time in creating competitive advantages. The main reason for this is the ease in contemporary business life for organizations to reach the same or very similar resources. Firms need innovation to create and sustain success and effectiveness. In such a highly competitive business life, the importance of creating competitive advantages for organizations based ...

IMPACT OF FARM SIZE AND TYPE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

Morgan, Jeffery D.; Langemeier, Michael R.

2003-01-01

This study examined sustained competitive advantage for a sample of Kansas farms. Whole-farm data for 224 farms with continuous data from 1982-2001 were used. Overall efficiency was computed for each farm and year. Sixty farms exhibited a sustained competitive advantage. Seventy-six farms exhibited a sustained competitive disadvantage. Farms with a competitive advantage were relatively larger, received more of their gross farm income from dairy and swine production, had significantly lower ex...

The Relational View of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yimei; Zhang, Si; Li, Jizhen

Collaborating with external partners on R&D and forming strategic partnership for R&D have been popular phenomena for long, which leads new development in existing theories. Though the relational view of competitive advantage has been proposed for more than a decade, few in-depth empirical...... they generate relational rents (interorganizational competitive advantage) from this alliance? Based on this case study, we will propose some implications for the R&D collaboration between Chinese and Scandinavian countries. Also, the case will help us to test and enrich the existing theories...... on interorganizational competitive advantage. At the end of the paper, based on existing theories and the case study result, we will propose our conceptual framework on researching R&D strategic alliance between Scandinavian and Chinese firms....

Knowledge And Knowledge Management As A Competitive Advantage

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Diana Bratić

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In the modern business environment with high turbulence and complexity, an organization’s force to create and sustain competitive advantage lies in what it knows not what it owns. Establishment of a knowledge management in organization will ensure sustainable competitive advantage because the intellectual capital has become the primary bases of core competencies and the key to superior performance. The transition from industrial to knowledge society, effective use of knowledge is one of the deciding factors in the struggle for competitiveness because it will ensure the rationality, efficiency and flexibility in operations, and only through the realization of those graphics company can gain a competitive advantage on the market.

Analyzing Sustainable Competitive Advantage: Strategically Managing Resource Allocations to Achieve Operational Competitiveness

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Abdul Malek Nurul Aida

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In today’s dynamic business environment, a key challenge for all companies is to make adaptive adjustments to their manufacturing strategy. This study demonstrates the competitive priorities of manufacturing strategy in hydro-power case company to evaluate the level of sustainable competitive advantage and also to further analyze how business strategies are aligned with manufacturing strategies. This research is based on new holistic analytical evaluation of manufacturing strategy index, sense and respond, and sustainable competitive advantage models. These models help to describe, evaluate, and optimize resource allocation to meet the performance requirements in dynamic decision making. Furthermore, these models evaluate operational competitiveness for manufacturing strategies according to the multi-criteria priority. The results show that the adjustments of competitive priorities in manufacturing strategies by implementing the proposed holistic analytical models are helpful in strategically managing business operations. The discussion derives the most critical attributes in business operations while alignment of resource allocation with competitive priorities help to strategically focus those attributes. In conclusion, we argue that resource allocation and manufacturing strategies have become the most important capabilities in a business environment where companies focus to get a sustainable competitive advantage.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES ENTERPRISES IN KOOPERATION RELATIONS

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O. Mikitiuk

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Formation of new approaches to the definition of competitive advantage requires different ways to implement them according to market conditions. These paths can be cooperative relations entities that are implemented in the competitive advantage of enterprises in the new stage of development of a competitive society. The result of the interaction of small businesses with industrial and economic structures is the formation and development of such forms of cooperation entities as subcontracting, franchising, leasing, venture finance. The content of these forms is to integrate (interlacing of the functional areas of business including production of functional form is subcontracting relationships, forms of supply – franchising, industrial and financial shape – leasing as a form of innovative functional integration relations is venture financing.

Shared, competitive, and comparative advantages: a competence-based view of industrial-district competitiveness

OpenAIRE

César Camisón

2004-01-01

The author's aim is to construct and validate empirically a theoretical model that allows performance and competitiveness in firms located in industrial districts to be explained. From the strategic perspective adopted, economic revenues are explained by three types of advantage: shared advantages, competitive advantages, and comparative advantages. Neither integration in the district, nor its attraction due to the shared competences within it, are significant predictors of performance. Empir...

Competitive Advantage and its Sources in an Evolving Market

Science.gov (United States)

Zaridis, Apostolos D.

2009-08-01

In a continuously altered and evolving Market, as is the food manufacturing market, the main and long-lasting objective of firm that is the maximization of its wealth and consequently the continuous remaining in profit regions, appears that it is possible to be achieved via the obtainment and maintenance of diachronically long-term competitive advantage, which it will render the firm unique or leader force in a inexorable competition that is continuously extended in a globalized market. Various definitions and different regards are developed in regard to the competitive advantage and the way with which a firm it is possible, acquiring it, to star in the market in which it is activated. As result of sustainable competitive advantage in a firm comes the above the average performance. Abundance of resources and competences that are proposed as sources of competitive advantage in the resource-based view literature exists, while they are added continuously new based on empiric studies. In any case, it appears to suffer hierarchy of sources of competitive advantage, with regard to sustainability of these.

Canadian competitive advantage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wills, J.

1997-01-01

The evolution of the Canadian petrochemical industry was outlined, emphasizing the proximity to feedstocks as the principal advantage enjoyed by the industry over its international competitors. Annual sales statistics for 1995 were provided. Key players in the Canadian petrochemical industry (Nova, Dow, DuPont, Methanex, Esso, Union Carbide, Shell and Celanese), their share of the market and key products were noted. Manufacturing facilities are located primarily in Alberta, southern Ontario and Quebec. The feedstock supply infrastructure, historical and alternative ethane pricing in Canada and the US, the North American market for petrochemicals, the competitiveness of the industry, tax competitiveness among Canadian provinces and the US, the Canada - US unit labour cost ratio, ethylene facility construction costs in Canada relative to the US Gulf Coast, and projected 1997 financial requirements were reviewed. 19 figs

ENTERPRISE IRELAND: Design for Competitive Advantage Conference

OpenAIRE

Dee, Peter

2003-01-01

A stimulating conference bringing together world leading experts on design to address the importance of brand development strategies to achieve competitive advantage. Peter Dee - Strategic Design and Marketing Consultant, specialised in the creation of brand development strategies for Enterprise Ireland’s Design Unit. Peter was responsible for the design and development of the the brand identity for the Enterprise Ireland Design for Competitive Advantage Conference in Dublin.

COMPETITIVE PRODUCT ADVANTAGES

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Adrian MICU

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Cost advantages may be either internal or external. Internal economics of scope, scale, or experience, and external economies of focus or logistical integration, enable a company to produce some products at a lower cost than the competition. The coordination of pricing with suppliers, although not actually economizing resources, can improve the efficiency of pricing by avoiding the incrementalization of a supplier's nonincremental fixed costs and profit. Any of these strategies can generate cost advantages that are, at least in the short run, sustainable. Even cost advantages that are not sustainable, however, can generate temporary savings that are often the key to building more sustainable cost or product advantages later.. Even when a product's physical attributes are not readily differentiable, opportunities to develop product advantages remain. The augmented product that customers buy is more than the particular product or service exchanged. It includes all sorts of ancillary services and intangible relationships that make buying thesame product from one company less difficult, less risky, or more pleasant than buying from a competitor. Superior augmentation of the same basic product can add substantial value in the eyes of consumers, leading them to pay willingly what are often considerable price premiums.

Advertising Dynamics and Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Ulrich Doraszelski; Sarit Markovich

2004-01-01

Can advertising lead to a sustainable competitive advantage? To answer this question, we propose a dynamic model of advertising competition where firms repeatedly advertise, compete in the product market, and make entry as well as exit decisions. Within this dynamic framework, we study two different models of advertising: In the first model, advertising influences the goodwill consumers extend towards a firm ("goodwill advertising"), whereas in the second model it influences the share of cons...

Modern Paradigm of Ensuring Competitive Advantages of an Enterprise

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Klymchuk Alyona O.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers evolution of development of the paradigm of ensuring competitive advantages of an enterprise. Foreign and domestic scientists focus on individual directions of development of competitive advantages and pay insufficient attention to new management concepts – development of the information society, knowledge economy and dynamism of integration processes. The goal of the study is formation of the modern paradigm of ensuring competitive advantages of an enterprise with consideration of tendencies of development of the knowledge economy, information society and integration processes. Enterprise competitiveness is a synergetic characteristic, which reflects enterprise capability of dynamic response to changes of the market situation with the aim of keeping predominance over other economic subjects. Management of the future, on the basis of the management 2.0 concept, should take into account interests not only of top management and shareholders but also employees, local communities and territories and meet requirements of the society in general, individual groups of consumers and tendencies of development of managerial and information technologies. The paradigm of the modern theory of ensuring competitive advantages should include models of keeping competitive advantages in the existing markets and models of development of future markets; strategy of development of enterprise competitiveness, human capital development and efficient enterprise management.

THE CONCEPT OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES. LOGIC, SOURCES AND DURABILITY

OpenAIRE

Cegliński, Paweł

2017-01-01

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to present theoretical assumptions of the concept of competitive advantages and main problems connected with the same. Most of all, the article outlines issues, which are presently discussed in the field of management sciences, including sources of competitive advantages, causal ambiguity and character of durability of competitive advantages in the contemporary turbulent business environment. In the author’s opinion, the issues have a great signifi...

The Real Transformation: Building and Maintaining Long-Term Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

TERM COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE LTC EDWARD C. CARDON, USA A TRANFORMATION PAPER FOR THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF SEMINAR...SUBTITLE The Real Transformation: Building and Maintaining Long-Term Competitive Advantage 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...long-term military competitive advantage in comparison to the rest of the world.4 This approach suggests a model that places competition as the

Implementation of marketing strategy: Factor of competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Krstić Ivan; Becić Sonja

2011-01-01

Primary objective of the company is to reach the business success. Competitors have the same objective. Only the companies that really meet the consumer's needs and demands survive in the competitive struggle. The company who succeeds in it, has the possibility to achieve the competitive advantage as well. The company has to have the adequate marketing strategy in order to fulfill the marketing objectives and achieve the competitive advantage. The marketing strategy should be flexible and pro...

Organizational Learning and Sustainable Competitive Advantages (SCA): The Nigerian Experience

OpenAIRE

Omotayo Oyeniyi

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to test for core competencies of organizations in achieving sustainable competitive advantage within the service organizations in a developing economy like Nigeria. The paper specifically deals with the importance of organizational learning on sustainable competitive advantage and how it can be used to achieve sustainable advantage. Despite the wide spread importance attached to building sustainable competitive advantage, the relationship between organizational le...

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES, CAPABILITIES, SYSTEMS AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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Raduan Che Rose

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective that business organisations in particular should strive to attain is achieving a competitive advantage position relative to their competitors.. This research empirically examined the importance of and emphasis placed on organisational resources, capabilities and systems in their relationships with competitive advantage. The overall findings indicated significant, positive effects of organisational resources, capabilities and systems collectively on competitive advantage, providing support and corroboration to the resource-based view (RBV. The total variance in competitive advantage accounted for by the multiple linear regression (MLR model was 56.2%. In short, the findings from this study have not only contributed to the literature on the issue of the relationship between organisational resources, capabilities, systems and competitive advantage, but also provided vital information to both practitioners and policy makers on the subject matter.

Competitive Advantage in Tourism of Southeast Asian Countries

OpenAIRE

Akarapong Untong

2013-01-01

The competitive advantage in tourism of the countries in Southeast Asia was assessed by using coverage ratio and revealed comparative advantage (RCA). Static and dynamic analyses were applied to the data of tourism services export during 2002-2010. The results show that Cambodia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam had competitive advantages, i.e. these countries gain the surpluses more than that of the region’s. Thailand had the highest specialization in Southeast Asia but declining. M...

Trust, Commitment and Competitive Advantage in SMEs Export Performance

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Md Daud Ismail

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The entry of small businesses into international markets has intensified. However, despite the growing presence of small businesses in international markets, studies into their international behavior, particularly regarding the effect of international relationships on international outcomes, remain limited. This study investigates the cross-border relationships of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs by examining the effects of the dimensions of the key relationship on the competitive advantage and performance of SMEs in export markets. These dimensions include trust and commitment. Results indicate that trust is significantly related to commitment and export performance. Commitment is positively related to competitive advantage but not to export performance. Trust affects competitive advantage through commitment. The effect of commitment on export performance is mediated by competitive advantage. The methodology and results are presented. The conclusion, implications, and limitations of this study are also discussed.

Project safety as a sustainable competitive advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Rechenthin, David

2004-01-01

To be consistently profitable, a construction company must complete projects in scope, on schedule, and on budget. At the same time, the nature of the often high-risk work performed by construction companies can result in high accident rates. Clients and other stakeholders are placing increasing pressure on companies to decrease those accident rates. Clients routinely demand copies of safety plans and evidence of past results at the "pre-qualification" or "request for proposal" stages of the procurement process. Are high accident rates and the associated costs just a part of business? Companies that deliver on scope, schedule, and budget have a competitive advantage. Is it possible for projects with low accident rates to use it as a competitive advantage? Is the value added by safety just a temporary or parity issue, or does a successful safety program offer significant advantage to the company and the client? This article concludes that in the case of a high-risk industry, such as the construction industry, an organization with a successful safety program can promote safety performance as a sustainable competitive advantage. It is a choice the company can make.

RECONSIDERING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

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Valentina Zaharia

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Development of the competitive advantage involves a considerable effort from any organization. In particular, those organizations involved in a strong competitive market require the development of strategies to allocate long-term strategic marketing resources, efficiently and with easily quantifiable results. Faced with a multitude of phenomena and processes sometimes contradictory on different markets of consumption, contemporarily marketing has the mission to develop as creative as possible the business strategy of the organizations, their capacity of interacting with customers and other categories of audience. Such concepts as strategic positioning, relational marketing, management of the relationship with the consumer, marketing integrated research, a.s.o. are only a few of the tools with the help of which the marketing managers will implement successful operational strategies. All these developments are creating a real new paradigm of Marketing aimed to better explain the new types of complex market relationship in which the 21st Century organization is .

Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurs to Win Their Sustainable Competitive Advantages within Globalization Era

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Lenny Gunawan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to discuss globalization’s impacts on the world’s financial characteristics today. The findings inform that globalization promotes entrepreneurship because through globalization, financial markets have grown to be more efficient and flexible which can be seen through lower transaction costs, less binding financial regulations than before, less governments’ intervention within private sector and national economy structures, increasing number of market participants which leads to more access to information. Thus, globalization does create a better environment for entrepreneurs in achieving their competitive advantages and further to sustain them. This research was done by collecting data from papers, journals, modules, and internet databases. The data was analyzed and then concluded. Having applied the analytical process, it can be concluded that globalization does promotes entrepreneurship because it enables entrepreneurs to gain greater benefits at a certain degree of freedom than before in order to achieve and maintain their competitive advantages.

Competitive advantage: an analytical framework based on entrepreneurship

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Zhibiao

2006-01-01

This article observes and studies the role and effect of entrepreneurship within the theoretical framework of resource-based view(RBV).It advances competitive advantage theory based on entrepreneurship by proving the distinctiveness of entrepreneurship. Distinctive cognition competence of entrepreneurs provides them with personal specific assets,which determines both the competence to explore new business opportunities and the competence to integrate resources for risk activities.The characteristics of such intangible resource as entrepreneurship,such as its distinctiveness,limitedness of competition,and incomplete mobility of factors,are the most important sources of competitive advantage of enterprises in the strategic management theory of RBV.

Economic Development and "National Competitive Advantage"

OpenAIRE

J.T., Goode

2002-01-01

Despite the preponderance of economic theory and research which argues to the contrary, the notion that national economies stand in a fundamentally competitive relationship with one another remains surprisingly widespread. In recent years, some of the most influential impetus for this misperception has come from Michael Porter's conceptualization of "the competitive advantage of nations" in relation to economic development and date theory. It is argued that Porter neither proposes nor demonst...

Seeking the competitive advantage: it's more than cost reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

South, S F

1999-01-01

Most organizations focus considerable time and energy on reducing operating costs as a way to attain marketplace advantage. This strategy was not inappropriate in the past. To be competitive in the future, however, focus must be placed on other issues, not just cost reduction. The near future will be dominated by service industries, knowledge management, and virtual partnerships, with production optimization and flexibility, innovation, and strong partnerships defining those organizations that attain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage will reside in clarifying the vision and strategic plan, reviewing and redesigning work processes to optimize resources and value-added work, and creating change-ready environments and empowered workforces.

Relation between competence and competitive advantages of the firm

OpenAIRE

Lavrova, Natalia

2014-01-01

Research paper was considered an aspect of competence as source of uniqueness organization and its competition advantages. It emphasizes the importance internal factors for get success of business. The article is divided into two parts: theoretical framework and case study, which suggests as the competence of the influence on the competitive advantages of firms in theory and practice.

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NATIONS AND THE PARTICULARITIES OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES

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Alina HAGIU

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter stated that national competitive advantage is a reflection of a "diamond" which is running properly and efficiently. But if a developing country like Romania does not have the right conditions for effective functioning of the "diamond", what happens? This is the question to which we try to give an answer within this paper. In this respect, the paper aims to analyze the theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter, followed by an identification of the advantages and criticisms of this theory over time. Finally we make a customization of this theory in the context of the competitive environment in Romania.

The Source of Competitive Advantage and Entrepreneurial Judgment in the RBV

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ishikawa, Ibuki

The purpose of this paper is to identify the source of competitive advantage in the resource based view of strategic management literature. In particular, it is argued that the source of competitive advantage is rooted in entrepreneur judgment. In this argument, this paper consists largely of three...... on Lachmann (1947,1956), Mises (1946) and Knight (1921) to improve the RBV framework; thirdly, to apply the Austrian perspective to the RBV and demonstrate that the source of competitive advantage is derived from entrepreneurial judgment per se, not the resource per se, and to discuss some possible future...... the source of competitive advantage.Jel Code: B25, D21, D81, M13...

Competitive advantage for differentiation of Pereira International Free Trade Zone

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Paola Andrea Echeverri Gutiérrez

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The best way to know if a company is at the heart of success is by determining its competitive advantage. For Pereira International Free Trade Zone, foreign trade platform and recent project implementation, it is important to identify its competitive advantage, so it can develop strategies for entering and staying in the market. In this research, an analysis of the five forces industry free zones was performed, the value chain of the Pereira International Free Trade Zone was defined, finally the factors that influence their competitive advantage was determined.

DESIGNING A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE MODEL WITH TECHNOLOGY ORIENTED APPROACH USING FAHP TECHNIQUE: A CASE STUDY IN COIL INDUSTRY

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ABDOLHAMID S. GHADIKOLAEI

2013-04-01

Full Text Available One of the distinctive attributes of today’s successful companies is having at least one competitive advantage in one known area. Technological competency is an important advantage which helps improve the firm’s competitiveness. In fact, suitable use of new technologies can dramatically influence the innovation speed, decrease the time of product development cycle and also increase the rate of new product introduction. Firm-specific technological competencies help explain why a firm is different, how it changes over time, and whether it is capable of remaining competitive. In this study, technological competency factors (technology management, process technology, product technology are prioritized according to the competitive advantage levels(customer satisfaction, brand reputation, new product introduction, market share and competitive priorities (cost, price, quality, flexibility, time using fuzzy Analytic hierarchy process (FAHP with the aim of maximizing the nonfinancial performance at coil manufacture industry. The results indicate that within Iran coil industry, process technology is of greater importance than technology management and product technology.

Sustainable competitive advantage for accountable care organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Macfarlane, Michael Alex

2014-01-01

In the current period of health industry reform, accountable care organizations (ACOs) have emerged as a new model for the delivery of high-quality and cost-effective healthcare. However, few ACOs operate in direct competition with one another, and the accountable care business model has yet to present a means of continually developing new marginal value for patients and network partners. With value-based purchasing and patient consumerism strengthening as market forces, ACOs must build organizational sustainability and competitive advantage to meet the value demands set by customers and competitors. This essay proposes a strategy, adapted from the disciplines of agile software development and Lean product development, through which ACOs can engage internal and external customers in the development of new products that will provide sustainability and competitive advantage to the organization by decreasing waste in development, promoting specialized knowledge, and closely targeting customer value.

Achieving a competitive advantage in managed care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, D A

1998-02-01

When building a competitive advantage to thrive in the managed care arena, subacute care providers are urged to be revolutionary rather than reactionary, proactive rather than passive, optimistic rather than pessimistic and growth-oriented rather than cost-reduction oriented. Weaknesses must be addressed aggressively. To achieve a competitive edge, assess the facility's strengths, understand the marketplace and comprehend key payment methods.

Explaining foreign ownership by comparative and competitive advantage. Empirical evidence.

OpenAIRE

Bellak, Christian

1999-01-01

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of foreign ownership in manufacturing industries. Foreign ownership, according to the theory of international production, is the result of the combination of comparative and competitive advantage. An adequate examination of the ownership structure of an industry requires the ability to establish empirically the extent to which international competitiveness of firms rests on comparative and competitive advantage. Analysis is based on a...

Analisis Dampak Servant Leadership Terhadap Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Oktavia, Pek Nike

2014-01-01

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah terdapat dampak antara Servant Leadership terhadap Competitve Advantage, Employee Empowerment dan Organizational Learning. Variabel Servant Leadership diukur dari lima indikator, yaitu altruistic calling, emotional healing, wisdom, persuasive mapping, dan organizational stewardship. Variabel Competitive Advantage diukur dari lima indikator, yaitu price/cost, quality, delivery dependability, time to market, dan product innovation. Variabel Emplo...

ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND PERFORMANCE IN SUPPORTING INDUSTRIES IN VIETNAM

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Nham Phong Tuan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on applying the resource-based view (RBV of firms to explain performance in supporting industries in Vietnam. Specifically, we based our research on the comprehensive framework of RBV and reviewed previous empirical researches before deciding on adopting a dynamic capabilities approach to test relationships among organisational capabilities, competitive advantage and performance. A multivariate analysis of survey responses of 102 firms belonging to supporting industries in Vietnam indicates that the organisational capabilities are related to the competitive advantage, that the competitive advantage is related to performance, and that the competitive advantage mediates the relationship between organizational capabilities and performance. These findings have considerable implications for academics as well as practitioners. Finally, this study also provides directions for future research.

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF NATIONS AND THE PARTICULARITIES OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES

OpenAIRE

Alina HAGIU; Marinela BĂRBULESCU

2013-01-01

The theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter stated that national competitive advantage is a reflection of a "diamond" which is running properly and efficiently. But if a developing country like Romania does not have the right conditions for effective functioning of the "diamond", what happens? This is the question to which we try to give an answer within this paper. In this respect, the paper aims to analyze the theory of competitive advantage of Michael Porter, followed by...

Leveraging marketing capabilities into competitive advantage and export performance.

OpenAIRE

Tan, Q.; Sousa, C. M. P.

2015-01-01

Purpose – By using the dynamic capabilities (DC) theory and the theory of competitive advantage, the purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to investigate the role of marketing capabilities on the firm’s export performance. Specifically, this framework depicts the consequences of marketing capabilities and focuses on the relationships among marketing capabilities, competitive advantage, and export performance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conduct a meta-analysis of ...

Interest alignment and competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Gottschalg, Oliver; Zollo, Mauricio

2006-01-01

This paper articulates a theory of the conditions under which the alignment between individual and collective interests generates sustainable competitive advantage. The theory is based on the influence of tacitness, context-specificity and casual ambiguity in the determinants of different types of motivation (extrinsic, normative intrinsic and hedonic intrinsic), under varying conditions of environmental dynamism. The analysis indicates the need to consider mitivational processes as a complem...

Canonical Correlation Analysis Between Supply Chain Quality Management And Competitive Advantages

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Chaghooshi Ahmad Jafarnejad

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Competitive environment of today’s organizations, more than ever, is extensive, and the major concern for managers is to preserve and promote the sustainable competitive advantage. Companies have an obligation to improve their product quality and have extensive and close cooperation with other companies involved in the supply chain of products. Supply chain quality management (SCQM is a systematic approach to improve the performance that integrates supply chain partners and uses the opportunity in the best way, establish linkages between upstream and downstream flows, and investigate on creating value and satisfaction of intermediaries and final customers. Furthermore, achieving competitive advantages enables an organization to create a remarkable position in market and differentiate itself from competitors. This paper aims to understand the relationships between SCQM and competitive advantage. Sixty-eight experts of 25 companies in Sahami Alyaf (SA supply chain has been participated in this research. The research method used for this article is descriptive correlation. To assess the relationships between the criteria, canonical correlation analysis was used. The result shows that the SCQM and competitive advantages have a meaningful relationship. It also shows that most important variable in the linear combination of SCQM and competitive advantages are “customer focus and quality,” respectively.

Establishing knowledge management for competitive advantage in an enterprise

OpenAIRE

2012-01-01

M.Inf. Enterprises are becoming more dependent on people than ever before and in the twenty first century, an enterprise's survival and success will highly depend on the ability to manage knowledge as a source for competitive advantage. This study is concerned with the establishment of a knowledge management program that will ensure sustainable competitive advantage within the enterprise. The main problem under investigation is to assess the importance of knowledge management within an ent...

The relation between proactive environmental strategies and competitive advantage

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Butnariu, A.; Avasilcăi, S.

2015-11-01

There are two distinct orientations of the environmental management that companies may adopt: the model of compliance and the strategic model. The strategic model treats environmental expenses as investments that will lead to competitive advantage for the company. Nevertheless, there are few scientific works that prove the relation between corporate environmental investments and competitive advantage. Thereby, in order to bring clarifications about the profound implications of environmental investments, in the first stage of our research we have proposed the hypothesis that the environmental investments would probably lead to competitive advantage by creating capabilities that are mediators of this relation. In the second stage we have tested this hypothesis, using the research method of survey. A questionnaire was sent to managers in textile Romanian industry, and 109 answers were received. The data was analysed using the linear multiple regression method and the results confirm our hypothesis.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TAX COMPETITION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

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MARIA FELICIA CHIRCULESCU

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With the expansion of globalization, economic integration and the mobility of production factors at the local and global level have been facilitated. In Europe, the process of economic and monetary integration began when barriers to the free movement of goods, capital and labor were formally abolished, although cultural barriers still exist. The need and justification of tax competition is that it can lead to greater efficiency in the use of public sector resources and more efficient allocation of capital. The main advantages of tax competition are those related to the reduction of tax rates, which can lead to boosting consumption and investment. The method used to achieve the objective is complex, from statistical and economic analyzes of fiscal data to a comparative technique at the level of the European Union. The database used is from Eurostat sources and other European Commission work on taxation in the Member States of the European Union.

Which competitive advantages can firms really obtain from ISO14001 certification?

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Josefina Lucia Murillo-Luna

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Ten years after the introduction of ISO14001, in this paper we present empirical evidence about the competitive advantages that managers associate to this environmental practice, from a sample of industrial firms located in Spain. The results indicate that the potential competitive advantages are: improvement of the internal efficiency, differentiation advantages, attention to the stakeholders’ requirements, enhancement of the competitive position in the sector and financial savings. Nevertheless managers’ expectations of improving internal efficiency might be the real reason that encourages firms to make the voluntary decision of investing in ISO14001 certification.

The Topical Factors of Development of the National Competitive Advantages

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Kolomiets Ganna M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers the qualitative changes of the national competitive advantages as derivatives of the evolution of technological modes in the global business environment; the role of both the formal and the informal institutions in their development and implementation has been analyzed. With this in mind, topical in the development of competitive advantages will be improving the formal institutions in conjunction with the informal: recognition and use of the positive potential of the national values and attitudes. High adaptatibility towards turbulence of the economic environment, desire and capability to master new knowledge, technologies, fulfill one’s own abilities in the native country, should define the focus and content of transformations of the formal institutions. Results of the analysis show that nowadays a value shift is going on, attitudes are being changed, which suggests that there’s a necessity to understand that disposition of power institutions, mistrust to authorities can significantly slow down transformations in the direction of «competitive advantages – competitiveness»

Complexity, Competitive Intelligence and the "First Mover" Advantage

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Fellman, Philip Vos; Post, Jonathan Vos

In the following paper we explore some of the ways in which competitive intelligence and game theory can be employed to assist firms in deciding whether or not to undertake international market diversification and whether or not there is an advantage to being a market leader or a market follower overseas. In attempting to answer these questions, we take a somewhat unconventional approach. We first examine how some of the most recent advances in the physical and biological sciences can contribute to the ways in which we understand how firms behave. Subsequently, we propose a formal methodology for competitive intelligence. While space considerations here do not allow for a complete game-theoretic treatment of competitive intelligence and its use with respect to understanding first and second mover advantage in firm internationalization, that treatment can be found in its entirety in the on-line proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Complex Systems at http://knowledgetoday.org/wiki/indec.php/ICCS06/89

The competitive advantage of sanctioning institutions.

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Gürerk, Ozgür; Irlenbusch, Bernd; Rockenbach, Bettina

2006-04-07

Understanding the fundamental patterns and determinants of human cooperation and the maintenance of social order in human societies is a challenge across disciplines. The existing empirical evidence for the higher levels of cooperation when altruistic punishment is present versus when it is absent systematically ignores the institutional competition inherent in human societies. Whether punishment would be deliberately adopted and would similarly enhance cooperation when directly competing with nonpunishment institutions is highly controversial in light of recent findings on the detrimental effects of punishment. We show experimentally that a sanctioning institution is the undisputed winner in a competition with a sanction-free institution. Despite initial aversion, the entire population migrates successively to the sanctioning institution and strongly cooperates, whereas the sanction-free society becomes fully depopulated. The findings demonstrate the competitive advantage of sanctioning institutions and exemplify the emergence and manifestation of social order driven by institutional selection.

Creating Competitive Advantage through Effective Management Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Longenecker, Clinton O.; Ariss, Sonny S.

2002-01-01

Managers trained in executive education programs (n=203) identified ways in which management education can increase an organization's competitive advantage: exposure to new ideas and practices, skill development, and motivation. Characteristics of effective management education included experience-based learning orientation, credible instructors,…

Using the Competitive Dimensions to Achieve Competitive Advantage A Study on Jordanian Private Hospitals

OpenAIRE

Salah M. Diab

2014-01-01

This study aims to know, if the Jordanian private hospitals using the competitive dimensions to achieve competitive advantage, the Study populations consists of all managers at the Jordanian private hospital, were as the sample consisting of (200) managers. The simple statistical methods were used like repetitions, percentages, means, standard deviations, and multiple liner regression .The results showed that the Jordanian private hospitals used all the competition dimensions to achieve compe...

Investment in intellectual capital and achievement of the competitive advantage in hotel sector

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Qasim Mohammed Dahash

2018-07-01

Full Text Available The primary objective of the research paper is to provide some insights on the concepts of intellec-tual capital and its important dimensions alongside to investigate the possible association between intellectual capital and attainment of competitive advantage. This study focuses on Iraqi hotel industry which is an under-research area in the context of intellectual capital and its relationship with competitive advantage. An adapted questionnaire was utilized to collect the responses from top and middle level managers of four and five-star hotels in Iraq. The reliability and validity of data collec-tion instrument were measured through Cronbach’s alpha, Composite Reliability and Average Var-iance Extracted respectively. The competitive advantage was then regressed against Human, Rela-tional and Structural capital by application of Partial Least Square methodology. Results of the study showed a positive and strong connotation among intellectual capital and attainment of competitive advantage. The human capital had the highest contribution for competitive advantage in hotel sector of Iraq. The top management of hotels should take interest to develop, maintain and retain human capital to attain competitive advantage over competitors.

EXISTS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

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ANCA-IOANA MUNTEANU

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This paper is purely theoretical, having as starting points both existing information in the literature and their correlations. The text does not have a generalized, but represent personal opinions and conclusions. Critically analyzing the definitions given in the literature the term "strategic human resource management ", we found that most of them referred to the involvement he has it in obtaining competitive advantage of an organization. Also, starting from the study of different approaches to strategic management of human resources, we can see that besides the role that obtain competitive advantage, it supports innovative activity of a company. So we can talk about a link between strategic management of human resources, innovation and achieving competitive advantage. By presenting how strategic human resource management can be implemented in an organization, its high performance practices for human resources, it demonstrates that they support employee creativity through free expression of ideas, involvement in decision making, resulting in the way to innovation and thus to obtain competitive advantage. This work, theoretical, was completed by a presentation that show the interdependencies that exist between the three think elements: strategic human resources management, innovation, competitive advantage.

Irrelevance of competitive advantage for the benefits of international trade

OpenAIRE

Siggel, Eckhard

2012-01-01

International competitiveness is often regarded as crucial for the attainment of gains from trade, which may lead policy makers to subsidize exports. This view is based on confusion between the concepts of competitive and comparative advantage. The paper argues that when comparative advantage is defined and measured appropriately, not limiting it to the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin models, it becomes a necessary condition for the attainment of gains from trade and it applies to all forms of ...

Interconnected firms’ relationships as a source of a competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Iga Rudawska

2010-01-01

The mainstream economy poses the opinion that a competitive advantage lies in resources, and, consequently - in competences as well - being a share of a single company and remaining under its sole control. Recently, some researchers (e.g. Castaldo, 2007; Lavie, 2006) have revised that approach and tend to emphasise the role of other sources of competitive advantage in business strategy, which embrace new, intangible assets. Such assets are being born and developed only within the inter-firm r...

Interest alignment rents and competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

M. ZOLLO; O. GOTTSCHALG

2007-01-01

This paper articulates a theory of the conditions under which the alignment between individual and collective interests generates sustainable competitive advantage. The theory is based on the influence of tacitness, context specificity, and causal ambiguity in the determinants of different types of motivation (extrinsic, normative intrinsic, and hedonic instinsic) under varying conditions of environmental dynamism. The analysis indicates the need to consider motivational processes as a comple...

Competitive Advantages of Indonesian Plywood Industry: A Perspective from Porter???s Five Forces Model

OpenAIRE

Makkarennu

2015-01-01

The Understanding industry structure is of great concern to industry strategic since depending against the competitive forces and shaping them in a company???s favor area essential to strategy. Competitive advantages provide the framework for assessing strategy and understanding the source of competitive advantage. This paper applies Porter Five Forces Model to identify the positioning of competitive advantages of plywood industry in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Qualitative research was carried...

Educating Students to Give Them a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

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Hopkins, Christopher D.; Raymond, Mary Anne; Carlson, Les

2011-01-01

With an increasingly competitive job market, this study focuses on what marketing educators can do to help students develop a sustainable competitive advantage. The authors conducted a survey of students, faculty, and recruiters to develop a better understanding of what skills and characteristics might be of value to each group of respondents and…

Competitive Intelligence in Perspective to be a Source of Competitive Advantage and Strategic Contributions

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Felipe Gama Buzzerio

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines the prospect of Competitive Intelligence (CI constitute a source of competitive advantage in light of the Resource Based View and its contribution to the strategic management of the company. Relies on exploratory and descriptive research using the qualitative method. Six managers responsible for CI activities institutionalized in large different business companies were interviewed. Data were processed and analyzed with the application of content analysis. It was concluded that the CI is unable to be a source of competitive advantage but rather as an effective support to decision making process in the surveyed companies. Apparently CI products meet the specific needs of internal customers, facilitate the integration of CI with marketing and operations, help in the identification of risks through the analysis of strategic information, which is a differentiator compared to other types of intelligences.

Consumer Insight as Competitive Advantage Using Big Data and Analytics

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Adnan Veysel Ertemel

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Digital revolution serves as a competitive advantage to businesses that are able to analyze consumer behavior in order to gain insights for their strategic advantage. After the advent of Internet, the past two decades witnessed generation of vast amount of business data. The amount of data is so huge that traditional database management system approaches falls short of managing and analyzing this data. This paper explores the characteristics of this phenomenon called Big Data together with Analytics as a tool for marketers to gain insights about consumer behavior and hence provide competitive advantage to the businesses. It also discusses some best practices as case studies.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP - THEIR IMPACT ON CREATING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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Ljiljana Stošić Mihajlović

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Modern economy, less oriented to natural resources, and more on the intellectual aspects of asset, based on the fact that the competitive advantage of any company is the knowledge that she possesses. Terms of economic theory terms, it is necessary to build a strategy that will produce super profits, ie. strategy that will enable the efficient exploitation of knowledge companies to win competitive advantage. It is assumed that knowledge in its explicit or implicit manifestations can be managed. The question is how to develop a knowledge management strategy that would exploit this valuable resource and protect its value. Possibility of knowledge management is becoming increasingly important in today's so-called. knowledge economy (knowledge economy. The creation and dissemination of knowledge within modern organizations is becoming increasingly crucial factor in achieving and maintaining its competitive advantage. In fact, the only sustainable competitive advantage of modern organizations derives from what the company knows, how efficiently used what you know and how quickly acquire and use new knowledge. Modern organizations in the era of knowledge is one who learns, remembers and acts on the basis of the information and knowledge available in the best possible way.

Comparative local advantages and technological competitiveness for Italian industry

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Palma, Daniela; Zini, Alessandro

2005-01-01

This article describes the evolution of the Italian manufacturing sector's competitiveness over the past ten years and the role played bu the local technology-based comparative advantages in shaping national competitiveness. Data obtained with local-based econometric techniques point to a gradual weakening of core know-how in high-tech industries strongly rooted in the Northwest [it

Competitive Advantage in Intercollegiate Athletics: Role of Intangible Resources.

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Won, Doyeon; Chelladurai, Packianathan

2016-01-01

The present research explored the dynamics of competitive advantages in intercollegiate athletics by investigating the contribution of intangible resources (i.e., athletic and academic reputations) on the generation of more tangible resources (i.e., human and financial resources), which in turn influence the athletic performance (i.e., winning record) and academic performance (i.e., graduation rates), and gender equity. The research was based entirely on archival data of 324 NCAA Division I member institutions. The results of the SEM supported the study's basic arguments that tangible resources are the sources of competitive advantages in Division I intercollegiate athletics, and that intangible resources contribute to the generation of tangible resources.

Peran Strategic Entrepreneurship dalam Membangun Sustainable Competitive Advantage

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Agustinus Dedy Handrimurtjahjo

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Strategic entrepreneurship has emerged as a new concept in examining convergence in entrepreneurship studies (opportunity-seeking behavior and strategic management (advantage-seeking behavior. Studies in the area of strategic management have gradually exposed the relationship betweenstrategic management and entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategy making; intrapreneurship; entrepreneurial strategic posture within organizations; entrepreneurial orientation; strategic managementintegration as a context for entrepreneurial actions; and entrepreneurship theory with strategic management and the resource-based view (RBV. A conceptual model of SE that has been developed by Ireland et al.suggested that a firm which linearly and sequentially: employs an entrepreneurial mindset to identify opportunities; manages resources strategically to tackle the opportunity; applies creativity and innovation; andgenerates a competitive advantage is strategic and entrepreneurship operation. Managers must maximize the pursuit of new business opportunities while simultaneously maximize the generation and application of temporary competitive advantages to sustainably create organizational value. This paper develops a conceptual framework that demonstrate the role of strategic entrepreneurship in building sustainable competitiveadvantage.

Competitive Advantages from Horizontal Relationships in Productive Agglomerations: perceptions of local agents

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Leonardo Pinheiro Deboçã

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Objective – This paper aims to assess to what extent relational view assumptions can explain competitive advantages perceived in the industrial agglomeration contexts of small businesses. Design/methodology/approach – We used qualitative research; two furniture centers, Misassol (SP and Ubá (MG, were examined through comparative data analysis. Data was collected through interviews with executives from 40 companies and 13 supporting organizations. The relational view and its assumptions point to factors that generate competitive advantage resulting from collaborative relationships between companies. Moreover, agglomerations provide intense relationships and are encouraged by governance entities. Findings – No competitive advantages clearly established due to relational gains were identified. The behavior of entrepreneurs in both centers tends strongly towards individualism. What agents identify as competitive advantages corresponds to situational or contextual factors in these centers and do not result from the realization of relational view assumptions, escaping from this paradigm. Relational gains can result only from subgroups that are formed through affinity, with no intervention from governance. Practical implications – Despite an agglomeration tendency within companies belonging to the furniture sector, a strong inclination towards individualism creates barriers to obtaining additional advantages resulting from relational gains, whether due to market regionalization, access of sales representatives, or logistics and tax costs, among other issues. However, actions in small groups are an important governance mechanism for that context. Contributions – Evaluate the assumptions of relational view and its explanatory power for competitive advantages in agglomerations of Brazilian furniture companies.

Knowledge management as a means of developing a firm’s competitive advantage

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Tomaž Čater

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Knowledge management is one of the most popular themes of modern scientific literature. However, in spite of all the published research on the importance of knowledge management, there is little said about knowledge as a direct source of a firm’s competitive advantage. In the past decades, three main hypotheses on the sources of a firm’s competitive advantage were developed; namely, the industrial organization, the resource-based and the capability-based hypotheses. In this paper, we argue that the knowledge-based hypothesis can and should be considered as the fourth tantamount hypothesis on how the sources of the competitive advantage of a firm can be explained.

Hiding effort to gain a competitive advantage: Evidence from China.

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Zhao, Li; Heyman, Gail D

2018-06-01

Previous studies with Western populations have shown that adolescents' tendency to downplay their academic effort is affected by two kinds of motives: ability-related motives (e.g., to appear competent) and social approval motives (e.g., to be popular). In this research, we test for the presence of additional competition-related motives in China, a culture placing strong emphasis on academic competition. Study 1 (N = 150) showed that, in response to a scenario in which a hard-working high-school junior hid effort from classmates, the most highly endorsed explanation was "to influence others to work less hard to maintain a competitive advantage." Study 2 (N = 174) revealed that competition-related explanations were endorsed relatively more often when the speaker and audience had similar academic rankings. This tendency was most evident when both speaker and audience were top performers, and when this was the case, participants' desire to demonstrate superiority over others was a positive predictor of endorsement of competition-related motives. Study 3 (N = 137) verified that competition-related motives were more strongly endorsed among Chinese participants than U.S. These results suggest that at least in cultures that emphasize academic competition and in contexts where competition is salient, hiding effort is often about attempting to gain strategic advantage. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

Cooperative resources lead to sustainable competitive advantage

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Fernando Vieira

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to analyze how organizational resources contribute to cooperatives achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. The theoretical approach of this study is the Resource Based View and VRIO model advocated by Barney and Hesterly (2007. The research was characterized as descriptive and quantitative, through data collection from secondary sources and a survey. The data collection tool was a questionnaire devised by Peacock, Sehnem and Hoffmann (2011. Data collection took place between the months of September 2014 and March 2015. The study sample was composed of a total of 215 cooperatives from across the country, divided into 13 segments. Secondary data was subjected to content analysis. The primary data was analyzed using statistical inference, namely: descriptive statistics, mean, Pearson correlation, Varimax rotation and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The main results showed that human resources are seen as important to achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. This research contributed to and enables new studies concerning the growth of cooperatives taking into account the use of internal resources.

Management Methods and Concepts for Building Competitive Advantage in Hospitality Companies

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Gierczak Beata

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Competitive advantage determines the success of modern enterprises, such as hospitality companies, on the market. In turn, competitive advantage is gained as the result of skillful management, taking into account the factors that characterize the company environment. In the management process, methods and concepts that, when properly applied, facilitate the company's innovative activities play the key role, thus contributing to building competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to specify and characterize the methods and management concepts most commonly used by hospitality companies in the process of building competitive advantage. The core benefit of these considerations is that they serve to identify those activities of hospitality companies in which the analyzed methods and concepts found practical application. The final part of the article is devoted to an attempt to identify barriers and problems that significantly limit the use of these methods and concepts. Material and methods. In order to achieve this objective, a survey and interviews were carried out in all three- and four-star hotels in the Rzeszów area in the first quarter of 2012. Results. The results revealed that the concept most commonly used by hoteliers was knowledge-based organization (knowledge management, followed by outsourcing, benchmarking and internal competition, respectively. Conclusions. The study also demonstrated that the managers of these hospitality companies significantly lacked substantive knowledge of emerging “market” management methods and concepts.

Business Intelligence Solutions for Gaining Competitive Advantage

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2007-01-01

Full Text Available Business Intelligence is the process for increasing the competitive advantage of a company by intelligent use of available data in decision-making. Only a revolutionary Business Intelligence solution, like the proposed portal-based, can solve the complex issues faced when evaluating decision support applications and ensures the availability of any business-critical information.

Supplier relationship management leverages intellectual capital for increased competitive advantage

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C. R. Van Zyl

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate how supplier relationship management (SRM enables the capture and creation of intellectual capital, thereby attaining and sustaining a strategic competitive advantage and increasing supply chain profitability. In order to achieve this purpose, a large part of the article is devoted to exploring the relatively new and unknown field of SRM. It is shown that an organisation must possess a thorough understanding of good supplier characteristics and of the drivers, benefits and requirements for the successful implementation of SRM, in order to enable that organisation to leverage their supplier relationships to ensure the capture of supplier expertise, patents, experiences etc. (i.e. their intellectual capital. The article then explores how the integration of technology in SRM applications can improve the efficiency of supplier collaboration and intellectual capital capture and creation. It is then demonstrated how efficient and collaborative supplier relationships improve supply chain profitability and competitiveness. Lastly, the article explores the implementation pitfalls and trends of SRM that must be constantly considered and monitored by an organisation in order to continually capture and create intellectual capital and reap the full benefits of SRM. This exploration involved an examination of contemporary literature, theories and business cases and subsequently revealed that SRM is a vital discipline/philosophy that must be implemented by any organisation wishing to achieve greater supply chain efficiency and competitiveness. This competitiveness can only be achieved through the mutual unlocking, sharing and leveraging of intellectual capital.

LOOKING BEYOND COST LEADERSHIP AND DIFFERENTIATION IN THE QUEST FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

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Cristian – Liviu Vele

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The current business environment, shaped by significant changes in the consumers’ behavior and, also, by a decrease in the demand for products and services, has influenced the way in which the companies are organized and managed, making the quest for sustainable competitive advantages top priority. The companies that will be able to provide customers with superior products and services will have the highest chances of survival. While it is true that times of economic crises causes a large number of companies to exit the market, it is also true that those who manage to adapt and gain sustainable competitive advantages will not only survive, but will be able to fill in the gaps left by their competitors and thus to increase their business. This article wishes to provide a theoretical perspective on the possible sources of sustainable competitive advantages, besides Michael Porter’s cost leadership and differentiation strategies. Following this, we will show how technological innovation, time, efficient use of the resources and designing the best organizational structure can be used as sources to gain sustainable competitive advantages.

Significant competitive advantage conferred by meiosis and syngamy in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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Birdsell, J; Wills, C

1996-01-01

The presumed advantages of genetic recombinations are difficult to demonstrate directly. To investigate the effects of recombination and background heterozygosity on competitive ability, we have performed serial-transfer competition experiments between isogenic sexual and asexual strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The members of these diploid pairs of strains differed only in being heterozygous (sexual) or homozygous (asexual) at the mating type or MAT locus. Competing pairs had either a completely homozygous or a heterozygous genetic background, the latter being heterozygous at many different loci throughout the genome. A round of meiotic recombination (automixis) conferred a large and statistically significant enhancement of competitive ability on sexual strains with a heterozygous genetic background. By contrast, in homozygous background competitions, meiosis decreased the sexual strains' initial relative competitive ability. In all cases, however, the sexual strains outcompeted their isogenic asexual counterparts, whether meiotic recombination had occurred or not. In some genetic backgrounds, this was due in part to an overdominance effect on competitive advantage of heterozygosity at the MAT locus. The advantage of the sexual strains also increased significantly during the course of the homozygous background competitions, particularly when meiosis had occurred. This latter effect either did not occur or was very weak in heterozygous background competitions. Overall, sexual strains with heterozygous genetic backgrounds had a significantly higher initial relative competitive ability than those with homozygous backgrounds. The advantage of mating type heterozygosity in this organism extends far beyond the ability to recombine meiotically. PMID:8570658

Safety and Security Decisions in times of Economic Crisis : Establishing a Competitive Advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reniers, G.L.L.M.E.

2014-01-01

The paper argues that organisations who invest intelligently in safety and security, regardless the macroeconomic situation, will have a competitive advantage over their competitors not doing so. Establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage is all about excellence. Excellent results actually

Management in achieving competitive advantage in Nigerian public organisations under the global economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chijioke Hope Ukanwah

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the strategic role of human resources management in achieving competitive advantage in a global economy. Human resource management remains indispensable in engendering competitive advantage for businesses in this era of tense global competition. Productivity and competitiveness of organisations is now dependent on their employees’ ability to generate, process, and apply knowledge. Scholars and practitioners of human resources management agree that a workforce that is properly trained and managed is a source of competitive advantage. The article recognised the fact that public organisations have not really given importance to human resource management and this is responsible for their underwhelming performance. The paper recommends some HR strategies that managers can adopt to improve the quality and value of their workforce, and these range from effective talent management, continuous workplace learning, safe and healthy work environment, ICT adoption, competitive benefit system, HR planning to proper deployment of skills and expertise.

How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Adina Musetescu

2013-01-01

In order to succeed in any market a company has to decide which strategy is more appropriate to use, which means identifying the sources of a potential competitive advantage such as skills or resources. Superior skills in creating a special product can represent the element that is setting the company apart from its competitors. That is easily translated into a very good quality of the products. The resources of the company refer to the great number of retailers (a good distribution chain tha...

Building Competitive Advantage in Academic Programmes in Open ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper however, suggests that greatest competitive advantage for ODL-HLIs such as OUT‟s is hidden in its postgraduate programmes. The paper stresses that improved quality and completion rates of research and postgraduate students in business, law, economics, and education and applied natural sciences should ...

GAINING SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE IT ADVANTAGES: MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES IN INTERNATIONALIZED BUSINESSES

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Eduardo Armando

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This research studies how the studied firms gain sustainable competitive advantages (SCAs. The issue has been studied in the literature on business strategy: the challenge for managers is to identify, develop, protect and use resources and skills that provide the firm with SCAs. Eight cases were studied. All concerned Information Technology firms that sell to other companies. The variables used were qualitative. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources consisted of the studied firms, where interviews with management were held. The main results are: (1 One firm develops products abroad and this aspect is a competitive advantage. (2 There are cases that resort to a model that provides them with great operating flexibility. (3 One firm obtained SCAs by developing a strategy whereby it implemented a franchise model for development and distribution. The franchise system encourages entrepreneurial behavior among the franchisees. (4 One case gained a competitive advantage through the complexity and sophistication of its products. (5 Some of the cases searched for market niches that were less exposed to competition.Key-words: Strategic management. Strategic planning. Advanced Technology firms. Management of multinationals. 

European Management: an emerging competitive advantage of European nations: A reply to Michael Porter

OpenAIRE

Bosch, Frans; Prooijen, A.A.

1992-01-01

textabstractThis article extends the debate begun in the June 1992 issue of EMJ when the authors first criticized Michael Porter's explanatory framework in his Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990), over the role of national culture on the competitive advantage of nations. In this paper, Frans van den Bosch and Arno van Prooijen stress that Europe is a locus of competitive advantage if one is prepared to pay attention to the possibility of ‘European Management’ as a potential asset of Europ...

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF A FRANCHISEE IN THE SOFTWARE MARKET: THE CASE OF TOTVS

OpenAIRE

Matoso, Joelson Obregão; Abib, Gustavo

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT In highly competitive technology markets, such as the market in which Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) service providers do business, it has become of fundamental importance to understand the factors that create competitive advantages. This paper presents the support from the theoretical frameworks offered by the Resource-based View (RBV) and the Market-based View (MBV) to attempt to explain the competitive advantage held by Totvs Curitiba, a franchise of Totvs, which in turn is ...

Human Resources as a Competitive Advantage of Travel Agencies in Montenegro

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Aleksa Vučetić

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Human resources in travel agencies represent an especially valuable resource, which possesses the multidisciplinary and highly specialized knowledge and skills in the field of selective tourism. Human resources enable the agencies to create the services and products of superior value for the consumers within market niches, and thereby significantly contribute to increase in profitability of agencies, thereby becoming an important factor in competitive advantage of the agencies. Research results enable identification of the relation between human resources and servicing of travel agencies market niches. The paper presents an analysis of travel agencies’ human resources from the aspect of competitive advantage, with a special overview of their role in the domain of offer development and servicing of consumers in various types of selective tourism. The goal of the research is to prove, on a scientific basis, that the human resources represent a very important factor of competitive advantage of travel agencies.

THE EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND RISK PERCEPTION ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

Demir, Bülent

2018-01-01

Theaim of this research is to examine the impact of strategic management practicesand risk perception on the competitive advantage. In the research, strategicmanagement practices and risk perception were considered as independentvariables and competitive advantage as dependent variable.Theresearch is expected to contribute to the theoretical and practical aspects ofthe literature. The theoretical contribution of the research is that the effectof strategic management practices and the risk per...

Resource-Based View of Information Systems: Sustainable and Transient Competitive Advantage Perspectives

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Gaurav Gupta

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The resource-based view (RBV, or resource-based theory, is one of the oldest and most influential theories in the field of information systems. This paper contends that it is timely to revisit, reflect on, and reposition RBV to ensure its continued disciplinary relevance and progress. In doing so, this paper (i provides a succinct and sharp evaluation of the conventional RBV of information systems that firms use to establish sustainable competitive advantage, and (ii makes an original contribution by introducing a contemporary RBV of information systems that firms can use to establish transient competitive advantage. Both these contributions should advance the current and future understanding of information systems as (a an internal firm resource, (b a source of competitive advantage, and (c a driver of firm performance.

COMP-1 promotes competitive advantage of nematode sperm.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Jody M; Chavez, Daniela R; Stanfield, Gillian M

2015-03-19

Competition among sperm to fertilize oocytes is a ubiquitous feature of sexual reproduction as well as a profoundly important aspect of sexual selection. However, little is known about the cellular mechanisms sperm use to gain competitive advantage or how these mechanisms are regulated genetically. In this study, we utilize a forward genetic screen in Caenorhabditis elegans to identify a gene, comp-1, whose function is specifically required in competitive contexts. We show that comp-1 functions in sperm to modulate their migration through and localization within the reproductive tract, thereby promoting their access to oocytes. Contrary to previously described models, comp-1 mutant sperm show no defects in size or velocity, thereby defining a novel pathway for preferential usage. Our results indicate not only that sperm functional traits can influence the outcome of sperm competition, but also that these traits can be modulated in a context-dependent manner depending on the presence of competing sperm.

Organizational Culture, Absorptive Capacity, Innovation Performace and Competitive Advantage: An Integrated Assessment in Indonesian Banking Industry

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Ahmad Adriansyah

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The positive impact of absorptive capacity (ACAP on innovation and the positive impact of innovation on competitive advantage have been proven in different research contexts. However, current knowledge on organizational culture that affects ACAP, innovation and competitive advantage as a whole, remains unclear. This article proposes a model to examine how organizational culture (developmental culture and rational culture affects ACAP, innovation and competitive advantage, directly and indirectly as well.  Surveyed data (in Indonesian Banking Industry shows that both of organizational culture have a direct impact on ACAP. Only developmental culture has a direct impact on innovation. There is no culture type affects competitive advantage directly. In this research, culture affects competitive advantage through ACAP and innovation.    

The Pursuit of Sustainable Competitive Advantage : A Profile of the Starbucks Corporation

OpenAIRE

White, Benjamin; Moraschinelli, Ettore

2009-01-01

Title: The Pursuit of Sustainable Competitive Advantage – A Profile of the Starbucks Corporation Authors: Benjamin Adam White & Ettore Moraschinelli Advisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire Date: 2009 May 29 Program: International Business and Entrepreneurship Purpose: To study sustainable competitive advantages using Starbucks as a case study. Methods: The qualitative method was utilized to collect the secondary data used in this type of thesis, being a case study. This approach applied to both...

Understanding Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The Role of Positioning, Resources and Organisational Capabilities

OpenAIRE

David J. Collis

1998-01-01

This paper applies the value-based framework (Brandenburger and Stuart 1994) to the strategic management concepts of positioning, resources and organisational capabilities. It observes that each is a discrete level in the analysis of sustainable competitive advantage which can rigorously be interpreted as the determinants of location and speed of movement in value space. It concludes that strategic management will never find the ultimate explanation of competitive advantage because all orders...

COMPETITORS ACCOUNTING AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE TOOL

OpenAIRE

YÜCENURŞEN, Mehmet; DUMAN, Haluk; APAK, İbrahim; KALAV, Ömer

2016-01-01

In recent years, it seems that businesses adopt customer-oriented marketing strategies. According to the adopted strategies to keep customer satisfaction at the highest level, businesses have been focused to developt new product, to find new customers, to improve distribution and promotion activity etc. Besides, businesses have recognized that they should analize their competitor’s activity and movement to make high profit and growth. Porter's competitive advantage that it is possib...

Digital Social Media: An Interactive Technology Incorporated as a Competitive Advantage for Business

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Pedro Pereira Correia

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In a more transparent and dynamic world, in which consumers trust other consumers more for advice and recommendations on products and services, the continuity of organizations appears to be associated with socialization, the sharing of interests and the interaction with the audience. This is associated with the incorporation of digital technologies to business, specifically the use of social media. Consequently, it is timely and interesting to explore the phenomenon of virtual socialization, although it is a little-studied field and what is needed is an innovative and theoretical approach based upon theories of marketing and communication. Expertise in these areas is present in all organizations and their performance is important for appropriate development of them. This work is a qualitative analysis about the behavior, reactions and attitudes of individuals to organizations, in order to understand the social factors that contribute to sustainable competitive advantages of organizations which can support strategic and future actions. We conclude that relevant factors associated with the tacit knowledge of the organization, specifically to learning and social interaction of the organization and their knowledge of virtual communities. The higher the coexistence of factors, the more difficult is the replication and greater will be the hypothesis of sustainable competitive advantage.

The Implementation of Knowledge Strategy-Based Entrepreneurial Capacity to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage

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Widodo

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This study aims to develop a model of knowledge strategy-based entrepreneurial capacity to achieve sustainable competitive advantage of rurol banking in Central Java province. The sampling method is ‘‘Purposive sampling’’ by considering the characteristics of the population items, namely: operational experience for at least 5 years and representatives of each area of rurol banking in Semarang, Surakarta and Purwokerto. Then, the sample size is 150 of 251 (59.7% of top managers of rurol banking. To analyze the data in this study, it used the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM, of the, AMOS software package. The findings of this study explain that 1. The first step in promoting a sustainable competitive advantage through knowledge sharing is by prioritizing the quality of interaction, willingness and ability. 2. Efforts to improve a sustainable competitive advantage through knowledge exploitation built by knowledge sharing are by prioritizing to actively accept changes and introduction, solve problems together, use and combine new knowledge in operation. 3. Efforts to improve a sustainable competitive advantage through the knowledge exploitation built by risk-taking are by prioritizing a strong tendency for high-risk projects (with the possibility of gaining high-return, a high courage for the actions necessary to achieve the goal, having an aggressive attitude to optimize the possibility of utilizing existing potential opportunities and enjoying the challenge of the risk situation. 4. Efforts to improve a sustainable competitive advantage through knowledge exploitation built by a pro-active are by prioritizing to anticipate problem more quickly than competitors, future oriented, addressed by technology, launching product selectively and systematically search for new ideas. 5. Efforts to improve a sustainable competitive advantage through knowledge exploitation built by the innovativeness are by prioritizing the speed of developing products

The level of national competitiveness and the role of human capital in the creation of competitive advantage

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Mitrović Vladimir

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The new economy is organized around global networks of capital, management and information, which is based on technology. In this dynamic and growing international trade and the emergence of aggressive competition in the competitive and global market changing rules of the game and the positions which certain factors are in creating a competitive advantage in the global market. Technological development, innovation, knowledge and skills have become crucial factors for the development of an economy and its companies. Proper management of human capital is a direct source of improving quality and productivity at work, and with it the competitiveness of the most important prerequisite for achieving this goal is quality education. Investing in people and skills is essential, because it is the only way to preserve and improve competitiveness advantage. The need for continuing education caused great dynamism of modern society, the rapid technical and technological development, especially ICT, which requires the creation of new knowledge and skills, as well as creating new occupations, but at the same time that resource must be continually developed and improved.

FORMATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF ENTERPRISES IN TERMS OF GLOBALIZATION: COMPETITIVE DYNAMICS AND AN INTELLECTUAL COMPONENT

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Oleg Tarasenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to investigate the current state of scientific thought in relation to the formation of intellectual capital of an enterprise in the innovation process, achievement by the enterprise of corresponding competitive advantages and their protection. Methodology. The methodological basis of the article is the systematic approach, which provided a comprehensive definition of the scope of this research – intellectual property and its protection as a complex economic and legal category. This made it possible to systematically define the purpose, level of abstraction, hierarchy, forms of manifestation, and key attributes of the subject of research. Application of principles of modelling of business processes also allowed studying the influence of factors of the external environment on the sequence of information flows in the process of forming competitive advantages on the basis of intellectual property. In addition, having determined the scientific basis, the collective and local monographic studies of leading scientists concerning the specificity of the formation of competitive advantages of innovative enterprises, including on the basis of intellectual capital, were also taken into account. Results. The article studies, describes and, correspondingly, formalizes modern processes of formation of competitive advantages in the conditions of Smart Economy: knowledge management, their patenting, modern significance, and the influence of patenting on the role of intellectual property in the investigated phenomena, as well as management of relevant information flows. Practical implications. The research demonstrates ways of forming competitive advantages in the modern economy, and the results of the analysis of relevant statistics explain patterns of economic and legal processes in the field of relevant practical activities. This allows assessing the actual state of the subject of the research, determining the development

INNOVATION POTENTIAL AS A DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE GROWTH OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES BUILDING PRODUCTS

OpenAIRE

T. U. Levitsky; A. M. Esetova

2014-01-01

It is stipulated that the construction company, chosen the strategy of economic growth, should have some competitive advantages, determining opportunities for sustainable development and effective improving, and operational efficiency increase. One of the factors of the competitiveness increase of construction products is the innovative potential of construction industry. Methodical approaches to the evaluation of innovative capacity and its effect on the growth of competitive advantages have...

Revitalizing Customer Value And Competitive Advantage Of Coastal Culinary Tourism In Jember

OpenAIRE

Lilik Farida; Ahmad Ahsin Kusuma

2017-01-01

Coastal culinary tourism is one of potential destination and economic source in Jember district Indonesia. Majority of coastal culinary tourism in Jember is operated by Small and Medium Enterprises SMEs with limited ability in developing their customer value and strengthening their competitive advantage. This study seeked to examine the effect of service quality and marketing mix on customer value and competitive advantage and to examine the effect of service quality and marketing mix on comp...

Developing a competitive advantage in the market for radiology services.

Science.gov (United States)

Kropf, R; Szafran, A J

1988-01-01

This article describes how managers of outpatient diagnostic radiology services can develop a competitive advantage by increasing the value of services to patients and referring physicians. A method is presented to identify changes to services that increase their value. The method requires the definition of the "value chains" of patients and referring physicians. Particular attention is paid to the use of information systems technology to suggest and implement service changes. A narrow range of health services was selected because the approach requires a detailed understanding of consumers and how they use services. The approach should, however, be examined carefully by managers seeking to develop a competitive advantage for a wide range of health services.

THE ROLE OF A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF ENTERPRISES

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Joanna Szwacka-Mokrzycka

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The paper was elaborated in order to determine the role and importance of quality management systems for an increase in the competitive advantage of an enterprise. The starting point is to present the contribution of different scientific staff to the development of the competitiveness theory and modern quality management systems. The presentation of contemporary sources of the competitive advantage and possibilities of the use of optimal competing strategies in particular conditions are a base for these considerations. The next part of the study includes a review of quality management systems as well as research results concerning sources of competitive advantages as well as economic and marketing effects of improvement of management efficiency. According to the research results, it could be concluded that quality perception, of both products and service quality proved by a suitable certificate as well as quality of the costumer’s service, is tightly connected with the level of costumer’s awareness. The research results confirm that implementation of the quality management system is perceived by enterprises as a significant source of the competitive advantage. As the respondents indicated, it contributes in increase in market access, acquiring new costumers, and as a consequence increase in market share of the investigated enterprises.

The effects of greening the supplier and innovation on environmental performance and competitive advantage

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Unine van den Berg

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Companies in South Africa should realise the important influence of greening their suppliers and of innovation to achieve environmental goals and competitive advantages. In order to prove this, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 75 companies from 11 industries in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality region, South Africa. A confirmatory factor analysis was done, followed by bivariate correlations to determine the strength of association between the latent constructs. Correlations between greening the supplier, innovation, environmental performance and competitive advantages were done. The research found that a green innovative process had a significant effect on environmental performance. Green managerial innovation further had a significant correlation with competitive advantage. The primary result of the study indicated that all the constructs positively related to each other, meaning that greening suppliers, by means of green innovation, leads to an enhanced environmental performance and to competitive advantages.

Information systems supported organizational learning as a competitive advantage

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Jose Manuel Arias

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics that make information systems useful in gathering and processing information with the aim of organizational learning and subsequent structural adaptation for better fitting to market requirements. Design/methodology/approach: Adaptation is a must when turning to foster the competitiveness and sustainability of the organization. Findings and Originality/value: It is clear that information systems can really create a difference in the way an organization acquires information from its environment and from itself in order to achieve a high-quality decision taking process. Research limitations/implications: Organizations have to look inside themselves in order to ensure the comprehension of their core competencies and the way they carry them out. Practical implications: Organizational learning is one of the means employed by organizations to get adapted to their surrounding environment. Social implications: Systems engineering techniques can be applied in order to leverage these core competencies and make organizations adaptable to the organizational environment requirements through the use of information systems. Originality/value: To obtain competitive advantages in the market. Keywords: competitive advantage, information systems, knowledge management, & the learning organization.

Achieving competitive advantage through strategic human resource management.

Science.gov (United States)

Fottler, M D; Phillips, R L; Blair, J D; Duran, C A

1990-01-01

The framework presented here challenges health care executives to manage human resources strategically as an integral part of the strategic planning process. Health care executives should consciously formulate human resource strategies and practices that are linked to and reinforce the broader strategic posture of the organization. This article provides a framework for (1) determining and focusing on desired strategic outcomes, (2) identifying and implementing essential human resource management actions, and (3) maintaining or enhancing competitive advantage. The strategic approach to human resource management includes assessing the organization's environment and mission; formulating the organization's business strategy; assessing the human resources requirements based on the intended strategy; comparing the current inventory of human resources in terms of numbers, characteristics, and human resource management practices with respect to the strategic requirements of the organization and its services or product lines; formulating the human resource strategy based on the differences between the assessed requirements and the current inventory; and implementing the appropriate human resource practices to reinforce the strategy and attain competitive advantage.

Sustainability and cleaner production: a study on the implications competitive advantage in business

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Jaqueline Guimarães Santos

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the relationship between the adoption of environmental management system in the business and the competitive advantages that can result from this process. Therefore, the effects are discussed the emergence of a model of sustainable development and the role and opportunities of the company that perspective. Being theoretical, the aim of this paper is to discuss the potential contributions that the implementation of cleaner production technology can offer to the enterprise competitive strategy. To elucidate these relationships are discussed concepts relating to the introduction of an environmental management system, which emphasized the use of environmental measures, specifically the inherent Cleaner Production that aim to reduce the environmental impacts of industrial production, eliminating waste and reducing costs. Moreover, the concept of competitive advantage is crafted light of assumptions Porter on profitability from cost reduction and product differentiation. The findings indicate that the introduction of the Cleaner Production to reduce costs and add value to the image of the product, is an instrument of competitiveness that allows the company to differentiate and gain competitive advantage.

A case study :creating and sustaining competitive advantage through an information technology application in the lodging industry

OpenAIRE

Cho, Wonae

1996-01-01

The use of information technology (IT) is becoming an essential component within the commercial sector. While large number of companies have adopted IT applications to achieve competitive advantage, and number of studies have been done on competitive advantage through an IT application, it is not clear what the impact of an IT application on competitive advantage is. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an IT application on competitive advantage and how to cre...

Paying Medicare Advantage plans by competitive bidding: how much competition is there?

Science.gov (United States)

Biles, Brian; Pozen, Jonah; Guterman, Stuart

2009-08-01

Private health plans that enroll Medicare beneficiaries--known as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans--are being paid $11 billion more in 2009 than it would cost to cover these beneficiaries in regular fee-for-service Medicare. To generate Medicare savings for offsetting the costs of health reform, the Obama Administration has proposed eliminating these extra payments to private insurers and instituting a competitive bidding system that pays MA plans based on the bids they submit. This study examines the concentration of enrollment among MA plans and the degree to which firms offering MA plans actually face competition. The results show that in the large majority of U.S. counties, MA plan enrollment is highly concentrated in a small number of firms. Given the relative lack of competition in many markets as well as the potential impact on traditional Medicare, the authors call for careful consideration of a new system for setting MA plan payments.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT STANDARDS

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PALIEKHOVA L. L.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of the presented research is to explore the potential of international energy management standards to increase competitiveness of industrial enterprises under conditions of Ukrainian transitional economy. The study had the following objectives: to trace the evolution of fundamental energy efficiency standards; to discuss experience in their use in various countries; to identify factors that are key to achieving competitive advantage under the implementation ISO 50001. Methodology. This article presents a historical overview of the standardisation of principles and approaches for the purpose of the energy-efficient management. The research was carried out by studying the international documents, voluntary standards and national practices in the field of energy efficiency. Conclusions. The study examines the experiences of different countries in the field of energy management systems. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the ISO 50001 with the other basic standards for the organisation of management. The system approach enables to identify the main factors and their impact on capacity to achieve competitive advantages, which are possible to obtain after certification to ISO 50001. Originality. The study reviewed and analysed the energy management penetration within its dynamics at time and country level. After analysing the statistical data and the results of the interviews, the authors identified 20 key factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises that are certified to ISO 50001. All of these factors were divided into four groups, two groups represent external environment – opportunities and threats, and two groups – internal capacity – strengths and weaknesses of enterprises. Practical value. The proposed system of factors may be useful for the planning of actions towards strengthening the capacity of energy management systems in the context of the formation competitive advantages on the industrial

Strategic investment, multimarket interaction and competitive advantage: An application to the natural gas industry

OpenAIRE

Ritz, R. A.

2016-01-01

This paper presents a game-theoretic analysis of multimarket competition with strategic capacity investments, motivated by recent developments in international natural gas markets. It studies the competitive implications of heterogeneity in firm structure arising from asset specificity. A single-market focus confers advantage even in the absence of superior value or cost. Lower costs and a sharper organizational focus are self-enforcing in generating competitive advantage. This establishes a ...

New Models for Value Creation and Competitive Advantage in the Petroleum Industry

OpenAIRE

Stabell, Charles

2001-01-01

This research project has applied, tested and further developed a set of new models for the analysis of value creation and competitive advantage in the context of the global petroleum industry. The basic idea behind the project was that Porter’s value chain model (1985) for the analysis of firm-level competitive advantage was basically only applicable to manufacturing. Building on Thompson’s (1967) distinction between long-linked, intensive and mediating value creation technologies, we propos...

Competitive bidding in Medicare Advantage: effect of benchmark changes on plan bids.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zirui; Landrum, Mary Beth; Chernew, Michael E

2013-12-01

Bidding has been proposed to replace or complement the administered prices that Medicare pays to hospitals and health plans. In 2006, the Medicare Advantage program implemented a competitive bidding system to determine plan payments. In perfectly competitive models, plans bid their costs and thus bids are insensitive to the benchmark. Under many other models of competition, bids respond to changes in the benchmark. We conceptualize the bidding system and use an instrumental variable approach to study the effect of benchmark changes on bids. We use 2006-2010 plan payment data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, published county benchmarks, actual realized fee-for-service costs, and Medicare Advantage enrollment. We find that a $1 increase in the benchmark leads to about a $0.53 increase in bids, suggesting that plans in the Medicare Advantage market have meaningful market power. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

COMPETITIVE BIDDING IN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: EFFECT OF BENCHMARK CHANGES ON PLAN BIDS

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zirui; Landrum, Mary Beth; Chernew, Michael E.

2013-01-01

Bidding has been proposed to replace or complement the administered prices in Medicare pays to hospitals and health plans. In 2006, the Medicare Advantage program implemented a competitive bidding system to determine plan payments. In perfectly competitive models, plans bid their costs and thus bids are insensitive to the benchmark. Under many other models of competition, bids respond to changes in the benchmark. We conceptualize the bidding system and use an instrumental variable approach to study the effect of benchmark changes on bids. We use 2006–2010 plan payment data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, published county benchmarks, actual realized fee-for-service costs, and Medicare Advantage enrollment. We find that a $1 increase in the benchmark leads to about a $0.53 increase in bids, suggesting that plans in the Medicare Advantage market have meaningful market power. PMID:24308881

COMP-1 promotes competitive advantage of nematode sperm

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Jody M; Chavez, Daniela R; Stanfield, Gillian M

2015-01-01

Competition among sperm to fertilize oocytes is a ubiquitous feature of sexual reproduction as well as a profoundly important aspect of sexual selection. However, little is known about the cellular mechanisms sperm use to gain competitive advantage or how these mechanisms are regulated genetically. In this study, we utilize a forward genetic screen in Caenorhabditis elegans to identify a gene, comp-1, whose function is specifically required in competitive contexts. We show that comp-1 functions in sperm to modulate their migration through and localization within the reproductive tract, thereby promoting their access to oocytes. Contrary to previously described models, comp-1 mutant sperm show no defects in size or velocity, thereby defining a novel pathway for preferential usage. Our results indicate not only that sperm functional traits can influence the outcome of sperm competition, but also that these traits can be modulated in a context-dependent manner depending on the presence of competing sperm. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05423.001 PMID:25789512

Brand competition in consumer packaged goods : Sustaining large market advantages with little product differentiation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bronnenberg, B.J.

2008-01-01

In direct competition between national brands of consumer packaged goods (CPG), one brand often has a large local share advantage over the other despite the similarity of the branded products. I present an explanation for these large and persistent advantages in the context of local competition on

European Management: an emerging competitive advantage of European nations : A reply to Michael Porter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); A.A. van Prooijen

1992-01-01

textabstractThis article extends the debate begun in the June 1992 issue of EMJ when the authors first criticized Michael Porter's explanatory framework in his Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990), over the role of national culture on the competitive advantage of nations. In this paper, Frans van

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND PERFORMANCE MODERATED BY THE AGE AND SIZE OF FIRMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alimin Ismadi Ismail

2010-07-01

Full Text Available It has been argued that achieving a position of competitive advantage is a necessary precursor to a firm's significant performance. This paper will empirically examine the potential moderating variables that could affect the relationship between a firm's competitive advantage and performance, namely the firms' age and size. By examining the relative moderating effects of these variables, this paper delivers valuable information to firms, specifically with regard to strategic management directed toward performance and attaining a competitive advantage. This research was conducted among 127 manufacturers listed in the 2008 Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers Directory. A cross- sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire to obtain responses from the manufacturers. A two-way ANOVA shows that only the age of firms is a significant moderator in the relationship between competitive advantage and performance, and that this relationship is stronger for older firms. The size of firms does not significantly moderate the relationship between competitive advantage and performance. Despite the non-significant moderating effect of firms' size, overall, this study provides empirical support for the Resource-Based View (RBV of Malaysian manufacturers regarding the issue of competitive advantage.

INNOVATION POTENTIAL AS A DETERMINING FACTOR IN THE GROWTH OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES BUILDING PRODUCTS

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T. U. Levitsky

2014-01-01

Full Text Available It is stipulated that the construction company, chosen the strategy of economic growth, should have some competitive advantages, determining opportunities for sustainable development and effective improving, and operational efficiency increase. One of the factors of the competitiveness increase of construction products is the innovative potential of construction industry. Methodical approaches to the evaluation of innovative capacity and its effect on the growth of competitive advantages have been proposed. 

Organizational Culture, Absorptive Capacity, Innovation Performace and Competitive Advantage: An Integrated Assessment in Indonesian Banking Industry

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Adriansyah; Adi Zakaria Afiff

2015-01-01

The positive impact of absorptive capacity (ACAP) on innovation and the positive impact of innovation on competitive advantage have been proven in different research contexts. However, current knowledge on organizational culture that affects ACAP, innovation and competitive advantage as a whole, remains unclear. This article proposes a model to examine how organizational culture (developmental culture and rational culture) affects ACAP, innovation and competitive advantage, directly and indir...

Manufacturing strategies for time based competitive advantages

OpenAIRE

Lin, Yong; Ma, Shihua; Zhou, Li

2012-01-01

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the current manufacturing strategies and practices of bus manufacturers in China, and to propose a framework of manufacturing strategies for time-based competitive advantages.\\ud Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual research framework is devised from a review of the literature, and case studies are used to investigate the manufacturing strategies and practices in place in the case companies. Data is collected through semi-stru...

Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Educational Institutions: A Suggested Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzarol, Tim; Soutar, Geoffrey Norman

1999-01-01

Outlines a model of factors critical to establishing and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage for education-services enterprises in international markets. The model, which combines industrial economics, management theory, and services marketing, seeks to explain the strategic decision-making environment in which the education exporter…

Hi-tech products marketing and competitive advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perović Jelena

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The company today, in causes turbulent environment and intensive integrations must cooperate, accept and develop high technology in order to achieve needs of customers. It's only way that companies replay on challenge global environment, decrease costs of investment per capita, decrease the risk, captivate new market and held competitive in causes of global market. High tech technology marketing function is help that results of new technology transfer on economy. Their function is reach need of customers, too. Positive influence of technology is the highest in area of production costs and productivity. Speed years are in front of our and it demands larger productivity, which primary source must be technology changes. High technology marketing is the most provocative framework for take competitive advantage, answer on global change and way of permanent reach rigorous need of customers.

Managerial attitudes, strategic intent, environmental initiatives and competitive advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reyes Rodríguez, Juan Felipe; Ulhøi, John Parm; Madsen, Henning

2013-01-01

To stay at the competitive forefront successful firms have for quite a while addressed environmental issues as part of their strategy. The competitive 'imperative' is however not restricted to large enterprises entirely. This paper reports empirical findings from a series of identical surveys per...... will be provided that allows for making recommendations with regard to possible new strategic directions. Before concluding, key implications for future research, managers and other related decision-makers are briefly addressed....... performed regularly since 1999. The purpose has been to track and analyse the development of the strategic responses of SMEs in Denmark. Furthermore, identification of potential shifts in the influence of motivators and the impact on competitive advantage has also been focused. In so doing, evidence...

Achieving competitive advantage through the integration of disabled architects in architectural design firms in Egypt

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Ezzat Othman Ayman Ahmed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The 2030 strategy of sustainable development in Egypt is based on integrated goals, including Human Resource Development. Egypt has ~9,540 disabled architects, who can play an important role in achieving competitive advantage through their integration in Architectural Design Firms (ADFs. By neglecting the benefits of integrating disabled architects, ADFs encounter the risk of losing unique skills and competent personnel. This article investigates the integration of disabled architects in ADFs as an approach for achieving competitive advantage. To achieve this aim, a research methodology consisting of literature review, case studies, and survey questionnaire has been adopted, and it is designed to achieve five objectives. First, literature review is used to investigate the concepts of disabilities and competitive advantage, as well as the relation between integrating disabled architects and the achievement of competitiveness in ADFs. Second, six case studies are presented and analyzed to investigate the role and process of achieving competitive advantage in ADFs through employing disabled architects. Third, the results of a survey questionnaire are analyzed to examine the perception regarding and application of employing disabled architects as an approach for achieving competitive advantage in ADFs in Egypt. Fourth, a framework is developed to facilitate the integration of disabled architects in ADFs with the goal of achieving competitive advantage. Finally, the research findings are summarized and recommendations are put forth. The value of this research stems from the need to address the issue of lack of employment of disabled architects in ADFs and the benefits of making better use of their unique capabilities and skills toward achieving competitiveness. In addition, this research covers a controversial topic that receives scant attention in construction literature, especially in Egypt.

Strategic Mergers of Strong Institutions to Enhance Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Harman, Grant; Harman, Kay

2008-01-01

Strategic mergers are formal combinations or amalgamations of higher education institutions with the aim of enhancing competitive advantage, or merging for "mutual growth". Recently, in a number of countries, there has been a decided shift from mergers initiated by governments, and dealing mainly with "problem" cases, towards…

Competitive Advantage and the Existence of the Multinational Corporation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geisler Asmussen, Christian; Foss, Nicolai Juul

2014-01-01

This article provides a counterpoint to Hashai and Buckley's article ‘Is competitive advantage a necessary condition for the emergence of the multinational enterprise?’ We agree with their conclusion that it is, in fact, not a necessary condition, but argue that the theoretical reasons behind thi...

Hubungan antara Knowledge-Technology-Innovation (KTI, Commitment, Competence, Leadership, Government Policy, Human Capital, dan Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darjat Sudrajat

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In current tight competitive situation, companies always try to create differentiation anytime to achieve better and sustainable performance. Rapid and unpredictable changes insist the companies should always be innovative, so that aspects of globalization, e-business, technology innovation, creativity, global competition, knowledge creation, diffusion of new technologies and knowledge revolution should be sources of performance and competitiveness improvement. Therefore, tomaintain core competencies and competitive advantage, the companies should develop continuous innovation, technologylearning, and knowledge management. Knowledge-Technology-Innovation (KTI can be a driver for country’s development and growth. Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are the countries that have limited natural and human resources, but able to achieve sustainable economic development. KTI is not only to be practiced at individual and organizational level, but also can be implemented at the community, national, or state level. KTI, therefore, can encourage expected competitive advantage creation and become a decisive factor for a country to achieve stable and sustainable economic growth. This research intends to analyze relationships of KTI, competitive advantage, commitment, leadership, human capital, government policy,and competence. This research used correlational method and literature study approach. The result of this research is a relationship model of each of these aspects that can be used as a framework for further research. The relationships model isas follows: Leadership, competence, and human capital (as independent variables have direct relationship (influence oncompetitive advantage (dependent variable or indirectly (through KTI as an intervening variable; KTI has direct relationship (effect on competitive advantage; Government policy and commitment are moderator variables for relationshipof KTI and competitive advantage.

On the duration and intensity of cumulative advantage competitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Bo; Towsley, Don; Sun, Liyuan; Figueiredo, Daniel R; Ribeiro, Bruno

2015-01-01

Network growth can be framed as a competition for edges among nodes in the network. As with various other social and physical systems, skill (fitness) and luck (random chance) act as fundamental forces driving competition dynamics. In the context of networks, cumulative advantage (CA)—the rich-get-richer effect—is seen as a driving principle governing the edge accumulation process. However, competitions coupled with CA exhibit non-trivial behavior and little is formally known about duration and intensity of CA competitions. By isolating two nodes in an ideal CA competition, we provide a mathematical understanding of how CA exacerbates the role of luck in detriment of skill. We show, for instance, that when nodes start with few edges, an early stroke of luck can place the less skilled in the lead for an extremely long period of time, a phenomenon we call ‘struggle of the fittest’. We prove that duration of a simple skill and luck competition model exhibit power-law tails when CA is present, regardless of skill difference, which is in sharp contrast to the exponential tails when fitness is distinct but CA is absent. We also prove that competition intensity is always upper bounded by an exponential tail, irrespective of CA and skills. Thus, CA competitions can be extremely long (infinite mean, depending on fitness ratio) but almost never very intense. The theoretical results are corroborated by extensive numerical simulations. Our findings have important implications to competitions not only among nodes in networks but also in contexts that leverage socio-physical models embodying CA competitions. (paper)

On the duration and intensity of cumulative advantage competitions

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Bo; Sun, Liyuan; Figueiredo, Daniel R.; Ribeiro, Bruno; Towsley, Don

2015-11-01

Network growth can be framed as a competition for edges among nodes in the network. As with various other social and physical systems, skill (fitness) and luck (random chance) act as fundamental forces driving competition dynamics. In the context of networks, cumulative advantage (CA)—the rich-get-richer effect—is seen as a driving principle governing the edge accumulation process. However, competitions coupled with CA exhibit non-trivial behavior and little is formally known about duration and intensity of CA competitions. By isolating two nodes in an ideal CA competition, we provide a mathematical understanding of how CA exacerbates the role of luck in detriment of skill. We show, for instance, that when nodes start with few edges, an early stroke of luck can place the less skilled in the lead for an extremely long period of time, a phenomenon we call ‘struggle of the fittest’. We prove that duration of a simple skill and luck competition model exhibit power-law tails when CA is present, regardless of skill difference, which is in sharp contrast to the exponential tails when fitness is distinct but CA is absent. We also prove that competition intensity is always upper bounded by an exponential tail, irrespective of CA and skills. Thus, CA competitions can be extremely long (infinite mean, depending on fitness ratio) but almost never very intense. The theoretical results are corroborated by extensive numerical simulations. Our findings have important implications to competitions not only among nodes in networks but also in contexts that leverage socio-physical models embodying CA competitions.

Smart City as Framework for Creating Competitive Advantages in International Business Management

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Adam Sofronijević

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the essence of the Smart City concept and opportunities for the creation of competitive advantages arising in the framework generated by this concept. Various elements of a Smart City are analysed and related to different options for economic growth and business innovation improvement. Possibilities arising from networking and clustering in Creative Cities are listed along with some details of advantages provided by a symbiosis of information and communication technologies and creativity to companies operating in such environments. Managerial aspects of the Internet of Things are presented and identified as a basis for the Smart City outlook, but also as a major prospect to develop certain business opportunities leading to competitive advantages for companies operating out of smart cities.

MARKETING CAPABILITIES FOR INNOVATION-BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE SLOVENIAN MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vojko Potocan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The primary role of marketing within the competitive advantage is innovation. The customer value-based differentiation strategies will drive the company’s market research efforts, its selection of target markets, its product development processes, its market communications programs, and its delivery processes. These processes require many specific capabilities that enable the firm to carry out activities necessary to move its products or services through the value chain. We must explore the role of distinctive marketing capabilities in competitive strategy of the company. As sources of competitive advantage, companies try to create their product or service differentiation by developing higher product or service quality, by using their knowledge to solving marketing problems, by communicating with their customers, and by satisfying customer’s needs. We also would like to confirm that superior customer service lead to company’s innovation. The paper closes with the implications of the findings and highlights promising future research avenues.

Holistic Performance Measurement to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Keni Keni

2013-01-01

In the past, companies used balanced scorecard to measure its performance. Now, balanced scorecard as a performance measurement tool is no longer sufficient because business has been affected by changes to the natural environment and developing social expectations. In order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, companies are beginning to address the risks and opportunities associated with these changes in their longer-term business planning. To turn risks into opportunities, companies...

78 FR 35826 - Unfair Competitive Advantages; Enhancement of the Formal Complaint Process

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-14

... Commission's Filing Online system at http://www.prc.gov . Those who cannot submit comments electronically... at a competitive advantage or put another party at a competitive disadvantage.'' Id. at 28. [[Page... provide AT&T with access to live coverage of San Diego Padres baseball games. See AT&T Services, Inc. v...

Improving the design of competitive bidding in Medicare Advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Cawley, John H; Whitford, Andrew B

2007-04-01

In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, which required that in 2006 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implement a system of competitive bids to set payments for the Medicare Advantage program. Managed care plans now bid for the right to enroll Medicare beneficiaries. Data from the first year of bidding suggest that imperfect competition is limiting the success of the bidding system. This article offers suggestions to improve this system based on findings from auction theory and previous government-run auctions. In particular, CMS can benefit by adjusting its system of competitive bids in four ways: credibly committing to regulations governing bidding; limiting the scope for collusion, entry deterrence, and predatory behavior among bidders; adjusting how benchmark reimbursement rates are set; and accounting for asymmetric information among bidders.

Consumer Insight as Competitive Advantage Using Big Data and Analytics

OpenAIRE

Adnan Veysel Ertemel

2015-01-01

Digital revolution serves as a competitive advantage to businesses that are able to analyze consumer behavior in order to gain insights for their strategic advantage. After the advent of Internet, the past two decades witnessed generation of vast amount of business data. The amount of data is so huge that traditional database management system approaches falls short of managing and analyzing this data. This paper explores the characteristics of this phenomenon called Big Data together with An...

Microcystis aeruginosa strengthens the advantage of Daphnia similoides in competition with Moina micrura.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Hengxing; Hou, Xinying; Xue, Xiaofeng; Chen, Rui; Zhu, Xuexia; Huang, Yuan; Chen, Yafen

2017-08-31

Microcystis blooms are generally associated with zooplankton shifts by disturbing interspecific relationships. The influence of Microcystis on competitive dominance by different sized zooplanktons showed species-specific dependence. We evaluated the competitive responses of small Moina micrura and large Daphnia similoides to the presence of Microcystis using mixed diets comprising 0%, 20%, and 35% of toxic M. aeruginosa, and the rest of green alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa. No competitive exclusion occurred for the two species under the tested diet combinations. In the absence of M. aeruginosa, the biomasses of the two cladocerans were decreased by the competition between them. However, the Daphnia was less inhibited with the higher biomass, suggesting the competitive dominance of Daphnia. M. aeruginosa treatment suppressed the population growths of the two cladocerans, with the reduced carrying capacities. Nonetheless, the population inhibition of Daphnia by competition was alleviated by the increased Microcystis proportion in diet. As a result, the competitive advantage of Daphnia became more pronounced, as indicated by the higher Daphnia: Moina biomass ratio with increased Microcystis proportions. These results suggested that M. aeruginosa strengthens the advantage of D. similoides in competition with M. micrura, which contributes to the diversified zooplankton shifts observed in fields during cyanobacteria blooms.

Competitive advantage: “The emperor has no clothes!”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan BĂCANU

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The study is focused on a concept worth cornerstone of strategic management theory: competitive advantage. The trigger of this study is generated by the remarkable disparity between the pros and cons as to the significance of the concept. It starts from the research of the main aspects of the logic of defining the concept. It pointed out some dilemmatic aspects revealed by the few existing critics. Related to the main concept, it marked several key elements which question its status as a reference. These items are related to the nature of the competition and of the company in the current economy.

The contribution of human resources management systems in achieving competitive advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anuta Porutiu

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Competition has become a current and difficult problem for any organization. This raises the need for the companies to obtain competitive advantages. One way to do this is making use of appropriate information technology, which is the task of information systems for top management. Computer technology and data communication technology alter the parameters within which competition unfolds in all fields. Whereas in the past information technology was oriented to data storage, in the modern world it must provide a dynamic vision on the organization, facilitating adaptation to changes in business environment and thus ensuring competitiveness. In this way, information technology becomes a competitive weapon which is extremely effective in achieving the objectives of the organization. In addition, it is applicable in any field of activity regardless of the organization’s size.

Competitive Advantage and the Existence of the MNC

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geisler Asmussen, Christian; Foss, Nicolai Juul

This paper provides a counterpoint to Buckley and Hashai’s paper “Is competitive advantage a necessary condition for the emergence of the Multinational Enterprise?”. We agree with their conclusion that it is, in fact, not a necessary condition, but argue that the theoretical reasons behind this a...... strongly applaud Buckley and Hashai’s attempt to add more rigor to International Business theory and call for future work to extend this debate....

Marketing channels and competitive advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jovičić Dragoljub

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Issue that can already be seen and will be very clear in the future is that the central problem in the market of tube caps will not be the product or the price or promotion, but marketing channels. Therefore, the competitive advantage will most probably be built on marketing channels and not the production - as it has been so far, so, the questions of choice functioning and modification of marketing channels, as well as selection of the most appropriate members of channels will become more and more important. Accordingly, it may freely be said that the choice, i.e. the movement of marketing channels represents one of the strategic decisions which has to be made by a company management and which will subsequently very significantly influence the functioning and efficacy of not only the system of distribution, but also the entire business transactions.

Investigation the impact of outsourcing on competitive advantages' creation by considering Porter's model; Case study: Zamyad Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Reza Kasrai

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Competitive advantage is an important factor in boosting companies' success and is considered more emphatically in management and strategic marketing literature in recent years. There are many different ideas about effective factors in creation of competitive advantages. Also fast rate of change in business, is forcing CEOs to utilize some strategies, which have the best impact on current organizational circumstances and the future trend of investigation in organizational trades. Outsourcing is one of the best strategies, which are widely utilized by CEOs in different organizations. Many managers believe that outsourcing is the solitary way for preserving the balance of organization in 21 century. Based on Porter competitive advantage model, there are three strategies, which lead a company to reach competitive advantage. These strategies are cost leadership, differentiation strategy and segmentation strategy. In this article, we are investigating outsourcing effects on creation of competitive advantages through Porter model in an automotive factory in Iran. We design a questionnaire for gathering necessary information about the role of outsourcing in creation of different strategies as competitive advantages in managers' point of view. We analyze the questionnaires and implement a goodness of fit test to recognize the distribution of data and the statistical method. Preliminary results show that nonparametric statistic methods can be utilized for testing our hypothesis. We use a Wilcoxon test to consider the null hypothesis and a Friedman test to estimate the rank of means. Our findings verify an undeniable effect of outsourcing on creation of competitive advantage and the ranking list is presented.

An Investigation of Customer Accounting Systems as a Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Morten; Kumar, V.; Plenborg, Thomas

2016-01-01

This study examines whether using customer accounting systems for resource allocation purposes is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Based on a longitudinal data set comparing the performance of firms that adopt customer accounting and their industry benchmarks, we find that financial...... accounting systems is a source of temporary rather than sustainable competitive advantage. The results are robust to other strategic events around the time of adoption, different matching of peers, and the influence of other factors that could be expected to influence firm performance. We discuss...

Building Competitive Advantage Through Open Innovation : A case study in the financial technology sector

OpenAIRE

Jonsson Holm, Erik; Andersson, Felix

2018-01-01

The modern financial industry includes fast-changing technology, new regulations, and markets where companies at times find themselves at disadvantage. This study focuses on how organizations can build competitive advantage, particularly by drawing on the open innovation concept. We conceptualize its relationship to competitive advantage as a strategy of using and developing dynamic capabilities in business ecosystems. This view is empirically analysed through qualitative data from four organ...

Competitive advantage of informational technologies and communications sector for the Romanian west 5 region

OpenAIRE

Duda-Daianu, Dana Codruta

2008-01-01

The present work paper aims to analyse and to point out the competitive advantage of the Western 5 Region in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Applying the Michael Porter’s model was determined that the competitive advantage is given by human resources. The results of this research will help the decision factors at local level to understand that it may enforce the combination of development strategies.

Branding Strategies for Competitive Advantage: A Study of the Malaysian Banking Sector

OpenAIRE

Yoon, Alice Chee Mun

2007-01-01

“The objective of strategy is a sustainable competitive advantage, which may come from any part of the organisation's operation. The market is the judge of this advantage. Brand strategy is the process whereby the offer is postioned in the consumer's mind to produce a preception of advantage” (Arnold, 1992)

IT OUTSOURCING: METHODOLOGY FOR SUPPLIER SELECTION CRITERIA FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Alexandre Simões

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Two criteria are usually adopted to select the provider of IT: lower prices or better service qualification of the supplier. This article proposes a strategic approach: the company should hire the provider that best leverage their competitive advantages. This approach implied the need to develop a methodology. To support it, the authors analyzed four models, Porter, RBV (Resource-Based View, Balanced Scorecard and the Weapons and Field Competition. Preferred the latter to be the most complete, qualiquantitative technique and able to accurately align the goals of the IT service firm's to competitive contracting strategy. The methodology was developed and applied to an insurance company and in face of the excellent results, decided to write this article to disclose it.

The Development of KHI'S Business Model to Enhance Sustainable Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Firdaus, Anton; Hamsal, Mohammad

2013-01-01

This research about how PT KHI make an improvement in Business model by offering EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) services to costumer to gain a better profit margin. Research result suggests PT KHI to improve its Business Model in order to enhance sustainable competitive advantage. Many competitors have the same business model in industry. PT KHI should offer different business model to stay ahead and winning the competition. The research result indicate based on current con...

Network operations support systems as a competitive advantage

OpenAIRE

Soh, Andrew K. L.

2005-01-01

The overall purpose of this paper is to perfom an analysis of TELUS and to examine if Network Operation Support Systems (OSS) can provide TELUS with a sustainable competitive advantage. The paper begins with the first three chapter exploring overviews of the components of the Canadian Telecommunications services industry, TELUS and its products, and the markets and revenues. The next chapter is an industry analysis of the industry landscape and its players. Michael Porter's Five Forces model ...

Career management: a competitive advantage in today's health care marketplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourbeau, J

2001-01-01

A valuable new tool to attract and retain new employees is being used by some of the most progressive companies in Michigan. It is called career management, and it is being used with great success by businesses of all types to give themselves a competitive advantage.

Competitive Advantages Through it Innovation Adoption by Smes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Moghavvemi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose—This paper seeks to explain the impact of IT innovation on competitive advantage; the barriers and the benefits companies gain from adopting and using these innovations and propose a model with which it is possible to measure determinants of IT innovation adoption among SMEs. Design/methodology/approach—This paper presents conceptual consideration on the role of SMEs in the Malaysian economy and the effect of government policy in encouraging companies to adopt IT innovation. The proposed research framework will be empirically validated using survey data. This study is an ongoing research, in the existing stage a theoretical argument is developed and methodology is in the process of being tested through regression analysis. Findings—Conclusions are drawn on the status of Malaysian SMEs to adopt IT innovation. We added attitude and self-efficacy to the Innovation Diffusion Theory to suit it to the individual situation. Therefore a novel approach is needed in order to study and understand it. Research limitations/implications—The paper represents work in progress. Practical implications – This paper present the theoretical framework for further study of IT innovation adoption among Malaysia SMEs. Originality/Value—The Information Technology concept is considered a powerful competitive weapon in the modern economy. This study used Innovation Diffusion Theory as the base theory, and added attitude and self efficacy as determinants to measure the individual’s perception toward innovation adoption. Individual self-efficacy and attitude toward innovation adoption shape beliefs and perceptions toward innovation, leading them to adopt or reject an innovation. Adding these factors to Innovation Diffusion Theory will narrow the breadth of the theory and possibilities to frame a single study which allows examination of the individual and technological dimension toward technology adoption. Keywords: IT innovation adoption, competitive

Competitive Advantages Through it Innovation Adoption by Smes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Moghavvemi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose—This paper seeks to explain the impact of IT innovation on competitive advantage; the barriers and the benefits companies gain from adopting and using these innovations and propose a model with which it is possible to measure determinants of IT innovation adoption among SMEs.Design/methodology/approach—This paper presents conceptual consideration on the role of SMEs in the Malaysian economy and the effect of government policy in encouraging companies to adopt IT innovation. The proposed research framework will be empirically validated using survey data. This study is an ongoing research, in the existing stage a theoretical argument is developed and methodology is in the process of being tested through regression analysis.Findings—Conclusions are drawn on the status of Malaysian SMEs to adopt IT innovation. We added attitude and self-efficacy to the Innovation Diffusion Theory to suit it to the individual situation. Therefore a novel approach is needed in order to study and understand it.Research limitations/implications—The paper represents work in progress.Practical implications – This paper present the theoretical framework for further study of IT innovation adoption among Malaysia SMEs.Originality/Value—The Information Technology concept is considered a powerful competitive weapon in the modern economy. This study used Innovation Diffusion Theory as the base theory, and added attitude and self efficacy as determinants to measure the individual’s perception toward innovation adoption. Individual self-efficacy and attitude toward innovation adoption shape beliefs and perceptions toward innovation, leading them to adopt or reject an innovation. Adding these factors to Innovation Diffusion Theory will narrow the breadth of the theory and possibilities to frame a single study which allows examination of the individual and technological dimension toward technology adoption.Keywords: IT innovation adoption, competitive

A new operational paradigm for oil operations in sensitive environments: an analysis of social pressure, corporate capabilities and competitive advantage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastings, Marilu

1999-01-01

Against the historical and sociopolitical backdrop of foreign oil operations in Latin America and the competitive drive for greater access to new oil fields in sensitive areas, the oil industry finds itself rethinking traditional approaches to operations in these particular locations. Some firms have separately designed a new operational paradigm that proactively addresses their social and environmental impacts. Adopting this approach, the companies developed new internal capabilities. These new capabilities are examined within the framework of the natural-resource-based view of the firm. This framework is extended to account for the particular capabilities acquired by adopting the new operational paradigm in developing countries. This extended framework demonstrates that these firms may earn sustained competitive advantage through these capabilities. Proactive multinational oil companies may have greater access to sensitive areas than their competitors due to enhanced reputation. (Author)

Culture as a Determinant of Competitive Advantage in Trade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dekuwmini Mornah

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Culture plays a role in international trade much as it does in any other human activity. Attitudes and ways of life do matter even when a lucrative business opportunity exists, especially across national borders. This paper examines which aspects of culture give countries competitive edge in terms of bilateral trade performances. Specifically, do relatively higher scores in certain cultural dimensions have a deterministic effect on bilateral trade performance (terms of trade or bilateral trade balance? Methodology: We adopt empirical econometric estimation methods on trade data covering 59 countries and 29 years combined with the nine "Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE" culture dimensions, Our estimations were based on Robust Regression Analysis and Ordinary Least Squares methods. Findings: We find that indeed, certain aspects of culture enhance bilateral trade performance/competitiveness. Performance Orientation, Future Orientation, Institutional Collectivism, Gender Egalitarianism, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance improve bilateral trade performance while Assertiveness, Humane Orientation and In-Group Collectivism impair it. Research limitations: Direct measures of international competitiveness are not readily available. So we had to adopt proxies for measuring international competitiveness. Implications: Many countries want to boost international competitiveness. However, in the current world order with multilateral trade agreements under the WTO and increased transferability of technology, governments are clipped in terms of available trade policy options. By understanding which aspects of culture promote bilateral competitiveness and performance, governments could take steps to maximize their competitiveness. For instance, when negotiating trade treaties, policy makers may benefit from the knowledge of culture's impact on competitive advantage when selecting partners. Originality/value: To

Competitive advantage by customer integration. Empirical investigation by the example of German manufacturers of baggage handling systems.

OpenAIRE

Schindler, Uwe

2017-01-01

Achieving strong and unique competitive advantages is a goal in the strategic management of customer relations. Sustainable successful relationships to customers to secure profitable business in the face of growing competition are among the most important challenges for firms. In order to remain competitive in the future, German manufacturers have to force the application of innovative state- of-the-art methods to develop competitive advantages to attract and bind customers and to differentia...

Congruent Knowledge Management Behaviors as Discriminate Sources of Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Magnier-Watanabe, Remy; Senoo, Dai

2009-01-01

Purpose: While knowledge management has been shown to be a strategic source of competitive advantage, processes designed to enhance the productivity of knowledge do not, however, equally contribute to the organization's capabilities. Consequently, this research aims to focus on the relationship between each mode of the knowledge management process…

How Knowledge Accumulation changed the Competitive Advantage of Strategy Consulting Firms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); M.G. Baaij (Marc); H.W. Volberda (Henk)

2005-01-01

textabstractResearch evidence confirms that the accumulation of knowledge contributes to the competitive advantage of firms. In the strategy consulting industry, one of the most knowledge-intensive professional services industries, however, established firms that exploited their knowledge

Trust, Commitment and Competitive Advantage in SMEs Export Performance

OpenAIRE

Ismail, Md Daud; Alam, Syed Shah; Abdul Hamid, Roshayati bt

2017-01-01

The entry of small businesses into international markets has intensified. However, despite the growing presence of small businesses in international markets, studies into their international behavior, particularly regarding the effect of international relationships on international outcomes, remain limited. This study investigates the cross-border relationships of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by examining the effects of the dimensions of the key relationship on the competitive advantag...

Competitive advantages of firms in agro-industrial clusters: Study of wine in Brazil and Chile

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Mattia Adilene Alvares

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study aims to explore two cases connected to the wine productive chain, emphasizing the process of competitive advantages creation under the logic of industrial clusters. The analyzed experiences deal with agglomerations of companies, where some are already established, while others are consolidated or under expansion: The Vale dos Vinhedos (Brazil, and Valle de Casablanca (Chile. The comparative study was based on the presence of territorial resources, analyzed in categories, of which we can highlight: denomination of origin (D.O., tourism, economy, political situation and unique value. The analysis of both territories allowed the identification of similarities and potentialities, and the attachment of those with the construction of com- petitive advantages. The results show that the competitiveness of companies established on the Vale dos Vinhedos and Valle de Casablanca is determined by the competitiveness of the territory, meaning that the spaces under analysis perform a fundamental role in the process of creation of competitive advantages of the already installed companies.

Institutional advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martin, Xavier

Is there such a thing as institutional advantage—and what does it mean for the study of corporate competitive advantage? In this article, I develop the concept of institutional competitive advantage, as distinct from plain competitive advantage and from comparative institutional advantage. I first

Analysis Influence of Proactivity Power Business, Market Orientation, and Competitive Advantage toward Marketing Performance

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Lili Karmela Fitriani

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This research is an empirical study on Batik SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises in Cirebon District, West Java. This study analyzes the effect of proactivity power business, market orientation, and competitive advantage towards marketing performance. The subjects of this research were 215 Batik SMEs in Cirebon District West Java. The analysis was done using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM, AMOS ver. 18. The result shows that proactivity power business, market orientation, and competitive advantage give positive influence on marketing performance of  Batik SMEs. The research implication is when SME businesses focus on the effort in improving their proactivity power business and competitive advantage, it will give positive impact on marketing performance. Other research finding reveals that  the orientation of customer and orientation of competitor have some effects on marketing performance. In addition, SME businesses should know what customers want and they should be able to identify their competitors in order to improve their marketing performance.

The Impact of Knowledge Management Practices on Supply Chain Quality Management and Competitive Advantages

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Azizi Reihaneh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Achieving competitive advantage enables an organization to create a defensible position against its competitors. It also allows organizations to differentiate themselves from competitors. This study aims to investigate impact of knowledge management practices on supply chain quality management and competitive advantage in Alyaf Company, Iran. This research is functional in purpose and data gathering and data analysis is descriptive-correlation. The statistical population is consists of 25 company executives and experts in the supply chain of Alyaf Company; opinions of 68 of its members were used as a selective sample identified by simple random sampling method. Primary data was collected through questionnaire and structural equation modeling was used to assess relationships between variables. The results of structural equation modeling show a positive and significant causal relationship between knowledge management practices and supply chain quality management. Direct relationship between knowledge management and competitive advantage was not confirmed but the relationship between these two variables was confirmed indirectly.

Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Corporate Socialenvironmental Responsibility in the Light of the Resource-Based View

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Débora Prazeres Balbino

2013-03-01

Full Text Available From the perspective of a greater concern with respect to corporate social and environmental aspects viewed in society, the Corporate Social-Environmental Responsibility (CSER is understood as a new management perspective to be used, no longer restricted to meet the aspirations of profit shareholders, but seeks include in your analysis other stakeholders such as society and the environment. According to the Resource-Based View (RBV, the CSER is regarded as an organizational capacity, because it involves a set of resources and depending on how it is integrated with business planning, could be a source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA. The objective of the study is to analyze the likely social and environmental responsibility as a sustainable competitive advantage for an organization in light of the Resource-Based View . From the discussion held to theoretical essay, we identified some aspects of CSER that can be elevated to the level of a SCA, namely: the generation of a good reputation and organizational image, and corporate citizenship in favor of the practice of CSER. It is appropriate therefore to carry out empirical studies, qualitative and/or quantitative, that can confirm and extend the arguments of this discussion, from the development of constructs, development of measurement instruments and proposing models, on CSER.

Can Internationalisation Really Lead to Institutional Competitive Advantage?--A Study of 16 Dutch Public Higher Education Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

De Haan, Haijing

2014-01-01

Public higher education institutions (PHEIs) have widely acknowledged a positive relationship between internationalization and their institutional competitive advantage enhancement. Although some concerns have been raised by practitioners and researchers about whether institutional competitive advantage can be enhanced given the current ways of…

The impact of total quality management on competitive advantage of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Jordan

OpenAIRE

Kamal A. M. Al-Qudah

2012-01-01

TQM is a general philosophy of management that attempts to enhance competitive advantage of organizations, This paper aims to investigate the impact of total quality management on competitive advantage of Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Jordan. The data are collected from mid- to senior-level managerial employees of Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Jordan. The data were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analyses. The results indicate that, there is effec...

Competitive market and sources of its advantages in the electric energy subsector

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Kazimierz Pająk

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The electric energy subsector varies considerably in terms of competitiveness depending on the area under analysis. Power generation, transmission and distribution have quite different characteristics of competitiveness than areas such as electricity trading. In the area of power generation, competitive advantage is developed by factors such as: skilful operation in the fuel market and targeted investments affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of equipment. In the area of energy distribution, despite the natural monopoly, some distribution system operators dynamically take over the market share of newly constructed networks. The area of energy trading can be successfully compared to other competitive market segments where mass sales of services and products occur.

Customer Knowledge Management Application in Gaining Organization's Competitive Advantage in Electronic Commerce

OpenAIRE

Aghamirian, Bahman; Dorri, Behrouz; Aghamirian, Babak

2015-01-01

In modern organizations, knowledge is the fundamental basis of competition. In the new context, two major factors determine the future survival or success of organizations: electronic commerce and the knowledge from customers. Thus, the goals of the research were figured out, and investigating the relationship and application of customer's knowledge management in gaining competitive advantages of organizations in E-commerce and also the 8 followings factors were investigated: knowledge from c...

THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES ON THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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BUTNARIU Anca

2015-05-01

requests of their retailer clients. The data was analyzed by the correlation and the regression method. The conclusions are that the organizational capabilities achieved through environmental investments influence positively only the competitive advantages based on costs and on differentiation, partially confirming our hypothesis.

Knowledge Management and Competitive Advantage: study in the metal-mechanic sector

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Andressa Centenaro

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The study aims to analyze the factors related to organizational culture that assist in knowledge management processes, helping to generate competitive advantage in the companies of metal-mechanic sector. Therefore, a quantitative survey data collection strategy was performed by applying a structured questionnaire in a sample of 63 employees from 13 companies in the metal-mechanic sector. The results were analyzed using multiple regression and indicate that the studied segment, learning and trust are positive and significant predictors of knowledge management. Thus, it can be inferred that the companies that stimulate its employees to learn and invest in maintaining confidence among members of the organization may achieve better performance in knowledge management. Finally, the results also expose that the knowledge management directly influences the performance and organizational effectiveness, demonstrating that the use and sharing of tacit and explicit knowledge are generating competitive advantage to competitors.

Competitive Advantages of Small Medium Industry on the Islands in Indonesian Context

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Muslim El Hakim Kurniawan

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Indonesian Law No.3/2014 regarding Industry requires both Central and Local Governments to realize the competitiveness of small and medium industries. However, the fact that the condition of each region is not similar becomes a main problem. It is because Indonesia is an archipelagic country. The competitiveness index of Asia Competitiveness Institute 2015 indicates that islands provinces, such as Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Sulawesi Utara, Maluku, Maluku Utara, Sulawesi Tenggara, need specific development strategies. They cannot be equated with the mainlands, such as Java and Sumatera, because their competitiveness rank is very low. A review of literature on the competitiveness of islands entrepreneurs shows that from the 4 (four schools of thought in competitive advantage, only few researchers have pertained on the knowledge based on the schools of thought. Therefore, this could be a future research opportunity.

Examining the role of export competitive advantages on export performance

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Yeganeh Alimohammadi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the role of export competitive advantage on export performance in food industry. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among 280 randomly selected experts in food industry and Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.827. The study has applied factor analysis to find important factors influencing export performance. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity have been performed to validate the results and they both validated the questionnaire. The results of the survey have determined six effective groups including product development, e-commerce, marketing planning, organizational performance, competitiveness and supply chain management.

Examining the competitive advantage of Diuraphis noxia (Hemiptera: Aphididae) biotype 2 over biotype 1.

Science.gov (United States)

Merrill, Scott C; Randolph, Terri L; Peairs, Frank B; Michels, G J; Walker, C B

2014-08-01

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov) is a serious pest of small grains, such as wheat and barley. High population growth rates and a broad gramineae host range have allowed this aphid to successfully establish and become pestiferous across much of North America since its invasion in the mid-1980s. Resistant wheat cultivars were developed and provided control ofD. noxia until 2003, when a new biotype (designated RWA2, as contrasted with the original biotype's designation, RWA1) emerged and rapidly spread through dryland winter wheat-growing regions. RWA2 displaced RWA1 more quickly than expected, based on RWA2's advantage in RWA1-resistant wheat cultivars. Previous research suggested that RWA2 may out-compete RWA1 in cooler temperatures. Thus, we sought to determine if RWA2 had a competitive advantage over RWA1 during the overwintering period. We placed a known distribution of RWA1 and RWA2 aphids in the field for the winter at three sites across a latitudinal gradient (from northern Colorado to Texas) to test for a competitive advantage between these biotypes. We found overwhelming support for an overwintering competitive advantage by RWA2 over RWA1, with evidence suggesting a > 10-fold advantage even at our Texas site (i.e., the site with the mildest winter). This substantial overwintering advantage helps explain the quick dispersion and displacement of RWA1 by RWA2.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE EASTERN-EUROPEAN AUTO SECTOR

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Lucian-Ovidiu CINADE

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Car-building industry territorial reconfiguration in Europe is the result of several rounds of company delocations from origin countries to emergent countries. Such rounds have been limited by the gradual opening of the national countries, as well as by changes in East European ideology and politics. Hence, about the end of the 90’s, European car-building industry shows considerable disparity, East to West. In the car-building companies’ vision, East-European car-building development potential is basically sustained by both the car low penetration rate, and the low labor cost. On the long term run, gradual valorizing of the East-european trading, with increasing labor costs, may read as a wearing thin of the competitive advantage in car-building industries, as well as problem issues of novel territory attractiveness needing permanent boosting. Country-to-country comparative analysis indicates that competitive advantage of car-building has not gone down in all of the West-European States. Competitive advantage of the West-European car-building industry increases, which can be explained, in part, by adequate strategies, as both labor costs, and cars penetration rate, go up.

Rethinking Marketing for Sustainable Competitive Advantages

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Akın KOÇAK

2012-12-01

Full Text Available When formal marketing thought developed in the early 1900s, dominant perspective of marketing was about taking things “to market”. After 1950 marketing thought moved to a “market to” orientation. This orientation reflects “product dominant logic”. After radical changes in information technology, knowledge asymmetry between firm and customer is decreased and customer becomes operant resource instead of a resource to be acted on. Therefore, new marketing paradigm has been emerged and main focus moved from “value in exchange” to “value in use” and customer becomes collaborative partner. Firm can only provide value proposition. New definition of marketing comprises “customer relationship”, “share holders”, and “value creation”. Apart from evolving of marketing thought, theories of competitive advantages have been also change form industry perspective to internal resource and dynamic capabilities.

The Leading Economic Sectors Building Comparative and Competitive Advantages in Romania's Foreign Trade

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Adriana Giurgiu

2008-05-01

Full Text Available For now on, as a member state of the EU, Romania and the Romanian commercial operators should maximize the foreign trade’s opportunities given by the rich portfolio of free trade agreements of the European Union and try to reorient our exports towards countries where the products of which the structure of our Romanian exports is consisted of hold a comparative and competitive advantage, in order to reduce the Romanian long-term trade balance deficit. Therefore, this paper focuses on finding out the leading sectors with high potential to maintain and consolidate the comparative and competitive advantages of the Romania’s foreign trade.

Informal leadership support: an often overlooked competitive advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, L H; O'Connor, E J

2001-01-01

As environmental pressures mount, the advantage of using the same strategies and tactics employed by competitors continues to shrink. An alternative is adapting and applying answers successfully employed in other industries to health care organizations. Working with informal influence leaders to share your change management efforts represents one such example. Informal influence leaders offer an often-overlooked source of competitive advantage--they have already earned credibility and respect from others, who regularly look to them for guidance. When sharing their views, they significantly influence the acceptance or rejection of new initiatives. Influence leaders reach into every conversation, every meeting, and every decision made in an organization. The important question is whether they will exert their leadership in support or in opposition to changes you propose. By identifying influence leaders and inviting them to join a group to discuss change initiatives, physician executives can create a positive force for change.

Pengaruh Service Quality Terhadap Competitive Advantage Melalui Student Loyalty Dan University Reputation Sebagai Variabel Intervening

OpenAIRE

Kevin, Kristianto

2015-01-01

This study is aims to examine the effect of service quality to competitive advantage with student loyalty and university reputation as intervening variables. Data that used in this study are primary data. This study use students from 6 private universities in Surabaya as samples with purposive sampling method. Hypotheses in this study is analyzed using structural equation model (SEM) with SmartPLS 2.0. The result revealed that, service quality significantly affect competitive advantage direct...

Neighbour tolerance, not suppression, provides competitive advantage to non-native plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Golivets, Marina; Wallin, Kimberly F

2018-05-01

High competitive ability has often been invoked as a key determinant of invasion success and ecological impacts of non-native plants. Yet our understanding of the strategies that non-natives use to gain competitive dominance remains limited. Particularly, it remains unknown whether the two non-mutually exclusive competitive strategies, neighbour suppression and neighbour tolerance, are equally important for the competitive advantage of non-native plants. Here, we analyse data from 192 peer-reviewed studies on pairwise plant competition within a Bayesian multilevel meta-analytic framework and show that non-native plants outperform their native counterparts due to high tolerance of competition, as opposed to strong suppressive ability. Competitive tolerance ability of non-native plants was driven by neighbour's origin and was expressed in response to a heterospecific native but not heterospecific non-native neighbour. In contrast to natives, non-native species were not more suppressed by hetero- vs. conspecific neighbours, which was partially due to higher intensity of intraspecific competition among non-natives. Heterogeneity in the data was primarily associated with methodological differences among studies and not with phylogenetic relatedness among species. Altogether, our synthesis demonstrates that non-native plants are competitively distinct from native plants and challenges the common notion that neighbour suppression is the primary strategy for plant invasion success. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Competitive advantage in the ERP system's value-chain and its influence on future development

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Björn; Newman, Mike

2010-02-01

Using the resource-based view, we present a set of propositions related to enterprise resource planning (ERP) development, reflections on competitive advantage and the different roles that stakeholders play in the value-chain. This has the goal of building a foundation for future research on ERPs and how stakeholders' desire to achieve competitive advantage influence ERP development, especially when it comes to development of a more standardised or pre-customised ERP system. The propositions also act as a foundation for increasing our knowledge concerning the difficulty in developing improved ERP systems.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF A FRANCHISEE IN THE SOFTWARE MARKET: THE CASE OF TOTVS

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Joelson Obregão Matoso

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In highly competitive technology markets, such as the market in which Enterprise Resource Management (ERP service providers do business, it has become of fundamental importance to understand the factors that create competitive advantages. This paper presents the support from the theoretical frameworks offered by the Resource-based View (RBV and the Market-based View (MBV to attempt to explain the competitive advantage held by Totvs Curitiba, a franchise of Totvs, which in turn is a Brazilian company that is a market leader in ERP service provision. In methodological terms, this is a Case Study for which data was collected during interviews and by observation and review of secondary documentary sources. The results suggest that the franchise's market-leading position was built on a relationship, which is identifiable in the results of this study, between the strategies adopted, resources controlled and competences developed.

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF ROMANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY

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Filip Radu Ion

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The economic crisis has given the opportunity for the world to reconsider the use of resources, so the subject of competitive advantage has became actual. There are several relevant papers on national competitiveness, but we consider that there are still important issues to discuss in order to identify the economic sectors in Romania that have the potential to create successful products for the global market. The paper applies modern competitivity models on the features of our country, and concludes about the best use of our resources, in terms of increased productivity and optimal results. The goal is to encourage exporters to extend on several international markets and multinational companies to invest in developing new businesses in Romania.

THE ROLE OF INNOVATION IN CREATING THE COMPANY’S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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Alexandru IONESCU

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The fundamental and applied research, the technologic transfer and more particularly, the innovation work – as a component part of the said research activity – stand for aspects to which economies have, lately, started to grant increased importance. The rapid changes in the characteristics of external markets, as well as those in the technologic field are challenges for more frequent and more rapid innovations, with the end result in new products, processes and technologies. Innovation is the leading force of competitiveness, of growth, of profitability, as well as of the creation of durable values since it is well known that the competitive advantage, so much wished-for by any organization which operates in a highly competitive environment, is volatile, hard to obtain.

Using EB-QFD to achieve competitive advantages for world class manufacturing

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Rahman Mostofi

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a tool named EB-QFD used for electronic business planning in strategic issues. Nowadays, the challenges of manufacturing sectors for achieving global competition will depend on their speed to change from domestic to world class manufacturing organizations, also the rapid global deployment of electronic business, information technology and their benefits have required managers to make decision, which look for a balance world class manufacturing factors with strategic business goals. To ensure that selected e-business strategies meet world class manufacturing requirements, organizations should simultaneously explore and communicate the relationship between world class manufacturing and electronic business. Electronic business planners can achieve competitive advantages through the implementation of an integration of quality function deployment (QFD with electronic business (EB called EB-QFD. This study is based on data collected from an Iranian auto parts manufacturing company and the implementation of EB-QFD. In this research, EB-QFD contains two parts named EB-WHATs as needs of Electronic Business and EB-HOWs as resources for EB-WHATs. Statistical analysis points that there are positive relationships between using EB-WHATs and EB-HOW and world class manufacturing factors as competitive advantages. We used electronic business systems for EB-WHATs and resource based view (RBV for EB-HOWs.

National competitiveness and absolute advantage in a global economy

OpenAIRE

Parrinello, Sergio

2006-01-01

Distinguished trade theorists maintain that a national economy cannot be uncompetitive as a whole, contrary to the frequent statements of many politicians, because a country must possess a comparative advantage in some sector according to Ricardo’s principle. In this paper the author arguesthat such a criticism addressed to the notion of national competitiveness neglects a bottom line of a national economy engaged in a global market. In this context, characterized by free capital movements an...

The survival advantage of olfaction in a competitive environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Asahina, Kenta; Pavlenkovich, Viktoryia; Vosshall, Leslie B

2008-08-05

Olfaction is generally assumed to be critical for survival because this sense allows animals to detect food and pheromonal cues. Although the ability to sense sex pheromones [1, 2, 3] is likely to be important for insects, the contribution of general odor detection to survival is unknown. We investigated the extent to which the olfactory system confers a survival advantage on Drosophila larvae foraging for food under conditions of limited resources and competition from other larvae.

Testing VRIN framework: Resource value and rareness as sources of competitive advantage and above average performance

OpenAIRE

Talaja, Anita

2012-01-01

In this study, structural equation model that analyzes the impact of resource and capability characteristics, more specifically value and rareness, on sustainable competitive advantage and above average performance is developed and empirically tested. According to the VRIN framework, if a company possesses and exploits valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable resources and capabilities, it will achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Although the above mentioned statement is widely...

THE RESOURCE POTENTIAL AND THE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN BUSINESS STRUCTURE

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Okolnishnikova Irina Yurievna

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research is the development of theoretical approaches to the study of the essence and structure of the resource potential of entrepreneurship in the context of the development strategy of the competitive advantages in business structure. As the research methodology the complex of principles and tools of system and axiological approaches is used. According to the results of the conducted research, possessing the scientific novelty, the conceptual apparatus is clarified and the author's definition of the resource potential of the enterprise is given, a model of the resource potential structure in commercial organization is analyzed and the mechanism of strategy formation for sustainable competitive advantages provision of the organization on the basis of the effective use of its resource potential is identified. Area of application of the research results is the control of competitiveness in general and resource potential of entrepreneurial structures, in particular at all levels of the socio-economic system of society.

COMPETITIVE DYNAMICS AND EARLY MOVER ADVANTAGES UNDER ECONOMIC RECESSIONS

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Roberto Vassolo

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In light of the recent macroeconomic instability in global markets, we examine the evolution of competitive dynamics and firm profitability when industries are subject to recessions. Although ordinary intuition leads most to view recessions as harmful, we highlight conditions under which they enhance the relative value of industry-level supply-side isolating mechanisms, thereby affording early movers significant and sustainable profit advantages vis-à-vis laggards. We observe that the distribution of firm size within the industry switches from a bi-modal distribution (i.e., one dominated by both small and large firms to a right-skewed one (i.e., dominated mostly by large firms in these contexts, thereby signaling the rise of important opportunities in the form of less rivalrous competitive contexts for survivors of recessions. We derive our results from formal modeling and multiple simulation runs.

Competitive Advantage and Marketing Performance (A Descriptive Survey on Oil Palm Plantation Industries in West Kalimantan Province

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Nurmala Nurmala

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This research analyzes the competitive advantage in order to enhance the marketing performance of oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province, which aims to: (1 find out the implementation of competitive advantage of the oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province, (2 find out the achievement of marketing performance of the oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province, and (3 find out the influence of competitive advantage on the marketing performance of the oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province. This is a descriptive and verification research that uses a descriptive and explanatory survey on the analysis unit of oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province. The period of research implementation of two (2 years, divided into two stages; First Stage (2013 and Second Stage (2014. The data are collected using questionnaires as well as interviews and observations. The collected data are further processed using path analysis. The results of the First Stage (2013 research find that only few of the oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province are able to achieve the marketing performance in high category or above their expected target. This is presumed to be related to the weak competitiveness or competitive advantage of the companies as found in the results of descriptive analysis of this research. In order to understand more of such relatedness, it is necessary to conduct further research of the Second Stage (2014 focusing on investigating the influence of competitive advantage on the marketing performance of oil palm plantation companies in West Kalimantan Province.

Developing Competitive Advantage in the Private Medical Services Market. The Case of Romania

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Simona BASTURESCU

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Health was, is and will always be a top priority for a country’s stakeholders. The average health expenditure depicts an impressive variability worldwide, with Americans being the top spenders and South East Asia countries being at the bottom of the respective list. This study analyses the existing competitive advantages of the most important players in the private medical services market, in Romania. It traces their development and the factors that determine positioning strategic decisions. The competitive advantage of a business in the private medical services market is a result of a number of factors. The top three criteria of choice for a patient are doctors, medical technology and waiting time for accessing the service. The objectives of this research paper are: 1. to identify the key success factors (KSFs and the drivers of change (DC in the Romanian Medical Industry; 2. to propose a fine tuning in strategy as a response to changes in the macro and micro environment, 3. to re-evaluate existing business models and propose amendments that may lead to future sustainable competitive advantage and 4. to develop a proposition for growth strategies, business strategies and means of implementation that will lead to long term growth.

Smart City as Framework for Creating Competitive Advantages in International Business Management

OpenAIRE

Adam Sofronijević; Vesna Milićević; Bojan Ilić

2014-01-01

The paper presents the essence of the Smart City concept and opportunities for the creation of competitive advantages arising in the framework generated by this concept. Various elements of a Smart City are analysed and related to different options for economic growth and business innovation improvement. Possibilities arising from networking and clustering in Creative Cities are listed along with some details of advantages provided by a symbiosis of information and communication technologies ...

ICT as a new competitive advantage factor – case of small transitional hotel sector

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Tanja Mihalic

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the information and communication technology (ICT in a small hotel sector at a point in time when the transition towards a full market economy is coming to the end and competitiveness and ICT implementation is gaining on importance. Its main purpose is to study a business potential of this new competitive advantage resource and its productivity paradox. A competitive advantage factor model (CAF model has been proposed and the structural modelling (SEM has been performed on the case of a small transitional Slovenian hotel sector. The study contributes to knowledge on ICT competiveness and ICT productivity paradox in hotel sector. Further, its results hold practical implications for the strategy for hotels operating in small-sized hotel industries in transitional or ICT developing environments. In more concrete terms, research findings indicate that such hotel sectors need to speed the ICT implementation. ICT as such doesn’t directly increase the firm’s profitability, yet there is an indirect positive impact of factor ICT on a firm’s financial performance that emerges through other competitiveness factors, such as differentiation, quality or image, which helps firms to stay competitive on the tourism markets.

Core Competence, Distinctive Competence, and Competitive Advantage: What Is the Difference?

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, Ann

2007-01-01

Core competence, distinctive competence, and competitive advantage are 3 of the most important business concepts that managers, researchers, and educators rely on for decision making, pedagogy, and research. However, little attention has been paid to defining these concepts. As a result, they have become buzzwords that are used so frequently that…

Universities and the Mobilization of Claims of Excellence for Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Wangenge-Ouma, Gerald; Langa, Patricio V.

2010-01-01

This study discusses the phenomenon of making claims of excellence by universities, which we interpret as a response, inter alia, to the hitherto unfamiliar context of scarce and diminishing resources. The main objective is to understand how claims of excellence are mobilised by higher education institutions to achieve "competitive advantage". The…

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND PERFORMANCE MODERATED BY THE AGE AND SIZE OF FIRMS

OpenAIRE

Alimin Ismadi Ismail; Haslinda Abdullah; Jegak Uli; Raduan Che Rose

2010-01-01

It has been argued that achieving a position of competitive advantage is a necessary precursor to a firm's significant performance. This paper will empirically examine the potential moderating variables that could affect the relationship between a firm's competitive advantage and performance, namely the firms' age and size. By examining the relative moderating effects of these variables, this paper delivers valuable information to firms, specifically with regard to strategic management direct...

Motor Third Party Liability Insurance in Russia: Gaining Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Rogozin, Konstantin

2006-01-01

The report identifies which factors of service-based offerings are of utmost importance for customers, considers the areas of MTPL insurance that may contain a potential sources for differentiation, and stresses importance of knowing customer needs and requirements. This report should assist the insurance company to categorise and systematise relevant information so as to develop a product position, which may give a competitive advantage.

On the issue of methodology of estimating the regional competitive advantages by types of activity

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Azat Rashitovich Safiullin

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective to develop the research methodology of the competitive position of territories by types of economic activities to define the relevant types of economic activities and to diagnose their competitive advantages. Methods a differentiated approach to the analysis of competitiveness based on matrix models of competitive positioning which allows to identify the relevant types of economic activities of the territory. This approach determined the choice of specific research methods dialectics abstraction systematic logical structural comparative and statistical. The application of the above methods helped to ensure the validity of the analysis results theoretical and practical conclusions. Results in the study were used the experience and knowledge gained during an earlier undertaken series of projects relating to the assessment of economy efficiency of Tatarstan Republic in 20052011.Previous reports dealt with the change of the selected industries positions of the Republic the structure and dynamics of the competitive position of these industries compared to the leading Russian regions. A distinctive feature of the research results presented in this article is a comparative analysis of competitive advantages of economic activities of Tatarstan Republic based on the matrix model of competitive positioning. Scientific novelty for the first time the matrix model of diagnostics of competitive advantages of the territory by the type of economic activity was proposed which allows to identify the priority industrial portfolio and provide targeted management actions to enhance its investment attractiveness. Practical value the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used by legislative and executive authorities of the Russian Federation business community research institutions and organizations to develop strategies and programs of socioeconomic development and territorial planning schemes priority directions of industrial and investment

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES – VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO CREATE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN A GLOBAL MARKET

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Irina NICOLAU

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In the past years, in the light of the economic turbulences all around the world, one of the most important ways to assure a competitive advantage is creating a strategic alliance. Such collaborative ventures between firms were developed as a response to the changes which have been happening to the world economy as increased competition, higher costs of developing new products, accelerated technological changes and, maybe the most important – the recent world economic crises. Being part of a strategic alliance creates competitive advantage for the companies by establishing their presence worldwide, by building up operating experience in overseas markets and gaining access to those national markets that were inaccessible before. At the same time, a strategic alliance means management commitment, special skills and forward planning for each company which takes part to an alliance.

USD and Euro: competitive advantages of reserve currencies and leadership tussle

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Gordyachkova O. V.

2017-02-01

Full Text Available the article describes the factors, affecting exchange rate, competitive advantages of USD and Euro as reserve currencies, the steps of fight of USD and Euro for the status of the “main” world's reserve currency. It was concluded that the main factor, affecting exchange rate, is a political impact.

Competitive advantage of diferric transferrin in delivering iron to reticulocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Huebers, H A; Csiba, E; Huebers, E; Finch, C A

1983-01-01

Radioiron- and radioiodine-labeled forms of human diferric and monoferric transferrin and apotransferrin, isolated by preparative isoelectric focusing, were used to define transferrin-iron uptake by human reticulocytes. In mixtures of human diferric and monoferric transferrin, the diferric molecule had a constant 7-fold advantage in delivering iron to reticulocytes, as compared with the 2-fold advantage when single solutions of mono- and diferric transferrins were compared. This was shown to be due to competitive interaction in iron delivery, probably at a common membrane-receptor binding site for transferrin. Apotransferrin did not interfere with the iron-donating process and its limited cellular uptake was inhibited in noncompetitive fashion by diferric transferrin. PMID:6572005

The Ability to Assimilate Technology as a Source of Competitive Advantage of Financial Companies in Poland

OpenAIRE

Glabiszewski Waldemar; Zastempowski Maciej

2016-01-01

This article is empirical in nature and attempts to assess the impact of ability to assimilate newly acquired technologies by financial companies operating in Poland gaining market competitive advantages. The outcome of the research conducted proved the existence of this relationship and found it be strong. This means that the development of these abilities within the absorptive potential of financial companies should trigger a significant increase in the market competitive advantages held by...

Implementation of Service Differentiation to Achieve Competitive Advantage. Case: Nevsky Hotel Grand.

OpenAIRE

Martysevich, Anna

2013-01-01

The main purpose of the thesis was to find out which hotel services could bring competitive advantage to the Nevsky Hotel Grand and differentiate the hotel from the competitors. What could be improved in the services of the hotel or which kind of services could be created in the hotel in order to attract more customers and be competitive on the market. The theoretical framework of the thesis was based on the data gathered from various sources of information in printed and electronic form s...

Regulated Medicare Advantage And Marketplace Individual Health Insurance Markets Rely On Insurer Competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Richard G; McGuire, Thomas G

2017-09-01

Two important individual health insurance markets-Medicare Advantage and the Marketplaces-are tightly regulated but rely on competition among insurers to supply and price health insurance products. Many local health insurance markets have little competition, which increases prices to consumers. Furthermore, both markets are highly subsidized in ways that can exacerbate the impact of market power-that is, the ability to set price above cost-on health insurance prices. Policy makers need to foster robust competition in both sectors and avoid designing subsidies that make the market-power problem worse. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Strategic Adjustment Capacity, Sustained Competitive Advantage, and Firm Performance: An Evolutionary Perspective on Bird Flocking and Firm Competition

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Shou Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Imitating the positioning rules in the bird flocking system, the strategic adjustment capacity is decomposed into three aspects, which are the organizational learning capacity from the top firms, the extent to which firms maintain or rely on the best operational capacity vector in history, and the ability to overcome the disadvantage while maintaining the advantage of the operational capacity vector from the previous years, respectively. Financial vectors are constructed to represent the results of corporate strategic adjustment and listed firms in the China A stock are chosen as the samples. As empirical analysis reveals, there is a positive correlation between the organizational learning capacity from the top firms and the firm performance and a U-shaped relation between the learning capability from the previous best operational capacity vector and the firm performance. However, no significant correlation between the inertia control ability of the current operational capacity vector of the firms and their performance improvement can be observed. This study verifies that the issue of corporate competitiveness and performance can be investigated by utilizing the principles of competition in nature. Moreover, a firm can obtain a sustainable competitive advantage by improving its ability to learn from top firms in the industry.

THE RESOURCE POTENTIAL AND THE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN BUSINESS STRUCTURE

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Ирина Юрьевна Окольнишникова

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research is the development of theoretical approaches to the study of the essence and structure of the resource potential of entrepreneurship in the context of the development strategy of the competitive advantages in business structure.As the research methodology the complex of principles and tools of system and axiological approaches is used.According to the results of the conducted research, possessing the scientific novelty, the conceptual apparatus is clarified and the author's definition of the resource potential of the enterprise is given, a model of the resource potential structure in commercial organization is analyzed and the mechanism of strategy formation for sustainable competitive advantages provision of the organization on the basis of the effective use of its resource potential is identified.Area of application of the research results is the control of competitiveness in general and resource potential of entrepreneurial structures, in particular at all levels of the socio-economic system of society.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-2-39

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AS MEANS OF MOBILIZATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF THE INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE

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K. B. Dobrova

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article stresses the importance and urgency of implementing knowledge management systems for aviation enterprises to enhance the competitive advantages of aircraft. Conservation promotes knowledge management system (SMZ, developed and approved by the national standard of the Russian Federation GOST R 53894-2010 «Knowledge Management. Terms and definitions». A formula for the calculation of some indicators of competitiveness.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AS MEANS OF MOBILIZATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF THE INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE

OpenAIRE

K. B. Dobrova; N. V. Kirichenko

2013-01-01

The article stresses the importance and urgency of implementing knowledge management systems for aviation enterprises to enhance the competitive advantages of aircraft. Conservation promotes knowledge management system (SMZ), developed and approved by the national standard of the Russian Federation GOST R 53894-2010 «Knowledge Management. Terms and definitions». A formula for the calculation of some indicators of competitiveness.

Examining the role of export competitive advantages on export performance

OpenAIRE

Yeganeh Alimohammadi; Reza Aghamousa; Fataneh Alizadeh Meshkani

2014-01-01

This paper investigates the role of export competitive advantage on export performance in food industry. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among 280 randomly selected experts in food industry and Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.827. The study has applied factor analysis to find important factors influencing export performance. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity have been performed to validate th...

Game Theory Study on Distributors' Alliance to Gain Competitive Advantage in Marketing Channel

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO Shi-ying; CHEN Jie; WANG Fang-hua

2005-01-01

Using the Cournot Game Model, this paper has analyzed the motivation of the distributors' alliance to gain competitive advantage in marketing channel. At first, this paper separately analyzed the advantage of alliance in the situation of oneshort game and infinitely repeated game, then, based on the analysis of distributors' betrayal of the alliance under infinitely repeated game, the conditions to maintain the distributors alliance are put forward and discussed.

Business statistics for competitive advantage with Excel 2016 basics, model building, simulation and cases

CERN Document Server

Fraser, Cynthia

2016-01-01

The revised Fourth Edition of this popular textbook is redesigned with Excel 2016 to encourage business students to develop competitive advantages for use in their future careers as decision makers. Students learn to build models using logic and experience, produce statistics using Excel 2016 with shortcuts, and translate results into implications for decision makers. The textbook features new examples and assignments on global markets, including cases featuring Chipotle and Costco. Exceptional managers know that they can create competitive advantages by basing decisions on performance response under alternative scenarios, and managers need to understand how to use statistics to create such advantages. Statistics, from basic to sophisticated models, are illustrated with examples using real data such as students will encounter in their roles as managers. A number of examples focus on business in emerging global markets with particular emphasis on emerging markets in Latin America, China, and India. Results are...

A resource based view to small firms' sustainable competitive advantages: A case of Iranian small firms

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Ali Reza Babakhan

2012-10-01

Full Text Available During the last decades, the importance of small firms as one of the main economical parts in each country has been proved. Considering to the resources limitation in one hand, and the competitive global market in the other hand, it is very important that firms can obtain sustainable competitive advantages (SCAs to compete with other rivals. This paper, at the first step, tries to explore the potentially SCAs of Qom's small firms by using of Structural Equation Model (SEM. Then, the real current situation of firms in using these competitive advantages has been examined. The results tell that except firms' location, other potentially SCAs do not have acceptable condition.

CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A MECHANISM TO TURN INNOVATION INTO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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GRAȚIELA MIHAELA FERARU

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Corporate Entrepreneurship creates the environment where preparation (engaged employees that own knowhow and resources meets opportunity (generated by the current business environment where corporations perform their activities. The current paper aims to identify to what extent corporate entrepreneurship enables the pursuit and exploitation of business opportunities in order to maintain competitive position by focusing on the main implications and risks. During current times, the competitive landscape challenges corporations to focus on new initiatives in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Intense competition, as much as rapid technological progress, leads to industry-wide restructuring, challenging big companies to adapt. Corporations that seek quick wins realized that neither cost cutting nor mergers are enough to achieve short term goals or even to play the game. Not adapting generates the switch to an unintentional strategic decision to be out of business. Volatility of current environment has highlighted the need for companies to become entrepreneurial in order to capture (identify and value the business opportunities. The need for innovation is not only a priority for start-ups; it is also a strategic goal for large companies. Creating new businesses within corporations is the challenge of the day in order to maintain a competitive position and to grow.

Competitive Advantage of MBA for Physician Executives: A Systematic Literature Review.

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Turner, Anthony D; Stawicki, Stanislaw P; Guo, Weidun Alan

2018-06-01

In response to systemic challenges facing the US healthcare system, many medical students, residents and practicing physicians are pursuing a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree. The value of such proposition remains poorly defined. The aim of this review is to analyze current literature pertaining to the added value of MBA training for physician executives (PEs). We hypothesized that physicians who supplement their clinical expertise with business education gain a significant competitive advantage. A detailed literature search of four electronic databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase and ERIC) was performed. Included were studies published between Jan 2000 and June 2017, focusing specifically on PEs. Among 1580 non-duplicative titles, we identified 23 relevant articles. Attributes which were found to add value to one's competitiveness as PE were recorded. A quality index score was assigned to each article in order to minimize bias. Results were tabulated by attributes and by publication. We found that competitive domains deemed to be most important for PEs in the context of MBA training were leadership (n = 17), career advancement opportunities (n = 12), understanding of financial aspects of medicine (n = 9) and team-building skills (n = 10). Among other prominent factors associated with the desire to engage in an MBA were higher compensation, awareness of public health issues/strategy, increased negotiation skills and enhanced work-life balance. Of interest, the learning of strategies for reducing malpractice litigation was less important than the other drivers. This comprehensive systemic review supports our hypothesis that a business degree confers a competitive advantage for PEs. Physician executives equipped with an MBA degree appear to be better equipped to face the challenge of the dynamically evolving healthcare landscape. This information may be beneficial to medical schools designing or implementing combined dual-degree curricula.

The Relationships Among Leadership, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Innovation and Competitive Advantage (a Conceptual Model of Logistics Service Industry)

OpenAIRE

Sudrajat, Darjat

2015-01-01

Nowadays, improvement of competitive advantage is an important and urgent issue facing logistics service companies in Indonesia. Some previous researches showed that to improve the competitive advantage could be conducted through improvement of leadership, entrepreneurial mindset and innovation variables. This research intended to recognize relationships among the variables. The research used causal-explanatory method. The results of research encompass a conceptual model, status of each varia...

A competitive trade-off limits the selective advantage of increased antibiotic production.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerardin, Ylaine; Springer, Michael; Kishony, Roy

2016-09-26

In structured environments, antibiotic-producing microorganisms can gain a selective advantage by inhibiting nearby competing species 1 . However, despite their genetic potential 2,3 , natural isolates often make only small amounts of antibiotics, and laboratory evolution can lead to loss rather than enhancement of antibiotic production 4 . Here, we show that, due to competition with antibiotic-resistant cheater cells, increased levels of antibiotic production can actually decrease the selective advantage to producers. Competing fluorescently labelled Escherichia coli colicin producers with non-producing resistant and sensitive strains on solid media, we found that although producer colonies can greatly benefit from the inhibition of nearby sensitive colonies, this benefit is shared with resistant colonies growing in their vicinity. A simple model, which accounts for such local competitive and inhibitory interactions, suggests that the advantage of producers varies non-monotonically with the amount of production. Indeed, experimentally varying the amount of production shows a peak in selection for producers, reflecting a trade-off between benefit gained by inhibiting sensitive competitors and loss due to an increased contribution to resistant cheater colonies. These results help explain the low level of antibiotic production observed for natural species and can help direct laboratory evolution experiments selecting for increased or novel production of antibiotics.

Effect of Economic Vulnerability on Competitive Advantages, Enterprise Performance and Sustainability

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Abdullah Al Mamun

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of economic vulnerability upon competitive advantages, performance, and sustainability of micro-enterprises owned and managed by micro-entrepreneurs who participate in varied development initiatives in Peninsular Malaysia. Upon adopting the cross-sectional design, data were randomly collected from selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the eKasih program (national poverty data bank located in four states of Peninsular Malaysia. The quantitative data were collected by conducting structured interview sessions with the respondents held from September until November 2017. The findings revealed that the state of economic vulnerability among the respondents had a significantly negative effect on the aspects of competitive advantages, performance, and sustainability among micro-enterprises in Peninsular Malaysia. Despite of the widely acknowledged and empirically examined effects of socioeconomic antecedents upon micro-enterprise performance, the focus on the effect of a more comprehensive measure of socioeconomic condition, that is, economic vulnerability, among low-income households appears to be scant. Hence, the outcomes of this study are able to provide critical insights for development organizations pertaining to development programs and their effectiveness on economically vulnerable, particularly among low-income households in Peninsular Malaysia.

Can internationalisation really lead to institutional competitive advantage? : a study of 16 Dutch public higher education institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr. Haijing de Haan

2014-01-01

Public higher education institutions (PHEIs) have widely acknowledged a positive relationship between internationalization and their institutional competitive advantage enhancement. Although some concerns have been raised by practitioners and researchers about whether institutional competitive

Strategic objectives and the usage possibility of competitive advantages of the grain crops complex of Chelyabinsk region

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Ol'ga Dmitrievna Rubaeva

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the logical scheme of strategy of the grain complex competitive advantages usage. The results of evaluation of financial and economic situation of agricultural enterprises engaged into production of grain are presented. Determination of the level of competitiveness of the agro-grain industry was established on the basis of obtaining an integral point-weighting factor of competitiveness. Evaluation and confirmation of this technique allowed identifying key factors of competitiveness of agricultural enterprises in the grain corns industry. The main conclusion of the study is the following: the use of resource-saving technologies for the cultivation of crops greatly influences the development of competitive advantages. Calculations showed that the application of resource-saving technology increases productivity, reduces labour requirements and the cost of equipment maintenance and repair, fuel costs, improves basic economic indicators of activity: gross revenues from sales is increasing.

The competitive advantage of the Tunisian palm date sector in the Mediterranean region

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Ben-Amor, R.; Aguayo, E.; Miguel-Gómez, M. D. de

2015-07-01

In Tunisia, date-palm cultivation and production are of clear strategic importance in terms of economic, social and environmental development. However, the globalization of markets has had a huge impact on the traditional concept of the comparative advantage enjoyed by Tunisia in date exports, highlighting the necessary determinants for competitiveness in the international scenario. In fact, an analysis of the competitive advantage of the Tunisian date industry in the Mediterranean area and Iran over the last 20 years shows that Tunisia is still the main supplier of dates to the EU. The Deglet-Nour variety, in particular, puts Tunisia ahead of traditional competitors such as Algeria and Iran, with average of competitiveness indices as BIS 6405.99, DI 17.38, CMS 41.04 and TBI 99.50 are more stable than those countries during the studied period. But it is currently facing new competitors like Israel and re-exporting countries like France. New business strategies (conditioning, new non-chemical treatments, packing, opening new markets, new distribution channels) would be positive responses to tackle current market limitations, the emergence of new producers and restrictive EU policies. (Author)

The competitive advantage of the Tunisian palm date sector in the Mediterranean region

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Rihab Ben-Amor

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In Tunisia, date-palm cultivation and production are of clear strategic importance in terms of economic, social and environmental development. However, the globalization of markets has had a huge impact on the traditional concept of the comparative advantage enjoyed by Tunisia in date exports, highlighting the necessary determinants for competitiveness in the international scenario. In fact, an analysis of the competitive advantage of the Tunisian date industry in the Mediterranean area and Iran over the last 20 years shows that Tunisia is still the main supplier of dates to the EU. The Deglet-Nour variety, in particular, puts Tunisia ahead of traditional competitors such as Algeria and Iran, with average of competitiveness indices as BIS 6405.99, DI 17.38, CMS 41.04 and TBI 99.50 are more stable than those countries during the studied period. But it is currently facing new competitors like Israel and re-exporting countries like France. New business strategies (conditioning, new non-chemical treatments, packing, opening new markets, new distribution channels would be positive responses to tackle current market limitations, the emergence of new producers and restrictive EU policies.

The Influence of Marketing Intelligence on Business Competitive Advantage (A Study of Diamond Bank Plc

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Ladipo Patric Kunle Ade

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the influence of Marketing Intelligence on Business Competitive Advantage: A study of Diamond Bank Plc, Nigeria. Five objectives were identified and translated into five research questions which aptly answered by subjecting them to a test of hypotheses. A Descriptive research was used to survey 292 members of the staff of Diamond Bank in Lagos, Central Regional branches and head office. Out of which 285 responses were obtained, while 6 responses were destroyed because they were not properly filled. Also, data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire, as Pearson correlation, T-test and Regression were used to test the hypotheses statements. However, the result of the findings revealed that marketing intelligence sub-constructs such as internal records, competitor’s sales data, marketplace opportunity, competitors’ threats and competitors’ risks have significant and positive influence on business competitive advantage. Thus, it can be concluded that marketing intelligence as sensitive information has enabled the bank to successfully acquire more profit, expand the branch network all over the country, perform better than its rivals in the market and increase its business competitive advantage.

SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR MARKET LEADERSHIP AMONGST THE PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES IN MALAYSIA

OpenAIRE

Loh Teck Hua Author_Email:

2011-01-01

One of Malaysia’s economic goals is to become an education hub for the region. To achieve this, the Malaysian government had liberalised government policies resulting in the proliferation of Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) including private Universities and University Colleges. As competition intensifies it becomes increasingly pertinent to ask “What sustainable competitive advantage should the Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) have to achieve market leadership in th...

Teamwork in health care: opportunities for gains in quality, productivity, and competitive advantage. What works, what doesn't, and why.

Science.gov (United States)

Montebello, A R

1994-01-01

Wholesale political, economic, and social change is pressuring health-care organizations to reinvent themselves as they enter a new arena of managed competition. Survival is at stake. Will belt-tightening efforts, combined with structural changes and strategic alliances, achieve the necessary improvements in efficiency and help to secure an adequate patient base? It seems reasonable to expect that health-care institutions can realize the major gains in quality, productivity, efficiency, and competitive edge that organizations in the manufacturing and service industries have enjoyed for the past several years. It seems like a logical next step for health-care organizations to deploy proven methods--such as work redesign, team-based structures, and empowered workforces--that have helped to restore competitiveness to many industrial and service firms. This article describes how to organize teams at all levels and accelerate their development to achieve important organizational objectives--such as improving quality, productivity, and efficiency--while increasing employee satisfaction. Pioneering workplace innovations are reviewed to demonstrate how high-involvement teams integrating strategic planning, research, and health-care delivery processes are not only possible but highly desirable. Enhanced quality, improved productivity, greater efficiency, and employee satisfaction all translate to an undeniable competitive advantage.

The environmental advantage in the competitive equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horst, T.J.; Blake, E.T.

1992-01-01

The role of environmental issues in the utility business has undergone a dramatic transition in the past few years and this new role is the basis for new definitions and new responses. Policies or products that protect the environment are now an advantage to those companies that properly capture environmental issues in their strategic planning process. This paper will focus on the underpinnings of this shift in the role of environmental protection in business and go beyond the issues of today to suggest some paradigms for the future. The current status of environmental concern is evident in the time and resources committed to environmental protection. Public officials take more proactive environmental positions; Corporations recognize environmental values in competitive equation; Citizens express willingness to pay for environmentally responsible services and products; Environmental issues tie business to the community; and Environmental planning tradeoffs are becoming more complex

Country of origin image attributes as a source of competitive advantage: study in international brazilian fashion industry

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Mariana Bassi Sutter

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The study sought to understand which attributes of the country of origin image are source of international competitive advantage in the context of Brazilian fashion. From the theoretical framework related to competitive advantage, country of origin image, Brazilianness and their attributes in fashion, we conducted exploratory research with a qualitative approach. The results suggest that the image of Brazil is understood by the international fashion market in accordance with the attributes of the literature. However (i in fashion, market still does not have a steady concept on the image of Brazil, (ii Brazilianness attributes in fashion can be a source of competitive advantage in international trades if they are communicated, promoted and understood by the international market; finally, (iii among the eight Brazilianness trendy attributes identified in the literature, four were highlighted as differentiators: shape and volumes, colors, prints and lifestyle.

Competitive Advantages of Effective Relationships of Business Entities as a Basis for Economic Development of Ukraine

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Butenko Nataliia V.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to determine the transformation of sense of relationships between business entities in the national economy as well as basic ideas and principles of forming competitive advantages of effective relationships. The objective preconditions for the transition from the confrontation strategy to relationships as a basis of interaction of business entities in the structure of the national economy are analyzed. It is determined that the weakening of the antagonistic dominant of competitive relations and the growing importance of a constructive component of partnership has become a background of the desire of business entities to establish effective relationships. The attention is focused on the trends of the cooperation and integration approach to competitive behavior, which is manifested in such forms of competitive interactions as coordination, constructive interaction and competitive collaboration in order to achieve individual and common goals of competitive relationships of the entities. The competitive advantages based on establishing long-term and effective relationships are considered. The peculiarities in the formation of the system of relationships in the insurance market are justified, in particular the causes hindering the development of relationships in the sphere of security are determined, the main partners — entities in the system of relationships in the insurance market are identified, the levels of relationships management in the insurance market are determined. Among the advantages of the use of effective relationships in the field of insurance are the following: improving the company’s image, attracting new customers, additional sales of insurance services, limiting the access of competitors’ offers, more efficient use of the advertising budget, improving the efficiency of the development of new insurance products and services, increasing the profits and value of brands, improving relations with

ACQUISITION AS A GENERATOR STRATEGY FROM COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN THE BRAZILIAN MARKET OF FUELS DISTRIBUITION

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Maurício Fernandes Pereira

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The subject from this work is about acquisitions as organizational strategies and it is guided by the general objective on identifying if the acquisition of Texaco by Ultra Group, in Brazil, could generate competitive advantages. Thus, the main aim is to characterize, specifically, the fuel distribution sector in Brazil, presenting characteristics, strategies, classification of resources and the competitive advantage’s identification in the buying process of Texaco by Ultra Group. The methodology used for this research is a case study of qualitative nature. Data collection has been performed through literature review, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. In the analysis of collected data, specific objectives have been met. It was clear, therefore, the presence of features such as scale earnings, brand exposure, better management practices, synergies, tangible and intangible assets and market growth. So, those resources are classified according to the competitive implications. Then, it might be concluded that Texaco´s acquisition could bring competitive advantages for Ultra / Ipiranga Group. Respondents believe the sector is growing and businesses tend to grow despite the world crisis. They also confirmed that, in a highly competitive market, strategic alliances and market growing are factors that may ensure success to each company.

Effects of shading on relative competitive advantage of three species of Sphagnum

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J.Z. Ma

2015-06-01

Full Text Available (1 Sphagnum is an important genus of bryophytes holding 10–15 % of the terrestrial carbon stock. With climate change a drier surface may increase the abundance of vascular plants on peatlands, so shading of Sphagnum may increase. Here we describe growth cabinet experiments to reveal the effects of shading on interactions among mixtures of three species: S. capillifolium, S. palustre (hummock species, and S. fallax (a hollow species. We measured the six traits: growth in length, growth as increase in dry mass, side-shoot production, nitrogen and carbon proportion of the capitulum dry mass, and C:N ratio in the capitulum. (2 Shading had no effect on biomass production or side-shoot production but increased height increment in all three species. It also increased the C and N proportions of total dry mass but decreased C:N ratio in the capitula. (3 Neighbours of a different species reduced biomass and side-shoot production in the two hummock species but had no effect on the hollow species. (4 All three species showed interaction between shading and neighbour in two or more plant traits. S. fallax showed competitive advantage over S. palustre in no-shading treatments and over S. capillifolium in moderate shading treatments. In addition, under deep shading, S. fallax showed a competitive advantage over both hummock species. A clear competitive hierarchy S. fallax＞S. capillifolium＞S. palustre emerged which was consistent with the hierarchy of side-shoot production. (5 The results suggest that all the species appear to tolerate deep shade (for a few months at least. In a shaded environment, especially under deeply shaded conditions, S. fallax retains its dominance in hollow habitats (if water availability is guaranteed by virtue of its advantage in side-shoot production. (6 If shading increases then the abundance of different Sphagnum species is likely to change.

Responsible Consumption – Source of Competitive Advantages and Solution for Tourist Protection

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Gheorghe Epuran

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The recent preoccupations of national institutions and organizations and, especially of European and global institutions, regarding the responsible consumption of raw materials, resources and materials became more and more intense in the last years. In the same time, they contribute to the creation of a mentality of equilibrium in consumption and among consumers. With no connection with the area of activity, the XXIst century companies make real efforts to obtain competitive advantages by a consequent implementation of social responsibility, by assuring a responsible consumption in all the processes, and by protecting the consumer interests and rights. It became more and more frequent for the companies from tourism industry to apply the principles of sustainable development and to follow a strategy of responsible consumption. Their efforts are focused on providing different and unique experiences to contemporary consumer. In this way, the responsible consumption becomes not only a competitive advantage, but, also, an efficient way of informing the tourists and protecting their interests and rights. Without having a well-determined “ideological motivation”, tourists become more careful in responsible selection of services, depending on their degree of sustainability. They choose those touristic services that have a big contribution at the environment protection and preservation, respectively that integrate in a harmonious and synergic way cultural, psycho-social and emotional considerations. The institutions that regulate the touristic services supply contribute, also, at the careful monitoring of messages submitted to tourists and the messages content. To measure the way that the rural tourist guesthouses from Romania base their actions on the responsible consumption of raw materials and resources in their strategies of approaching the market and attracting tourists, in order to get sustainable competitive advantages and to offer efficient

Porphyromonas gingivalis displays a competitive advantage over Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in co-cultured biofilm.

Science.gov (United States)

Takasaki, K; Fujise, O; Miura, M; Hamachi, T; Maeda, K

2013-06-01

Biofilm formation occurs through the events of cooperative growth and competitive survival among multiple species. Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans are important periodontal pathogens. The aim of this study was to demonstrate competitive or cooperative interactions between these two species in co-cultured biofilm. P. gingivalis strains and gingipain mutants were cultured with or without A. actinomycetemcomitans. Biofilms formed on glass surfaces were analyzed by crystal violet staining and colony counting. Preformed A. actinomycetemcomitans biofilms were treated with P. gingivalis culture supernatants. Growth and proteolytic activities of gingipains were also determined. Monocultured P. gingivalis strains exhibited a range of biofilm-formation abilities and proteolytic activities. The ATCC33277 strain, noted for its high biofilm-formation ability and proteolytic activity, was found to be dominant in biofilm co-cultured with A. actinomycetemcomitans. In a time-resolved assay, A. actinomycetemcomitans was primarily the dominant colonizer on a glass surface and subsequently detached in the presence of increasing numbers of ATCC33277. Detachment of preformed A. actinomycetemcomitans biofilm was observed by incubation with culture supernatants from highly proteolytic strains. These results suggest that P. gingivalis possesses a competitive advantage over A. actinomycetemcomitans. As the required biofilm-formation abilities and proteolytic activities vary among P. gingivalis strains, the diversity of the competitive advantage is likely to affect disease recurrence during periodontal maintenance. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The effect of marketing innovation, market orientation, and social capital on competitive advantage and marketing performance: A study in MSMEs of embroidery Central Java Province

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Ag. Sunarno Handoyo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study deals with marketing innovation, market orientation, and social capital in affecting the competitive advantage and marketing performance in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs of embroidery in Central Java Province. In this respect, this study tried to test and analyze the effect of marketing innovation, market orienta-tion, and social capital on competitive advantage and marketing performance in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs of embroidery in Central Java Province. The samples are 150 respondents as the owners of the embroidery business in Central Java Province. The technical analysis used is Structure Equations Modeling with AMOS Software version 22. The results show that: (1 marketing innovation has significant effect on competitive advantage; (2 market orientation has significant effect on competi-tive advantage; (3 social capital has significant effect on competitive advantage; (4 competitive advantage has significant effect on marketing performance; (5 marketing innovation has significant effect on marketing performance; (6 market orientation has significant effect on marketing performance; (7 social capital has no significant effect on marketing performance. The implication of this study is that the MSMEs of embroidery could improve marketing performance by increasing marketing innovation, market orientation, social capital and competitive advantage. This study also shows that competitive advantage is an intervening variable on marketing performance.

Competitive advantage and higher fitness in native populations of genetically structured planktonic diatoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Sildever, Sirje; Sefbom, Josefin; Lips, Inga; Godhe, Anna

2016-12-01

It has been shown that the planktonic diatom Skeletonema from neighbouring areas are genetically differentiated despite absence of physical dispersal barriers. We revisited two sites, Mariager Fjord and Kattegat, NE Atlantic, and isolated new strains. Microsatellite genotyping and F-statistics revealed that the populations were genetically differentiated. An experiment was designed to investigate if populations are locally adapted and have a native competitive advantage. Ten strains from each location were grown individually in native and foreign water to investigate differences in produced biomass. Additionally, we mixed six pairs, one strain from each site, and let them grow together in native and foreign water. Strains from Mariager Fjord and Kattegat produced higher biomass in native water. In the competition experiment, strains from both sites displayed higher relative abundance and demonstrated competitive advantage in their native water. The cause of the differentiated growth is unknown, but could possibly be attributed to differences in silica concentration or viruses in the two water types. Our data show that dispersal potential does not influence the genetic structure of the populations. We conclude that genetic adaptation has not been overruled by gene flow, but instead the responses to different selection conditions are enforcing the observed genetic structure. © 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessment of competition and yield advantage in addition series of barley variety mixtures

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Kari Jokinen

1991-09-01

Full Text Available In an addition series experiment the competition between three barley varieties (Agneta, Arra and Porno and the yield performance of mixtures were evaluated. Also two levels of nitrogen fertilization (50 and 100 kgN/ha were applied. Two approaches (the replacement series and the linear regression equation were used to analyse the competitive relationship based on grain yields in two-component mixtures. In three component mixtures the replacement series approach was applied. Both methods showed a similar dominance order of the varieties with Arra always being dominant and Agneta subordinate. The relationship between varieties was independent of the number of varieties in the mixture. Increase in available nitrogen strengthened the competitiveness of Arra especially in the dense, two-variety mixtures. Some mixtures over yielded but the differences were not statistically significant. The yield advantage based on relative yield total or on the ratio of actual and expected yield was greatest when the density and nitrogen fertilization were low and especially when one component in the mixture was a rather low yielding variety (Agneta. The land equivalent ratios (LER (the reference pure culture yield was the maximum yield of each variety were close to one, suggesting that under optimal growing conditions the yield advantage of barley varietal mixtures is marginal.

Sustainable Competitive Advantage in E-Commerce and the Role of the Enterprise System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schubert, Petra; Williams, Susan P.; Woelfle, Ralf

2011-01-01

advantage in e-commerce companies. This paper explores factors that enable sustainable competitive advantages in B2C retailing. The analysis is based on a single in-depth case study of an Internet pioneer company (LeShop), which was observed by the authors since its inception more than 10 years ago......Shop is now one of the few successful e-commerce suppliers in the supermarket segment worldwide. The discussion includes an analysis of further critical resources of the company from a resource-based view....

The Relationships among Leadership, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Innovation and Competitive Advantage (A Conceptual Model of Logistics Service Industry

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Darjat Sudrajat

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, improvement of competitive advantage is an important and urgent issue facing logistics service companies in Indonesia. Some previous researches showed that to improve the competitive advantage could be conducted through improvement of leadership, entrepreneurial mindset and innovation variables. This research intended to recognize relationships among the variables. The research used causal-explanatory method. The results of research encompass a conceptual model, status of each variable and hypotheses. The conceptual model could be further verified through verification research. 

Game on: creating competitive advantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Riskind, Patricia; Foreman, M Shane

2004-01-01

Whether you are opening a new imaging center or trying to keep an existing center competitive, there are 3 critical factors: customer service, marketing, and a "what's next?" attitude. Customer service: Outstanding customer service is what sticks in the minds of referring physicians and patients. Not only does providing better service differentiate you from the competition, but it also boosts employee morale and motivates people to acquire new skills. Marketing: From the front office staff to the radiologists,promoting the center should be part of every employee's job description. Simply paying lip service to the concept of marketing will not cut it. A "what's next?" attitude: Complacency is a luxury that does not exist in today's competitive health care arena. Three facilities provide examples of how these factors applied to their success.

Does polyembryony confer a competitive advantage to the invasive perennial vine Vincetoxicum rossicum (Apocynaceae)?

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, Megan L; Barney, Jacob N; Averill, Kristine M; Mohler, Charles L; Ditommaso, Antonio

2010-02-01

Determining which traits may allow some introduced plant species to become invasive in their new environment continues to be a key question in invasion biology. Vincetoxicum rossicum is an invasive, perennial vine colonizing natural and seminatural habitats primarily in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. More than half its seeds exhibit polyembryony, a relatively uncommon condition in which a single seed produces multiple seedlings. For evaluating the potential consequences of polyembryony on invasiveness, V. rossicum plants derived from seeds of three embryonic classes-singlets, doublets, and triplets (one, two, and three seedlings per seed, respectively)-were paired in all combinations intraspecifically and with the co-occurring native herbs Solidago canadensis and Asclepias syriaca in a greenhouse study. Vincetoxicum rossicum biomass was 25-55% greater and follicle production 55-100% greater under intraspecific competition compared with interspecific competition. However, within a competitive environment, follicle production varied little. Regardless of competitive environment, V. rossicum originating from seeds with a greater number of embryos typically performed no better than plants arising from seed with fewer embryos (singlets = doublets = triplets)-except intraspecifically where doublets outperformed singlets, and with S. canadensis where triplets outperformed singlets. Our findings suggest that overall performance and fitness of V. rossicum is higher in monocultures than in mixed stands and that its ability to invade new habitats may not be attributable to the production of polyembryonic seeds.

The whole relationship between environmental variables and firm performance: competitive advantage and firm resources as mediator variables.

Science.gov (United States)

López-Gamero, María D; Molina-Azorín, José F; Claver-Cortés, Enrique

2009-07-01

The examination of the possible direct link between environmental protection and firm performance in the literature has generally produced mixed results. The present paper contributes to the literature by using the resource-based view as a mediating process in this relationship. The study specifically tests whether or not the resource-based view of the firm mediates the positive relationships of proactive environmental management and improved environmental performance with competitive advantage, which also has consequences for financial performance. We also check the possible link between the adoption of a pioneering approach and good environmental management practices. Our findings support that early investment timing and intensity in environmental issues impact on the adoption of a proactive environmental management, which in turn helps to improve environmental performance. The findings also show that a firm's resources and competitive advantage act as mediator variables for a positive relationship between environmental protection and financial performance. This contribution is original because the present paper develops a comprehensive whole picture of this path process, which has previously only been partially discussed in the literature. In addition, this study clarifies a relevant point in the literature, namely that the effect of environmental protection on firm performance is not direct and can vary depending on the sector considered. Whereas competitive advantage in relation to costs influences financial performance in the IPPC law sector, the relevant influence in the hotel sector comes from competitive advantage through differentiation.

Optimizing Product Attributes to Gain Competitive Advantage in Markets for Hardwood Lumber

Science.gov (United States)

Robert J. Bush; Philip A. Araman

1990-01-01

One of the ways in which wood-based companies can gain competitive advantage is to concentrate on a particular segment of the market for their products. By meeting the needs of this segment better than its competitors, a company can create switching costs, develop customer loyalty, and the increase profit margins. This article describes a study that was conducted that...

Sustainable Competitive Advantages: An Exploratory Study of the Brazilian Cell Phone SectorHttp://Dx.Doi.Org/10.5585/Riae.V9i2.1674

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Rodolfo Borges Felipe

2010-11-01

Full Text Available In an environment of rapid changes one should seek definitions of what would be the strategic solutions adopted by organizations to ensure a competitive edge. This article is targeted to identify and verify the longevity of potential competitive advantages in Brazil’s mobile telephone sector through the analysis of the strategic actions taken by its operators between 2000 and 2008. Therefore, a two stage qualitative research with exploratory-descriptive features was adopted and carried out. The first stage saw the development of a theoretical framework based on the theory of competitive advantage. In the second step, the impact of strategic actions with the potential to become a competitive advantage in the four major mobile phone companies in the country was analyzed, and the examination of the sustainability of competitive advantages created from those actions was also undertaken. The study concluded that, although being a highly dynamic and competitive sector, there is evidence of the occurrence of a sustainable competitive advantage in the mobile telephone sector in Brazil.

Advergaming: Application of Knowledge in the Process of the Competitive Advantage Improvement

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Pavel Mráček

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The paper is involved in the utilization of the knowledge in the process of the competitive advantage improvement by means of the perspective marketing tool - advergaming. The objective of the article is the informing on the possibilities of the use of the knowledge in the field of the advergaming as the possible tool in the marketing communication, leading to the improvement of the competitive advantage of the companies. Scientific aim: Research objective was to identify how knowledge management is used in the Czech companies with respect to their size. Specific aspect of our research was an influence of knowledge management on a decision making process. On the base of results we have identified the requirement of usage of knowledge management in the area of advertgaming. We argue that this is a possible approach improving competitiveness of companies. Methodology/methods: Data for this paper are the data from the research carried out in the Czech companies. This survey focuses on the share of the application of the knowledge management in surveyed companies. 265 companies from the whole Czech Republic, various segments and industries, starting with the tourism, building industry, hotel industry, transport and ending with the manufacturing and distribution of the detergents and the distribution of the medical materials, were involved in the research. The companies were selected randomly. The necessary data were collected from the total number of 265 companies by means of the questionnaire research, and in certain cases the structured interview was used. The synthesis from the individual parts was made, on the basis of which the following conclusions were based. Findings: The paper identifies the method of the use of the knowledge in the advergaming as a possible starting point for the potential model of the utilization of the knowledge in the marketing communication. Conclusions: (limits, implications

Differentiation strategy : how to create a competitive advantage in online groceries

OpenAIRE

Lok, Ka Heng

2017-01-01

Since the beginning of e-commerce, digital selling of commodities is becoming more common and accessible to every consumer. It is possible to order any grocery item on the Internet. A successful company in online groceries requires a strategy that could make it stand out from its competitors. That is the aim of the thesis; to create a competitive advantage in online groceries by using a differentiation strategy. The study focuses on analysing the external factors: the macro environment, ...

The competitive advantage of European nations : The impact of national culture - a missing element in Porter's analysis?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); A.A. van Prooijen

1992-01-01

textabstractThis article uses as its starting point Michael Porter's model of the national ‘diamond’ to explain the role of the national environment in the competitive position of industries and firms. The authors believe, however, that the influence of national culture on the competitive advantage

Internet Usage and Competitive Advantage: The Impact of the Internet on an Old Economy Industry in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

del Aguila Obra, Ana Rosa; Bruque Camara, Sebastian; Padilla Melendez, Antonio

2002-01-01

Considers whether Internet technologies have led to competitive advantage for companies operating in traditional industries. Highlights include a literature review; using the resource-based view (RBV) of firms as a theoretical framework for an empirical investigation; and a survey that investigated Internet technologies and competitive advantage…

Students' Use of Extra-Curricular Activities for Positional Advantage in Competitive Job Markets

Science.gov (United States)

Roulin, Nicolas; Bangerter, Adrian

2013-01-01

With the rise of mass higher education, competition between graduates in the labour market is increasing. Students are aware that their degree will not guarantee them a job and realise they should add value and distinction to their credentials to achieve a positional advantage. Participation in extra-curricular activities (ECAs) is one such…

EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL.COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OR ECONOMIC HANDICAP

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Iovitu Mariana

2010-07-01

Full Text Available “Corporative social responsibility” (CSR represents equally a very actual debate, but also an appraisal criteria of the dynamic of eco-social integration quality process at European level. Especially that the protection need is demanded by the current economic crisis. This concept is meant to combine the position, attitude and behaviour of the trade-unions with the interests of employer’s organisations in search of possible influential mechanisms of the competitive advantage at European level. Due to the current economic crisis, the implications on the labour force market are causing an explainable anxiety. The attention of the decision takers is oriented towards joining the objectives “social well being with economic well being” in view of an expected economic come back. This approach proves a significant change at the level of economic and social policies within the European Union.

How Europe's Low-Cost Carriers Sidestepped Traditional Carriers' Competitive Advantages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvass, Kristian Anders

-cost airlines were more successful and had a greater initial impact in their early years than their U.S. compatriots. This paper will attempt to highlight some of the differences between the two markets and explain why European low-cost airlines had more advantages following their market deregulation...

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE GLOBALIZED LOGISTICS SCENARIO

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Marcos Antônio Maia de Oliveira

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers strategic alliances as a means of obtaining advantage in the globalized logistics scenario. Through a particular case study of partnership and strategic alliance between national companies (Rapidão Cometa, Expresso Araçatuba and Transportadora Americana and an international one (FedEx Express, one may comprehend the impact on Rapidão Cometa, in as much as the increase in market share within the logistics market, as well as the subsequent consolidation before major national logistics operators, is concerned.Logistics - a field that holds a strategic function - supports the efficient management of the flow of materials / products, information and resources, both within the company and between the different organizations that participate in the entire value creation cycle.In Brazil, the perception of logistics as an integrating process and as a strategic tool came to light as of the 90´s, a decade mile stoned by rampant growth of international trade, by economic stabilization and by the privatization of infrastructure (Fleury, 2000.The environment in which companies currently operate is very complex and highly competitive. Therefore, they are seeking differentiation and the setting of competitive advantages over competitors. To achieve these goals, each tries to find its own path, however, amongst many a point in common might be perceived: the choice to apply logistics. (Ferraes Neto, 2001.

The Strategy and Competitive Advantage of Indoor Sports Industry in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Tan, Kar Fai

2011-01-01

The sports industry in Malaysia is an industry which is full of potential as it is considered young in this country. The most popular sports in Malaysia are football (soccer) and badminton. Other sports such as squash, cycling, hockey are also quite popular due to our national representative success in the international arena. The purpose of this study is to determine the strategy taken by firms operating in indoor sports industry in Malaysia and to know their competitive advantage. The me...

Data survey on the effect of product features on competitive advantage of selected firms in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Olokundun, Maxwell; Iyiola, Oladele; Ibidunni, Stephen; Falola, Hezekiah; Salau, Odunayo; Amaihian, Augusta; Peter, Fred; Borishade, Taiye

2018-06-01

The main objective of this study was to present a data article that investigates the effect product features on firm's competitive advantage. Few studies have examined how the features of a product could help in driving the competitive advantage of a firm. Descriptive research method was used. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22) was engaged for analysis of one hundred and fifty (150) valid questionnaire which were completed by small business owners registered under small and medium scale enterprises development of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed; reliability and validity procedures were also confirmed. The field data set is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analysis.

The Ability to Assimilate Technology as a Source of Competitive Advantage of Financial Companies in Poland

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Glabiszewski Waldemar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article is empirical in nature and attempts to assess the impact of ability to assimilate newly acquired technologies by financial companies operating in Poland gaining market competitive advantages. The outcome of the research conducted proved the existence of this relationship and found it be strong. This means that the development of these abilities within the absorptive potential of financial companies should trigger a significant increase in the market competitive advantages held by them. The strong impact was identified both in the total of the analyzed personnel and general-organizational components of the assimilation abilities. As regards elementary components of the analyzed potential, the obtained results are definitely more diverse.

The Changing Structure of Retail Industry: Case Studies on Competitive Advantage of Small Companies in Croatia

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Blaženka Knežević

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: There are two key trends in retail industry since 1990s till nowadays: rapid internationalization and intensive retail concentration. In such a dynamic environment, small companies are striving to preserve their markets and to maintain their business activity. The objectives of the paper are twofold: (1 to explain trends of retail internationalization and concentration and (2 to highlight the possibilities for improving the competitive ability of small retailers. Research Design & Methods: The paper is based on analysis of secondary data available in research papers, studies and official statistics. Firstly, the consequences of retail internationalization and concentration are described. Then, the literature on competitive advantage creation is systemized. In addition, the case study method is used to illustrate successful strategies of competitive advantage creation. Findings:  In a changed retail market, small retailers seek the way to improve their competitiveness. As suitable competitiveness strategies, authors describe: (1 retail alliances and (2 differentiation by assortment. Implications & Recommendations: The key trends and their impact on small companies in retail industry are scrutinized. Recommendations to small retailers how to adjust to new market conditions, together with some practical examples, are given. Contribution & Value Added: The paper gives an insight into dynamics of changes in retail structure. Retail alliances and differentiation by assortment are described as two key streams of competitiveness improvement suitable for small retailers.

A new era of prosperity through power : maintaining BC's competitive advantage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potts, D.

2001-01-01

The availability of abundant low cost electric power has been a driving force behind British Columbia's economic growth. BC's low cost power resources can create a natural competitive economic advantage for the province. Electricity, as a publicly owned resource can offer many competitive advantages for business in British Columbia, if managed correctly. However, it was noted that meaningful economic advantages can only be realized if the existing power resources in the province are operated efficiently and priced at or close to cost. In the 1980s, the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee (JIESC) was formed following the regulation of BC Hydro by BC Utilities Commission. It became clear that maintaining low rates for electricity was a public issue that needed input from other governmental forums if JIESC was to be successful. The major sectors represented by JIESC include pulp and paper, mining, and electrochemicals. This paper listed each member company. In order to turn BC's economy around and re-establish the province as a leading economy in Canada, the following recommendations have been proposed for the short term: (1) maintain an ample supply of low cost power for the future, (2) remove the provincial sales tax on the purchase of electric power used for manufacturing and processing, (3) extend the current rate freeze, (4) initiate a long-term resource acquisition and transmission expansion strategy to assure the availability of ample supplies of low cost power. Recommendations for the long term include: (1) maintain regulated cost based rates, (2) develop ample low cost power, (3) utilize downstream benefits, (4) provide a role for the private sector, (5) maintain adequate transmission facilities, (6) reduce government revenues, and (7) instill customer driven management. 3 figs

Competitive advantage of hotels in Jinhua --Combining Institutional and Resource based Views

OpenAIRE

Wang, Wei

2007-01-01

This research endeavors to address the sustainable competitive advantage issue of Chinese firms from the paradigm combining resource based and institutional views. Both views have been used extensively in the strategy research literature in China, and the integrative perspective has the potential to approach the strategy issues new insight by incorporating the institutional influence on resource. Establishing on extensive RBV, institutional theory literature and especially Oliver(1997)��...

The tobacco international competitiveness of the South Brazil :1997-2014

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Ricardo Candéa Sá Barreto

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The research analyses the international competitiveness of the southern tobacco in international trade. We used data analysis system of the Foreign Trade Information Internet (ALICE-Web, the Foreign Trade Secretariat (SECEX of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC in the years 1997-2014. Additionally, advantages index were constructed for and competitiveness revealed to observe the state of the production behavior in international trade. The results show that the southern region has a high relative advantage in tobacco exports over the years considered. The revealed competitiveness was positive, however, advantage of greater magnitude since 2005.

Technological development and knowledge as a source of increasing competitive advantage in Serbia

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Milićević Zoran

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Today, in the era of knowledge economy a competitive advantage is based on technological development and innovation, as well as the exploitation of potential opportunities and possibilities for whose implementation knowledge is necessary. Constant investment in human capital increases productivity, employment and receives a direct source of innovation and longterm competitiveness. Human resources and their knowledge are the key to success for the economy and businesses, while incompetent workforce is one of the most important brake in their business. Development of competition in the domestic and international market, it became imperative for the development of a modern economy. In fact, knowledge is the capitalization of innovation through the creation of new products, services, processes, or labels, but that has no value and significance, if is not commercialized in the market. The aim of this paper is to show the level of competitiveness of the Serbian economy, measurable changes that occur in this direction and degree of easiness of doing business in Serbia, which should contribute to an increase in labor productivity.

Required IT-Related Capabilities For The Utilization of New Opportunities in Creating Interorganizational Competitive Advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.W.L. Vlaar (Paul); F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); H.W. Volberda (Henk)

2004-01-01

textabstractDevelopments in information technology (IT) are perceived to promote interorganizational cooperation within and across industry boundaries. IT-enabled cooperation has challenged the creation of interorganizational competitive advantages, as conceptualized in the Relational View (e.g.,

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN FAMILY BUSINESSES IN GHANA: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING RELATIONSHIPS

OpenAIRE

MOSES ACQUAAH

2011-01-01

The business strategy perspective argues that achieving competitive advantage hinges on pursing a coherent competitive strategy. Family businesses are also said to manifest a strong desire to develop enduring and committed social relationships with external stakeholders. This study examines the effect of business strategy on performance of family businesses and how their managerial social networking relationships with external entities moderate the business strategy–performance link. Using da...

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT MODEL OF NURSING EDUCATION IN MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITIES TOWARD COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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Abdul Aziz Alimul Hidayat

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Most of (90,6% nursing education quality in East Java was still low (BAN-PT, 2012. It was because the quality improvement process in nursing education generally was conducted partially (random performance improvement. The solution which might be done was through identifying proper quality improvement model in Nursing Education toward competitive advantage. Method: This research used survey to gain the data. The research sample was 16 Muhammadiyah Universities chosen using simple random sampling. The data were collected with questionnaires of 174 questions and documentation study. Data analysis used was Partial Least Square (PLS analysis technique. Result: Nursing education department profile in Muhammadiyah Universities in Indonesia showed of 10 years establishment, accredited B and the competition level in one city/regency was averagely more than three Universities becoming the competitors. Based on the quality improvement model analysis of nursing education toward competitive advantage on Muhammadiyah Universities, it was directly affected by the focus of learning and operasional process through human resources management improvement, on the other hand information system also directly affected on quality improvement, also affected quality process components; leadership, human resources, focus of learning and operational process. In improving human resources would be directly influenced with proper strategic planning. Strategic planning was directly influenced with leadership. Thus, in improving quality of nursing education, the leadership role of department, proper information system, and thehuman resources management improvement must be implemented.  Conclusion: Quality improvement model in nursing education was directly determined with learning and operational process through human resources management along with information system, strategic planning factors, and leadership. The research finding could be developed in quality

It’s all relative : how customer-perceived competitive advantage influences referral intentions

OpenAIRE

Mende, Martin; Thompson, Scott; Coenen, Christian

2014-01-01

Better understanding the mechanisms that influence customer intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) is crucial to both marketing scholars and managers. This multimethod research contributes to marketing knowledge by revealing how a firm’s customer-perceived competitive advantage (CPCA) influences positive WOM intentions. Analyses of (1) cross-sectional survey data on bank customers in Germany and (2) experimental data on customers of car insurance companies in the USA reveal two cru...

EXISTS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

OpenAIRE

Anca-Ioana MUNTEANU

2015-01-01

This paper is purely theoretical, having as starting points both existing information in the literature and their correlations. The text does not have a generalized, but represent personal opinions and conclusions. Critically analyzing the definitions given in the literature the term "strategic human resource management ", we found that most of them referred to the involvement he has it in obtaining competitive advantage of an organization. Also, starting from the study of different approache...

MANAJEMEN KINERJA DALAM MENINGKATKAN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE PADA LEMBAGA PENDIDIKAN ISLAM

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Hasan Baharun

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Entering the era of globalization , the Islamic educational institutions have a huge responsibility in responding to various demands of society , especially in improving the quality of education by improving the quality of human resources in it . Performance management is one of the alternatives that can be used by Islamic educational institutions to improve the quality of human resources in order to achieve its objective of institutional accordance with market demand. Through performance management applied to the Islamic education institutions, is expected to create a climate and atmosphere -oriented organization of quality (quality culture and has keungulan compete ( competitive advantage with other educational institutions .

The role of Entrepreneurial Universities in interfacing Competitive Advantages: The Case of Beira Interior region (Portugal)

OpenAIRE

Ferreira, Joao; Leitão, João; Raposo, Mario

2006-01-01

This paper reveals the importance of a local entrepreneurial university in interfacing competitive advantages, by assuming the condition of most influent and dynamic engine of regional development. The strategic diagnosis provides the identification of a dominant quadrant in the TOWS matrix application to the Beira Interior region, which is dominated by Mini-Maxi strategies. For improving the competitive positioning of that region, the transition from the dominant quadrant (Mini-Maxi) t...

The relationship among the resiliency practices in supply chain, financial performance, and competitive advantage in manufacturing firms in Indonesia and Sierra Leone

Science.gov (United States)

Musa, I.; Nyoman Pujawan, I.

2018-04-01

Current supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially treasured way of safeguarding competitive advantage and improving organizational performance since competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. This research conceptualizes and develops four resiliency practices (Flexibility, Redundancy, Collaboration and Agility) and tests the relationships between organizations’ financial performance and competitive advantage in manufacturing firms. The study involves manufacturing firms in Indonesia and Sierra Leone. The study used stratified random sampling to pick a sample size of 95 manufacturing firms, which represented different industrial sectors. The respondents were mainly managers of different manufacturing companies. The relationships proposed in the conceptual framework were tested using correlation analysis. The results indicate that higher levels of resilience practices in manufacturing firms can lead to enhanced competitive advantage and improved financial performance.

Implement the medical group revenue function. Create competitive advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Colucci, C

1998-01-01

This article shows medical groups how they can employ new financial management and information technology techniques to safeguard their revenue and income streams. These managerial techniques stem from the application of the medical group revenue function, which is defined herein. This article also describes how the medical group revenue function can be used to create value by employing a database and a decision support system. Finally, the article describes how the decision support system can be used to create competitive advantage. Through the wise use of internally generated information, medical groups can negotiate better contract terms, improve their operations, cut their costs, embark on capital investment programs and improve market share. As medical groups gain market power by improving in these areas, they will be more attractive to potential strategic allies, payers and investment bankers.

Pengaruh Job Satisfaction terhadap Financial Performance melalui Employee Engagement dan Competitive Advantage sebagai Intervening Variable pada Perusahaan Retail Publik di Surabaya

OpenAIRE

Widjaja, Johan

2014-01-01

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh langsung yang signifikan dan positif dari job satisfaction terhadap employee engagement, employee engagement terhadap competitive advantage, dan competitive advantage terhadap financial performance, pada Perusahaan retail publik di Surabaya. Penelitian ini berbentuk penelitian kuantitatif, dimana data diperoleh melalui penyebaran kuisioner dan menggunakan rasio analisa laporan keuangan kepada Perusahaan retail publik di Surabaya. Data yang di...

Increased Virulence and Competitive Advantage of a/α Over a/a or α/α Offspring Conserves the Mating System of Candida albicans

Science.gov (United States)

Lockhart, Shawn R.; Wu, Wei; Radke, Joshua B.; Zhao, Rui; Soll, David R.

2005-01-01

The majority of Candida albicans strains in nature are a/α and must undergo homozygosis to a/a or α/α to mate. Here we have used a mouse model for systemic infection to test the hypothesis that a/α strains predominate in nature because they have a competitive advantage over a/a and α/α offspring in colonizing hosts. Single-strain injection experiments revealed that a/α strains were far more virulent than either their a/a or α/α offspring. When equal numbers of parent a/α and offspring a/a or α/α cells were co-injected, a/α always exhibited a competitive advantage at the time of extreme host morbidity or death. When equal numbers of an engineered a/a/α2 strain and its isogenic a/a parent strain were co-injected, the a/a/α2 strain exhibited a competitive advantage at the time of host morbidity or death, suggesting that the genotype of the mating-type (MTL) locus, not associated genes on chromosome 5, provides a competitive advantage. We therefore propose that heterozygosity at the MTL locus not only represses white-opaque switching and genes involved in the mating process, but also affects virulence, providing a competitive advantage to the a/α genotype that conserves the mating system of C. albicans in nature. PMID:15695357

Increased virulence and competitive advantage of a/alpha over a/a or alpha/alpha offspring conserves the mating system of Candida albicans.

Science.gov (United States)

Lockhart, Shawn R; Wu, Wei; Radke, Joshua B; Zhao, Rui; Soll, David R

2005-04-01

The majority of Candida albicans strains in nature are a/alpha and must undergo homozygosis to a/a or alpha/alpha to mate. Here we have used a mouse model for systemic infection to test the hypothesis that a/alpha strains predominate in nature because they have a competitive advantage over a/a and alpha/alpha offspring in colonizing hosts. Single-strain injection experiments revealed that a/alpha strains were far more virulent than either their a/a or alpha/alpha offspring. When equal numbers of parent a/alpha and offspring a/a or alpha/alpha cells were co-injected, a/alpha always exhibited a competitive advantage at the time of extreme host morbidity or death. When equal numbers of an engineered a/a/alpha2 strain and its isogenic a/a parent strain were co-injected, the a/a/alpha2 strain exhibited a competitive advantage at the time of host morbidity or death, suggesting that the genotype of the mating-type (MTL) locus, not associated genes on chromosome 5, provides a competitive advantage. We therefore propose that heterozygosity at the MTL locus not only represses white-opaque switching and genes involved in the mating process, but also affects virulence, providing a competitive advantage to the a/alpha genotype that conserves the mating system of C. albicans in nature.

The Competitive status of the U.S. auto industry: a study of the influences of technology in determining international industrial competitive advantage

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Automobile Panel of the Committee on Technology; National Research Council Staff

... International Industrial Competitive Advantage Prepared by the Automobile Panel, Committee on Technology and International Economic and Trade Issues of the Office of the Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering and the Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, National Research Council William J. Abernathy, Chairman Kim Clar...

The Impact of Leadership, Creativity, and Innovation on Competitive Advantage: Proposing a Comprehensive Framework for a Better Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hendry Hartono

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper contributes to the existing literature by exploring the relationship of creativity, leadership, and innovation on competitive advantage; and explores the connection between creativity, leadership, and innovation. Research used literature review method as a systematic search of published works to find out what is already known about the intended research. Every company that wants to survive in the global market must have vehicles, like creativity and innovation. Beside, managing effectively to create sustainable competitive advantage needs leadership because leaders are central to the process of creating culture, systems, and structure that foster creativity and innovation.

Implementation of Value Chain and Management Control in Order to Increase Competitive Advantages (Study at PT Industri Marmer Indonesia Tulungagung)

OpenAIRE

Wijaya, Ditto Arief

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study are knowing wheter Company applies the value chain for their business, knowing wheter Company applies the management control for their business, knowing the influence of value chain to competitive advantages, and knowing the influence of management control to competitive advantages. The results of the research showed that there was a double function in the organization structure, campany's mission is the same with PT Gajah Perkasa Indonesia's mission and the company'...

Competitive advantage with e-business : a survey of large American and Swedish firms

OpenAIRE

Beheshti, Hooshang; Salehi-Sangari, Esmail; Engström, Anne

2006-01-01

Advances in information and communications technology have allowed for a wide range of electronic business models and applications. These applications are providing a competitive advantage for organizations by creating efficiencies and cost reductions. Electronic business should be part of the overall corporate strategy and be integrated into core business processes. This study provides interesting insights into electronic business applications in large corporations and discusses similarities...

The Effect of Competitive Advantage and Human Advantage on Industrial Competitive Strategy (Case Study: Smis in Gorontalo Province)

OpenAIRE

Lasalewo, Trifandi; Masruroh, Nur Aini; Subagyo; Hartono, Budi; Yuniarto, Hari Agung

2016-01-01

Small and Medium Industries (SMIs) have a strategic role in the Indonesian economy, as they earn 61.9 percent of the foreign exchange which goes to make up the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, and nationally they are able to absorb 97 percent of the workforce. The Global Competitiveness Report also notes that SMIs serve as the business units that affect every nation’s competitiveness. Considering this strategic role, the selection of a competitive strategy for these SMIs is absolutely necessa...

Competitive Advantage Provided by Bacterial Motility in the Formation of Nodules by Rhizobium meliloti

Science.gov (United States)

Ames, Peter; Bergman, Kostia

1981-01-01

The effect of motility on the competitive success of Rhizobium meliloti in nodule production was investigated. A motile strain formed more nodules than expected when mixed at various unfavorable ratios with either flagellated or nonflagellated nonmotile derivatives. We conclude that motility confers a selective advantage on rhizobia when competing with nonmotile strains. PMID:7298580

Comparative Analysis of OECD Member Countries' Competitive Advantage in National Human Resource Development System

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hunseok; Choi, Yeseul; Choi, Myungweon

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess, evaluate, and compare the competitive advantages of the human resource development systems of advanced countries. The Global Human Resource Development Index was utilized for this study, since it has been validated through an expert panel's content review and analytic hierarchy process. Using a sample of 34…

Information Technology Adoption for Service Innovation Practices and Competitive Advantage: The Case of Financial Firms

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J. S.; Tsou, H. T.

2007-01-01

Background: The importance of information technology to current business practices has long drawn the attention of practitioners and academicians. Aim: This paper aims to broaden understanding about service innovation as a critical organizational capability through which information technology adoption influences the competitive advantage of a…

Competitive advantage of PET/MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jadvar, Hossein, E-mail: jadvar@usc.edu; Colletti, Patrick M.

2014-01-15

Multimodality imaging has made great strides in the imaging evaluation of patients with a variety of diseases. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is now established as the imaging modality of choice in many clinical conditions, particularly in oncology. While the initial development of combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) was in the preclinical arena, hybrid PET/MR scanners are now available for clinical use. PET/MRI combines the unique features of MRI including excellent soft tissue contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, fMRI and other specialized sequences as well as MR spectroscopy with the quantitative physiologic information that is provided by PET. Most evidence for the potential clinical utility of PET/MRI is based on studies performed with side-by-side comparison or software-fused MRI and PET images. Data on distinctive utility of hybrid PET/MRI are rapidly emerging. There are potential competitive advantages of PET/MRI over PET/CT. In general, PET/MRI may be preferred over PET/CT where the unique features of MRI provide more robust imaging evaluation in certain clinical settings. The exact role and potential utility of simultaneous data acquisition in specific research and clinical settings will need to be defined. It may be that simultaneous PET/MRI will be best suited for clinical situations that are disease-specific, organ-specific, related to diseases of the children or in those patients undergoing repeated imaging for whom cumulative radiation dose must be kept as low as reasonably achievable. PET/MRI also offers interesting opportunities for use of dual modality probes. Upon clear definition of clinical utility, other important and practical issues related to business operational model, clinical workflow and reimbursement will also be resolved.

Competitive advantage of PET/MRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Jadvar, Hossein; Colletti, Patrick M

2014-01-01

Multimodality imaging has made great strides in the imaging evaluation of patients with a variety of diseases. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is now established as the imaging modality of choice in many clinical conditions, particularly in oncology. While the initial development of combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) was in the preclinical arena, hybrid PET/MR scanners are now available for clinical use. PET/MRI combines the unique features of MRI including excellent soft tissue contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, fMRI and other specialized sequences as well as MR spectroscopy with the quantitative physiologic information that is provided by PET. Most evidence for the potential clinical utility of PET/MRI is based on studies performed with side-by-side comparison or software-fused MRI and PET images. Data on distinctive utility of hybrid PET/MRI are rapidly emerging. There are potential competitive advantages of PET/MRI over PET/CT. In general, PET/MRI may be preferred over PET/CT where the unique features of MRI provide more robust imaging evaluation in certain clinical settings. The exact role and potential utility of simultaneous data acquisition in specific research and clinical settings will need to be defined. It may be that simultaneous PET/MRI will be best suited for clinical situations that are disease-specific, organ-specific, related to diseases of the children or in those patients undergoing repeated imaging for whom cumulative radiation dose must be kept as low as reasonably achievable. PET/MRI also offers interesting opportunities for use of dual modality probes. Upon clear definition of clinical utility, other important and practical issues related to business operational model, clinical workflow and reimbursement will also be resolved. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Competitive advantage of PET/MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jadvar, Hossein; Colletti, Patrick M.

2014-01-01

Multimodality imaging has made great strides in the imaging evaluation of patients with a variety of diseases. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is now established as the imaging modality of choice in many clinical conditions, particularly in oncology. While the initial development of combined PET/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) was in the preclinical arena, hybrid PET/MR scanners are now available for clinical use. PET/MRI combines the unique features of MRI including excellent soft tissue contrast, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging, fMRI and other specialized sequences as well as MR spectroscopy with the quantitative physiologic information that is provided by PET. Most evidence for the potential clinical utility of PET/MRI is based on studies performed with side-by-side comparison or software-fused MRI and PET images. Data on distinctive utility of hybrid PET/MRI are rapidly emerging. There are potential competitive advantages of PET/MRI over PET/CT. In general, PET/MRI may be preferred over PET/CT where the unique features of MRI provide more robust imaging evaluation in certain clinical settings. The exact role and potential utility of simultaneous data acquisition in specific research and clinical settings will need to be defined. It may be that simultaneous PET/MRI will be best suited for clinical situations that are disease-specific, organ-specific, related to diseases of the children or in those patients undergoing repeated imaging for whom cumulative radiation dose must be kept as low as reasonably achievable. PET/MRI also offers interesting opportunities for use of dual modality probes. Upon clear definition of clinical utility, other important and practical issues related to business operational model, clinical workflow and reimbursement will also be resolved

POL regarded as a competitive advantage and as a mean to maintain programmes updated

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moesby, Egon

2004-01-01

The title of this article indicate that Project Oriented and Problem Based Learning ? POPBL - can be regarded as a competitive advantage for an institution, and be a way of keeping programmes updated with respect to the demands from a modern and fast developing society and demands from students...... as well. And indeed this is a possibility, but it is not a natural consequence of a change into a POPBL teaching and learning environment. In order to have these advantages developed, the education needs to have built in mechanisms that actually allow the desired objectives the possibility to develop...

Advantage Management Strategy in Competition via Technological Race Perspective: Empirical Evidence from the Taiwanese Manufacturing Industry

OpenAIRE

Tsu-Yi Hung; Yu-Ju Hsiao; Shih-Wei Wu

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the “catch-up” strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The resu...

The Impact of Total Quality Management Practices towards Competitive Advantage and Organizational Performance: Case of Fishery Industry in South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Musran Munizu

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This study attempt to test the effect of Total Quality Management (TQM practices towards competitive advantage and organizational performance. The design of this research has quantitative approach. Data was collected by questionnaire instrument. The unit of analysis is big and medium scale fishery companies. The respondents in this research are the managers of fishery companies. The study utilized primary data which is obtained through questionnaire. The number of population was 66 fishery companies in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Random sampling is used in the study. 55 complete questionnaires were returned as a final sample. Three hypotheses have been developed through literature review and tested using Path Analysis performed by SPSS 18.00 software. The results show that TQM practices have positive and significant effect both on organizational performance and competitive advantage. Competitive advantage has a positive and significant effect on organizational performance. Organizational performance is more influenced by competitive advantage than TQM practices.

Competitive Advantage, What Does It Really Mean in the Context of Public Higher Education Institutions?

Science.gov (United States)

de Haan, Haijing Helen

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically investigate the discourse on "competitive advantage", a concept that has been widely applied in the public higher education sector, but rarely defined and conceptualised. Design/methodology/approach: In order to get some insightful understanding about how "competitive…

Competitive Advantage in the Service Industry : The Importance of Strategic Congruence, Integrated Control and Coherent Organisational Structure – A Longitudinal Case Study of an Insurance Company

OpenAIRE

Poth, Susanna

2014-01-01

Competitive advantage has received considerable attention. Few studies have however chosen a holistic approach taking multiple aspects and organisational levels into consideration. This research has the goal of filling parts of this void. The aim is to deepen the understanding of competitive advantage in the service industry by analysing how alignment of strategy, control and organisation structure on multiple organisational levels impacts competitive advantage of a service company over a lon...

Analysing the Role of Business Intelligence, Knowledge Sharing and Organisational Innovation on Gaining Competitive Advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Eidizadeh, Rosa; Salehzadeh, Reza; Chitsaz Esfahani, Ali

2017-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to study the role of business intelligence, knowledge sharing and organisational innovation on gaining competitive advantage. Design/Methodology/Approach: The statistical population of the study was the managers and the specialists of some export companies of which 213 persons participated in this research. Path analysis…

Knowledge in Value Creation Process for Increasing Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna ZÁVODSKÁ

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to compare companies by using value creation model and to determine knowledge in these processes. The framework for the value creation process shows problems of case companies in different phases of this process. Knowledge is compared in each of the individual phases of the process and its role in different types of companies. There is identified role of knowledge for increasing competitive advantage. The methodology involves case study from which data are derived and analyzed. The analysis shows that the framework for the value creation process can be used as an analytical tool for value overview in different phases and there is a need for different approaches to improve business and create new value for customers. Based on the analyzed problems, proposed recommendations for improvement are made. These recommendations are based on providing value innovation for customers (end users of software product. Value innovation of software product is considered as crucial for improvement of the companies in machinery industry. Company A has created new value through remote service. This remote service provides several advantages. Customers can prevent problems in machines by implementing software product which is still analyzing and evaluating data from machines. Company B and C were not able to create major value innovation for several years.

Knowledge in Value Creation Process for Increasing Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veronika ŠRAMOVÁ

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to compare companies by using value creation model and to determine knowledge in these processes. The framework for the value creation process shows problems of case companies in different phases of this process. Knowledge is compared in each of the individual phases of the process and its role in different types of companies. There is identified role of knowledge for increasing competitive advantage. The methodology involves case study from which data are derived and analyzed. The analysis shows that the framework for the value creation process can be used as an analytical tool for value overview in different phases and there is a need for different approaches to improve business and create new value for customers. Based on the analyzed problems, proposed recommendations for improvement are made. These recommendations are based on providing value innovation for customers (end users of software product. Value innovation of software product is considered as crucial for improvement of the companies in machinery industry. Company A has created new value through remote service. This remote service provides several advantages. Customers can prevent problems in machines by implementing software product which is still analyzing and evaluating data from machines. Company B and C were not able to create major value innovation for several years.

International Alliance of Green Hotels to Reach Sustainable Competitive Advantages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hufei Ge

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Under increasing environmental pressure, hotel firms need to improve their ability to access international alliances while maintaining good performance for sustainable development. This paper uses survey data from 784 hotels running at different levels of service in China to test the hypothesis in an integrated analytical model, and the findings show that the impact of international alliances varies with different levels of green hotels. Despite operating in the same sector, hotels running at different levels of service vary their respective tactics to gain sustainable competitive advantage and achieve significantly different results. This study intends to inform hotel managers in obtaining specific performance goals by developing absorptive capacity, and by choosing the most suitable alliance for their level of operation.

A Study on Relationship between TQM Practices and Competitive Advantage: Case at Basic Metal Industry in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Musran, Munizu

2014-01-01

Background: In past two decades, TQM has been widely studied as a philosophy, approach and strategy to achieve competitive advantage. TQM is a new paradigm of doing business that attempts to maximize the competitiveness of the organization through a focus on customer satisfaction, involvement of all employees, and continuous improvement of the quality of products, services, people, processes and organizational environment. Objective: To empirically investigate the impact of TQM practices on c...

Data-driven battery product development: Turn battery performance into a competitive advantage.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sholklapper, Tal [Voltaiq, Inc.

2016-04-19

Poor battery performance is a primary source of user dissatisfaction across a broad range of applications, and is a key bottleneck hindering the growth of mobile technology, wearables, electric vehicles, and grid energy storage. Engineering battery systems is difficult, requiring extensive testing for vendor selection, BMS programming, and application-specific lifetime testing. This work also generates huge quantities of data. This presentation will explain how to leverage this data to help ship quality products faster using fewer resources while ensuring safety and reliability in the field, ultimately turning battery performance into a competitive advantage.

Managing Human Resource Capabilities for Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An Empirical Analysis from Indian Global Organisations

Science.gov (United States)

Khandekar, Aradhana; Sharma, Anuradha

2005-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the role of human resource capability (HRC) in organisational performance and sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in Indian global organisations. Design/Methodology/Approach: To carry out the present study, an empirical research on a random sample of 300 line or human resource managers from…

The Implementation of Knowledge Strategy-Based Entrepreneurial Capacity to Achieve Sustainable Competitive Advantage

OpenAIRE

Widodo

2013-01-01

This study aims to develop a model of knowledge strategy-based entrepreneurial capacity to achieve sustainable competitive advantage of rurol banking in Central Java province. The sampling method is ‘‘Purposive sampling’’ by considering the characteristics of the population items, namely: operational experience for at least 5 years and representatives of each area of rurol banking in Semarang, Surakarta and Purwokerto. Then, the sample size is 150 of 251 (59.7%) of top managers of rurol bank...

Competitive Advantage in the Creation of a Network of Solidarity Based Economy: the case of Ceará Bee Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosângela Andrade Pessoa

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The fast growth of solidarity based economic networks and their acting power within businesses’ development is one of the remarkable phenomena of the last decade. The Bee Network of economic solidarity illustrates the dynamics of this new form of productive organization, in which entrepreneurs get together, in cooperation, aiming at raising their competitiveness. The main research objective in this study was to investigate the perception of the Bee Network members about the competitive advantages resulting from their participation in the network. Furthermore, the study sought to identify the solutions reached by the Bee Network in relation to solidarity based cooperation that creates competitiveness. Porter´s (1996 model of five forces was used as a theoretical framework. The methodology was a case study and the data analyzed through descriptive and content analysis. The results indicated that the network formation has become a competitive advantage for the group of honey producers, who emphasized its benefits for their business, especially related to scale gains from the group´s purchases, governmental support for financing and training for honey production.

The Mechanism of Influence of the Marketing of Innovations on the Competitive Advantages of Enterprise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuznetsova Tatyana V.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at consideration of theoretical approaches and developing practical recommendations on the need to introduce a mechanism for marketing innovations in order to enhance the competitive advantages of enterprise. The conception of marketing innovations is defined as a business philosophy that involves identifying the market opportunities for innovative development of enterprise. Importance of increasing the competitiveness of an enterprise through introducing the marketing of innovations has been proven. The basic principles, functions, and instrumentarium of formation of a mechanism for marketing innovations were considered. A mechanism for implementing the marketing innovations has been proposed that will provide enterprise to retain a sustainable competitive position in the long term. Prospect for further research in this direction will be defining a system of indicators to evaluate the efficiency of impact of marketing activities on the innovation activity of enterprise.

Porter on national and regional competitive advantage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A-P. de Man (Ard-Pieter); F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); T. Elfring (Tom)

1997-01-01

textabstractIntroduction: approaches to competitiveness In the last decade, the issue of competitiveness has captured an important position on the agenda of politicians and policymakers. The growing strength of Asian firms on the world market has been debated at some length in both the USA and in

How to Apply Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Regional Developments (Case: Ostrobothnia Region of Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takala Josu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays companies concern more about how to survive and extend their own business in future in their current marketplace. However, developing and prospering a region of the country is becoming more crucial question. Successful cooperation and partnership between different sectors of economy (for instance, between companies, public and academic sectors leads to the flourishing and prosperity of the region and consequently of a country. European Commission established smart specialization platform, which is a strategic approach to economic development of a region. By defining and developing of vision, competitive advantages and strategic preferences, region will determine knowledge-based potential. The purpose of this paper is to assign and define the collaboration/relations existed, how strong these relations are and what the expectations are between 3 sectors of economy: public, academic and business. Area of carrying out this research is Ostrobothnia region, however, connections in other regions of Finland and internationally is also presented. There have been chosen 3 industrial peaks from Ostrobothnia region: Energy, Fur and Boat industrial peaks. Analysis is conducted by implementing two core methods: Sense & Respond (S&R and Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA. The goal of this research is also to use S&R method so as to allocate efficiently resources, and to define competitive priorities in cooperation. The main results show that the most tight collaboration and partnership is observed between companies and companies in all around Finland and internationally. While concerning other relationships, companies expect to have tighter cooperation especially in Ostrobothnia and other regions of Finland.

Evaluation of comparative advantages in the profitability and competitiveness of the small-scale dairy system of Tulancingo Valley, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Posadas-Domínguez, Rodolfo Rogelio; Del Razo-Rodríguez, Oscar Enrique; Almaraz-Buendía, Isaac; Pelaez-Acero, Armando; Espinosa-Muñoz, Verónica; Rebollar-Rebollar, Samuel; Salinas-Martínez, Jesús Armando

2018-06-01

This article combines a Policy Analysis Matrix with a sensitivity and poverty line analysis with the objective of evaluating the economic contribution of comparative advantages to the private profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy systems. For 1 year, socioeconomic data were collected from 82 farms selected from four strata via statistical sampling. Two scenarios were established to determine the quantitative contribution of comparative advantages: (1) a simulated scenario, which accounted for the cost of purchasing the total food and the opportunity cost of the family labour force (FLF), and (2) an actual production scenario, which accounted for the cost of producing food and eliminating the payment of the FLF and included other income. The E3 and E4 producers were the most profitable and competitive in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. Of the four scales evaluated, the E2 and E1 producers were the most efficient in taking advantage of the economic contribution provided by the comparative advantages in their own production of food and employment of the FLF, in addition to accounting for other income, a condition that increased their profitability by 171 and 144% and competitiveness by 346 and 273%, respectively. The poverty results indicated that only E3 and E4 producers were non-vulnerable in the simulated scenario and actual production scenario. The purchase of food was the comparative advantage with the greatest sensitivity to cost increases in the two scenarios analysed, which exacerbated the effect on the E1 and E2 producers.

Decision support and data warehousing tools boost competitive advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldo, B H

1998-01-01

The ability to communicate across the care continuum is fast becoming an integral component of the successful health enterprise. As integrated delivery systems are formed and patient care delivery is restructured, health care professionals must be able to distribute, access, and evaluate information across departments and care settings. The Aberdeen Group, a computer and communications research and consulting organization, believes that "the single biggest challenge for next-generation health care providers is to improve on how they consolidate and manage information across the continuum of care. This involves building a strategic warehouse of clinical and financial information that can be shared and leveraged by health care professionals, regardless of the location or type of care setting" (Aberdeen Group, Inc., 1997). The value and importance of data and systems integration are growing. Organizations that create a strategy and implement DSS tools to provide decision-makers with the critical information they need to face the competition and maintain quality and costs will have the advantage.

The evolution of increased competitive ability, innate competitive advantages, and novel biochemical weapons act in concert for a tropical invader.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Rui-Min; Zheng, Yu-Long; Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso; Callaway, Ragan M; Barclay, Gregor F; Pereyra, Carlos Silva; Feng, Yu-Long

2013-02-01

There are many non-mutually exclusive mechanisms for exotic invasions but few studies have concurrently tested more than one hypothesis for the same species. Here, we tested the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis in two common garden experiments in which Chromolaena odorata plants originating from native and nonnative ranges were grown in competition with natives from each range, and the novel weapons hypothesis in laboratory experiments with leachates from C. odorata. Compared with conspecifics originating from the native range, C. odorata plants from the nonnative range were stronger competitors at high nutrient concentrations in the nonnative range in China and experienced far more herbivore damage in the native range in Mexico. In both China and Mexico, C. odorata was more suppressed by species native to Mexico than by species native to China. Species native to China were much more inhibited by leaf extracts from C. odorata than species from Mexico, and this difference in allelopathic effects may provide a possible explanation for the biogeographic differences in competitive ability. Our results indicate that EICA, innate competitive advantages, and novel biochemical weapons may act in concert to promote invasion by C. odorata, and emphasize the importance of exploring multiple, non-mutually exclusive mechanisms for invasions. © 2012 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2012 New Phytologist Trust.

Pengaruh Competitor Accounting Sebagai Strategic Management Accounting Techniques Terhadap Competitive Advantage Dan Organization Performance

OpenAIRE

Alan, Hartanto

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to know the affect of Competitor Accounting as a Strategic Management Accounting Techniques toward Competitive Advantage and Organization Performance on manufacturing companies in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. In this study primary data was used by using questionnaire distributed to manufacturing companies in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. This study used path modeling analysis technique with PLS tools. From the examination showed that there were positive and significant affect...

Application of Knowledge in Advergaming as a Possible Source of Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mráček Pavel

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on the question of the utilization of knowledge in advergaming (an original tool of the marketing communication as a possible source of competitive advantage. Related terms are briefly described and the research was conducted within a group of young people in the Czech Republic. The research confirms that, just advergaming might have the potential for acquiring “consumers of the advertising message” and, consequently, the possible broadening of the knowledge of the company. The output then becomes the scheme for displaying the links and the utilization of the knowledge in the advergame itself.

A new era of prosperity through power : maintaining BC's competitive advantage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Potts, D. [BC Council of Forest Industries, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

2001-08-17

The availability of abundant low cost electric power has been a driving force behind British Columbia's economic growth. BC's low cost power resources can create a natural competitive economic advantage for the province. Electricity, as a publicly owned resource can offer many competitive advantages for business in British Columbia, if managed correctly. However, it was noted that meaningful economic advantages can only be realized if the existing power resources in the province are operated efficiently and priced at or close to cost. In the 1980s, the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee (JIESC) was formed following the regulation of BC Hydro by BC Utilities Commission. It became clear that maintaining low rates for electricity was a public issue that needed input from other governmental forums if JIESC was to be successful. The major sectors represented by JIESC include pulp and paper, mining, and electrochemicals. This paper listed each member company. In order to turn BC's economy around and re-establish the province as a leading economy in Canada, the following recommendations have been proposed for the short term: (1) maintain an ample supply of low cost power for the future, (2) remove the provincial sales tax on the purchase of electric power used for manufacturing and processing, (3) extend the current rate freeze, (4) initiate a long-term resource acquisition and transmission expansion strategy to assure the availability of ample supplies of low cost power. Recommendations for the long term include: (1) maintain regulated cost based rates, (2) develop ample low cost power, (3) utilize downstream benefits, (4) provide a role for the private sector, (5) maintain adequate transmission facilities, (6) reduce government revenues, and (7) instill customer driven management. 3 figs.

Coal: Cornerstone of America`s competitive advantage in world markets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mills, M.P. [Mills-McCarthy and Associates Inc., Chevy Chase, MD (United States)

1997-12-31

The United States` competitive position in world markets will be determined by many forces. Two of the fundamental factors are the increased use of new technologies, and the availability of low-cost electricity to operate those technologies. The US currently has an will likely continue to have market dominance in both these critical areas. Both of these factors are intimately related since the primary source of new technologies is electric in nature. And, because low-cost coal now dominates and will continue to dominate the electric supply system, and because the US has both an abundance of coal and the world`s largest fleet of coal-fired power plants, the US will have an expanding base of low-cost electricity that will secure its current competitive advantage for years to come. Electric technologies and, increasingly, computer-based technologies integrated with electric technologies are the primary sources of innovative advancement and economic growth. As a consequence, the growth in electricity, which has historically tracked GNP growth, is expected to continue. And, with the restructuring of the electric utility industry and the emergence of vigorous competition, prices are expected to decline as competition increases. The net effect of these forces will be to dramatically increase the use of electric technologies -- and those sources of electricity that can provide low-cost electricity. The data show that coal, the primary source of new los-cost electricity, will supply between one-half and three-fourths of all new electric supply through 2010, at prices of about 3{cents}/kWh, and can do so without new power plant construction. Since the use of coal is expected to rise by at least 200 to 250 million tons/year over the current consumption of 850 million tons, and could increase as much as 400 million tons/yr, some have raised concerns about the emissions impact from the power plants. This report also shows that the net effect of increased electric use, assuming

Application of Activity-Based Costing Management System by Key Success Paths to Promote the Competitive Advantages and Operation Performance

OpenAIRE

Mei-Fang Wu; Shu-Li Wang; Feng-Tsung Cheng

2015-01-01

Highly developed technology and highly competitive global market highlight the important role of competitive advantages and operation performances in sustainable company operation. Activity-Based Costing (ABC) provides accurate operation cost and operation performance information. Rich literatures provide relevant research with cases study on Activity-Based Costing application, but the research on cause relationship between key success factors and its specific outcome, su...

The competitive advantage of nations: the importance of the national environment for strategic management in the EC

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); T. Elfring (Tom); P. de Wolf (Peter)

1991-01-01

textabstractSummary: In this paper we investigate the usefulness for strategic management of Porter's framework of analysis of the competitive advantage of nations in particular regarding the importance of the changing national environment within the EC. It appears that Porter's framework

The Competitive status of the U.S. civil aviation manufacturing industry: a study of the influences of technology in determining international industrial competitive advantage

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Seitz, Frederick; Steele, Lowell W

1985-01-01

... A Study of the Influences of Technology in Determining International Industrial Competitive Advantage Prepared by the U.S. Civil Aviation Manufacturing Industry Panel, Committee on Technology and International Economic and Trade Issues of the Office of the Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering and the Commission on Engineering and Techni...

Metabolic engineering of microbial competitive advantage for industrial fermentation processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, A Joe; Lam, Felix H; Hamilton, Maureen; Consiglio, Andrew; MacEwen, Kyle; Brevnova, Elena E; Greenhagen, Emily; LaTouf, W Greg; South, Colin R; van Dijken, Hans; Stephanopoulos, Gregory

2016-08-05

Microbial contamination is an obstacle to widespread production of advanced biofuels and chemicals. Current practices such as process sterilization or antibiotic dosage carry excess costs or encourage the development of antibiotic resistance. We engineered Escherichia coli to assimilate melamine, a xenobiotic compound containing nitrogen. After adaptive laboratory evolution to improve pathway efficiency, the engineered strain rapidly outcompeted a control strain when melamine was supplied as the nitrogen source. We additionally engineered the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica to assimilate nitrogen from cyanamide and phosphorus from potassium phosphite, and they outcompeted contaminating strains in several low-cost feedstocks. Supplying essential growth nutrients through xenobiotic or ecologically rare chemicals provides microbial competitive advantage with minimal external risks, given that engineered biocatalysts only have improved fitness within the customized fermentation environment. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Can Sustainability be a Key Driver of Innovation and Competitive Advantage? : Case of IKEA

OpenAIRE

Aleali, Seyed Amir; Qasim, Muhammad

2011-01-01

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a practice of companies on their way towards sustainability. It allows them to measure their impact on environment and society, and to create a balance between economic, social and environmental aspects. Becoming more and more sustainable means that companies need to find new ways of operating throughout the whole value chain that creates competitive advantage by providing an innovation opportunity. Innovation that concerns environmental as well as eco...

Pengaruh Strategic Costing Sebagai Strategic Management Accounting Techniques Terhadap Competitive Advantage Dan Organizational Performance

OpenAIRE

Cynthia, Cynthia

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test the affect of Strategic Costing on Organizational Performance through Competitive Advantage that acted as the intervening variable on manufacturing companies in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. The sample of this study was 50 manufacturing companies in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. The data was collected by distributing questionnaires to the companies. This study used path modeling analysis technique with PLS tools. The results from this study showed that there were posi...

ANALYSIS THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF TOURIST DESTINATION INFLUENCE ON THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. CASE STUDY: ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virgil NICULA

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In an ever changing and competitive environment, the tourism industry of each country must be developed in a sustainable manner, able to generate substantial economic benefits for key stakeholders and minimize negative environmental impacts. Thus, the pronounced dynamism of the tourism sector currently makes tourist destinations to be in fierce competition where the long-term success is conditioned by the sustainable development strategy adopted and operationalized by management organizations destinations. In this context, the minimum requirements for sustainable tourism development are: supporting the diversity of ecosystems; conservation and management of natural resources; finding ways to reduce uncontrolled population growth and unification of national decisions concerning the environment and the economy. Based on these considerations and the fact that Romania has a valuable ecotourism potential, internationally recognized by profile associations and other stakeholders, this paper presents an overview regarding the way in which sustainable management of tourist destination influence obtaining sustainable competitive advantage.

A fuzzy model for achieving lean attributes for competitive advantages development using AHP-QFD-PROMETHEE

Science.gov (United States)

Roghanian, E.; Alipour, Mohammad

2014-06-01

Lean production has become an integral part of the manufacturing landscape as its link with superior performance and its ability to provide competitive advantage is well accepted among academics and practitioners. Lean production helps producers in overcoming the challenges organizations face through using powerful tools and enablers. However, most companies are faced with restricted resources such as financial and human resources, time, etc., in using these enablers, and are not capable of implementing all these techniques. Therefore, identifying and selecting the most appropriate and efficient tool can be a significant challenge for many companies. Hence, this literature seeks to combine competitive advantages, lean attributes, and lean enablers to determine the most appropriate enablers for improvement of lean attributes. Quality function deployment in fuzzy environment and house of quality matrix are implemented. Throughout the methodology, fuzzy logic is the basis for translating linguistic judgments required for the relationships and correlation matrix to numerical values. Moreover, for final ranking of lean enablers, a multi-criteria decision-making method (PROMETHEE) is adopted. Finally, a case study in automotive industry is presented to illustrate the implementation of the proposed methodology.

Creating competitive advantage in international marketing: strategic alliances at exportation logistics – a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonel Mazzali

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the creation process of a competitive advantage in the international business, starting on the concept of the supply chain management. First, the aim of this study is to show that the dimension of the success in the international negotiations depends on the formation of strategic alliances. Second, that the formation of the alliances demands the adaptation of cultures and strategies of all the involved parties. It was opted for a qualitative research, with descriptive character, associated to the experience of an executives group of the Cia Cacique de Café Solúvel and its partners, on the constitution of a logistic alliance. It is clearly shown, on one hand, that the alliance between the main company and its partners consolidates the necessity of strategic interdependence in the interior of the supply chain. On the other hand, the success of it is based on the identification and selection of the partners, the effective alignment of interests and strategies, the construction of the confidence, the equal treatment and transparence in the negotiation. Key-words: export logistics; strategic alliances; competitive advantage

AN AGING POPULATION: A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR COMPANIES

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Petra Barešová

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on one of the most currently discussed topics, the ageing population. Population aging can be discussed from different perspectives, exploring various challenges associated with it. The authors examined marketing communications from the point of view of a target group, over age 55. The main objective of this study was to find out which marketing communication tools those over age 55 prefer, including selected aspects of printed advertising. At the same time, it was examined whether there is a different gender perspective on this issue. To find out answers to the main question of this study, we conducted quantitative research by using a questionnaire survey among the population over age 55 living in the Czech Republic (Zlín Region. The results of this study were compared with the results of a previous study conducted in 2014, focusing on the marketing communication tools targeted at the 55+ group from the point of view of companies. The research results have shown that the target groups’ most effective (preferred marketing communication tools are printed materials (leaflets and catalogues, sales promotions, competitions, club memberships, gifts, fairs, markets and fairs, and last but not least, newspapers and magazines. Based on the results, it can be said that these tools, in comparison with others, contain sufficient information that the customer can read and think about, save, and eventually return to them. At the same time, they are tools that bring a certain benefit or advantage to the customer, which can then be verified in person. If the results are compared from a gender perspective, different preferences were revealed in the selection of marketing communication tools. There were also different views on some selected aspects of printed materials. These findings can be implemented by companies and organizations in their marketing campaigns, allowing them to better reach the target group of people over age 55

Competitive advantage on a warming planet.

Science.gov (United States)

Lash, Jonathan; Wellington, Fred

2007-03-01

Whether you're in a traditional smokestack industry or a "clean" business like investment banking, your company will increasingly feel the effects of climate change. Even people skeptical about global warming's dangers are recognizing that, simply because so many others are concerned, the phenomenon has wide-ranging implications. Investors already are discounting share prices of companies poorly positioned to compete in a warming world. Many businesses face higher raw material and energy costs as more and more governments enact policies placing a cost on emissions. Consumers are taking into account a company's environmental record when making purchasing decisions. There's also a burgeoning market in greenhouse gas emission allowances (the carbon market), with annual trading in these assets valued at tens of billions of dollars. Companies that manage and mitigate their exposure to the risks associated with climate change while seeking new opportunities for profit will generate a competitive advantage over rivals in a carbon-constrained future. This article offers a systematic approach to mapping and responding to climate change risks. According to Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank, the risks can be divided into six categories: regulatory (policies such as new emissions standards), products and technology (the development and marketing of climate-friendly products and services), litigation (lawsuits alleging environmental harm), reputational (how a company's environmental policies affect its brand), supply chain (potentially higher raw material and energy costs), and physical (such as an increase in the incidence of hurricanes). The authors propose a four-step process for responding to climate change risk: Quantify your company's carbon footprint; identify the risks and opportunities you face; adapt your business in response; and do it better than your competitors.

Where is the competitive advantage going?: a management model that incorporates people as a key element of the business strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilio García Vega

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Competitive advantage is a concept that has evolved in an accelerated way during the last few years. Some scholars and executives claim that people are a fundamental element of its construction. In this line, business management has shown an inclination towards the human resources management – also called “talents” – as the key element of its organizational success. In this journey, the ideas, paradigms and conceptions have been modified in an interesting way. This paper tries to propose these new conceptions facing the organization management challenge, and proposes a management model based on the importance of the people in the competitive advantage administration.

Perceptions of five-year competitive categories: model of how relative age influences competitiveness in masters sport.

Science.gov (United States)

Medic, Nikola; Young, Bradley W; Grove, J Robert

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the contrasting perceptions of masters swimmers related to the first and fifth constituent years of a 5-year age category. Swimmers aged between 35 and 93 years (154 male, 184 female) were surveyed at the 2008 FINA World Masters Championships. Exploratory factor analysis indicated the existence of the following five factors considered important for preparation, attendance, and success at masters competitions: awareness of advantages, expectancy, motivation, training, and physiological capacity. One sample t-tests showed that masters swimmers are conscious of advantages that 5-year age categories afford to relatively-younger cohorts (i.e., those who are in the first year of any age category). They also perceive that, in the first compared to the fifth year of an age category, they have greater physiological capacity, engage in more training, have higher expectations to perform well, and are more motivated (all ps competitions than relatively older masters athletes. Key PointsThere are at least five psycho-social and physical factors (i.e., awareness of advantages, expectancy, motivation, training, and physiological capacity) that may explain why relatively younger masters athletes are more likely to perform better and to participate more in masters competitions than relatively older masters athletes.Masters athletes are conscious of the advantage that 5-year age categories afford to relatively younger cohorts of athletes.Differential perceptions associated with the 5-year age categories might compromise masters athletes' continuity of sport competitiveness and underlying training.

Information technology adoption for service innovation practices and competitive advantage: the case of financial firms

OpenAIRE

J.S. Chen; H.T. Tsou

2007-01-01

Background. The importance of information technology to current business practices has long drawn the attention of practitioners and academicians. Aim. This paper aims to broaden understanding about service innovation as a critical organizational capability through which information technology adoption influences the competitive advantage of a firm. In the context of financial firms, this study examines how information technology is adopted and managed to enhance service innovation practices ...

PREREQUISITES FOR CREATING A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN NATURE PARKS THROUGH DIFFERENTIATION

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Vesna Vučemilović

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Differentiation is a way for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage or achieving a market position which enables companies to satisfy customers’ needs better than the competition. Differentiation can manifest itself through four dimensions: product, services, personnel and image. Nature parks, national parks, strict reserves and special reserves are categories of protected areas of national importance. Nature parks and national parks have exceptional potential for visiting system development, but are also responsible for the management of these activities. There are numerous nature protection restrictions arising from legislation and management documents. The principal task is to protect and preserve the natural and landscape values and ecological characteristics. Creating and realizing visiting activities as a part of tourist services supplied trough Public institutions are also specific. These services must be differentiated on the market in relation to the competition. Income generated from tourist services in the income structure of nature parks, will be even more important in the future, because of self-financing development and central budget dependency reduction. It must be emphasized that nature parks help the larger community through development of complementary economic activities. This paper is based on market research conducted in the period from 16 May to 10 June 2016 in Nature Park Kopački rit, which is one of the most visited nature parks in the Republic of Croatia. A poll survey was carried out among 300 randomly selected visitors. The research results may be used for policy suggestions for how to create adequate products, services and promotional activities, ensure quality education for visitors about natural, historical and cultural protected area values and minimize visitors’ impact on natural resources.

ROMANIAN TEXTILE INDUSTRY AND ITS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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Cristiana Ioana ŞERBĂNEL

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Globalization has set up a new era of international trade flows and implicitly international competition. This is best understood by analyzing the rise and fall within certain industries. The Global Value Chains (GVC framework has emerged from its theoretical origins to become a major paradigm used by several international organizations. A detailed scrutiny of GVC highlightsthe manner in which new patterns of production, international trade and employment shape prospects for development and competitiveness.The purpose of the article is to address the important role of the textile sector in national economy development. Firstly, the paper addresses the presentation of textile industry at global, European and national level. Then, it presents a competitiveness sectorial approach and the analysis of innovation in textile industry.Finally, it is presented the value chain for the textile industry in Romania.

Competitiveness and Management of Technology

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Ming Yu

2015-01-01

This paper delves into competition and technology management as a means of economic development. Expanding from Porter's framework on competitiveness and using a novel framework of PTGE（People, Technology, Government and Environment）, this paper argues that three types of competitive advantage could be created. These competitive advantages range from passive to active advantages, i.e. natural advantage, duplicated advantage and niche advantage. Technology and effective management of technolog...

Investigating the Effect of Relationship Marketing on Competitive Advantage: Isfahan’s REFAH Chain Stores

OpenAIRE

Razieh Gharehbashloni; Mohsen Seify

2014-01-01

This study is intended to investigate the effect of relationship marketing on the competitive advantage in the form of the desired pattern or model of this study. Statistical community of this study has been Esfahan’s REFAH chain stores. Collecting data instruments are the accepted stabilized and justifiability (reliability) questionnaires that a total of 150 questionnaires were distributed and a total 114 of them were returned and analyzed. Amos software was used for analyzing of these data....

A study on the effects of different factors influencing on customer loyalty, profitability and word of mouth advertisement for gaining competitive advantage in tourism industry

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Naser Azad

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the effects of various factors influencing on customer loyalty, profitability and word of mouth advertisement for gaining competitive advantage in tourism industry. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among a random sample of 500 people who purchased some tours from travel agencies. Using structural equation modeling, the study has determined a positive and meaningful impact of pricing strategy, amenity, tourism services, content of trip, marketing mix elements, brand equity, competitive advantage and being exclusive on gaining competitive advantage. In addition, being exclusive and value creation influence positively on word of mouth advertisement. Finally, value creation influences on profitability, positively.

The effect of knowledge based view on sustainable competitive advantage

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Fatemeh Rezaee

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the quantitative relationship between knowledge based view (i.e. empowering employees, promoting confidence, coding rules and sustainability competitive advantage (i.e. market, customer, financial within the banking industry of Iran. A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 150 top- and middle-level managers from Mellat bank of Iran. With a response rate of 81.3 percent, 122 questionnaires are returned; the number of valid and usable questionnaires was 101. In order to determine validity of questionnaire, the content validity was used and Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire (KBV questionnaire 0.886, SCA questionnaire 0.843. Utilizing the structural equation modeling, and after a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, it was found that KBV had the greatest effect on the market centered SCA, while it had the least influence on the customer centered.

Advantage Management Strategy in Competition via Technological Race Perspective: Empirical Evidence from the Taiwanese Manufacturing Industry

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Tsu-Yi Hung

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs tend to adopt the “catch-up” strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race.

Advantage management strategy in competition via technological race perspective: empirical evidence from the Taiwanese manufacturing industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Tsu-Yi; Hsiao, Yu-Ju; Wu, Shih-Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the "catch-up" strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race.

Advantage Management Strategy in Competition via Technological Race Perspective: Empirical Evidence from the Taiwanese Manufacturing Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Tsu-Yi; Hsiao, Yu-Ju; Wu, Shih-Wei

2014-01-01

This study investigated the advantage management strategies of a firm regarding the technological race in the manufacturing sector. This is to reveal whether firms adopt a catch-up or leapfrogging strategy in the competition for innovation. The results show that competition is fierce in the Taiwanese manufacturing industry. Taiwanese manufacturing firms (mostly SMEs) tend to adopt the “catch-up” strategy to keep up with their competitors in order to remain in the technological race. The result indicates that, under financial constraints, Taiwanese manufacturing firms attempt to invest in R&D to catch up with their rivals or to avoid being eliminated from the race. PMID:25295307

The competitive advantage of nations: is Porter's Diamond ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

reviews and contrasts the theories pertaining to these two schools of ... Key words: Porter, Diamond Framework, international competition, competitiveness of ... level has changed over the last decade because of the changing patterns of world.

Achieving Competitive Advantage in Human Resource Management in General School District of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Al dakeel, Taghreed M.; Almannie, Mohamed A.

2015-01-01

The general school district of Riyadh is one of largest in the country of (45) school districts in Saudi Arabia. The school districts play an important roles in the development of education, therefore the objective of the study is to examine the roles of the management in the school districts to see if it is achieving competitive advantage. After…

The evolution of the branding concept as a tool of the competitive advantages of the country

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Tereshchuk Maryna Ihorivna

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the essence of the concepts of "brand" and "branding", the genesis of the concepts "nation brand" and "nation branding". Among other things, it shows that this marketing technique was considered and is still considered in a pragmatic aspect as a mean of ensuring the country's competitive advantages in the global arena.

The effect of marketing knowledge management on sustainable competitive advantage: Evidence from banking industry

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Fatemeh Rezaee

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, the importance of achieving sustainable organization with competitive advantage in complex environments has many researchers’ interest. So, in this study, we evaluate different views of MKM and its role to reach SCA within banking industry. This research is relatively the scarce empirical study and adds to its originality. The findings offer valuable insights on the generalizability of MKM in a research setting. In fact, the purpose of this study is to empirically test the effect of the marketing knowledge management (MKM on sustainable competitive advantage (SCA within banking industry of Iran. A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 150 top- and middle-level managers from Mellat bank of Iran (MBI. With a response rate of 81.3 percent, 122 questionnaires were returned; the number of valid and usable questionnaires was 101. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, MKM were classified into organizational strategies, culture and performance of senior manager, information technology (IT, research and development (R & D, internal customer (personnel, and external customer (client. Moreover, MBI’ SCA was classified into three dimensions: market, customer, finance. Structural equation modelling was utilized to test the stated hypotheses and model. Statistical support was found for the hypothesized relationships. Moreover it has been shown that MKM maintained the greatest effect on the market centered SCA, while it had the least influence on the customer centered.

A proposal to Raise the Level of Competitive Advantage of Scientific Research from the Teaching Staff’s Perspective in Higher Education Institutions - the Kingdom of Bahrain

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Ahmed Noshy Anis ELsherbiny Elbaz

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to provide a proposal to raise the level of competitive advantage in scientific research from the teaching staff’s perspective in higher education institutions - in the Kingdom of Bahrain. To achieve this objective, the study used a descriptive method, and a questionnaire as a tool for the field study. In order to determine the mechanisms for achieving competitive advantage in scientific research at the institutions of higher education in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the tool was administered to a sample of (137 faculty members  from some higher education institutions (public and private in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The field study revealed a number of results, inter alia, the study sample agreed with all the proposed mechanisms to achieve competitive advantage in scientific research at institutions of higher education in the Kingdom of Bahrain at a high degree. Their agreement to the themes was in this order: academic support for scientific research, financial support for scientific research, community support for scientific research, and information technology support for scientific research. The study results also showed no statistically significant differences between the responses of the study sample about the proposed mechanisms for achieving competitive advantage in scientific research due to the variables of the academic degree  and the institution. Keywords: Competitive advantage, Research, Higher education institutions.

STRATEGIC RECONFIGURATION AND MANAGEMENT OF RETAIL CENTRES CREATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

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Tore Omholt

2002-01-01

Full Text Available In the last decade, the retail industry in many countries, including some Asian countries has undergone great changes due to a more dynamic and turbulent environment. This amongst other things has led to a concentration of retail functions in out-of-town regional shopping centres. This development can be explained by pointing to the traditional, segmentalist ways of strategic management in the retail sector, which to a large degree has looked upon location as the most important, and in many cases, the only source of competitive advantage. It has also treated the retail centre as a nexus of contracts based in turn on a series of bilateral contracts. These ways are in our opinion no longer able to deal with an increasingly dynamic environment, especially in traditional town centres. We are given some examples, however, where successful strategic response is characterized by extensive market research and intimate consumer knowledge, but these kinds of capabilities or skills seem to be confined to the typical multinational chain organization. One seldom finds innovative town centres or dynamic shopping centres with similar capabilities. Our view is that a dynamic reconfiguration will have to take place and be coordinated in a more multilateral fashion without having to resort to excessive communication and information processing to achieve a transformative reconfiguration. In this paper we have tried to show that an approach based on a socio-cybernetic framework and the development of several types of communicative competences, may be effective for the development of competitive advantage for a retail centre.

Management skills as competitive advantage. The case of public sector in Córdoba (Spain

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Francisco Javier Pereda Pérez

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To analyze the assessment of management skills in the public sector of Cordoba (Spain, trying to find out the possible relationship or influence between the administration of belonging to a set of management skills.Design/methodology/approach: Initial Theoretical study on the public sector, public management and managerial skills, conducting fieldwork affecting four administrations and application of statistical techniques contrast, which, finally, the analysis of their results and the conclusions drawn from them.Findings and Originality/value: The findings of an investigation into the management skills in the context of the public sector in the Province of Córdoba (Spain are presented. At present the personal, interpersonal and managerial skills to manage, are becoming increasingly important in companies and organizations. The strong commitment to the development of management skills becomes a true competitive advantage capable of leading business improvement processes in organizations, especially those in which the human resource is crucial, as is the case of the public sector.Research limitations/implications: To progress in research on management skills in the public sector, it would be desirable to develop more sector research to comparative studies the results of which lead to the establishment of specific labor policies aimed at improving the selection of public employees, developing training policies that emphasize the enhancement of skills and a true career based on merit and efficient performance.Social implications: The selection, training and development of public employees, and greater give greater importance to human resource processes in which the skills and competencies should fill the role they need.Originality / value: The better knowledge of the public sector, the importance of having competent public managers , and basically point out the critical importance of developing leadership skills at all levels

Marketing innovations as source of enterprise's competitive advantage

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Stanković Ljiljana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Enterprise's competitiveness and strategic position are influenced by numerous factors. Market factors represent significant group that cause the need for developing new business models and implementing strategic shifts in business orientations of enterprises. Development of innovations and marketing capabilities are critical factors of modern enterprises' success. Theory and practice show that both innovations in marketing and marketing of innovations contribute to improving competitiveness on all levels, and also more efficient use of limited resources. This paper is structured as follows: first the competitiveness of Serbian economy is analyzed, then role of market orientation and open innovation models are explained as well as their importance for improving competitiveness. At the end, based on results of researching theory and practice of enterprises in Serbia, authors present identified relation of business performance, innovativeness and market orientation, followed by conclusions and directions for further research.

Responding to inequities: gorillas try to maintain their competitive advantage during play fights.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Leeuwen, Edwin J C; Zimmermann, Elke; Ross, Marina Davila

2011-02-23

Humans respond to unfair situations in various ways. Experimental research has revealed that non-human species also respond to unequal situations in the form of inequity aversions when they have the disadvantage. The current study focused on play fights in gorillas to explore for the first time, to our knowledge, if/how non-human species respond to inequities in natural social settings. Hitting causes a naturally occurring inequity among individuals and here it was specifically assessed how the hitters and their partners engaged in play chases that followed the hitting. The results of this work showed that the hitters significantly more often moved first to run away immediately after the encounter than their partners. These findings provide evidence that non-human species respond to inequities by trying to maintain their competitive advantages. We conclude that non-human primates, like humans, may show different responses to inequities and that they may modify them depending on if they have the advantage or the disadvantage.

[Regional anaesthesia as advantage in competition between hospitals. Strategic market analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, A R; Bauer, K R; Eberlein-Gonska, M; Albrecht, D M; Koch, T

2009-05-01

anaesthesia times below reimbursement relevant national mean). The driver of increased earnings is shortening length of stay. Our use of regional anaesthesia is 5 to 10-fold higher than national benchmarks and may contribute to our advantageous position in national competition. The annual increases in profit per DRG range between EUR 1,706 and EUR 467,359 and compensate by far the investment of regional anaesthesia derived pain management, besides the advantage of increased patient satisfaction and avoidance of complications. Regional anaesthesia is a considerable value driver in clinical pathways by shortening length of stay. The present analysis further demonstrates that time for regional block performance is covered by anaesthesia reimbursement within the DRG costing schedule.

HOW CAN THE STATE SUPPORT THE INNOVATIONS TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE COUNTRY

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Anna Zaušková

2013-11-01

Full Text Available As the crisis gets longer and deeper, growth disparities between some European regions are increasing, there is an even stronger need to accelerate innovation support and deepen it in the areas crucial to innovation, such as higher education, innovation-based entrepreneurship and demand-side measures. Europe needs fresh dynamism in its economy. Existing industries and the countries, too, need to develop new applications and new business models in order to grow and maintain their competitive advantage. This calls for an innovation-driven structural change, attracting top talent and reward innovative entrepreneurs, offering them much better opportunities to start and grow new businesses. Several studies were done exploring the innovations and their importance for the companies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. The article describes basic approaches and the model of relationship between key factors and their influence on the construct success of the company. As an outcome from this model it is clear that innovation orientation of the management and ability to launch innovations onto the market are central aspects of the success. The article deals with current status of innovations in Slovakia, identifying what are the preconditions for future development of the environment that is supporting innovations and how are they fulfilled in Slovakia.

On-the-Job Training and Human Resource Management: How to Improve Competitive Advantage of an Organization?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ognjenović Kosovka

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background: In this paper, the effects of four groups of factors on organizational performance are examined. Those are human resource management (HRM policies and practices, financial and business indicators, location, and firm characteristics. A review of selected literature confirmed that a similar set of factors, through its positive effects on boosting organizational performance, may significantly improve competitive advantage of firms.

Product manufacturing, quality, and reliability initiatives to maintain a competitive advantage and meet customer expectations in the semiconductor industry

Science.gov (United States)

Capps, Gregory

Semiconductor products are manufactured and consumed across the world. The semiconductor industry is constantly striving to manufacture products with greater performance, improved efficiency, less energy consumption, smaller feature sizes, thinner gate oxides, and faster speeds. Customers have pushed towards zero defects and require a more reliable, higher quality product than ever before. Manufacturers are required to improve yields, reduce operating costs, and increase revenue to maintain a competitive advantage. Opportunities exist for integrated circuit (IC) customers and manufacturers to work together and independently to reduce costs, eliminate waste, reduce defects, reduce warranty returns, and improve quality. This project focuses on electrical over-stress (EOS) and re-test okay (RTOK), two top failure return mechanisms, which both make great defect reduction opportunities in customer-manufacturer relationship. Proactive continuous improvement initiatives and methodologies are addressed with emphasis on product life cycle, manufacturing processes, test, statistical process control (SPC), industry best practices, customer education, and customer-manufacturer interaction.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE AND STRATEGIC PLANNING EFFECT TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE IN CREATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE (STUDY CASE AT INDOFOOD CBP SUKSES MAKMUR COMPANY - FOOD SEASONING DIVISION )

OpenAIRE

Ardiyanto, Yan

2016-01-01

This research head for analyze the effect of inter variable to answered set problems how is strategic alliance and strategic planning to improve company performance for create competitive advantage. This research gives theoritic and managerial implication concern pace which have to take by PT. Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur Food Seasoning Division to improve their company performance for create competitive advantage which got from product strategic alliance and strategic planning. Population in t...

THE MECHANISM OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE TRANSFORMATION IN INNOVATION COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STRUCTURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidia S. Leontieva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Throughout article authors give algorithm of organizational culture diagnostic testing of the Hyundai Glovis Russia company, features and difficulties of her cross-cultural environment. Within research the corporate culture and history of the Hyundai Glovis Russia company is analysed. Besides, systems of norms, values and behavior models of the Korean and Russian personnel, and also set of forms of interaction between them are compared. The structural model of transformation of cultural distinctions in competitive advantages of the international enterprise structures is developed.

How does a retail organisation such as Asda compete/use innovation to gain competitive advantage?

OpenAIRE

chouhan, Anand

2012-01-01

Innovation is regarded to be a highly important component in the retail sector due to the significant growth of online home shopping. In recent years as technology has advanced retail organisations have used innovation to create and develop new concepts, ideas and processes. Increasingly online shopping concepts have developed in the retail sector and organisations are continuously exploring ways of maintaining a competitive advantage within online shopping. The purpose of the dissertatio...

Design and competitive advantage in technology-driven sectors : The role of usability and aesthetics in Dutch IT companies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gemser, G.; Jacobs, D.; Ten Cate, R.

2006-01-01

This exploratory study examines the relationship between design and competitive advantage in a technology-driven sector. The sector chosen as a research setting is the Dutch information technology (IT) sector. The research on managerial perceptions of the benefits and costs of design focused on the

The More, the Merrier: Why and How Employee-Driven Eco-Innovation Enhances Environmental and Competitive Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anke Buhl

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Innovative solutions are often conjured as a key factor for companies to come closer to the goal of ecological sustainability. Furthermore, proactive eco-innovation activities can encompass competitive advantages. Companies are therefore well advised to tap any available source of innovation. However, although employees’ innovative capacity has often been described, to date, their manifold potentials for eco-innovation processes have hardly been examined in detail. The overarching research questions guiding this conceptual paper are why and how employee participation in eco-innovation processes can entail environmental and competitive advantages for companies. The authors introduce the concept of employee-driven eco-innovation (EDEI, defined here as ordinary employees’ voluntary engagement in innovation activities within an organizational context that, intentionally or not, lead to environmental improvements. This paper complements previous literature on employee-driven innovation (EDI by applying it to the specific case of eco-innovation. In this context, employees’ comprehensive environmental competences resulting from “tacit knowledge”, “private consumer experience” and “green identity” are taken into account. In addition, we delineate critical intra-organizational factors for EDEI activities and illustrate green employees’ specific requirements in this regard.

The Role of Subsidiaries in Emerging Markets in Generating Competitive Advantages for Foreign Multinationals: the case of the Brazilian subsidiary of Clarks International

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo André Machado

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The relationship between a multinational and its subsidiaries abroad, according to many studies, is crucial for generating competitive advantages. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the relationship between a shoe company, Clarks International, and its Brazilian subsidiary with an emphasis on generating advantages to the multinational headquarters. Through a single case study, the subsidiary’s capacity for knowledge generation and diffusion was identified, as well as its level of autonomy in relation to the English headquarters. Data analysis indicated that the Brazilian subsidiary generated specific competitive advantages for the foreign multinational due to its close relationship with local suppliers in Brazil and due to its staff’s expertise in developing high quality shoes. It was perceived that the growth of subsidiary autonomy was related to the growth of specific advantages generated for the multinational.

Export competitiveness of pakistani horticultural products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhtar, W.; Akmal, N.; Shah, H.; Tahir, A.; Niazi, M.A.

2013-01-01

This paper examines Pakistan's competitiveness in export of selected horticulture commodities by employing set of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and revealed competitive advantage indices with respect to global trade. Results demonstrate that Pakistan has comparative and competitive advantage over the period under analysis and indicates a transition from comparative and competitive disadvantage to comparative and competitive advantage during the period under analysis. Tangerines, mandarins, clem have maintained relatively higher revealed comparative advantage as compared to other categories for the whole period under analysis. Onion export has revealed comparative advantage with some fluctuations over time. The research indicates that Pakistan's comparative and competitive advantages have been increasing in all the selected commodities during period under analysis which indicates the potential of horticulture exports for foreign exchange earnings. There is need to strengthen comparative and competitive advantage in horticulture sector by policy support and facilitating role by all stakeholders. (author)

The competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Michael E; Kramer, Mark R

2002-12-01

When it comes to philanthropy, executives increasingly see themselves as caught between critics demanding ever higher levels of "corporate social responsibility" and investors applying pressure to maximize short-term profits. In response, many companies have sought to make their giving more strategic, but what passes for strategic philanthropy is almost never truly strategic, and often isn't particularly effective as philanthropy. Increasingly, philanthropy is used as a form of public relations or advertising, promoting a company's image through high-profile sponsorships. But there is a more truly strategic way to think about philanthropy. Corporations can use their charitable efforts to improve their competitive context--the quality of the business environment in the locations where they operate. Using philanthropy to enhance competitive context aligns social and economic goals and improves a company's long-term business prospects. Addressing context enables a company to not only give money but also leverage its capabilities and relationships in support of charitable causes. The produces social benefits far exceeding those provided by individual donors, foundations, or even governments. Taking this new direction requires fundamental changes in the way companies approach their contribution programs. For example, philanthropic investments can improve education and local quality of life in ways that will benefit the company. Such investments can also improve the company's competitiveness by contributing to expanding the local market and helping to reduce corruption in the local business environment. Adopting a context-focused approach goes against the grain of current philanthropic practice, and it requires a far more disciplined approach than is prevalent today. But it can make a company's philanthropic activities far more effective.

Interpreting the possible ecological role(s) of cyanotoxins: compounds for competitive advantage and/or physiological aide?

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Aleicia; Kinnear, Susan

2013-06-27

To date, most research on freshwater cyanotoxin(s) has focused on understanding the dynamics of toxin production and decomposition, as well as evaluating the environmental conditions that trigger toxin production, all with the objective of informing management strategies and options for risk reduction. Comparatively few research studies have considered how this information can be used to understand the broader ecological role of cyanotoxin(s), and the possible applications of this knowledge to the management of toxic blooms. This paper explores the ecological, toxicological, and genetic evidence for cyanotoxin production in natural environments. The possible evolutionary advantages of toxin production are grouped into two main themes: That of "competitive advantage" or "physiological aide". The first grouping illustrates how compounds produced by cyanobacteria may have originated from the need for a cellular defence mechanism, in response to grazing pressure and/or resource competition. The second grouping considers the contribution that secondary metabolites make to improved cellular physiology, through benefits to homeostasis, photosynthetic efficiencies, and accelerated growth rates. The discussion also includes other factors in the debate about possible evolutionary roles for toxins, such as different modes of exposures and effects on non-target (i.e., non-competitive) species. The paper demonstrates that complex and multiple factors are at play in driving evolutionary processes in aquatic environments. This information may provide a fresh perspective on managing toxic blooms, including the need to use a "systems approach" to understand how physico-chemical conditions, as well biological stressors, interact to trigger toxin production.

The Influence Of Knowledge Management On Business Performance And Competitive Advantage In Riau Food Products On Small And Medium Enterprises In Pekan Baru

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Dra

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Knowledge-based economy requires organizations to be able to apply knowledge management to a company. This study aims to determine the relationship of knowledge management to business performance and competitive advantage in Riau food products on small and median enterprises. Mapping of conditions of knowledge management business performance competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Any efforts to improve the effectiveness and performance of employees in a company or organization are important factors in improving the companys capacity of available intellectual capital.

Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strand, Robert; Freeman, R. Edward

2015-01-01

. We conclude by endorsing the expression “Scandinavian cooperative advantage” in an effort to draw attention to the Scandinavian context and encourage the field of strategic management to shift its focus from achieving a competitive advantage toward achieving a cooperative advantage....

Do right-ventricular trabeculae gain energetic advantage from having a greater velocity of shortening?

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Toan; Han, June-Chiew; Taberner, Andrew; Loiselle, Denis

2017-10-15

We designed a study to test whether velocity of shortening in right-ventricular tissue preparations is greater than that of the left side under conditions mimicking those encountered by the heart in vivo. Our experiments allowed us to explore whether greater velocity of shortening results in any energetic advantage. We found that velocity of shortening was higher in the rat right-ventricular trabeculae. These results at the tissue level seem paradoxical to the velocity of ventricular ejection at the organ level, and are not always in accord with shortening of unloaded cells. Despite greater velocity of shortening in right-ventricular trabeculae, they neither gained nor lost advantage with respect to both mechanical efficiency and the heat generated during shortening. Our study aimed to ascertain whether the interventricular difference of shortening velocity, reported for isolated cardiac tissues in vitro, affects interventricular mechano-energetic performance when tested under physiological conditions using a shortening protocol designed to mimic those in vivo. We isolated trabeculae from both ventricles of the rat, mounted them in a calorimeter, and performed experiments at 37°C and 5 Hz stimulus frequency to emulate conditions of the rat heart in vivo. Each trabecula was subjected to two experimental protocols: (i) isotonic work-loop contractions at a variety of afterloads, and (ii) isometric contractions at a variety of preloads. Velocity of shortening was calculated from the former protocol during the isotonic shortening phase of the contraction. Simultaneous measurements of force-length work and heat output allowed calculation of mechanical efficiency. The shortening-dependent thermal component was quantified from the difference in heat output between the two protocols. Our results show that both extent of shortening and velocity of shortening were higher in trabeculae from the right ventricle. Despite these differences, trabeculae from both ventricles

Multicriteria Decision Analysis to Develop Effective Sustainable Development Strategies for Enhancing Competitive Advantages: Case of the TFT-LCD Industry in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iuan-Yuan Lu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available In the Internet of Things era, panel displays play a major role in human life, because humans frequently use liquid crystal displays to monitor their electrical devices. The display industry creates remarkable economic output, but every manufacturing process inevitably has some undesirable effects on the environment. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, balanced development is necessary to address the emerging market trends. However, short-sighted manufacturing corporations that focus solely on financial performance can achieve only short-term profits. The purpose of this study was to develop the most effective sustainable improvement strategies that can enhance competitive advantages in real-world situations. The proposed method combines the balanced scorecard and a new hybrid modified multiple attribute decision-making model which together adopt the DEMATEL technique to construct the influential network relation map and develop the DEMATEL-based ANP with the VIKOR method to deliver strategies that integrate environmental sustainability and competitive advantage. Finally, a real-world case study applying the proposed method to the cases of liquid crystal display manufacturers was conducted. Then, this paper discusses the effective use of natural resources, development of enterprises, and sustainable competitive advantage in this context. Various manufacturers, communities, and stakeholders can benefit from the coopetition solutions explained by the proposed method.

The effect of marketing innovation, market orientation, and social capital on competitive advantage and marketing performance: A study in MSMEs of embroidery Central Java Province

OpenAIRE

Ag. Sunarno Handoyo

2015-01-01

This study deals with marketing innovation, market orientation, and social capital in affecting the competitive advantage and marketing performance in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of embroidery in Central Java Province. In this respect, this study tried to test and analyze the effect of marketing innovation, market orienta-tion, and social capital on competitive advantage and marketing performance in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of embroidery in Central Java Pr...

Competitive strategy : Sorrin Puutarha

OpenAIRE

Haaristo, Emilia

2010-01-01

The thesis handles the fresh food product industry in Finland and especially one company operating in the industry and its competitive position. Sorrin Puutarha manufactures ready-to-use fresh cut salad bag, which is sold in the grocery stores. The objective of the thesis was to find competitive advantages of the case company. Once the competitive advantages were identified the purpose was to choose a fitting competitive strategy that would strengthen those advantages. The field study was con...

The competitive advantage of nations and choice of entry strategies : a three scenario case study

OpenAIRE

Helvik, Marianne; Harnecker, Maria Luisa Garrido

2005-01-01

Michael E. Porter’s Diamond framework has been used as an analysis tool the last 15 years to define the competitive advantage of nations, but few researchers have discussed if there is a link between the Diamond framework and how international firms can pursue the best entry mode. Different variables will be presented linking the Diamond framework to entry strategies, designing an extended framework. Three case scenarios are used for analysis purposes; the first two originating in Porter’s Di...

Students’ Satisfaction as a Competitive Advantage in the Financial Products Market: A Comparative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Banarova Michaela

2014-03-01

differences in student satisfaction and opportunities for gaining a greater competitive advantage.

Levels of Business to Business E-Commerce Adoption and Competitive Advantage in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Comparison Study Between Egypt and the United States

OpenAIRE

Elbeltagi, I; Hamad, H; Moizer, J; Abou-Shouk, M

2016-01-01

Business-to-business e-commerce adoption has become increasingly important for small and medium-sized enterprises, allowing them to gain and sustain competitive advantage. Business-to-business adopted at different levels based on different resource endowments leads to competitive advantage being gained and sustained in proportion to that level of adoption. This study uses structural equation modeling to investigate how levels of business-to-business e-commerce adoption affects and contributes...

Government's impact on the business environment and strategic management : Porter's missing fifth determinant of the competitive advantage of nations?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.A.J. van den Bosch (Frans); A-P. de Man (Ard-Pieter)

1994-01-01

textabstractShould 'government' be a fifth force in Michael Porter's model of the Competitive Advantage of Nations and, if so, what should be the appropriate level of analysis? In the strategic management literature, frameworks explaining the impact of the national environment, and more particularly

Investigative safety science as a competitive advantage for Pharma.

Science.gov (United States)

Moggs, Jonathan; Moulin, Pierre; Pognan, Francois; Brees, Dominique; Leonard, Michele; Busch, Steve; Cordier, Andre; Heard, David J; Kammüller, Michael; Merz, Michael; Bouchard, Page; Chibout, Salah-Dine

2012-09-01

Following a US National Academy of Sciences report in 2007 entitled "Toxicity Testing of the 21st Century: a Vision and a Strategy," significant advances within translational drug safety sciences promise to revolutionize drug discovery and development. The purpose of this review is to outline why investigative safety science is a competitive advantage for the pharmaceutical industry. The article discusses the essential goals for modern investigative toxicologists including: cross-species target biology; molecular pathways of toxicity; and development of predictive tools, models and biomarkers that allow discovery researchers and clinicians to anticipate safety problems and plan ways to address them, earlier than ever before. Furthermore, the article emphasizes the importance of investigating unanticipated clinical safety signals through a combination of mechanistic preclinical studies and/or molecular characterization of clinical samples from affected organs. The traditional boundaries between pharma industry teams focusing on safety/efficacy and preclinical/clinical development are rapidly disappearing in favor of translational safety science-centric organizations with a vision of bringing more effective medicines forward safely and quickly. Comparative biology and mechanistic toxicology approaches facilitate: i) identifying translational safety biomarkers; ii) identifying new drug targets/indications; and iii) mitigating off-target toxicities. These value-adding safety science contributions will change traditional toxicologists from side-effect identifiers to drug development enablers.

The Sources of Competitive Advantage in University Spin-Offs: a Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Greco

2013-09-01

Full Text Available University Spin-Offs are incorporated to exploit the knowledge and skills achieved within Universities. Often, their competitive advantage is represented by specific know-how that may be hardly imitated by competitors. In this article we present an analysis of the intellectual capital assets owned by a University Spin-Off using a framework recently introduced in literature. The framework resorts to a series of structured interviews to key figures within the organization. The interviews are synthesized through the Analytic Network Process and the results are compared using graphical and cost/ benefit analyses. The implementation of the framework creates a useful panel for the planning of investments in intellectual capital assets in order to create value. Moreover, it may emphasize possible discrepancies among interviewees about the importance of each intellectual capital asset.

Country branding emerging from citizens’ emotions and the perceptions of competitive advantage: the case of Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Che-Ha, Norbani; Nguyen, Bang; Yahya, Wan Kalthom; Melewar, T. C.; Chen, Yeo Pei

2016-01-01

This article aims to examine the elements of country branding from the perspectives of a country’s citizens. In this exploration, the study constructs their views toward the country using both emotion (affect) and perceptions of competitive advantage and subsequently conceptualizes and tests a framework of internal country-branding elements. Using a survey approach, the study generated a total sample of 445 respondents across Malaysia. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the ...

The Influences of Effectiveness, Competitive Advantages and Market Accessibility on SME Performance in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razali Razleena

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The advent of online business has changed the pattern of doing business recently. This circumstance puts more pressure on SMEs to sustain their position in the fiercely competitive market. Unlike multinational companies, SMEs have several inevitable weaknesses in terms of planning strategy, technology exposure as well as resources that serve as a stumbling block to their better and competitive performance. Thus, online business appears to be a new medium to enhance the performance. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influences of effectiveness, competitive advantage and market accessibility on SME performance in Malaysia. This study uses cross sectional study which focuses on SMEs that are engaged in online businesses. 200 questionnaires were distributed particularly to SMEs in food and beverages (F&B; apparel and textile (A&T; and health and cosmetic (H&C industries in Malaysia. Results indicate that market accessibility is the only variable which has an influence on entrepreneurs in online businesses within SMEs performance (β=.48, p<.01. This study can shed light on SME performance to the government. For example policy makers can enhance programs and initiatives in the SMEs Master Plan for the year 2012-2020. This study also helps the SMEs avail themselves of the online business opportunity in enhancing their performance. Therefore, the implication of market accessibility in influencing SME performance is discussed in this study.

Turning Diversity into Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Managing Diversity in the United States of America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eddy M. Sutanto

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Esty, Griffin, and Hirsch (1995 state that today’s workforce is truly a mosaic of different races, ages, genders, ethnic groups, religions, and lifestyles. As a manager or a supervisor, it is your job to make sure that the desperate pieces of a mosaic fit together in a harmonious, coordinated way, maximally utilizing the talents and abilities of each employee. If skillfully managed, this diversity can bring a competitive advantage to an organization. If not, however, the bottom line can be negatively affected, and the work environment can become unwelcoming. Dealing with a diverse work group is new terrain for most managers and supervisors. The United States rose to the top using a-one-size-fits-all approach to managing employees. This work in past because, historically, most of the work force was white, and male. This has all changed. The following parts will clearly provide a description about diversity, changes in the United States work force, challenges and opportunities of the changes for organizations, and how managers and supervisors as front liners deal with diversity and to turn diversity into a competitive advantage.

Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Michael E; Kramer, Mark R

2006-12-01

Governments, activists, and the media have become adept at holding companies to account for the social consequences of their actions. In response, corporate social responsibility has emerged as an inescapable priority for business leaders in every country. Frequently, though, CSR efforts are counterproductive, for two reasons. First, they pit business against society, when in reality the two are interdependent. Second, they pressure companies to think of corporate social responsibility in generic ways instead of in the way most appropriate to their individual strategies. The fact is, the prevailing approaches to CSR are so disconnected from strategy as to obscure many great opportunities for companies to benefit society. What a terrible waste. If corporations were to analyze their opportunities for social responsibility using the same frameworks that guide their core business choices, they would discover, as Whole Foods Market, Toyota, and Volvo have done, that CSR can be much more than a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed--it can be a potent source of innovation and competitive advantage. In this article, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer propose a fundamentally new way to look at the relationship between business and society that does not treat corporate growth and social welfare as a zero-sum game. They introduce a framework that individual companies can use to identify the social consequences of their actions; to discover opportunities to benefit society and themselves by strengthening the competitive context in which they operate; to determine which CSR initiatives they should address; and to find the most effective ways of doing so. Perceiving social responsibility as an opportunity rather than as damage control or a PR campaign requires dramatically different thinking--a mind-set, the authors warn, that will become increasingly important to competitive success.

How Can We Assess and Evaluate the Competitive Advantage of a Country's Human Resource Development System?

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hunseok; Ryu, Hyue-Hyun; Choi, Myungweon

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an index to assess and evaluate the competitive advantage of a country's human resource development system. Based on an extensive literature review, a theoretical model of a human resource development system at the national level (named National Human Resource Development: NHRD) was constructed. The…

An Assessment of "Sustainable Competitive Advantage" for Artex Limited, within the UK DIY Multiple Market Sector

OpenAIRE

Chambers, Craig Stephen

2007-01-01

Synopsis This dissertation critically examines the business of Artex Limited and the industry that it operates within, in the context of serving the UK DIY multiple market, a sector that the company is highly reliant on from a turnover and profit perspective. Through the practical application of a number of strategic assessment frameworks, and in conjunction with a study of the relevant literature, the principle objective is to test for empirical evidence of competitive advantage within ...

Stakeholder Governance, Competition and Firm Value

OpenAIRE

Allen, Franklin; Carletti, Elena; Marquez, Robert

2014-01-01

In many countries, the legal system or social norms ensure that firms are stakeholder oriented. We analyze the advantages and disadvantages of stakeholder-oriented firms that are concerned with employees and suppliers compared to shareholder-oriented firms in a model of imperfect competition. Stakeholder firms are more (less) valuable than shareholder firms when marginal cost uncertainty is greater (less) than demand uncertainty. With globalization shareholder firms and stakeholder firms ofte...

Insurer Provide Rating Software and Competitive Advantage: An Evaluation Based on BOP Insurance Applications at Wisconsin Agencies

OpenAIRE

Thomas A. Aiuppa; William E. Wehrs

1993-01-01

This research examines whether a competitive advantage exists for insurers which provide independent agencies with rating software to generate price quotes. Data relative to the Business Owners line of insurance were collected from several Wisconsin agencies which represent several BOP insurers, some of which provide software for rating BOP applications. The results indicate that providing rating software did not increase insurers’ business volumes, but may decrease their underwriting costs. ...

Interaction location outweighs the competitive advantage of numerical superiority in Cebus capucinus intergroup contests.

Science.gov (United States)

Crofoot, Margaret C; Gilby, Ian C; Wikelski, Martin C; Kays, Roland W

2008-01-15

Numerical superiority confers a competitive advantage during contests among animal groups, shaping patterns of resource access, and, by extension, fitness. However, relative group size does not always determine the winner of intergroup contests. Smaller, presumably weaker social groups often defeat their larger neighbors, but how and when they are able to do so remains poorly understood. Models of competition between individuals suggest that location may influence contest outcome. However, because of the logistical difficulties of studying intergroup interactions, previous studies have been unable to determine how contest location and group size interact to shape relationships among groups. We address this question by using an automated radio telemetry system to study intergroup interactions among six capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus) social groups of varying sizes. We find that the odds of winning increase with relative group size; one additional group member increases the odds of winning an interaction by 10%. However, this effect is not uniform across space; with each 100 m that a group moves away from the center of its home range, its odds of winning an interaction decrease by 31%. We demonstrate that contest outcome depends on an interaction between group size and location, such that small groups can defeat much larger groups near the center of their home range. The tendency of resident groups to win contests may help explain how small groups persist in areas with intense intergroup competition.

Competitive advantage and the existence of the multinational corporation: earlier research and the role of frictions

OpenAIRE

Asmussen, Christian Geisler; Foss, Nicolai J.

2014-01-01

This article provides a counterpoint to Hashai and Buckley’s article ‘Is competitive advantage a necessary condition for the emergence of the multinational enterprise?’We agree with their conclusion that it is, in fact, not a necessary condition, but argue that the theoretical reasons behind this are different and more diverse than the ones they propose. We suggest that much extant economic theory is, in fact, consistent with their view that firms may internationalize without owning or achiev...

Demolishing the competition: the longitudinal link between competitive video games, competitive gambling, and aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

Adachi, Paul J C; Willoughby, Teena

2013-07-01

The majority of research on the link between video games and aggression has focused on the violent content in games. In contrast, recent experimental research suggests that it is video game competition, not violence, that has the greatest effect on aggression in the short-term. However, no researchers have examined the long-term relationship between video game competition and aggression. In addition, if competition in video games is a significant reason for the link between video game play and aggression, then other competitive activities, such as competitive gambling, also may predict aggression over time. In the current study, we directly assessed the socialization (competitive video game play and competitive gambling predicts aggression over time) versus selection hypotheses (aggression predicts competitive video game play and competitive gambling over time). Adolescents (N = 1,492, 50.8 % female) were surveyed annually from Grade 9 to Grade 12 about their video game play, gambling, and aggressive behaviors. Greater competitive video game play and competitive gambling predicted higher levels of aggression over time, after controlling for previous levels of aggression, supporting the socialization hypothesis. The selection hypothesis also was supported, as aggression predicted greater competitive video game play and competitive gambling over time, after controlling for previous competitive video game play and competitive gambling. Our findings, taken together with the fact that millions of adolescents play competitive video games every day and that competitive gambling may increase as adolescents transition into adulthood, highlight the need for a greater understanding of the relationship between competition and aggression.

USE OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS FOR CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: POINT OF PARITY OR SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

OpenAIRE

Suoniemi, Samppa; Meyer-Waarden, Lars; Munzel, Andreas; Zablah, Alex R.; Straub, Detmar W.

2017-01-01

Customer information plays a key role in managing successful relationships with valuable customers. Big data customer analytics use (CA use), i.e., the extent to which customer information derived from big data analytics guides marketing decisions, helps firms better meet customer needs for competitive advantage. This study addresses three research questions: 1. What are the key antecedents of big data customer analytics use? 2. How, and to what extent, does big data...

Achieving Competitive Advantage through Using an Integrated Multi-selling Model. The Case from Romanian Linjerie Producer: Jolidon

OpenAIRE

CUC Sunhilde

2011-01-01

Information and communication technologies applications and services have greatly influenced the behavior of both retailers andconsumers. In order to win new markets, to increase the sales and gain competitive advantages, e-commerce has been widely adopted in the fashion industry, particularly in the lingerie sector. The purposes of the paper were to examine the retailing formats in relation to e-business, to determine which were significantfactors affecting e-commerce and the distinctive asp...

The influence of company’s dynamic capabilities on achieving a competitive advantage as the new management paradigm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilona Penc-Pietrzak

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the most important conceptions of achieving a company’s competitive advantage: Porter’s five forces model based on the SCP paradigm; the conception of strategic conflict, which uses the tools of game theory; resource-based perspective, which emphasizes the distinctive resources and skills of a company and the dynamic capabilities approach, which is very useful in turbulent environment. The last conception is correctly treated as the new management paradigm.

Information technology for competitive advantage: the case of learning and innovation in behavioural healthcare service.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Chang-tseh; Lin, Binshan

2011-01-01

The utilisation of IS/IT could offer a substantial competitive advantage to healthcare service providers through the realisation of improved clinical, financial, and administrative outcomes. In this study, 42 journal articles were reviewed and summarised with respect to identified benefits and challenges of the development and implementation of electronic medical records, tele-health, and electronic appointment reminders. Results of this study help pave the knowledge foundation for management of the behavioural healthcare to learn how to apply state-of-the-art information technology to offer higher quality, clinically proven effective services at lower costs than those of their competitors.

Evaluation of competitive and economic indices in canola and pea intercropping at different rates of nitrogen fertilizer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyfollah fallah

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The experiment was conducted in order to evaluate of competitive and economic indices in canola and pea intercropping at different rates of nitrogen fertilizer at Shahrekord University research farm during 1390 - 1391. Intercropping and sole cropping treatments (100% canola; 66% canola + 33% pea, 50% canola + 50% pea; 33% canola + 66% pea; 100% pea were evaluated as the first factor and nitrogen rates (100% need; 75% need and 50% need as the second factor in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The calculated competitive indices were included land equivalent ratio (LER, relative crowding coefficient (K, aggressively (A, the system production index (SPI, actual yield loss (AYL, competitive ratio (CR and economy indices included monetary advantage index (MAI, and the intercropping advantage (IA. Results showed that all the competitive and economic indices had the highest amount in 50 and 75% of nitrogen requirement. The amounts of AYLt and SPI and economic indices (MAI and IA were positive for all intercropping ratios. Also, LERt and Kt for all intercropping ratio were greater than one, that indicating the superiority of intercropping over sole cropping any of the two plants. The positive values aggressively index and the greater than one values competitive ratio for canola, indicated canola was superior competitor in compared to pea. In conclusion, the evaluation of competitive and economic indices appropriately describes intercropping advantage of canola with pea in reduced nitrogen fertilizer conditions.

Human resources as a factor of creating competitive advantages of the tourism enterprises

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Boljević Agneš R.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Human resources are the main factor in the process of creating and achieving competitive advantages of the modern enterprises. Therefore, in the focus of contemporary management are human resources their role and importance they have in every organizational system. Tourism is a labor-intensive economic activity which provides more than 200 million work places all over the world. The tourism share in the world GDP is about 10,5%, through the tourism over 12,5% of the total world export is realized and about 30% world trade of the services. Starting from these facts, the paper highlights the strategic importance of the human resources for every management and for national economy, too. Authors especially analyze the tourist activity and emphasis the basic characteristics of the human resources in the tourism.

Breaking the barriers to commercialization of MEMS: a firm's search for competitive advantage

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Steven T.; Linton, Jonathan D.

1999-08-01

A model of infrastructure development for MEMS manufacturing Technologies is offered. The role of discontinuous innovation in achieving competitive advantage is briefly reviewed. This is followed by the development of a model that describes the stages in the growth of an infrastructure to support Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems infrastructure. We briefly describe how an infrastructure gradually grows to support a new industry, resulting from discontinuous innovation. the model indicates the evolving nature of the actions and investments that firms and governments need to make to support the growth of an immature industry. Consequently, we aim to not only offer a descriptive model, but offer guidance to firms on whether their intentions and resources fit with the state of the industry and to offer policy makers guidance on the timing of different types of support.

Competitive Advantage Achievement through Innovation and Knowledge

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Urbancova Hana

2013-03-01

Full Text Available In today’s highly competitive environment the goal of each organisation is to defeat competition and win new customers. Individuals who are holders of knowledge represent a tool for the generation of innovations. Thanks to their personal creativity, their knowledge, skills and abilities it is possible to generate new innovative ideas that will help organisations to achieve a competitiveadvantage. The aim of the article is to present the findings of a survey targeted at innovations and to identify knowledge as an important element in the process of innovations. Primary data were obtained through a questionnaire survey carried out in organisations in the Czech Republic and evaluated using the tools of descriptive statistics and also the methods of comparison, induction, deduction and synthesis were applied. One of the conclusions of the article is that organisations find it important to innovate and support an innovative culture. Knowledge too is very significant in the innovation process since it represents not only important input, but also output of the transformation process.

Sustainability and strategic competitive advantage: an exploratory and bibliometric study

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Pedrita Dantas Gabriele

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis to understand the state of the art of academic research that relates to sustainability strategy and competitive advantage. For this, the article seeks to identify what is produced, released and knowledge generated by the scientific community related to the subject, and analyzing key trends, through a quantitative analysis of the evolution of scientific literature on the themes, vehicles publishing, centers research, leading researchers and research networks. Initially we constructed a tree of keywords in order to quest the search engines and publications on the subject and later, do the processing and analysis software with the support of EndNote ®, RefViz ® and Excel ®.Through research, we found that there was a recent increase of publications on the subject of this article, especially since 2000, and the areas of science that most published on the subject are represented by the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social and economic, pointing out that sustainability is currently having a bias much more proactive instead of reactive. Furthermore, it was also possible to identify countries that have the highest rate of development, like the HDI and GINI index, are the pioneers in publishing this issue.

CONCEPTUALIZING THE CO-CREATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN TECHNOLOGY-INTENSIVE B2B MARKETS: AGENT-BASED MODELING APPROACH

OpenAIRE

MARKUS A. JÄÄSKELÄINEN; SAMULI KORTELAINEN; JUHA J. HINKKANEN

2013-01-01

The importance and challenges of supplier–customer cooperation has been widely recognized in the academic literature but the dynamics of such relationship remain understudied. We do not yet fully understand how customer–supplier relationship should be pursued in order to co-create mutual competitive advantage. Our simulation results show that there are differences in absolute profitability and profit distribution between cooperation partners when moving from individual firm-level management t...

The Home-based Advantages and a Hierarchy of Location Advantages: Foreign and British-owned Firms in the London Wholesale Insurance Market

OpenAIRE

Lilach Nachum

2003-01-01

This study seeks to explain why, in some cases, locationally advantageous countries attract foreign firms, who develop dominant competitive positions in the market, rather than facilitate the development of internationally competitive national firms, as theory suggests. Comparative analyses of samples of foreign and British-owned insurance firms in the London wholesale insurance market are used to establish a hierarchy of location advantages in terms of their competitive importance. It is sho...

Crop–weed competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gallandt, Eric R.; Weiner, Jacob

2015-01-01

importantly, weed density and time of emergence relative to the crop. Practices that (1) reduce the density of weeds, (2) maximise occupation of space or uptake of resources by the crop or (3) establish an early-season size advantage of the crop over the weeds will minimise the competitive effects of weeds...... on crops. Longer term management of crop–weed competition can be achieved through crop rotations, specifically crop sequences that reduce the weed seed bank, and therefore seedling density, and prevent proliferation of perennial weeds. Key ConceptsKey Concepts * Plant growth requires sunlight, water...... an early-season competitive advantage to the crop and (3) maximising resource capture by the crop using competitive species, competitive cultivars, high sowing densities, optimal spatial arrangement, intercropping complimentary species or transplanting....

Innovation and strategic competitiveness

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Jović Mile B.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Paper discussed relationships of innovation to achieving strategic competitiveness in today globalized economic environment. Special attention is devoted to the nature of competitive advantages on global industries as well national level. Competitive advantage is a firm's ability to transform inputs into goods and services at a profit on a sustained basis, better than competitors. Comparative advantage resides in the factor endowments and created endowments of particular regions. Beside the traditional endowment approach (land, natural resources, labor and the size of the local population it is emphasized the importance of created one such as skilled labor, the technology and knowledge base, government support and culture. Creating corporate or country competitiveness roadmap there are no substantial difference - innovative as well strategic approach is essential.

A Fuzzy-AHP-QFD approach for achieving lean attributes for competitive advantages development, Case study: The Staam Sanat Company

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Emad Roghanian

2013-01-01

Full Text Available As one of the new producing approaches, lean production has brought in new opportunities for producers all around the world. Many producers have adopted the technique for surviving the growing world market. By combining competitive advantages, lean attributes, and lean enablers as three factors, the present study attempts to determine the most suitable enablers for improvement of lean attributes in a case study. Quality Function Deployment (QFD in fuzzy environment and House of Quality (HOQ matrix, successfully employed for development of new products, are adopted as approach of the study. Weights of competitive advantages, lean attributes and enablers are calculated through fuzzy analysis hierarchy process (FAHP, while fuzzy logarithmic least square method (LLSM is used in calculation of the weights. Throughout the methodology, fuzzy logic is the basis for translating linguistic judgments required for the relationships and correlation matrix to numerical values. Moreover, final ranking of lean enablers is represented through area ranking method and taking into account various techniques of decision makers’ risk. Finally, a case study in automotive industry is introduced to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed methodology.

O marketing ecológico como vantagem competitiva Green marketing as a competitive advantage

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Sérgio Luís Stirbolov Motta

2007-06-01

Full Text Available A competição entre as organizações existe basicamente porque um ou mais players atuais ou potenciais, de um determinado setor econômico, percebem a oportunidade de melhorar sua posição (ou estabelecê-la ou se sentem pressionados por outro player, ou seja, os movimentos de uma empresa repercutem nas demais, numa relação de interdependência. Dessa forma, é constante a busca por alternativas que permitam o desenvolvimento empresarial. Este trabalho aponta um caminho que há algum tempo vem sendo percorrido por empresas, mas apenas nos últimos anos vem ganhando destaque nos meios de comunicação e na consciência dos indivíduos: a gerência de ações de marketing ecológico. A partir dos dados de uma pesquisa exploratória realizada na cidade de São Paulo e dos modelos de vantagem competitiva de Porter e de D'Aveni, pôde-se constatar que a prática de marketing ecológico pelas empresas pode constituir vantagem competitiva, não obstante o fato de esse fenômeno não ocorrer atualmente, pois tanto o conhecimento sobre as questões ambientais quanto as atitudes positivas em relação à preservação ambiental já estão presentes nos consumidores.Organizational competition exists because players or potential ones in an economic sector perceive an opportunity to improve or establish their position and may feel pressured by others. Therefore actions of one company have repercussions on the others, disclosing interdependence. As such, there is a constant pursuit for alternatives that foster company development. This article highlights the management of ecological marketing, an approach that companies have accompanied for some time and which only in recent years has attracted the attention of media and individuals. Based upon an exploratory survey made in the city of São Paulo as well as models of competitive advantage by Porter and D'Aveni, it was shown that green marketing may be of advantage. Although this is not a current practice

COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH INFORMATION

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Raluca Daniela RIZEA

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Intelligence competitiveness has already started to build its road in the company’s long term strategies. Nonetheless, business executives continue to look for ways to apply information technology strategically to their businesses. Using information managers manage to communicate, to convey their knowledge about markets, competitors, products, services and operations. Even if data and information are all over there are few amounts of managers that realize the importance of them to the success of the business. This article will review competitive forces and competitive information systems strategies for gaining competitive advantages, explain concepts of value chain, value co-opetition (competition and cooperation, and discuss innovation strategy. Co-opetition is a strategy whereby companies cooperate and compete at the same time with their competitors, complementors (i.e. hardware and software businesses, customers, suppliers. The article discuss an important dimension of information system, identifies competitive advantages and enhancing competitive strategies thought information systems.

The Competitiveness of Alternative Hydrogen Pathways

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anders Chr.

to transport services and in market competitiveness and societal competitiveness. The major societal competitive advantage of hydrogen is its convertibility to electricity and from any other source of energy. This enables a flexible use of natural gas and primary electricity as transport fuels. The major...... advantage in market competitiveness is the energy efficiency of the fuel cell. This advantage is, however, to some extent balanced by the costs associated with conversion, transport, and storage. The balance between these factors required for market competitiveness is identified.......The paper surveys the literature on the competitiveness of alternative hydrogen pathways in the transport sector. The competitiveness of the alternative systems can be differentiated in the “well-to-tank (WtT)” and “tank-to-wheel (TtW)” sections of the pathway transforming primary energy...

Relationship Between Learning Orientation And Business Performance And The Moderating Effect Of Competitive Advantage: An Accounting Services Firms Perspective

OpenAIRE

Louis Martinette; Alice Obenchain-Leeson; Gladys Gomez; Jessica Webb

2014-01-01

This study examines the influence of learning orientation on business performance (achievement of sales and profit objectives) in the context of pure service, specifically that of public accounting services firms. The conceptual framework used in this research has been drawn from marketing, finance, and organizational behavior theory. Specifically, relationships related to learning orientation, sources of competitive advantage, and business performance have been identified. This research ...

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AS STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN OIL ORGANIZATIONS

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María Fernando Arellano Morales

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Man's interest in knowing and transform his reality, has led to a continuous and incessant development of science and the production of knowledge inherent in them. This cyclical and systemic process has become itself abundance of knowledge that is daily creating and disseminating, surpassing even the physical spaces where it can be stored and beyond assimilation, use and transfer. The complex and changing knowledge in the activities of oil organizations undoubtedly demands designing strategies that transform and create new experiences, knowledge and skills, in order to innovate traditional management processes, information technology and communication, the intellectual capital and organizational culture. This paper aims to highlight the importance of Knowledge Management (KM when the enthusiasm and ability to learn intangible capital of an organization is involved to generate knowledge to make intelligent decisions. As argue Argyris and Schön (1978 Nonaka (1991 Kogut and Zander (1992 "knowledge is one of the most critical variables to achieve sustainable success in any organization." In addition to highlighting the success of organizations and the economy of the country depend on its ability to produce, assimilate, to use and transmit knowledge, to transform it into a competitive advantage.

Use value innovation to create competitive advantages in Blue Ocean : A case study of IKEA in Nanjing

OpenAIRE

Lu, Chaoren; Thawatthatree, Apinya

2011-01-01

This present thesis aims to contribute to a better understand about how to use value innovation to get competitive advantages and get leading position in the market.   This theoretical approach is supported by an empirical case study about IKEA in Nanjing, China. This case is based on a qualitative research method of in-depth interviews with the local customers, co-workers and managers. The outcome is IKEA uses a unique strategy execution in Nanjing, and it fits Nanjing’s market very well.   ...

The Formation of Competitive Advantages for Corporate Structures Based on the Cluster Integration

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Ekaterina Vasilyevna Pustynnikova

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article studies the cluster forms of integration as well as the development of corporate and cluster connections. At present, economic knowledge is rather focused on the development of integrated regional systems recognized as one of the most effective forms of integration. In turn, the processes, based on the interdependence and cooperation of economic entities located on the same territory, determine the possibility of stable economic relations, synergetic effect and growth of the competitive advantages of these territories. Such development tendencies reflect corporate interests and define trends for the integration of corporations in the context of regional and industrial limitations. Thus, one of the main aspects of integration is focused on the establishment of sustainable cost-beneficial relationships between corporate entities. The dialectical unity of the coordination and cooperation of corporate structures in economic clusters expands the traditional boundaries of economic benefits. Considering the government of corporate structure on the basis of internal approach, we can see that the benefits from the fragmented leadership may be neutralized due to unevenness of expenses. The corporate-cluster approach of corporate structure government allows not only to coordinate actions at the micro-level but also to generate more sustainable economic relations at the industrial, market and regional levels. It is reflected in the synergistic effect. The coordination of economic processes and geographic concentration contribute to system flexibility and adaptability in the market conditions as well as stimulate economic processes. Therefore, all cluster participants benefit from mutually beneficial cooperation. This, in turn, contributes to the decrease of total expenses and hastens the responses of entities on different market changes. The authors’ hypothesis assumes the coordination of interests in the economic cluster that allows to create

Environmental consumerism and its capacity to confer competitive advantage to producers & distributors of specific FMCG brands in Ireland

OpenAIRE

Robbins, Peter

2000-01-01

This thesis examines the extent to which Green Consumerism has the capacity to confer competitive advantage to the producers and distributors of certain fast moving consumer goods in the Irish retail market. It begins with a review of the literature linking mass consumerism to the major threats which currently beset the environment both on a national and global scale e.g. Ozone depletion and water pollution. The research section focuses on two major consumer markets, laundry detergents an...

Use of technology as a competitive advantage in micro and small retail business in Hermosillo, Sonora

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Carmen Bocanegra Gastelum

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The advance of new technologies of information and communication technologies (icts are not distributed evenly between companies in different sectors of the economy. These include not only the use of Internet and computer, but other tools related to the administrative operations of firms as well as knowledge of the profile of the consumer. This is especially true in enterprises of trade and services sector, where there is a significant gap between the micro, small, medium and large farms. Therefore, the study aims to examine whether the micro and small retailers in Hermosillo, Sonora, ict and know where, if applied as a competitive advantage. To achieve the goal we worked a representative sample of 450 establishments. The result obtained in February 2009, shows that despite advances in the use of these technological tools, knowledge and degree of applicability is still insufficient for micro and small businesses. Therefore, do not have the competitive edge that represents the use of ict to remain successful in the local market.

Agrobacterium uses a unique ligand-binding mode for trapping opines and acquiring a competitive advantage in the niche construction on plant host.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Julien; Vigouroux, Armelle; Planamente, Sara; El Sahili, Abbas; Blin, Pauline; Aumont-Nicaise, Magali; Dessaux, Yves; Moréra, Solange; Faure, Denis

2014-10-01

By modifying the nuclear genome of its host, the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens induces the development of plant tumours in which it proliferates. The transformed plant tissues accumulate uncommon low molecular weight compounds called opines that are growth substrates for A. tumefaciens. In the pathogen-induced niche (the plant tumour), a selective advantage conferred by opine assimilation has been hypothesized, but not experimentally demonstrated. Here, using genetics and structural biology, we deciphered how the pathogen is able to bind opines and use them to efficiently compete in the plant tumour. We report high resolution X-ray structures of the periplasmic binding protein (PBP) NocT unliganded and liganded with the opine nopaline (a condensation product of arginine and α-ketoglurate) and its lactam derivative pyronopaline. NocT exhibited an affinity for pyronopaline (K(D) of 0.6 µM) greater than that for nopaline (KD of 3.7 µM). Although the binding-mode of the arginine part of nopaline/pyronopaline in NocT resembled that of arginine in other PBPs, affinity measurement by two different techniques showed that NocT did not bind arginine. In contrast, NocT presented specific residues such as M117 to stabilize the bound opines. NocT relatives that exhibit the nopaline/pyronopaline-binding mode were only found in genomes of the genus Agrobacterium. Transcriptomics and reverse genetics revealed that A. tumefaciens uses the same pathway for assimilating nopaline and pyronopaline. Fitness measurements showed that NocT is required for a competitive colonization of the plant tumour by A. tumefaciens. Moreover, even though the Ti-plasmid conjugal transfer was not regulated by nopaline, the competitive advantage gained by the nopaline-assimilating Ti-plasmid donors led to a preferential horizontal propagation of this Ti-plasmid amongst the agrobacteria colonizing the plant-tumour niche. This work provided structural and genetic evidences to support the niche

Agrobacterium uses a unique ligand-binding mode for trapping opines and acquiring a competitive advantage in the niche construction on plant host.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Lang

2014-10-01

Full Text Available By modifying the nuclear genome of its host, the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens induces the development of plant tumours in which it proliferates. The transformed plant tissues accumulate uncommon low molecular weight compounds called opines that are growth substrates for A. tumefaciens. In the pathogen-induced niche (the plant tumour, a selective advantage conferred by opine assimilation has been hypothesized, but not experimentally demonstrated. Here, using genetics and structural biology, we deciphered how the pathogen is able to bind opines and use them to efficiently compete in the plant tumour. We report high resolution X-ray structures of the periplasmic binding protein (PBP NocT unliganded and liganded with the opine nopaline (a condensation product of arginine and α-ketoglurate and its lactam derivative pyronopaline. NocT exhibited an affinity for pyronopaline (K(D of 0.6 µM greater than that for nopaline (KD of 3.7 µM. Although the binding-mode of the arginine part of nopaline/pyronopaline in NocT resembled that of arginine in other PBPs, affinity measurement by two different techniques showed that NocT did not bind arginine. In contrast, NocT presented specific residues such as M117 to stabilize the bound opines. NocT relatives that exhibit the nopaline/pyronopaline-binding mode were only found in genomes of the genus Agrobacterium. Transcriptomics and reverse genetics revealed that A. tumefaciens uses the same pathway for assimilating nopaline and pyronopaline. Fitness measurements showed that NocT is required for a competitive colonization of the plant tumour by A. tumefaciens. Moreover, even though the Ti-plasmid conjugal transfer was not regulated by nopaline, the competitive advantage gained by the nopaline-assimilating Ti-plasmid donors led to a preferential horizontal propagation of this Ti-plasmid amongst the agrobacteria colonizing the plant-tumour niche. This work provided structural and genetic evidences to

The Relationship Between Learning Orientation And Business Performance And The Moderating Effect Of Competitive Advantage: A Service Organization Perspective

OpenAIRE

Louis A. Martinette; Alice Obenchain-Leeson

2012-01-01

This study examines the influence of learning orientation on business performance (the achievement of sales and profit objectives) in the context of pure service.  The conceptual framework used in this research has been drawn from marketing, finance, and organizational behavior theory. Specifically, relationships related to learning orientation, sources of competitive advantage, and business performance have been identified.  This research develops and tests a framework about learning orienta...

Multiplex Sequence Analysis Demonstrates the Competitive Growth Advantage of the A-to-G Mutants of Clarithromycin-Resistant Helicobacter pylori

OpenAIRE

Wang, Ge; Rahman, M. Sayeedur; Humayun, M. Zafri; Taylor, Diane E.

1999-01-01

Clarithromycin resistance in Helicobacter pylori is due to point mutation within the 23S rRNA. We examined the growth rates of different types of site-directed mutants and demonstrated quantitatively the competitive growth advantage of A-to-G mutants over other types of mutants by a multiplex sequencing assay. The results provide a rational explanation of why A-to-G mutants are predominantly observed among clarithromycin-resistant clinical isolates.

Multiplex sequence analysis demonstrates the competitive growth advantage of the A-to-G mutants of clarithromycin-resistant Helicobacter pylori.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, G; Rahman, M S; Humayun, M Z; Taylor, D E

1999-03-01

Clarithromycin resistance in Helicobacter pylori is due to point mutation within the 23S rRNA. We examined the growth rates of different types of site-directed mutants and demonstrated quantitatively the competitive growth advantage of A-to-G mutants over other types of mutants by a multiplex sequencing assay. The results provide a rational explanation of why A-to-G mutants are predominantly observed among clarithromycin-resistant clinical isolates.

Inhibition of fungal colonization by Pseudoalteromonas tunicata provides a competitive advantage during surface colonization.

Science.gov (United States)

Franks, A; Egan, S; Holmström, C; James, S; Lappin-Scott, H; Kjelleberg, S

2006-09-01

The marine epiphytic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata produces a range of extracellular secondary metabolites that inhibit an array of common fouling organisms, including fungi. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the ability to inhibit fungi provides P. tunicata with an advantage during colonization of a surface. Studies on a transposon-generated antifungal-deficient mutant of P. tunicata, FM3, indicated that a long-chain fatty acid-coenzyme A ligase is involved in the production of a broad-range antifungal compound by P. tunicata. Flow cell experiments demonstrated that production of an antifungal compound provided P. tunicata with a competitive advantage against a marine yeast isolate during surface colonization. This compound enabled P. tunicata to disrupt an already established fungal biofilm by decreasing the number of yeast cells attached to the surface by 66% +/- 9%. For in vivo experiments, the wild-type and FM3 strains of P. tunicata were used to inoculate the surface of the green alga Ulva australis. Double-gradient denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that after 48 h, the wild-type P. tunicata had outcompeted the surface-associated fungal community, whereas the antifungal-deficient mutant had no effect on the fungal community. Our data suggest that P. tunicata is an effective competitor against fungal surface communities in the marine environment.

Pengaruh Job Satisfaction terhadap Financial Performance melalui Employee Engagement dan Competitive Advantage sebagai Intervening Variable pada Perusahaan Manufaktur di Surabaya

OpenAIRE

Gunawan, Pricilia Sandra

2014-01-01

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh langsung dari job satisfaction terhadap financial performance melalui employee engagement dan competitive advantage sebagai intervening variabel pada Perusahaan manufaktur di Surabaya. Penelitian ini menggunakan data primer yang diperoleh dari hasil penyebaran kuesioner pada 30 Perusahaan manufaktur publik di Surabaya dan juga menggunakan data sekunder yaitu laporan keuangan Perusahaan yang digunakan untuk mengukur financial performance Perus...

Project management as a competitive advantage for the internationalization of Brazilian companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andre Luiz Spinelli Schelini

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on three theoretical axes: project management (PM, internationalization of companies and the resource-based view (RBV. It aimed to analyze if, and in what way, PM maturity contributes to the international strategy of Brazilian companies from the RBV perspective. The research strategy adopted in three Brazilian companies constituted a multiple case study with a descriptive exploratory approach through intercase and intracase analysis. As an unprecedented result, the study identified five characteristics of mature project management: project sustainability, stakeholder engagement, goal setting and strategy, change management, and risk management. Furthermore, all of these contributed to the internationalization of the companies in question, with an impact on competitive advantage, considering the RBV-VRIO analysis. Thus, the study contributes to the field by aiding companies that are beginning or intend to begin internationalization processes, enabling them to obtain better results through PM. A limitation of the study is the small number of cases investigated, which may be viewed as an opportunity for conducting further studies.

The improving of methodological principles of enterprise competitiveness management under the crisis

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Marina Dyadyuk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is methodological bases improving and forming of practical tools for enterprise competitiveness management under the crisis. The specific features of the competitive environment of enterprises in Ukraine under the global and national crisis are researched in the article. From this it is concluded that any enterprise must have a greater degree of flexibility than in periods of stability or economic growth for obtaining and maintaining of competitive advantages in the current period of global instability. Flexibility and adaptability of the economic system is the main prerequisite for obtaining and developing of enterprise competitive advantages and stem component of competitiveness. We identified and characterized the methodological components of adaptive management process on the base of systematic approach and with taking into account views of scientists. The obtained scientific results are the basis for conceptual model of integrated system of enterprise adaptive management in terms of dynamic and uncertainty environment. We propose to implement this kind of control on three levels: strategic (preventive management, functionality (tactical management and operational (symptomatic management on the base of analyzing economically grounded views and existing positions. It all together will ensure effective adaptation at the macroeconomic, meso and micro levels of management. The main purpose of the proposed integrated management system is ensuring the stability and integrity of enterprises activity in terms of variability and uncertainty of the environment. The implementation of such management system provides the enterprise with certain competitive advantages. It will allow to Ukrainian enterprises maintaining the competitive position in unfavorable external conditions, but also maintaining and improving the competitiveness.

Antecedents for the Success of the Adoption of Organizational ERP Among Higher Education Institutions and Competitive Advantage in Egypt

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M. Soliman

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Although the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP system has long been acknowledged in higher education institutions (HEIs to improve their performance and efficiency, there are not many HEIs in Egypt that adopt ERP system and those that do are in an early stage. The research on ERP system in HEI is still limited and in the immature stage, hence little is known about the success factors for the adoption stage of ERP systems. Consequently, this article aims to understand what are the success factors for ERP adoption and further develop a conceptual model that explains the successful implementation of ERP in HEIs and its impact on competitive advantage. Based on previous studies, this paper identifies and conceptualizes success factors for ERP and further develops the proposed model for the adoption of ERP system in HEIs. This article contributes to the development of the theoretical framework of the successful implementation of the ERP system to explain the competitive advantage of HEI by merging information system (IS success and diffusion of innovation (DOI theories with the success factors for the adoption stage of ERP systems. The current study will provide recommendations and guidelines for both the potential adopters and the vendors on the successful ERP system adoption.

Performance Achievement As The Impact Of Strategy Organizatonal Competence Strategy Execution And Competitive Advantage A Study On Private Polytechnics In West Java Indonesia

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Bertha Musty

2015-08-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT - The higher education environment has changed faster than the ability of higher education to respond the competition becomes more intense complex and dynamic making some polytechnics can thrive survive and others are stopping operations. This study was conducted to examine the profile of 29 polytechnics in West Java to achieve organizational performance. Research results show that polytechnic performance is affected by the quality of the execution and its competitive advantage which are determined by the precision and alignment strategies with organizational competence. The model findings of this study could be an analysis tool to solve the polytechnics survival problems how to face the intense competition and changing environment.

Design for logistics to gain competitive advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chaudhuri, Atanu; Biskoptsø, Rogvi

2015-01-01

. Considering logistical requirements in design of a product which is heavy and bulky and involves significant logistics costs enabled to firm to gain competitiveness. The exercise underscored the importance of understanding logistical requirements, freight costs and dimensional constraints early in the design...... phase which is usually neglected by start-up firms focused on the engineering driven innovativeness of the products. The processes developed along with guidelines facilitate future use which can help such firms to proactively consider logistics requirements at the design stage....

In vitro evaluation of nutrients that selectively confer a competitive advantage to lactobacilli.

Science.gov (United States)

Vongsa, R A; Minerath, R A; Busch, M A; Tan, J; Koenig, D W

2016-01-01

An assay was developed that tested the ability of Lactobacillus acidophilus to outcompete a challenge of Escherichia coli in a mixed culture containing different test nutrients. Using this assay, addition of fructo-oligosaccharide to the media allowed L. acidophilus to outcompete a challenge of E. coli, whereas in a mixed culture without the prebiotic the trend was reversed. Growth curves generated for E. coli in a single culture showed that fructo-oligosaccharide did not affect growth, indicating that the carbohydrate was not toxic to E. coli. This indicates that fructo-oligosaccharides may increase the ability of beneficial microbes to outcompete a pathogenic challenge. These results were confirmed using a skin simulant model that incorporates growth of the organisms at an air-surface interface to mimic the vulvar environment. It is possible to use a co-culture assay as an in vitro screening tool to define nutrients that confer a competitive advantage to beneficial flora specific to the female urogenital tract.

Do higher-priced generic medicines enjoy a competitive advantage under reference pricing?

Science.gov (United States)

Puig-Junoy, Jaume

2012-11-01

In many countries with generic reference pricing, generic producers and distributors compete by means of undisclosed discounts offered to pharmacies in order to reduce acquisition costs and to induce them to dispense their generic to patients in preference over others. The objective of this article is to test the hypothesis that under prevailing reference pricing systems for generic medicines, those medicines sold at a higher consumer price may enjoy a competitive advantage. Real transaction prices for 179 generic medicines acquired by pharmacies in Spain have been used to calculate the discount rate on acquisition versus reimbursed costs to pharmacies. Two empirical hypotheses are tested: the discount rate at which pharmacies acquire generic medicines is higher for those pharmaceutical presentations for which there are more generic competitors; and, the discount rate at which pharmacies acquire generic medicines is higher for those pharmaceutical forms for which the consumer price has declined less in relation to the consumer price of the brand drug before generic entry (higher-priced generic medicines). An average discount rate of 39.3% on acquisition versus reimbursed costs to pharmacies has been observed. The magnitude of the discount positively depends on the number of competitors in the market. The higher the ratio of the consumer price of the generic to that of the brand drug prior to generic entry (i.e. the smaller the price reduction of the generic in relation to the brand drug), the larger the discount rate. Under reference pricing there is intense price competition among generic firms in the form of unusually high discounts to pharmacies on official ex-factory prices reimbursed to pharmacies. However, this effect is highly distorting because it favours those medicines with a higher relative price in relation to the brand price before generic entry.

EFFECT OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ORGANIZATION AND APPLICATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM AND PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPANY AND ITS EFFECT ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN PTISM BOGASARI FLOURMILLS, JAKARTA

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Ana Retno Mawarti

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to discover the impact of external environment and Total Quality Management implementation on company performance in order to create competitive advantage in PT. ISM Bogasari Flourmills. This research is an associative explanatory research with quantitative method. The data sources used are primary data and secondary data. The primary data collected by spreading 122 questionnaires to employees of PT. ISM Bogasari on chief officers level, assistant manager level, and manager level. Sampling method used is Proportion able Stratified Random Sampling. The result showed that external environment with indicator of complexity, dynamics and environment carrying capacity, has positive and significant impact on company’s performance. Total Quality Management implementation with indicators of costumer focus, continuous refinement and staff training program, brings positive and significant impact on company’s performance. The company’s performance with its indicators of efficiency, effectiveness, and adaptability, has positive and significant impact on the creation of competitive advantage. The Research also proved that external environment and Total Quality Management Implementation directly affect the creation of competitive advantage.

Active Initiatives and ICT Innovations for the Formation of Competitive Advantage

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Milena Janakova

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The paper is centered on the active initiatives from the ICT (information and communication technology field using analysis and comparison of adopted solutions in ICT products for the support of competitive advantages. Confrontation of existing options is demonstrated on a security layer of selected products. This wider analysis brings an overview via operating and database systems, BI, and CRM products. A good starting point is an analysis of selected products by Petri Nets with simulation using a multidimensional and object approach. The realized analysis shows ways of security resolution in selected products and a mutual comparison of these solutions leads to an improved design of solutions in individual implementations. For example, Sugar CRM offers an optimal way of restricting access by date for access control to tabs and visible records for the user. Other positive options are advanced security (validation of IP address, maximum upload file size or logging slow queries. Improvement requires restricted access for the system administrator (inspired by the Oracle database system or transparent user identification (as in operating systems. Another benefit would be to simplify the overall concept of the accepted security layer from five components to four by merging the user account and system administrator area or audit and logging with an advanced security area.

Trust, Personal Moral Codes, and the Resource-Advantage Theory of Competition: Explaining Productivity, Economic Growth, and Wealth Creation

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Shelby D. Hunt

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Scholars agree that societal-level moral codes that promote social trust also promote wealth creation.  However, what specific kinds of societal-level moral codes promote social trust?  Also, by what specific kind of competitive process does social trust promote wealth creation?  Because societal-level moral codes are composed of or formed from peoples’ personal moral codes, this article explores a theory of ethics, known as the “Hunt-Vitell” theory of ethics, that illuminates the concept of personal moral codes and uses the theory to discuss which types of personal moral codes foster trust and distrust in society.  This article then uses resource-advantage (R-A theory, one of the most completely articulated dynamic theories of competition, to show the process by which trust-promoting, societal-level moral codes promote productivity and economic growth.  That is, they promote wealth creation.

Knowledge-Driven Creative Destruction, or Leveraging Knowledge for Competitive Advantage: Strategic Knowledge Arbitrage and Serendipity as Real Options Drivers Triggered by Co-Opetition, Co-Evolution and Co-Specialization

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Carayannis, Elias G.

2008-01-01

In today's globalizing and hypercompetitive marketplace, knowledge and learning are the only capabilities that can provide sustained competitive advantage. "Knowledge" is the content of learning, and a firm gains competitive superiority either by knowing something that its competitors do not know or by having a certain type of knowledge that…

Customer social network affects marketing strategy: A simulation analysis based on competitive diffusion model

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Hou, Rui; Wu, Jiawen; Du, Helen S.

2017-03-01

To explain the competition phenomenon and results between QQ and MSN (China) in the Chinese instant messaging software market, this paper developed a new population competition model based on customer social network. The simulation results show that the firm whose product with greater network externality effect will gain more market share than its rival when the same marketing strategy is used. The firm with the advantage of time, derived from the initial scale effect will become more competitive than its rival when facing a group of common penguin customers within a social network, verifying the winner-take-all phenomenon in this case.

Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA Analysis of Furniture Manufacturers in Malaysia: Normalized Scaled Critical Factor Index (NSCFI Approach

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Tasmin Rosmaini

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to investigate Malaysian furniture industry via Sustainable competitive advantages (SCA approach. In this case study, sense and respond method and Normalized Scaled Critical Factor Index (NSCFI are used to specify the distribution of companies’ resources for different criteria and detect the attributes which are critical based on expectation and experience of companies’ employs. Moreover, this study evaluates Malaysian furniture business strategy according to manufacturing strategy in terms of analyzer, prospector and defender. Finally, SCA risk levels are presented to show how much company’s resource allocations support their business strategy.

Analyzing the international competitiveness of the industry in Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain using revealed comparative advantages (RCA) indicators

OpenAIRE

Oelgemöller, Jens

2012-01-01

This paper sheds light on the export structure of the four European countries Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, the so called PIGS countries. These countries were all hit by the economic downturn in the course of the financial crisis and have been struggling with the national debt crisis and recession. One way to identify sectoral international competitiveness is provided by the revealed comparative advantage index developed by Balassa (RCA 1). This indicator evolved through several studie...

Inhibition of Fungal Colonization by Pseudoalteromonas tunicata Provides a Competitive Advantage during Surface Colonization†

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Franks, A.; Egan, S.; Holmström, C.; James, S.; Lappin-Scott, H.; Kjelleberg, S.

2006-01-01

The marine epiphytic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata produces a range of extracellular secondary metabolites that inhibit an array of common fouling organisms, including fungi. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the ability to inhibit fungi provides P. tunicata with an advantage during colonization of a surface. Studies on a transposon-generated antifungal-deficient mutant of P. tunicata, FM3, indicated that a long-chain fatty acid-coenzyme A ligase is involved in the production of a broad-range antifungal compound by P. tunicata. Flow cell experiments demonstrated that production of an antifungal compound provided P. tunicata with a competitive advantage against a marine yeast isolate during surface colonization. This compound enabled P. tunicata to disrupt an already established fungal biofilm by decreasing the number of yeast cells attached to the surface by 66% ± 9%. For in vivo experiments, the wild-type and FM3 strains of P. tunicata were used to inoculate the surface of the green alga Ulva australis. Double-gradient denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that after 48 h, the wild-type P. tunicata had outcompeted the surface-associated fungal community, whereas the antifungal-deficient mutant had no effect on the fungal community. Our data suggest that P. tunicata is an effective competitor against fungal surface communities in the marine environment. PMID:16957232

Interpreting the Possible Ecological Role(s of Cyanotoxins: Compounds for Competitive Advantage and/or Physiological Aide?

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Susan Kinnear

2013-06-01

Full Text Available To date, most research on freshwater cyanotoxin(s has focused on understanding the dynamics of toxin production and decomposition, as well as evaluating the environmental conditions that trigger toxin production, all with the objective of informing management strategies and options for risk reduction. Comparatively few research studies have considered how this information can be used to understand the broader ecological role of cyanotoxin(s, and the possible applications of this knowledge to the management of toxic blooms. This paper explores the ecological, toxicological, and genetic evidence for cyanotoxin production in natural environments. The possible evolutionary advantages of toxin production are grouped into two main themes: That of “competitive advantage” or “physiological aide”. The first grouping illustrates how compounds produced by cyanobacteria may have originated from the need for a cellular defence mechanism, in response to grazing pressure and/or resource competition. The second grouping considers the contribution that secondary metabolites make to improved cellular physiology, through benefits to homeostasis, photosynthetic efficiencies, and accelerated growth rates. The discussion also includes other factors in the debate about possible evolutionary roles for toxins, such as different modes of exposures and effects on non-target (i.e., non-competitive species. The paper demonstrates that complex and multiple factors are at play in driving evolutionary processes in aquatic environments. This information may provide a fresh perspective on managing toxic blooms, including the need to use a “systems approach” to understand how physico-chemical conditions, as well biological stressors, interact to trigger toxin production.

The Effect Of Atributes Product’s Analysis, Halal Certification, And Product Innovation To The Interest Of Consumer Buying-Back Through The Advantage Competitive Of Micro Small And Medium Business (MSMB) In Medan

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Aditi, Bunga

2017-12-01

This research is done to know and analyzing the effect of attribute, halal certification product, and product innovation on the competitiveness of Micro Small and Medium Business in Medan, knowing and analyzing the effect of product attribute, halal certification, and product innovation to consumer buying surge. The type of research used is explanatory research with quantitative approach. The population in this study is the community as consumers who are in the area of Medan province of North Sumatera. Total sample of 150 people. Sampling method which use an accidental sampling is the technique of determining samples by chance, example: consumers whomeets with researcher coincidentally can be sampled if the consumer is appropriate or suitable as a source of data. This research uses the method of Structural Equation Modeling analysis. The mainting of this research is showed that product attributes, halal certification, and product innovation had a positive and significant impact on competitive advantage which impact on consumer buy-back (surge) interest. The advantage competitive has affects consumer buying surge interest positively. Keywords: Product attributes, halal certification, product innovation, competitive advantage, consumer buying interest

Towards a universal definition of competitive intelligence

OpenAIRE

Rene Pellissier; Tshilidzi E. Nenzhelele

2013-01-01

Background: Enterprises face intense competition caused by globalisation. Consequently, enterprises look for tools that provide a competitive advantage. Competitive intelligence (CI) provides a competitive advantage to enterprises of all sizes. There are many definitions of CI but no universally accepted one. Objectives: The purpose of this research is to review the current literature on CI with the aim of identifying and analysing CI definitions to establish the commonalities and differen...

Some Consideration On Knowledge Management Implication On Organization's Competitiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Draghici, Anca; Ciortan, Marius Areta; Florea, Claudia

2015-07-01

The research described in this paper has been focused on two objectives: to debate the knowledge management's active role for organizations competitive advantage and to describe information technology's capabilities in leveraging the knowledge worker's competencies. For the purposes of this article, competitive advantage is perceived as a strength that provides a market advantage relative to a competitor. Often competitive advantage is related to the core competencies of the organisation, which are frequently based on implicit know-how or tacit knowledge. This intangible, unstructured knowledge is difficult to manage; consequently management has ignored it when designing business strategy. However, the increased competitive pressures of the post-industrial global economy and the exponential advances in computing power have increased management's interest in knowledge as a sustainable source of competitive advantage.

Supply Chain Management as a Driving Force for Generating Competitive Advantage for Dairy Companies

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Irina Olegovna Poleshkina

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The study aims to uncover the reserves to generate competitive advantages for the participants of the market of perishables in the case of the dairy sector due to the formation of effective supply chains, as this category of goods is the most demanding in terms of periods and conditions of transportation and terms of preservation. The research technique is based on the concepts of value chains and supply chain management. In order to optimize the distribution of functions between the participants of the dairy chain a process-based approach has been applied. The research has revealed the main reasons for high aggregate costs and the places of their formation at each stage of the dairy supply chain. The article proposes the mechanisms to address three main problems arising from the process of building relations between the participants of the dairy supply chain in Russia. These problems are associated with a disproportionate margin distribution between the participants of the chain, with non-compliance of the quality of raw milk with the requirements for the production of specific types of dairy products, and with distrust of the supply chain participants, which increases transaction costs and forces to create reserve supplies which reduce the competitiveness of the whole dairy supply chain in general. In order to improve the competitiveness of all participants in the dairy chain, the article presents several mechanisms for solving these problems. The first is margin distribution based on the costs incurred by each participant of the dairy chain. The second is the use of a mathematical model to determine the assortment of goods of a dairy enterprise on the basis of the incoming volume and quality of raw milk according to the seasonal factor and the demand for dairy products. The third is the feasibility of refusal from the formation of reserve supplies by all participants of the dairy chain, which will not only minimize aggregate costs, but also

Building the Competitive Advantage of a Business Entity through Brand Development

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Mirjana Nedović Čabarkapa

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The starting point of this paper is the idea of brand. Its aim is to define the role of a brand with the purpose of the establishment of future contributions in the scope of this area, that is its influence on purchase stimulation and the establishment of a competitive advantage for a business entity in regard to other market actors. Furthermore, a brief theoretical explanation of the term brand is provided, i.e. the history of brand’s emergence, as well as a review of its elements. The many complexities during the establishment of brand are also explained. Brand has emerged as a consequence of market globalization, as well as the existence of numerous products that satisfy the same need. Its main purpose is the differentiation of products and the attempt to draw potential consumers’ attention in order to influence them to decide on the purchase of a brand product as quickly as possible. Business entities that realize the importance of creating a brand, its development and management will create all preconditions for successful, i.e. profitable operation. This way of deliberation and brand management represents the key to the business success of every business entity. It is generally considered that the market power of a brand can also be treated as an asset.