Impacts of strategic orientations on Saudi firm performance: is supply chain integration a missing link?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amin K. Alsadi ◽  
Wassim J. Aloulou
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Organizational Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Strategic Orientations ◽  
Positive Direct

PurposeLittle previous research has investigated the relationships among strategic orientations, supply chain integration and firm performance. The purpose of this study is to advance a research model that examines the direct and indirect effects of strategic orientations via supply chain integration on firm performance in the Saudi transitional context.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on data collected from a survey using questionnaires completed by 187 top management members of Saudi firms from different sectors. To analyse the data and test the proposed hypotheses, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted using the AMOS statistical analysis package.FindingsResults show that both market orientation and supply chain integration have a significant positive direct effect on Saudi firm performance. They also reveal that supply chain integration fully mediates the effect of technology orientation on firm performance, while partially mediating the effect of market orientation on firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the literature by showing how SCI could serve as an organizational capability that links strategic resources to firm performance. The main limitation of this study is that it was not possible to generalize the findings. Future research perspectives were proposed to address this limitation and add new insights to the field.Practical implicationsThe results could help decision-makers in Saudi firms choose the right strategic orientations and aid them in integrating their supply chains by sharing the necessary information and coordinating operations with key partners to enhance their firms' performance.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to conduct such an investigation in the Saudi context. The study simultaneously examines the role of supply chain integration in linking strategic orientations to firm performance and fills a current research gap in such a transitional context.

Entrepreneurial and market orientation interactive effects on SME performance within transitional economies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Zacca ◽  
Saad Alhoqail
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Synergetic Effect ◽  
Transitional Economies ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Testable Hypothesis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Orientations

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how the adaptive nature of market orientation (MO) and the risk-taking nature of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) might be integrated for a complementary and reinforcing synergetic effect on firm performance within transitional economies. Design/methodology/approach The paper suggests links between the EO and MO concepts and develops propositions informed by prior research and reasonable assumptions. The propositions aim to spur future research to uncover further evidence that validates the testable hypothesis. Findings In particular, the study calls for investigating the interaction effect of EO with MO on new product entry, market intelligence collection and processing competence. In addition, the study proposes research studies on whether EO’s interaction effect with MO will tend to mitigate risk in the development of breakthrough innovation and whether the interacting strategic orientations are creating a synergetic effect towards firm performance. Finally, the study recommends that research models should be tested and understood in consideration of conditions and circumstances from varying contexts, such as the small and medium enterprise sector within transitional economies and the media industry. Originality/value Whilst the performance implications of EO and MO, when modelled separately, have been extensively studied in developed and diversified market economies, studies are in the early stages of investigating the joint effect of EO and MO on firm performance, especially within transitional economies.

Supply chain integration, information technology, market orientation and firm performance in container shipping firms

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Po-Hsing Tseng ◽  
Chun-Hsiung Liao
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Container Shipping ◽  
Market Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
It Application

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use a theoretical framework (i.e. resource-based view) to investigate causal relationships between the supply chain integration, market orientation, information technology (IT) application and firm performance of container shipping firms in Taiwan. Design/methodology/approach – The data are collected from 124 container shipping firms in Taiwan. The methodologies used in the paper are exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings – The findings indicated that IT application and market orientation positively influence supply chain integration. It revealed that IT-based and market-oriented firms more easily integrate market information related to partners, departments and customers. Further, supply chain integration and market orientation have a positive effect on firm performance. Research limitations/implications – Such a result indicated a market-oriented firm quickly responds to market information and competitors’ strategies; and thus, it would make effort to offer satisfactory customer services in dynamically fluctuating markets, and obtain better firm performance. Also, the integration provides higher operation efficiency and obtains an enhanced performance improvement. Practical implications – The results also indicated that firms are able to develop their market-oriented strategies through electronic information transmission and exchange platform. Based on the study’s findings, managerial strategies are proposed to improve firm performance. Originality/value – This paper clarifies the concept of supply chain integration, market orientation and IT application in the context of container shipping, and investigates the inter-relationship between supply chain integration, market orientation, IT application and firm performance and develop a conceptual model in the context of container shipping.

Market orientation, innovation commercialization capability and firm performance relationships: the moderating role of supply chain influence

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 913-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeen-Su Lim ◽  
William K. Darley ◽  
David Marion
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Strategy Formulation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Moderating Role

Purpose The study aims to explore supply chain influence (SCI) on the linkages among market orientation, innovation capabilities and firm performance (FP), using the resource-based view as a theoretical backdrop. Design Survey data from 182 top managers who are involved in strategy formulation and innovative direction of their companies was collected and analyzed using moderated multiple regression analysis. Findings Results revealed a moderating role of the SCI in that the proactive market orientation (PMO) and FP relationship is stronger when SCI is high, and innovation commercialization capability (ICC) and FP relationship is stronger when SCI is low. Practical implications Firms pursuing high PMO strategy must collaborate with supply chain function to achieve the full effect of PMO. Additionally, as supply chain is critical to meeting customers’ needs, these firms should allow supply chain to exert greater influence to enjoy the positive effects of PMO in addition to ensuring full integration into marketing strategy implementation. Also, firms with high ICC need to limit SCI to maximize the benefit of ICC on FP, just as innovation management needs to be cognizant of other functional areas. Originality/value The study investigates the potential moderating role of SCI on the relationships among market orientation, ICC and FP. The study fills a gap in the understanding of the nature and role of supply chain in the marketing–supply chain interaction, and the impact on FP.

Strategic orientations, firm performance and the moderating effect of absorptive capacity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel-Alejandro Ibarra-Cisneros ◽  
María del Rosario Demuner-Flores ◽  
Felipe Hernández-Perlines
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Orientations ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to study the moderating effect of absorptive capacity, defined as the set of organizational routines and processes through which companies acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit knowledge to produce a dynamic organizational capacity (Zahra and George, 2002), in three strategic orientations: market orientation; technology orientation and entrepreneurial orientation and their positive relationship in the performance of the medium and large Mexican manufacturing firms. Likewise, it is determined whether these three combined SOs influence firm performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from 171 medium and large-sized Mexican manufacturing firms. The proposed hypotheses are tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsDespite the importance of knowledge for the development of firms, the results indicate that the moderating effect of absorptive capacity is only present in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. That is, firms cannot take advantage of knowledge simultaneously between the three strategic orientations. For their part, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation exert a positive influence on firm performance.Practical implicationsThe main practical implication for the manufacturing industry is that they must develop mechanisms to detect what kind of knowledge affects each strategic orientation, in this way it can make the absorptive capacity influence the relationships between SO and FP.Originality/valueThe main contribution consists of studying the moderating effect of the absorptive capacity on the relationship between three strategic orientations and firm performance, and not concentrating solely on the simultaneous use of these strategies as is commonly done.

Developing the capability of marketing intelligence

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1341-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Shong Lin ◽  
Jing-Wen Hsu ◽  
Ming-Yih Yeh
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Marketing Capabilities ◽  
Marketing Capability ◽  
Organizational Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Marketing Intelligence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to help firms to create competitiveness by developing marketing capabilities. It analyzes how the component and architectural competences affect and enhance market orientation and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – Built on the theories of organizational capability, knowledge creation, and market orientation, this research develops the contents of marketing capabilities, including component and architectural competences that contribute to marketing capability by responding to external changes, and analyzes their influence on market orientation and firm performance. Findings – The study reveals the following effective marketing capabilities which benefit to marketing performance. First, hiring and retaining employees with higher professional, local, and specific knowledge. Second, firms with higher tacit knowledge enhance market orientation. Third, arranging employees into teamwork to implement marketing tasks. Fourth, assigning employees into small-scale experiments on creative proposals. Fifth, standardizing procedures of generation, dissemination, and response of marketing intelligence. Sixth, providing written market information and training programs to non-marketing staff. Seventh, appropriately delegating to staff. Eighth, establishing apprenticeship among the staff to deliver experiential know-how. Research limitations/implications – From a dynamic capability perspective, this research construct the two kinds of marketing competences and examine their effect on market orientation and firm performance. For further understanding the complementary effects of marketing capabilities, market orientation, and synergistic performance, a larger sample data (e.g. product, market share, sales, characteristics of staff, firm, and knowledge, etc.) and objective evaluation are encouraged. Otherwise, from the viewpoint of agency theory, the incentive system should also be discussed. Practical implications – This research has potentially significant implications for knowledge management and marketing management fields as well as managerial practice. The results suggest the importance of marketing capability for market orientation and firm performance. Originality/value – Marketing resources and marketing capabilities are significant drivers of firm performance, and their impact is greater when they are complementary to each other. This study takes the perspectives of organizational capabilities and market orientation to find out the factors which contribute to marketing capability and performance. This study provides practitioners with a framework for analyzing marketing capabilities as an object of improving firm performance by creating market orientation. Furthermore, this research empirically introduced strategic specific competence (tacit knowledge and autonomy) into the model and tests their effect of market orientation and firm performance.

scholarly journals Re-evaluating supply chain integration and firm performance: linking operations strategy to supply chain strategy

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 540-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Wiengarten ◽  
Huashan Li ◽  
Prakash J. Singh ◽  
Brian Fynes
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Operations Strategy ◽  
Competitive Priorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Strategy ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Strategic Perspective ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to explore the performance implications of supply chain integration (SCI) taking a strategic perspective. Thus, this paper is set to provide answers to the following research questions: Does a higher degree of SCI always lead to greater firm performance improvements? As the answer to this question is likely to be no, the authors explore the performance implications from a strategic perspective: Is the SCI–performance relationship contingent on a company’s competitive priorities (i.e. operations strategy)? Design/methodology/approach The authors explore their questions through multiple quasi-independent data sets to test the impact of SCI on firm performance. Furthermore, the authors provide a more nuanced conceptual and empirical view to explore the previously uncovered contradictory results and contingent relationship challenging the “more integration equals higher firm performance” proposition. Findings The results only provide partial support for the proposition that more integration is always beneficial in the supply chain context. The authors also identified that the impact of SCI on financial performance is contingent on a company’s competitive priorities. Originality/value This study provides a much-needed comprehensive assessment of the SCI–performance relationship through critically re-evaluating one of the most popular propositions in the field of supply chain management. The results can be extrapolated beyond the dyad, as the authors conceptualise integration simultaneously from an upstream and downstream perspective.

scholarly journals Projecting at the project level: MMC supply chain integration roadmap for small housebuilders

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Dowsett ◽  
Martin Green ◽  
Martin Sexton ◽  
Chris Harty
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Timber Frame ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Key Aspects

Purpose This paper aims to provide insights into how supply chain integration may occur for small housebuilders adopting modern methods of construction (MMCs). The process of creating an empirically informed road map is described, whereby the practical day-to-day challenges of adopting a timber-frame solution on a small housing development in Southeast England were fed into a road map of future supply chain integration scenarios. The intention is to better position small housebuilders to contribute in addressing the shortfall in housing that continues to face the UK. Design/methodology/approach Interviews with supply chain members along with on-site observations captured key aspects of integration. Findings were used within two collaborative forums to guide discussion in a dual approach; discussing the challenges of timber-frame on the project and what would be needed on future projects for the firms analysed. Findings Empirically informed malleable roadmaps, of the kind developed within this study, provide feasible options for small housebuilders and suppliers of MMCs to collectively collaborate when transitioning towards fully integrated supply chains. Practically, the roadmapping approach, and the roadmap itself, would help small housebuilders and suppliers of MMCs transition towards full integration. Opening up avenues of integration that are spread across yet connected through numerous phases, firms and technologies helps construction professionals use more sophisticated modular and volumetric off-site solutions. Research limitations/implications Data collection took place over the course of a year. Future research could expand this relatively short duration to analyse the potential for construction professionals within the supply chain to integrate further over a longer period of time. Originality/value The novelty and contribution of this paper lie in the development and application of an alternative approach to roadmapping that departs from the normative linear examples of roadmaps found within the technology-roadmapping literature. The authors present a structured yet flexible approach to roadmapping that is both representative of the strategic planning and innovation activities that occur within small housebuilding firms and open to adaption to account for firm-level characteristics and contingencies. Positioned alongside firm-level dynamics (e.g. business cases and approaches to design), the roadmapping approach also reinforces the potential of incremental rather than whole-scale transitions.

scholarly journals Analysing supply chain integration through a systematic literature review: a normative perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 523-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mustafa Kamal ◽  
Zahir Irani
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Publication Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on systematically analysing and synthesising the extant research published on supply chain integration (SCI) area, given the significance of SCI research area. More specifically, the authors aim to answer three questions: “Q1 – What are the factors (e.g. both driving and inhibiting) that influence SCI?”, “Q2 – What are the key developments (e.g. both in research and industry) in SCI area?” and “Q3 – What are the approaches employed/discussed to integrate supply chains?”. Over the past decade, SCI has gained increasing attention in the supply chain management (SCM) context, both from the practitioners’ perspective and as a research area. In realising the global transformations and competitive business environment, a number of organisations are collaborating with their supply chain (SC) partners, to conduct seamless SC operations. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic and structured literature review is carried out to observe and understand the past trends and extant patterns/themes in the SCI research area, evaluate contributions and summarise knowledge, thereby identifying limitations, implications and potential directions of further research. Thus, to trace the implementation of SCI practices, a profiling approach is used to analyse 293 articles (published in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2013) extracted from the Scopus database. The Systematic Review Approach proposed by Tranfield et al. (2003) was followed to analyse and synthesise the extant literature on SCI area. Findings – The analysis presented in this paper has identified relevant SCI research studies that have contributed to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the SCI and SCM area. Each of the 293 papers was examined for achieving the aim and objectives of the research, the method of data collection, the data analysis method and quality measures. While some of the papers provided information on all of these categories, most of them failed to provide all the information, especially for Q2 and Q3 that resulted in 23 and 21 papers, respectively. Research limitations/implications – This study would have benefited from the analysis of further journals; however, the analysis of 293 articles from leading journals in the field of operations and SCM was deemed sufficient in scope. Moreover, this research has implications for researchers, journal editors, practitioners, universities and research institutions. It is likely to form the basis and motivation for profiling other database resources and specific operations and SCM-type journals in this area. Practical implications – This systematic literature review highlights a taxonomy of contextual factors driving and inhibiting SCI for researchers and SC practitioners to refer to while researching or implementing SCI. It also exemplifies some areas for future research, along with the need for researchers to focus on developing more practical techniques for implementing SCI and improving organisational performance. Originality/value – The prime value and uniqueness of this paper lies in analysing and compiling the existing published material in relation to Q1, Q2 and Q3, including examining other variables (such as yearly publications, geographic location of each publication, type of publication, type of research methods used), which lacks in the recent published five SCI literature review-based articles (by Kim, 2013; Leuschner et al., 2013; Alfalla-Luque et al., 2013; Parente et al., 2008; Fabbe-Costes and Jahre, 2007). This has been achieved by extracting and synthesising existing publications using “Supply Chain Integration” keyword. This paper provides a critique of the conceptual and empirical works in SCI discipline and offers research agendas that can stimulate future researchers to carefully explore the topic.

Integration in Global Supply Chains

2011 ◽  
pp. 135-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawnee Vickery ◽  
Cornelia Droge
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Information Integration ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Environmental Turbulence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Joint Decision ◽  
Integration Mechanisms ◽  
Second Tier ◽  
Internal Integration

Supply chain management (SCM) demands a holistic view of the functions and processes required to bring a product or service to market. It assumes that optimization of subsystems does not necessarily lead to global optimization and that the supply chain should be strategically managed as a single entity in order to effectively and efficiently deliver the desired results. SCM requires supply chain integration, both internal integration (for example, across functions) and integration with suppliers, customers, and/or other concerned channel members. The key recurring themes characterizing integration research as applied to business processes concern connectivity and simplification. Connectivity implies seamless linkages (internally or externally) and encompasses coordination, collaboration, cooperation, and interaction. Simplification is the common manifestation of system optimization. The most important specific mechanisms for achieving integration are teams (or integration via human interaction) and IT (or information integration); these two are central to the evolution of knowledge integration into a collaborative “culture” of joint decision-making and knowledge management. The literature suggests that integration in a supply chain and firm performance are positively linked. Although a lot of research in a variety of research domains has addressed cross-functional teams or IT (internal integration) and firm performance, less work has been done on the interaction of integration mechanisms or on the impact of integration mechanisms conditional on other factors, such as environmental turbulence. Furthermore, empirical research with a holistic supply chain orientation is in its infancy. For example, neither second tier suppliers and customers nor recyclers are typically considered. The chapter concludes by suggesting several avenues for future research in global supply chain integration.

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