Social media adoption and business performance: the mediating role of organizational learning capability (OLC)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luqman Oyekunle Oyewobi ◽  
Olatunde Folaranmi Adedayo ◽  
Seth Olufemi Olorunyomi ◽  
Richard Jimoh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating effect of learning capacity in the relationship between the social media usage by the construction of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their business performance in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey technique was used to collect data from the owner/manager of construction SMEs in Nigeria. The partial least square structural equation modeling was used in the assessment of the measurement model and structural model to assess the validity and reliability of the measures and to evaluate the hypotheses proposed in the conceptual model. Findings Empirical findings indicated a significant positive relationship between learning capacity and performance of SMEs. Similarly, the use of social media is significantly and positively associated to the business performance of SMEs. It has also been shown that learning capacity is a mediator of the relationship between social media and SME performance. Research limitations/implications The data for the study is are all from a single industry and a related line of business, so it could be more interesting to include more companies across sectors or industries. The finding contributes to the ongoing debate on the effect of social media on business performance. It also defined the need for the owner/manager of SMEs to understand and appreciate the effect of social media through the organization's learning potential to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Practical implications There are a number of theoretical and practical implications for academics and practitioners who are interested in further studies of organizational social media. The research presents a quantitative study on the effect of social media adoption on the organizational performance of the construction industry. This study confirms the mediating role of learning capability in the relationship between the use of social media and performance of SMEs operating in the construction industry. Originality/value This study empirically examined the relationship between social media adoption and the SMEs learning capability and business performance by evaluating a hypothesized conceptual framework to establish the relationships.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Behrooz Ghlichlee ◽  
Fatima Bayat

Purpose Within the retail banking sector, the customer-centric business model has become an important and new business trend in recent years. The enhancement of the frontline service employees’ engagement and their customer-oriented behaviors are among the key factors affecting business performance (BP) in this sector of the banking industry. The purpose of this paper is to improve management decisions to enhance BP through examining the relationship between the frontline employees’ engagement and BP while taking into account the mediating effect of customer-oriented behaviors on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted to conduct the present study, and the respondents were sampled from a large commercial bank in Iran using a structured questionnaire. Overall, 50 branch managers and 90 frontline employees were selected using random sampling. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to ascertain the validity and reliability of the observed items and a structural equation model was used for testing the proposed hypotheses and research framework. Findings The findings showed that customer-oriented behaviors mediated the relationship between the frontline employees’ engagement and bank’s branches’ BP. Higher levels of the frontline employees’ engagement enhance the customer-oriented behaviors. It was revealed that the frontline employees are engaged in their job and organization. Moreover, the engaged frontline employees listen carefully to customers, the customer’s problem is important to them and they complete their tasks precisely for customers. It has been confirmed that customer-oriented behaviors enhance branches’ BP. The bank frontline employees’ engagement and customer-oriented behaviors, in turn, affected the bank’s branches’ financial performance, process performance and employee performance compared with the bank’s key competitors. Research limitations/implications This study highlights the value of empirically establishing how employee customer-oriented behaviors are affected by employee engagement as an integrative construct bringing together BP. Practical implications This study can help improve BP by increasing the frontline employees’ engagement and their customer-oriented behaviors. This study suggests that organizations using the findings of this study could effectively assess their frontline employees’ engagement and their customer-oriented behaviors and then plan for improving them. Social implications This study offers a customer-oriented initiative as a social responsibility to be considered by retail banks. In light of the social exchange theory, the banks valuing customer-oriented can provide employees with knowledge, skills, values and support to develop motivation and abilities to demonstrate customer-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors. Originality/value Previous studies demonstrated that the employees’ engagement affects their customer-oriented behaviors. In addition, studies have referred to the effect of employees’ customer-oriented behaviors on BP. However, to the best of the knowledge, key questions regarding how the employees’ engagement at the branch level fosters customer-oriented behaviors and, in turn, the bank’s branches’ BP, remain unanswered. Hence, this study contributes to the investigation of the mediating role of the frontline employees’ customer-oriented behaviors in the relationship between their engagement and branches’ BP in the retail banking sector.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Saad Ahmed ◽  
Jia Guozhu ◽  
Shujaat Mubarik ◽  
Mumtaz Khan ◽  
Essa Khan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the mediating role of potential and realized absorptive capacity in intellectual capital (IC) and business performance. It also investigates the direct impact of the components of IC on business performance. Design/methodology/approach Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the effect of IC dimensions on performance and to analyze the mediating role of absorptive capacity in this relationship. Data were collected from 192 managers using a survey questionnaire with Likert scale items. Findings The findings of the study show that potential absorptive capacity does not intervene in the relationship between the components of IC and those of business performance. However, realized absorptive capacity, measured as the transformation and exploitation of knowledge, played a positive mediating role in the relationship between the dimensions of IC and those of business performance. Social capital was also noted as a weak predictor of business performance, while human capital and organizational capital had a profound positive influence. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on IC by examining the role of realized and potential absorptive capacity in the relationship between IC components and firm performance. This research also helps practitioners recognize the importance of transformation and the exploitation of knowledge for business performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelaziz Swalhi ◽  
Saloua Zgoulli ◽  
Mahrane Hofaidhllaoui

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose two models: the first examines the impact of different dimension of justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) on job performance taking into consideration the mediating role of affective commitment and the second model utilizes the notion of overall justice to predict job performance considering the mediating role of affective commitment. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted with a sample group of 343 employees working within French small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Findings The results support the mediating role of affective commitment between organizational justice and job performance and demonstrate that overall justice has a greater effect on affective commitment than specific dimensions of justice. Originality/value The current study is the first to explore the relationship between JP and OJ, with the latter being measured in more than one focus, in the French SMEs. Therefore, this study contributes to bridge the gap in the understanding of the relationship between OJ and JP in the SMEs. In the French context of SMEs, the authors have stressed the relevance of the perception of organizational justice as a factor affecting the behavior and performance of employees which is then reflected in the success of these firms. In this paper the authors propose two models, with significant implications for researchers, managers, and HR departments. The first examines the impact of different dimension of justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) on job performance taking into consideration the mediating role of affective commitment. The second model utilizes the notion of overall justice to predict job performance considering the mediating role of affective commitment.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaynab Dadzie ◽  
Ahmed Agyapong ◽  
Abdulai Suglo

Purpose This study aims to examine the mediating role of internationalization in the relationship between the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and performance, empirical study of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in a developing nation. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a sample of 158 exporting SMEs based in the sub-Saharan developing economy, Ghana. The use of hierarchical regression (ordinary least square analysis) was used by the researcher to assess the suggested model of the study. Findings Largely supporting the conjectural predictions, the study indicates that EO positively and significantly influences performance; internationalization fully mediates the relationship between innovativeness and performance of export firms; internationalization fully mediates the relationship between risk-taking and performance of export firms; and finally, internationalization partially mediates the relationship between competitive aggressiveness and performance of export firms. Managers are, therefore, encouraged to strategically develop both their EO and internationalization, as the study has confirmed that EO has both a direct and indirect relationship with performance. Originality/value This study integrated a resource-based view of the firm and international entrepreneurship theory as a theoretical foundation. Theoretically, internationalization’s mediating role reveals the relevance of this construct in the linkage between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. Furthermore, the study extends the entrepreneurial orientation concept to the international business literature by estimating and testing models of the mediating link between entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Moreover, the study seeks to broaden the knowledge of entrepreneurial orientation and its relationship with performance in small and medium businesses. The study further extends the limited studies on performance, driven by entrepreneurial orientation and internationalization in a developing nation (Ghanaian) context. This paper besides seeks to highlight the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on performance when channeled through internationalization. The study also reveals the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation to be important antecedents of internationalization, in attempts at unearthing the critical predictors of firm performance, especially those of international characteristics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 310-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Pahlevan Sharif ◽  
Ken Kyid Yeoh

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of excessive use of social networking sites on online compulsive buying, and whether this effect is mediated by the dimensions of money attitude (i.e. power-prestige, distrust and anxiety) in young Malaysian adults. Design/methodology/approach A correlational cross-sectional, questionnaire-based design was adopted. A total of 1,155 university students completed an online survey. A parallel multiple mediator model was then developed and tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling. Findings Excessive use of social media had a positive effect on money attitude dimensions and online compulsive buying. Also, power-prestige and anxiety dimensions of money attitude mediated the positive effect of excessive use of social networking sites on online compulsive buying. Practical implications Several implications for the parents of young adults, institutions of higher learning as well as banks that provide services to these youths have been suggested. Originality/value Little is known about the effect of excessive use of social media on compulsive online buying and the mechanisms behind it. This study contributes to the literature by testing the mediating role of money attitude in the effect of use of social networking sites on online compulsive buying.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-415
Author(s):  
Muhammad Jawad Malik ◽  
Mudaser Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Rizwan Kamran ◽  
Komal Aliza ◽  
Muhammad Zubair Elahi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between students’ use of social media, their academic performance and creativity in the digital era. Design/methodology/approach This research used a survey strategy for collecting primary data required for this study from 334 students of undergraduate programs at Chinese universities who were sampled through a non-probability convenience approach. Findings The findings of the study reveal that students’ use of social media is positively associated with students’ academic performance and creativity. In addition, intrinsic motivation was found to be a mediating reason in the relationships between students’ use of social media and students’ academic performance and creativity. Originality/value This study explored an important role of intrinsic motivation as a mediator in the relationships between students’ use of social media and their positive outcomes. Studying the use of social media by students to their positive study outcomes is also practically important for students, educationalists and other policymakers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 773-774 ◽  
pp. 856-860
Author(s):  
Ai Chin Thoo ◽  
Abu Bakar Abdul Hamid ◽  
Amran Rasli

The relationship between supply chain practices and business performance has been widely investigated by many academics and practitioners; however, the relationship is not yet fully understood. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the relevance of several prominent theories in strategic management for explaining the mediating role of operational capability in the relationship between supply chain practices and business performance. The resource-based view of the firm and neo-institutional theory are reviewed for their applicability to relate supply chain practices and operational capability in explaining sustained business performance. Supply chain practices are insufficient to drive business performance. Firms need to be able simultaneously to increase efficiency through supply chain practices and to be innovative through operational capability. Specifically, operational capability is forwarded as a key firm-specific capability that can result in significant and long-term improvement in organisational sustainability. Operational capability can serve as a critical mediating factor that better transmits the ambitions of supply chain practices onto business performance. As such, this paper provides a conceptual support to urge further research to empirically evaluate the relationship between supply chain practices, operational capability and business performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafiz Ahmad Ashraf ◽  
Muhammad Ishtiaq Ishaq ◽  
Mumtaz Muhammad Khan

Purpose This paper aims to determine the influence of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence enablers on the financial, market and non-financial performance of the textile companies in Pakistan. Moreover, the mediating role of organizational learning culture is also tested in EFQM enablers and performance relationships. Design/methodology/approach Using a multi-respondent strategy, the data was collected from 254 textile firms registered with All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) using a highly structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling via AMOS v.22. Findings The results reveal that EFQM excellence enablers significantly influence financial, non-financial and market performance. Furthermore, organizational learning culture (OLC) significantly positively mediates the relationship between EFQM excellence enablers and business performance. Research limitations/implications This study enhances the literature of EFQM enablers and microfoundations of institutional theory in the textile industry of developing countries and proposes a way forward to the effective utilization of such enablers for higher performance. Originality/value This research is the first of its kind that empirically tests the microfoundations of institutional theory concerning EFQM, OLC and performance in the textile industry of Pakistan.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocio Martinez-Jimenez ◽  
María Jesús Hernández-Ortiz ◽  
Ana Isabel Cabrera Fernández

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mediating role of board effectiveness (understood as the capacity to efficiently manage and control all functions to guarantee the company’s prosperity) in the relationship between board diversity and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use partial least squares methodology to test the direct and indirect relationships between gender diversity in boards of directors and business performance. Findings Although the relationship between the presence of women on the board and the board’s effectiveness is statistically significant, this relationship is negative. However, board effectiveness (measured by the three constructs: strategic control, organizational innovation and decision-making) has a positive and statistically significant effect on business performance. Finally, there is a positive, but not statistically significant, relationship between gender diversity and firm performance. Research limitations/implications The study has a small sample size, and most of the boards of directors analyzed are unequal with only a few companies achieving gender parity. Social implications Public institutions must promote actions to achieve a critical mass of women directors and managers, so that women transcend a merely “symbolic” role on a board and are able to develop their skills and characteristics, thereby improving a board’s effectiveness and business performance. Originality/value This paper makes a theoretical contribution to the diversity and governance literature by providing a better understanding of the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance. It considers the influence of women on the board through a holistic framework, analyzing the mediating role of the board’s effectiveness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-12
Author(s):  
Cemal Zehir ◽  
Isa Hemedan

The aim of the study is to analyze the Mediating Role of Learning Capability in the Relationship between Authentic Leadership and Business Performance. This study will contribute to the explanation of the question, “What are the reasons inter-firm differences for superior performance?” and it will guide the firms on how they create sustainable competitive advantage and how they generate above-average profits. In this context, medium and large-sized enterprises involved the finance business and located the Marmara Region are included in the study. Data obtained from 252 employees in different grades have analyzed in order to test the hypotheses developed. As a result of the analysis, a significant and direct relationship was found between authentic leadership and business performance and also a significant and direct relationship was found between learning capability and firm performance. However, it was understood that learning capability has a mediating role in the relationship between authentic leadership and business performance  


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