Network activities as critical sources of creating capability and competitive advantage

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 544-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Hsing Liu ◽  
Angela Ya-Ping Chang ◽  
Yen-Po Fang
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Innovation Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Ties ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Business Ties

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a new integrated model that combines the concepts of network ties (e.g. political ties and business ties), the organization of internal critical attributes (such as social capital, human capital and innovation capability) and analyses of how those critical attributes influence organization performance and competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach A structural equation model and three-way interactions in moderated multiple regressions was used to test the hypotheses on a sample of 621 cultural and creative industry (CCI) managers in Taiwan. Findings The results indicate that human capital mediates the relationship between social capital and innovation capability. Furthermore, innovation capability also plays a mediating role in connecting the relationships between human capital, competitive advantage and organizational performance. The findings indicate that business ties strengthen the relationship between social and human capital. The level of human capital is at its peak when social capital, business ties, and political ties considerably interact with one another. Research limitations/implications The present study conceptualized the topic and systematized the questionnaire design and data collection, statistical analysis, and report writing. This study performs a systematic analysis to present the research but does not employ in-depth qualitative interviews to analyse the essential attributes of the different entrepreneurial styles. In-depth interviews enable the interviewees to completely depict their feelings, experiences, motivations, emotions and attitudes. Thus, this method can provide an in-depth analysis. Studies can be conducted to analyse the complexity of the processes involved. Practical implications This study determines and emphasizes that networking with various factors to create innovation is the key to enhancing competitive advantage and organizational performance. Innovation is a unique characteristic and a basic kinetic energy that affects various strategic organizational behaviours that positively influence competitive advantage and facilitate organizational performance. Hence, CCI firms need to consider market orientation and innovation in this highly competitive environment. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, how CCI firms use networking sources to create competitive advantage and organizational performance, thereby promoting the development of the CCIs of Taiwan, has not been analysed in the tourism-related literature. Thus, the present study provides a significant contribution to the human capital literature, in which empirical research analyses the three-way interaction and demonstrates the empirical insights that may be used to study human capital. The findings reported in this study will encourage future researchers to employ multilevel human capital perspectives.

Should companies invest in human resource development practices? The role of intellectual capital and organizational performance improvements

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mavis Yi-Ching Chen ◽  
Long W. Lam ◽  
Julie N.Y. Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeIn this study, the authors employ an intellectual-capital based view of the firm to examine the relationship between three bundles of human resource development (HRD) practices (i.e. developmental, constructive and collaborative HRD practices), three dimensions of intellectual capital (i.e. human capital, organizational capital and social capital), and organizational performance improvements. Specifically, the authors investigate the mediating role of intellectual capital in the relationship between HRD practices and changes in organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors randomly distributed questionnaires to 1,000 HR executives of Taiwanese firms to assess the firms' HRD practices and intellectual capital. Firm performance data in terms of return on assets (ROA) were obtained from the Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ). To test the model, the authors used the longitudinal data over three years from 213 firms in Taiwan.FindingsThe results show that human capital and social capital mediate the relationship between HRD practices (i.e. developmental and collaborative HRD practices) and organizational performance improvements in terms of return-on-assets growth.Originality/valueThis study adds to the empirical evidence regarding whether or not investment in HRD practices can lead to positive changes in financial performance.

International assignments of employees and entrepreneurial intentions: the mediating role of human capital, social capital and career prospects

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1259-1279
Author(s):  
Susanne Schlepphorst ◽  
Elizabeth C. Koetter ◽  
Arndt Werner ◽  
Christian Soost ◽  
Petra Moog
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Corporate Entrepreneurship ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
International Assignments ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeDrawing on human capital (HC) and social capital (SC) as well as the Jack-of-all-trades theory, this paper aims to clarify the relationship between international assignments (IAs) of employees and their entrepreneurial intentions. The study proposes that such IAs provide specific environmental features which may enable employees to build up diverse skills and network relations conducive to entrepreneuship.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data using an online survey, targeting professionals and managers in Germany and Switzerland. They used 223 complete responses. Before data collection, they ensured the suitability of their questionnaire by employing well-tested scales and consulted independent experts in survey design and methodology. They tested their hypotheses by applying multiple mediation modeling.FindingsAs hypothesized, the authors find empirical evidence that diverse skills and network relationships as well as poor career prospects, positively mediate the relationship between IAs and entrepreneurial intentions of employees.Research limitations/implicationsWe applied simple random and the snowball sampling method. Our approach involved the use of headhunters, international employers and relocation companies as multipliers.Practical implicationsOur results have practical implications for employees and employers. Employees on international assignments can proactively pursue opportunities in order to utilize the acquired experiences and resources for taking up entrepreneurial activities. Employers can try to retain these employees to facilitate (international) corporate entrepreneurship.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to highlight the entrepreneurial ambitions of international assignees. It thus provides initial insights into this topic.

Creating competitive advantage through network ties, entrepreneurial orientation and intellectual capital

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Hsing (Sam) Liu
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Organizational Capital ◽  
Network Ties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Ties ◽  
Managerial Ties ◽  
Business Ties

PurposeThis study attempts to explore how a cultural and creative firm's competitive advantages can be maintained through the accumulation of intellectual capital and entrepreneurial orientation. Another goal of this study is to identify the different mechanisms of network ties to explore the interrelationships between organizational capital and competitive advantage in the context of Taiwan and China.Design/methodology/approachStudy 1 and study 2 settings are applied, and 786 samples (i.e., 418 samples from Taiwan and 368 samples from China) are used to examine the proposed model.FindingsStudy 1 reveals that entrepreneurial orientation may influence the organization capital through human capital and social capital, which discloses the mutual relationships of intellectual capital. Further, the results of study 2 confirm the mediating role of intellectual capital that links the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation and competitive advantage. Specifically, this study also discovered that firms with more network or political ties (e.g. the Chinese samples) and business ties (e.g. the Taiwanese samples) tend to amplify the effects of organizational capital on competitive advantage.Practical implicationsAccording to our empirical results, cultural and creative managers should build a learning mechanism to encourage and develop entrepreneurial orientation and intellectual capital capacities and to provide means of understanding of customers' changing expectations. Hence, in enhancing entrepreneurial orientation and intellectual capital cultural and creative firms can develop a competitive advantage over competitors. Our findings also offer new insight to support further studies of the benefits of managerial ties for firms operating in Guanxi cultural settings in Chinese contexts.Originality/valueMost previous studies on tourism strategies have disregarded the impacts and different roles of government (e.g. political ties) and business (e.g. business ties) forces on cultural and creative firms' competitive advantages, suggesting a need to address social network issues in response to dynamic tourism environments. Therefore, this study examines differences in network ties and the differences observed between China and Taiwan in the context of Chinese cultural and creative firms.

Intellectual Capital as a Competitive Advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Michael Isaac Opusunju ◽  
Ndalo Santeli Jiya ◽  
Murat Akyuz
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Relational Capital ◽  
Capital Social ◽  
Structural Capital ◽  
Pan African ◽  
The Relationship

<p class="Default">The study examines the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja.  The study also sought to find out how intellectual capital (human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital) enhances competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. The population of 65 employees were used and the population was used as sample size.  Point in time data were collected from primary source and Ordinary Least Square was adopted and finding reveals that the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited is significant. This shows that there is a significant relationship between human capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between relational capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between structural capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between social capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. It is therefore recommended that Pan African Nigeria Limited should emphasis more on intellectual capital such as human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital since it help them to achieve competitive advantage over other firms within the industry.</p>

scholarly journals Intellectual Capital as a Competitive Advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 52-64
Author(s):  
Opusunju Michael Isaac Isaac ◽  
◽  
Jiya Ndalo Santeli ◽  
Murat Akyuz ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Relational Capital ◽  
Capital Social ◽  
Structural Capital ◽  
Pan African ◽  
The Relationship

The study examines the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. The study also sought to find out how intellectual capital (human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital) enhances competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. The population of 65 employees were used and the population was used as sample size. Point in time data were collected from primary source and Ordinary Least Square was adopted and finding reveals that the relationship between intellectual capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited is significant. This shows that there is a significant relationship between human capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between relational capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between structural capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. There is a significant relationship between social capital and competitive advantage in Pan African Nigeria Limited, Abuja. It is therefore recommended that Pan African Nigeria Limited should emphasis more on intellectual capital such as human capital, social capital, relational capital and structural capital since it help them to achieve competitive advantage over other firms within the industry.

How shareholder resources impact on the allocation of control power: example of China Vanke

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Gao ◽  
Jinnan Song ◽  
Jiajuan Liang ◽  
Jianxiao Guo
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Listed Company ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Control Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Control Power ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to explore the influence of founder shareholders’ resources on the allocation of control rights from the perspective of incomplete contract theory and resource-based theory. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyzes newspaper materials with NVivo11on a case of battle for corporate control in Chinese top-listed company-Vanke Group. Findings The research shows that human capital is the key resource and the holding proportion of financial resources directly affects the allocation of control rights. At the same time, social capital is unstable and easily broken. At last, institutional environment also affects the degree between the relationship of founder shareholders’ resources and the allocation of control rights. The influence of founder-shareholder resources on the allocation of control rights follows the path of “crisis – founder-shareholder’s resources – founder’s ability - allocation of control rights.” Research limitations/implications This study only selects the financial capital, human capital and social capital of Shi Wang, the founder of Vanke, as the analysis object. The study can expand the types of founder shareholder resources to verify and enrich the conclusions. Originality/value The current theoretical research in the literature focuses on the necessity of equity and shareholder’s resources versus the control rights. Some key factors and mechanism on the relationship have not been fully clarified. The results of this paper not only extend the combination research of social network and corporate governance, but also provide enterprise founders with references for making reasonable decisions during control battle.

How do a buyer’s political ties affect the market-based selection of suppliers?

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1270-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zebin Yan ◽  
Jiangyong Lu
Keyword(s):  
Social Control ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Technological Uncertainty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Ties ◽  
Hybrid Governance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Business Ties ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose Although the differential roles of political and business ties are recognized in the literature, the interplay between political and business ties remains unclear. This study aims to explore how political ties affect the formation of business ties with unfamiliar partners by analyzing how a buyer’s political ties affect the market-based selection of suppliers, an important channel through which the buyer forms business ties with unfamiliar suppliers. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 204 Chinese manufacturing firms was conducted to elucidate the relationship between political ties and the market-based selection of suppliers. Findings The findings suggest that buyers with strong political ties are more likely to engage in the market-based selection of suppliers; this positive relationship is diminished when social control is preferred over contractual control in the buyer’s supplier governance and is enhanced when technological uncertainty is high. Originality/value First, this study sheds light on the interplay between political and business ties by revealing how the buyer’s political ties affect the formation of business ties with unfamiliar suppliers, as represented by the market-based selection of suppliers. Second, it uncovers the boundary conditions of the effect of political ties by revealing the moderating effect of social control preference and technological uncertainty. Third, it extends the interorganizational governance structure literature from its focus on the complement-substitute debate on social control and contractual control to examine the contingent effect of a hybrid governance structure.

The impact of intellectual capital on innovation generation and adoption

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mir Dost ◽  
Yuosre F. Badir ◽  
Zeeshan Ali ◽  
Adeel Tariq
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Innovation Adoption ◽  
Organizational Capital ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Innovation Generation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the separate and interrelated effects of three aspects of intellectual capital (human, social and organizational capital) on innovation generation and adoption. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 318 respondents’ of chemical firms. This study used multiple regression analysis to analyze the influence of human, organizational and social capital on innovation generation and adoption. Findings Results suggest that organizational capital exerts significantly positive impact on innovation adoption. In the same vein, social capital exerts significantly positive impact on both innovation generation and adoption. Moreover, interaction of social capital further strengthens the influence of organizational capital on innovation adoption. Contrary to hypotheses, human capital does not exert significant influence on innovation generation. However, interaction of social capital further strengthens the impact of human capital on innovation generation. Practical implications Findings offer implications for modern managers to utilize the knowledge that resides in firm’s different locations. It also enhances managerial ability to identify and apply these knowledge resources to expedite innovation generation and adoption. Originality/value Innovation generation and adoption plays a critical role in firm’s acquiring success and competitive advantage, yet the influence of intellectual capital on innovation generation and adoption mostly remains as unexplained puzzle. This study contributes to knowledge-innovation literature by examining the missing link between different types of knowledge and innovation generation and adoption. It also helps to comprehend the enabling factors through which firms capitalize upon, and obtain, a sustainable competitive advantage.

Innovation capability configuration and its influence on the relationship between perceived innovation requirement and organizational performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1316-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Feng Su ◽  
Kuo-Chih Cheng ◽  
Shao-Hsi Chung ◽  
Der-Fa Chen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Process Innovation ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
Innovation Capability ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Capacity ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose When the management of an information technology (IT) manufacturing firm perceives a need for innovation due to any threat in the external environment, it will be prompted to use organizational resources to support innovation and improve organizational performance through the implementation of the innovation. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an IT manufacturing firm’s budget slack, information quality of information system (IS), process innovation and product innovation would interact to collectively form an innovation capacity, which is termed “innovation capability configuration (ICC)”, and whether ICC mediates the relationship between perceived innovation requirement and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach To answer these questions, a structural equation model was built and a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from research and development and production managers of IT manufacturing companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Over-The-Counter markets. Findings The results showed that budget slack, IS information quality, process innovation and product innovation are all significantly related to ICC, in which high-quality information and low level of budget slack are the key factors that underpin the innovation capacity. In addition, ICC has a full mediation effect, that is, perceived innovation requirement positively influences ICC, which, in turn, improves organizational performance. Research limitations/implications Because all items in a questionnaire were answered by a manager, the common method variance might exist in this study. In addition, the effective recovery rate of the questionnaire was not high due to which the non-response bias might occur. Following the research limitations, several future research recommendations are proposed. Practical implications This study offers managerial implications for the development of an IT manufacturing firm’s innovation strategy and structure to smooth the implementation of innovation in the severe environment. Originality/value The study is the first attempt to integrate the four elements clearly illustrating the ICC, which is a more complete innovation strategy, thus contributing to improve the past fragmental studies and clarify some controversial points existing in the extant innovation research.

The effect of political and business ties on firm performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 778-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parinaz Sami ◽  
Farajollah Rahnavard ◽  
Alireza Alavi Tabar
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Ties ◽  
Managerial Ties ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Business Ties

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediator role of product innovation in the relationship between political and business ties (independent variables) and firm performance (dependent variable). Design/methodology/approach In this study, research hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling method. Findings The findings from 267 manufacturing companies in Iran show that business ties have an effect on firm performance through product innovation, while the role of innovation is not proved as a mediating variable in the relationships between political ties and firm performance. In addition, business ties have an effect on product innovation and firm performance, whereas political ties have no such effect. Practical implications These results provide useful points for developing economies, theoretically and practically. Originality/value Despite the increasing attention to the role of managerial ties (political and business ties) in improving product innovation and firm performance, there is no study conducted on the mediating role of product innovation in the relationship between managerial ties and firm performance.

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