scholarly journals Impact of Upgrade Programmes on the Competitiveness: Case of the Algerian Companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-223
Author(s):  
Souhila Ghomari

Abstract Faced to a socio-economic environment that is marked by globalization of trade and competitiveness, Algeria is committed, like its neighbours, to do upgrade programmes which aim to support the dynamic of restructuring process, the industrial integration and growth. The strategic goal is to upgrade to the requirements of the free trade to take advantage of the positive effects of liberalization and strengthen the production capacity, sales and export. This general target will lead the Algerian companies to achieve two ambitions: to become competitive in price / quality, innovation, and to be able to survive and control the evolution of the technology and the markets. Achieving these ambitions requests from the Algerian companies a major effort, i.e., to adapt and change their organisational methods and practices, especially in technology, innovation, cost control and quality supervision, training, products and markets, sales policies, management, openness to technical and commercial partners. The present paper describes the impact of upgrade programmes on the competitiveness of Algerian companies. For this reason, a model has been developed that analyses the competitiveness of a company across several dimensions (commercial, financial, technical, human, as well as social & managerial). To process the data collected in the survey, an exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory analysis and structural equation methods have been used. The results of the research have confirmed the main hypothesis that upgrading has a positive impact on the overall competitiveness of companies that have initiated and finalised an upgrade programme.

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minkyun Kim ◽  
Nallan C Suresh ◽  
Canan Kocabasoglu-Hillmer

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships among strategic sourcing, e-procurement and firm performance, along with the moderating effects of business characteristics and environmental factors on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical investigation relies on structured survey responses from 137 managers of US manufacturing firms. The partial least squares-based structural equation modeling approach is used for data analysis. Findings – The research results confirm that both strategic sourcing and e-procurement have a positive effect on firm performance. In addition, e-procurement is also found to have a positive impact on strategic sourcing. In addition, the research results suggest that business characteristics and the environment, especially the degree of competition, market turbulence, firm size and stage in product life cycle moderate these relationships significantly. The positive effects of strategic sourcing and e-procurement on firm performance are particularly enhanced under the right conditions. Originality/value – This research is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to provide insights into the joint effects of strategic sourcing and e-procurement, and how business characteristics and the environment affect their roles on firm performance. In addition, firm performance is evaluated as a multi-dimensional construct involving financial, operational and supply chain aspects, with the measurements consisting of several second-order constructs. The study makes both theoretical and practical contributions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dedong Wang ◽  
Shaoze Fang ◽  
Hongwei Fu

Trust and control are the two main governance mechanisms in megaprojects. However, the role of social exchange norms in trust and control governance remains unclear. Based on social exchange theory, we explored the impact of control and trust on megaproject success by considering the mediating effect of social exchange norms, which include reciprocity, negotiation, and information sharing. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses based on data collected from 155 respondents. Results show that control and trust have positive effects on megaproject success. Trust can promote social exchange norms. That is, the higher the level of trust is, the greater the likelihood that reciprocity, negotiation, and information sharing will increase. Control does not have a significant impact on social exchange norms. Social exchange norms have a mediating effect on the relationship between trust and megaproject success but not on the link between control and megaproject success. Our findings fill in the gaps in the literature on megaproject governance and contribute to the development of megaproject management theory, which can help project managers understand the motivation orientations of all parties to make decisions wisely and rationally under complex environments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6389
Author(s):  
Boban Melovic ◽  
Suncica Rogic ◽  
Julija Cerovic Smolovic ◽  
Branislav Dudic ◽  
Michal Gregus

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of sponsorship perceptions and attitudes of sport team fans on their purchasing decision, as well as to investigate the significance of sport sponsorship in promoting socially responsible companies and other sustainable practices in society. This paper gives insight in possibilities and effects of promoting sustainable activities and socially responsible companies, through sport sponsorship, by targeting and educating sport team fans as a very important consumer segment. Data were collected from anonymous respondents who are fans of different sport teams. Attitudes were measured by asking the respondents to rank the statements based on a 5-point Likert scale. In order to analyze the data, structural equation modelling was conducted using R package. Results show that the attitudes towards sponsorship, as well as sponsorship perceptions, have a strong positive impact on the purchasing decisions of consumers, regarding products of sponsors, which enables the creation of a loyal base of fans as consumers. Results also reveal that sport sponsorship can be an effective way of promoting socially responsible companies and sustainable practices, giving an opportunity to create an educated and highly dedicated consumer base. In this way the positive effects of sports and sponsorship are spreading beyond the stadiums and arenas. These findings can help companies that are considering investing in this form of marketing, in adequately selecting and managing the campaign, but also can be very useful for official institutions in their efforts to foster sustainable practices in society. Although the fact that the research was conducted only in Montenegro can be stated as a limitation, it should be noted that this type of research has been done for the first time in this area, which gives special value to the research and increases the importance of its contribution to the existing base of scientific papers in this field.


Author(s):  
Adel Christian P Sakeru ◽  
Aji Hermawan ◽  
Yunus Triyonggo

PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia needs to possess quality and competent human resources in order to face the stiff competition with the continuous growth of similar companies. Human resources development in a company must be well performed and well planned, and one way to do so is by performing evaluations about employee engagement, empowerment, and organisational commitment so that employees’ performance can be improved continuously, which in turn will improve the employees’ prosperity and the company’s profit. The purpose of this research is to analyse the impact of employee engagement, empowerment, and organisational commitment on the employees of PT. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indonesia’s human resources division. The data analysis method utilised in this research is the Structural Equation Model (SEM) with the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method, which uses the SmartPLS software. The result of this research is that empowerment and organisational commitment have a significant and positive impact on employees’ performance. Furthermore, employee engagement and empowerment also have a significant and positive result on organisational commitment. Employee engagement does not have a significant impact on employee performance, but it has a positive impact on employee performance. It shows that employee engagement does not have a direct impact, but it has an indirect impact on employee performance through organisational commitment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 699-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Wierich ◽  
Stephan Zielke

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate how different design elements of retailer coupons increase the attitudinal loyalty towards retailers. Design/methodology/approach – Three design elements are manipulated in a 2x2x2 experimental design. Data is analysed using structural equation modeling. Findings – The results demonstrate that addressing customers personally and face value have a positive impact on attitudinal loyalty. Surprisingly, the positive effect of personalization is stronger than that of typical variations in face value. In contrast, a high minimum purchase amount restriction has a negative total effect on loyalty and neutralizes the positive effects generated by personalization. The results illustrate further that personalization influences loyalty via self-reference and enjoyment independently of any cognitive evaluation of the coupon, while face value and the minimum purchase amount require at least some cognitive processing to have a loyalty impact. Research limitations/implications – Future studies can use the developed framework to test the impact of other design elements, promotion types or loyalty schemes. Practical implications – The results underline that personalization offers opportunities for increasing loyalty without the necessity of large investments. As these effects can occur without redemption, coupon promotions should not be evaluated based on redemption rates only. Originality/value – The study extends existing research by focusing on retailer coupons, analyzing the combined loyalty effects of three coupon design elements and developing a framework to analyze direct and indirect loyalty effects as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Taghi Heydari ◽  
Leila Zarei ◽  
Ahmad Kalateh Sadati ◽  
Najmeh Moradi ◽  
Maryam Akbari ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic, during which the community preventive and protective behaviors play a crucial role in the containment and control of infection. This study was designed to contribute to the existing knowledge on how risk communication (RC) and risk perception (RP) affect protective and preventive behaviors (PPB) during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods The required data were extracted from a national online survey of Iranian adults aged 15 and older during March 15–19, 2020 (n=3213). Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. Results The study findings reveal that RC has direct and indirect positive effects on PB. Furthermore, this study also provides new evidence indicating that RP mediates the relationship between RC and PB and there is a two-way relationship between RC and RP. These interactions may have impact on risk communication strategies which should be adopted during this pandemic. Conclusion The study findings have remarkable implications for informing future communications as well as interventions during this ongoing outbreak and subsequent national risk events.


2021 ◽  
pp. 016264342198997
Author(s):  
Sojung Jung ◽  
Ciara Ousley ◽  
David McNaughton ◽  
Pamela Wolfe

In this meta-analytic review, we investigated the effects of technology supports on the acquisition of shopping skills for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) between the ages of 5 and 24. Nineteen single-case experimental research studies, presented in 15 research articles, met the current study’s inclusion criteria and the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards. An analysis of potential moderators was conducted, and we calculated effect sizes using Tau-U to examine the impact of age, diagnosis, and type of technology on the reported outcomes for the 56 participants. The results from the included studies provide evidence that a wide range of technology interventions had a positive impact on shopping performance. These positive effects were seen for individuals across a wide range of ages and disability types, and for a wide variety of shopping skills. The strongest effect sizes were observed for technologies that provided visual supports rather than just auditory support. We provide an interpretation of the findings, implications of the results, and recommended areas for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1612-1630
Author(s):  
Salvador Bueno ◽  
M. Dolores Gallego

This study is focused on communications that come from consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ecommerce relationships. This topic is directly associated with the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) phenomenon. eWOM is related to the set of positive or negative opinions made by potential, actual, or former customers about a seller. The present study proposes a structural equation modeling with partial least squares (PLS-SEM) research model to analyze consumers’ opinions impact on attitude toward purchasing. This model is based on the Information Adoption Model (IAM) in combination with an ecommerce satisfaction perspective, comprising five constructs: (1) service quality, (2) ecommerce satisfaction, (3) argument quality, (4) source credibility and (5) purchase intention. The model was tested by applying the Smart Partial Least Squares (SmartPLS) software for which 116 effective data from customers of the Taobao C2C platform were used. The findings reveal that all of the defined relationships were supported, confirming the positive impact of all the proposed constructs on the purchase intention. In this respect, the findings suggest that C2C platforms should strengthen the analyzed connections to grow the business and to promote transactions. Finally, implications and limitations related to the explanatory capacity and the sample are identified.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019
Author(s):  
Barbara Frączek ◽  
Aleksandra Pięta ◽  
Adrian Burda ◽  
Paulina Mazur-Kurach ◽  
Florentyna Tyrała

The aim of this meta-analysis was to review the impact of a Paleolithic diet (PD) on selected health indicators (body composition, lipid profile, blood pressure, and carbohydrate metabolism) in the short and long term of nutrition intervention in healthy and unhealthy adults. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of 21 full-text original human studies was conducted. Both the PD and a variety of healthy diets (control diets (CDs)) caused reduction in anthropometric parameters, both in the short and long term. For many indicators, such as weight (body mass (BM)), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC), impact was stronger and especially found in the short term. All diets caused a decrease in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), albeit the impact of PD was stronger. Among long-term studies, only PD cased a decline in TC and LDL-C. Impact on blood pressure was observed mainly in the short term. PD caused a decrease in fasting plasma (fP) glucose, fP insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the short run, contrary to CD. In the long term, only PD caused a decrease in fP glucose and fP insulin. Lower positive impact of PD on performance was observed in the group without exercise. Positive effects of the PD on health and the lack of experiments among professional athletes require longer-term interventions to determine the effect of the Paleo diet on athletic performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7380
Author(s):  
Hong Liu ◽  
Zhihua Liu ◽  
Yongzeng Lai ◽  
Lin Li

This study conducted a comprehensive and systematic investigation of the influencing factors for collaborative innovation project (CIP) performance. First, a theoretical framework model was constructed, and then a structural equation model (SEM) was used for an empirical analysis of 199 CIPs. Furthermore, we divided the factors into tangible and intangible categories and considered the impact mechanism of nine typical factors on project performance. The results are as follows: (1) All nine factors had a significant positive impact on the performance of collaborative innovation projects, among which benefit distribution and collaborative innovation capability were the most important. (2) Benefit distribution, resource dependence, organizational climate, and collaborative innovation affected project performance, both directly and indirectly. (3) Effective communication, leadership support, knowledge sharing, and collaborative innovation ability only had a direct influence, while the incentive mechanism played only an indirect role. Finally, three suggestions were put forward on the idea of high-quality, sustainable development.


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