scholarly journals HR Practices: A Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage or Competitive Parity – A Systematic Literature Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A.S.K. Silva ◽  
B.N.F. Warnakulasuriya ◽  
B.J.H. Arachchige

High Performance Work Practices or High Commitment Work Practices in HRM are often said to be a potential source of sustainable competitive advantage. However, some researchers have questioned that notion. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to review and analyze relevant literature to determine whether the HR practices can be considered as a real source of sustainable competitive advantage. This study followed the Systematic Literature Review method. This paper analyzes theoretical base for such claim as well as available empirical evidences and suggests that HR practices (often called as High Performance Work Practices) are more likely to be a source of competitive parity than a source of sustainable competitive advantage. The major significance of this paper is that it addresses a key question within Strategic Human Resource Management: whether HR practices can be considered as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Further, this may be the first to discuss HR practices as a source of competitive parity. It also highlights research gaps in the area of the relationship between HRM and firm-performance.KeywordsHR practices; Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Competitive Parity; HR and firm-performance relation; High Performance Work Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-455
Author(s):  
Victor Pessôa de Melo ◽  
Ítalo Taumaturgo ◽  
Ronaldo De Oliveira Santos Jhunior ◽  
Mariana Torres Uchôa

In strategic management, the Stakeholder Theory proclaims that in order to achieve better performance and sustainable competitive advantage, the organization has to treat each of its stakeholders fairly. Hence, the concept of justice becomes relevant in assessing the effectiveness of managerial decisions and is ingrained in the Stakeholder Theory literature. This paper aims to examine how the notion of justice is conceptualized and applied in the Stakeholder Theory literature; and to propose new avenues of research regarding the interconnections between these two subjects. We present a systematic literature review to synthesize the research in the area. A careful screening held in April 2019, resulted in 75 papers published in 35 journals from 1999 to 2019. The results were presented in two phases. First, in the form of a descriptive and bibliometric analysis of the selected papers. Second, by reviewing those papers, we offer a framework of how the notion of justice has been conceptualized and applied in the Stakeholder Theory literature. Finally, we propose an agenda for future research regarding the interconnection between justice and Stakeholder Theory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena-Mădălina Vătămănescu ◽  
Elena-Alexandra Gorgos ◽  
Alexandru Mihai Ghigiu ◽  
Monica Pătruț

The aim of the current paper is advance a comprehensive framework meant to bridge three major concepts, namely intellectual capital (IC), the internationalization process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the achievement of sustainable competitive advantage. The paper stresses upon a managerial perspective within the internationalization context, investigating the human, structural and relational capital apposite to managers or entrepreneurs. By directly addressing the relationships among the constructs, the endeavor is complementary to previous systematic reviews on similar topics which tangentially discuss the conceptual triad and thus proposes an integrative research agenda for future interdisciplinary studies straddling the fields of management, business, entrepreneurship and sustainability. In terms of methodology, a systematic literature review was envisaged, by applying a stepwise approach and multifold criteria. Over 100 scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals were scrutinized and considered in the analysis. The literature review revealed that conceptual papers in the field are scarce despite the variety of their aims and approaches. The quantitative-based empirical studies prevail over the qualitative ones, while mixed methods research designs are scant. In terms of content, the extant studies fall short to advance research and structural models testing and assessing the specific relations among constructs and avail new research avenues focused on the underlying processes of SMEs internationalization by means of intellectual capital harnessing and sustainable competitive advantage achievement.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1(J)) ◽  
pp. 112-124
Author(s):  
A. Muposhi

Green marketing is growing in importance as it is tied to the universal goal of sustainable development. Although green marketing is gaining in prominence as a strategic imperative, mixed accounts a bound on its ability to create sustainable competitive advantage. Against this backdrop, this conceptual paper discusses the concept of green marketing, its drivers, challenges and future directions in the context of emerging markets. With the aid of a systematic literature review, this paper discusses market opportunities and challenges, implementation gaps, future directions and misconceptions associated with the adoption and implementation of green marketing. Results of literature review showed that the adoption of green marketing is driven principally by market opportunities, environmental legislation, operating efficiencies and improved profitability. Literature reviewed also notes challenges associated with green marketing implementation such as consumer cynicism, variability in demand of green products and exorbitant investment costs related to green technologies. This paper concludes that successful implementation of green marketing depends on a green vision that meticulously counterbalances the vested interests of key stakeholders in the value chain such as suppliers and customers. Effective green marketing implementation is also contingent on the ability of top management to integrate, coordinate and re-configure corporate competences to achieve green marketing goals. This paper recommends that marketers should resist the green marketing bandwagon but rather focus on understanding implementation imperatives that are preconditions for creation of sustainable competitive advantage. Marketers should also note that green marketing is not a panacea to all marketing challenges as it needs to be supported by sound marketing acumen


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naval Garg

Integrationist favours the idea that human resource (HR) practices have synergic effect when implemented in a complementary and coherent manner. While an isolationist perspective favours that the HR practices have an independent effect on organizational performance. In the integrationist approach, HR practices are supposed to have complementary characteristics. When these complementary work practices are institutionalized in a consistent manner, they result in enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. On an altogether different paradigm, the isolationist approach states that individual Human Resource Management (HRM) practices have distinctive and autonomous properties. The present study is a sincere effort to answer the debate between isolationist and integrationist through exploration of ‘high-performance work practices’ (HPWPs) in the Indian financial sector. A model of HPWPs is developed with the help of explorative and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). As many as nine factors comprising of twenty-seven HPWPs are reported to be a part of the model of HPWPs. The study concludes that as the usage of HPWPs increases, job satisfaction, commitment and employee well-being also increases and thereby the article concludes in favour of the integrationist approach of HRM.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Servet Nasifoglu Elidemir ◽  
Ali Ozturen ◽  
Steven W. Bayighomog

It is challenging for enterprises that lack innovation and creativity to survive successfully in the market. Employee top role performance is not always sufficient to gain a competitive advantage, in which innovative behaviors and creativity can be counted as necessary ingredients to build. This study proposed and tested employee innovative behaviors (IB) and creativity as mediator and moderator, respectively, of the impact of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) on sustainable competitive advantage (CA). The resource-based view and job demands resources model provided the theoretical underpinnings for the developed hypotheses that were tested using a sample of 323 customer-contact employees of 4- and 5-star hotels. The results indicated that HPWP indirectly predicted CA via IB. Also, creativity moderated the impact of HPWPs on innovative behaviors positively and on competitive advantage negatively. Employee innovative behaviors can generate substantial returns to service organizations competing with quasi-homogeneous end-products. The relevant theoretical and practical implications are further discussed. The scope of the study calls for caution in the generalizability of the overall findings. The research acknowledges the need to extend the findings by explicitly accounting for national cultural profiles. This study fills the dearth of research in service innovation in the hotel industry by testing the mediating effect of IB on the HPWPs CA nexus and reveals the moderating role that employee creative traits have in these relationships.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Battisti ◽  
Nicola Miglietta ◽  
Antonio Salvi ◽  
Fabio Creta

Purpose This paper aims to present a systematic literature review (SRL) on the topic of value investing (VI) in the international studies. The purpose of this study is twofold: to highlight the strategic approaches followed in recent contributions in the field of finance connected to the main approaches of the pioneering authors (Graham and Dodd, 1934; Fisher, 1958; Fama and French, 1992; Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishny, 1994) who have investigated VI; and to analyse whether scholars follow a qualitative approach in studying VI that enables companies to achieve greater competitive advantage.. Design/methodology/approach From a SLR of peer-reviewed papers covering the period 2007-2017, 45 papers were identified and analysed to present a better understanding of the adopted approaches and methodologies compared to the pioneering contributions on the topic. Findings This search found that 24 out of 45 papers specifically analyse VI. In particular, this work highlights 20 out of 24 papers that directly or indirectly, follow the approaches of “Graham and Dodd” or “Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishny”/“Fama and French”, and 4 out of 24 that do not follow one of the main approaches identified. After the descriptive findings of the review, this paper highlights that none of the contributions takes into account qualitative analysis of a company to define whether the firm itself does or does not have a sustainable competitive advantage. Practical implications This paper suggests to international investors who intend to invest in one or more markets to revise the basic principles of VI, while also considering qualitative elements related to strategic aspects and behavioural finance. In particular, this study suggests that the investor introduce a qualitative analysis to allocate equity in value firms with a lasting competitive advantage. Originality/value This study contributes to advance the knowledge of VI from a theoretical point of view. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study that systematises the international literature on this topic by highlighting the main contributions written in the period 2007-2017, analysing the development of the pioneering strategic approaches and examining their method of assessing firms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Kaumudi Misra

Strategic human resource management literature has highlighted the role of high performance work systems as a set of workplace practices that enhance employee productivity and organizational performance. While the high performance literature has been around for over two decades now, research in this area has been staggered, and inconclusive about the organizational variables that comprise high performance work practices, as well as the effects of these practices on organizational outcomes - especially attitudinal employee outcomes such as job satisfaction and commitment. By creating an environment of empowerment and teamwork, high performance work practices motivate employees to perform better.  One of the ways in which these workplace practices achieve higher performance is by eliciting discretionary, or extra-role behaviors, from employees. Using foundational research from the high performance paradigm, this paper examines the effects of team-level strategic HR practices on job satisfaction. Analyses of data collected from 138 frontline teams in US Midwestern hospitals, show that while self-managed work teams and team communication result in higher job satisfaction for members, this effect is mitigated when team members display organizational citizenship behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of finds are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Muposhi

Green marketing is growing in importance as it is tied to the universal goal of sustainable development. Although green marketing is gaining in prominence as a strategic imperative, mixed accounts a bound on its ability to create sustainable competitive advantage. Against this backdrop, this conceptual paper discusses the concept of green marketing, its drivers, challenges and future directions in the context of emerging markets. With the aid of a systematic literature review, this paper discusses market opportunities and challenges, implementation gaps, future directions and misconceptions associated with the adoption and implementation of green marketing. Results of literature review showed that the adoption of green marketing is driven principally by market opportunities, environmental legislation, operating efficiencies and improved profitability. Literature reviewed also notes challenges associated with green marketing implementation such as consumer cynicism, variability in demand of green products and exorbitant investment costs related to green technologies. This paper concludes that successful implementation of green marketing depends on a green vision that meticulously counterbalances the vested interests of key stakeholders in the value chain such as suppliers and customers. Effective green marketing implementation is also contingent on the ability of top management to integrate, coordinate and re-configure corporate competences to achieve green marketing goals. This paper recommends that marketers should resist the green marketing bandwagon but rather focus on understanding implementation imperatives that are preconditions for creation of sustainable competitive advantage. Marketers should also note that green marketing is not a panacea to all marketing challenges as it needs to be supported by sound marketing acumen


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