Moderating Effect of Access to Finance and Competitive Environment on Human Capital, Knowledge Management, Market Orientation and SMES Performance

Author(s):  
Mohd Noor Mohd Shariff ◽  
Khansa Masood ◽  
Halim Mad Lazim

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as foundation stones of economic development and growth of any economy (Centobelli, Cerchione, & Esposito, 2019). Performance of SMEs is of fundamental significance for all developed as well as developing nations. Similarly, Pakistan is no exception to aforementioned fact. The economic development and growth of Pakistan depend on the performance of SMEs to a great extent. Like, most countries in the world, SMEs comprise more than 90% of total business entities in Pakistan (Degong et al., 2018; Waqas & Nawaz, 2019) and leather industry in one that is attracted by the researchers of present study. Constraints in the growth of leather industry of Pakistan include, lack of skilled human capital, rising cost of production, lack of modern-day knowledge about new products and processes, low profitability and lack of capability to penetrate into international markets, lack of market research, access to finance, intensive competitive rivalry (Khalique et al., 2011; Daily Times, 2016, Awan et al., 2019). Few studies have revealed mixed findings regarding the relationship between knowledge management and firm performance and there is abundance of literature that demonstrates the presence of significant and positive relationship between Market Orientation and Firm performance (Slater & Narver , 1995; Baker & Sinkula, 2009; Udriyah, Tham, & Azam, 2019). On the other hand, some studies have argued that there is no direct and significant relationship between Market Orientation and Firm Performance (Polat & Mutlu, 2012; Shehu & Mahmood, 2014). Moreover, keeping in view the mixed and inconclusive findings regarding the relationship between cause and effect variables, it is appropriate to introduce moderating variables that can significantly influence the relationship between independent and dependent variables as recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986). Access to Finance and Competitive Environment can be served as prospective moderators which are quite appropriately related to proposed variables of the study (Prajogo & Oke, 2016; Rogo et al., 2016; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993) which are quite appropriately related to selected variables of the study. Thus, the research problem expressed that "Access to finance and competitive environment can potentially moderates and affect the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Hence, based on the past literature and aforementioned discussion, the present study intended to examine the moderating effects of Access to Finance and Competitive Environment on the Relationship between Human Capital, Knowledge Management, Market Orientation and SMEs Performance in Leather Industry of Pakistan". Keywords: Small medium enterprise, performance, access to finance, competitive environment

Author(s):  
Khansa Masood Chandio ◽  
Muhammad Rizwan

This study aims to proposes a framework for strengthening performance of SMEs. It was identified that knowledge management, market orientation, competitive environment and access to finance as an effective response of SMEs to the large firms for their survival. A model was developed with the help of extensive literature search and four propositions were exhibited with a graphical model.  The framework of this study proposes Knowledge Management and Market Orientation have strong association with SMEs Performance. The model further proposes that Access to Finance and Competitive Environment serve as a contingency between the Knowledge Management and Market Orientation with SMEs Performance. This study significantly adds into the entrepreneurship literature and proposes a framework not tested before. The theoretical model has a wider applicability, and it can be used in any cultural context in general but specifically in the emerging economies.   


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1585-1603
Author(s):  
Shashank Vaid ◽  
Benson Honig

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the disruption-adaptation associated with knowledge management (KM) of entrepreneurial multitasking of top strategy and tactics executive (TSTE) succession in positions responsible for both S and T. This provides insight into KM and firm performance during turbulent periods. Design/methodology/approach The study examines investor’s opinions of human capital in the context of managerial succession. The data was based on 900 publicly available appointment announcements between 2006–2014, allowing for the examination of 459 observations of succession in 51 industries. Findings The findings indicate that the relationship between KM of entrepreneurial multitasking and firm performance was more positive for high innovation firms than for low innovation firms. As well, the relationship between investors’ opinions of a top executive manager’s human capital and firm performance is more positive for small firms than for large firms and more positive for high innovation firms than for low innovation firms. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to the literature by systematically examining the announced appointment of executives in one context where KM of entrepreneurial multitasking is prevalent – across marketing strategy and sales tactics (hereafter, S and T) responsibilities – for multiple firms listed at major US stock exchanges across a wide range of industries, using lagged performance data to discern performance outcomes. It highlights important issues related to organizational structure and human capital for firm performance and KM in dynamic environments. Further research could examine the impact on firm performance of a change in structure – from a joint sales and tactics position to a sales or tactics position and vice versa. By studying the impact of change to and from an intertwined position, future scholars can determine the level of risk stemming from coordination uncertainty changes with time. Practical implications Of practical relevance, the study shows that vesting dual responsibility for S and T in one executive during managerial succession may not be as universally valuable or adaptive as previously thought. One practical extension of this research may also be that larger firms that are more likely to have clearly defined silos may find that such vesting of multitasking responsibility not as valuable. High innovation and small firms may gain from new executives’ multitasking responsibility for S and T. Thus, firms should think twice before vesting S and T responsibilities with one incoming executive during the leadership change. Social implications Responsibility for both S and T compounds ambiguous accountability, frequently leaving the locus of customer-related problems unclear, and therefore unsolved. Originality/value Extant research has overlooked the relationship between the top management team’s (TMT) abilities to multitask firm performance over time across contexts of external and internal change, operationalized as firm innovation and firm size. Nor have studies explored the firm performance implications of external stakeholders’ opinions of such human capital across these contexts. A novel measure of executive-specific human capital – abnormal returns generated the appointment announcement, is introduced. Understanding the capability of a top executive to simultaneously multitask both S and T responsibilities is a critical component of KM; also relevant are investors’ opinions of their human capital, a particular oversight given the challenge of the “great transformational leader” with servant leadership theory (Carayannis et al., 2017; Gregory Stone et al., 2004).


Author(s):  
Mostafa Sayyadi Ghasabeh

This research contributes to the fields of knowledge management, transformational leadership, as well as information technology. This article presents the theoretical underpinnings of the framework together with a thorough review of the literature. This research indicates that there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership, knowledge management, and firm performance. The synthesis of the literature also lends support for the mediating role of information technology in the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge management.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel-Alejandro Ibarra-Cisneros ◽  
María del Rosario Demuner-Flores ◽  
Felipe Hernández-Perlines

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.


Webology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (Special Issue 03) ◽  
pp. 261-273
Author(s):  
Dibyendu Pal ◽  
Kumar Shalender

The objective of this theoretical paper is to explore the relationship of market orientation (MO) and organizational performance in the context of Indian textile processing industry. The study also aims to construct a conceptual model which can hypothesize the relationship between market orientation, firm performance, and entrepreneurial orientation (EO). The conceptual model is drawn with the help of extant literature review of studies conducted by various authors in the area of market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation. The study presents a model depicting the inter-relationship among MO, EO and firm performance. The proposed model also propounds that the relationship between market orientation and firm performance is mediated by entrepreneurial orientation. This work will be helpful for different stakeholders of textile processing industry to understand the importance of MO and EO and their impact on the performance of the organization. Also, the proposed conceptual model showing inter-relationship among MO, EO and firm performance is an addition to the existing pool of knowledge.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (04) ◽  
pp. 1950039
Author(s):  
Rayees Farooq ◽  
Sandeep Vij

The objective of the study is to test the relationship between knowledge management orientation (KMO) and business performance (BP). KMO is a higher-order construct consisting of three second-order constructs: learning orientation (LO), knowledge sharing orientation (KSO), and information technology orientation (ITO). The paper explores the mediating role of market orientation (MO) in the relationship between KMO and BP. In this firm-level study, the personal survey was administered to key informants in 400 listed firms (from manufacturing and service sector) from North Indian States and Union Territories [including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and National Capital Region (NCR)]. Two respondents each from these 400 firms were approached. The study found that KMO positively affects BP. MO does not mediate the relationship between KMO and BP. Rather, KMO fully mediates the relationship between MO and BP. The study provides evidence in support of KMO as a mediator between MO and BP. KMO of the firm provides a dynamic capability for realizing the benefits of a firm’s MO. The study contributes to the knowledge management literature by empirically validating the KMO, MO and BP constructs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (06) ◽  
pp. 1750003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cevahir Uzkurt ◽  
Halil Semih Kimzan ◽  
Cengiz Yılmaz

In recent years, environmental uncertainty and market orientation have been considered key elements of superior firm performance. Although environmental uncertainty and market orientation may affect firm performance, innovation also mediates these effects. In this study, a conceptual model was developed to test the mediating effect of innovation on the relationships between these constructs. Data for the study were collected from Turkey’s Top 500 Companies. Hierarchical regression and multiple regression analyses were employed to test the research hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the direct effects of environmental uncertainty and innovation on firm performance were statistically significant, although the effect of market orientation was not. The results obtained from the present study seem to indicate a possible “dual effect” of market orientation on firm performance. The results also indicated that innovation, especially product innovation, mediates the relationship between environmental uncertainty and firm performance. The findings indicate that innovation, especially product innovation, is critical for firm performance.


Author(s):  
Cicik Retno Wati ◽  
Sumiati Sumiati ◽  
Andarwati Andarwati

This research aims to know the effect of financial knowledge on firm performance; the role of financial behavior and access to finance as mediation and the role of financial risk attitude as moderation. The object of this research is the owner of small-medium enterprises, sector food and beverage in Malang. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire of 150 respondents. Data analysis of this research uses partial least square (PLS). The finding indicates that financial knowledge has a positive and significant effect on firm performance; financial behavior mediates the relationship of financial knowledge dan firm performance; while access to finance doesn’t mediate the relationship of financial knowledge with firm performance. This research also found that financial risk attitude weakens the relationship of financial knowledge with financial behavior.


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