Interfirm collaboration as a performance-enhancing survival strategy within the business models of ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants affected by COVID-19

PurposeGuided by resource-based theory, this investigation examines the extent to which knowledge sharing as part of interfirm collaboration serves as a performance-enhancing strategy; that is, in the context of assisting ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants to survive during a major market disruption. Specifically, the study features owner-managers' perceptions concerning the evolving environmental circumstances associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData collection took place among owner-managers of urban restaurants in a Canadian city during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. This featured semi-structured interviews with restaurants' owner-managers originating from various ethnic origins together with secondary data where possible. Data analysis followed an adapted Gioia approach.FindingsExamples of interfirm collaboration include restaurants' owner-managers leveraging social capital and sharing knowledge about the effects of legislation and health guidelines on operating procedures, together with good and bad practices where firms have pivoted their business models via take-outs, patio dining and in-room dining. Irrespective of the strength of network ties (within and across ethnic communities), owner-managers were motivated to share information to facilitate their survival. Nevertheless, this study raises questions over the extent that certain decision-makers exhibit strategic flexibility responding to environmental conditions together with their respective ability to engage/retain customers plus service-oriented employees. In addition, a question is whether some owner-managers will continue to collaborate with their competitors after COVID-19 ends, and if so, with whom and the magnitude of activities. In particular, “trust” via psychological contracts and “complementary strategies” among partners across coethnic and different ethnic origins are key considerations.Originality/valueA body of knowledge exists addressing the notions of both interfirm collaboration and market disruptions in the broader cross-disciplinary literature. However, the interfirm collaborative practices of small firms with ethnic minority ownership that are otherwise rivals remain under-researched. More specifically, interfirm collaboration as a survival strategy for owner-managers during the market disruption arising from a crisis situation features as an original contribution.

The Concept of Inter-Firm Partnering Practice Between Client and Contractor In The Construction Projects

Interfirm collaboration is a cooperation between business organizations that allow achieving their common goals more effectively. Through partnering concept of collaboration, the organization will gain the benefits in terms of the project successfully run according to the time, cost and quality. The understanding of this concept of partnering is crucial for the clients in the construction project, without this knowledge of partnering concept the client will suffer cost overruns, delay, more variation order and dispute in the project implementation. The study conducted using a quantitative approach and involved the sampling from public and private clients. The main result indicates that that the public clients and private client understood the concept of partnering. Public clients agreed that specific projects require partnering with contractors. Suitability of the projects is complex projects, critical project and long term development. High impact projects in the public clients are given to the contractors that shows the capabilities and good reputation from the previously completed project. However, Private clients stated that projects that are critical to the client's business are suitable for the partnering concept.

THE EFFECTS OF KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS AND ALLIANCE PORTFOLIO DIVERSITY ON PRODUCT INNOVATION AND FIRM GROWTH

This study examines the extent to which the intra-industry knowledge spillover and a firm’s alliance portfolio diversity have an effect on product innovation performance and the growth of different size of firms. A model was proposed and empirically tested using structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation. The data was extracted from the Colombian innovation survey EDIT from 2011 to 2016 and comprised a sample of 913 manufacturing firms. The results demonstrated that less-developed and resource-scarce settings, such as Colombia, foster interfirm collaboration regardless of their size. Nevertheless, even when considered the positive and significant effect of collaboration, spillovers are the most relevant external knowledge source in explaining the product innovation performance and growth of small and medium firms. The findings also showed that knowledge spillovers can be detrimental to the large firms’ outcomes, possibly associated with a weaker appropriability regime and the loss of knowledge derived from outgoing spillovers.