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PurposeThis study seeks to understand how regulatory and competitive forces impact firms' actions and innovation performance. The study investigates how firms strategize internally and externally to address regulatory and competitive forces, and how such actions influence firms' innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected via a survey of 217 managers of business organizations in Nigeria.FindingsRegulatory forces have a positive relationship with both absorptive capacity (AC) and information sharing (IS). Competitive forces, on the other hand, only have a negative relationship with IS but not with AC. AC has a positive relationship with innovation performance, while IS, surprisingly, does not have a positive relationship with innovation performance.Originality/valueThe study contributes to knowledge by empirically validating the relationships between environmental forces and innovation performance; more importantly, the study uncovers the underlying factors, i.e. IS and AC that link environmental forces and firms' innovation performance.

This study examines the effect of the intensity of competitive forces on organisational performance and competitive advantage and the moderating role of the use of traditional and contemporary management accounting practices on this relationship. Using survey data collected from 505 US-based financial managers, the findings indicate that the use of traditional management accounting practices was found to positively moderate the effect of the intensity of competitive forces on competitive advantage. Additional exploratory analysis revealed that the extent of use of contemporary management accounting practices positively moderates the effect of the intensity of competitive forces on organisational performance in a product differentiation/high-force environment. The extent of use of contemporary management accounting practices was also found to positively moderate the effect of the intensity of competitive forces on competitive advantage in a low-cost/high-force. However, the extent of use of contemporary management accounting practices was found to negatively moderate the effect of the intensity of competitive forces on competitive advantage in a product differentiation/low-force environment. Finally, the extent of use of traditional management accounting practices was found to negatively moderate the effect of the intensity of competitive forces on organisational performance in the product differentiation/high-force model. These findings provide a preliminary insight into the important role of management accounting practices in the management of competitive forces.

In a context of economic crisis and strong competition between companies, managing information and knowledge seem to be key to the new productive model. The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact that the intensity of a firm’s adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT) and industry attractiveness has on corporate performance. A sample of 871 SMEs took part in the study and data were analysed using ordered logistic regression and principal axis factoring analysis. The results emphasise the existence of a significant positive relationship between ICT intensity of use and corporate performance and highlight the importance of ICT in very competitive environments. Our survey suggests that full integration of ICTs in the company is advisable. The drawback, however, is that the rapidly changing nature of ICTs makes the adoption of emerging ICTs difficult.

Employing the resource-based view of the firm and the competitive forces perspective, the authors examine how brand equity (star power, director power, and brand extensions), financial resources, and competitive intensity serve both as antecedents to the length of global product rollout and as moderators of the effect of length of global product rollout on global product performance. The results, based on data from the motion picture industry, demonstrate that brand equity, financial resources, and competitive intensity result in shorter global product rollout and that shorter global product rollout enhances global product performance. They also find that brand equity and financial resources operate as moderators, magnifying the effect of length of global product rollout on global product performance. Implications for international marketing academics and practitioners are presented.

This study investigates the mechanism of formation of competitive advantages and competitive factors influencing the competitiveness of industrial production. Analyzing the views of foreign and local researchers on the formation of competitive advantages of industrial enterprises, we consider the diversification of industrial enterprises for intra-cluster optimization as well as the ways to improve the economic efficiency of optimization of industrial enterprises. The trends to increase economic efficiency of optimization of industrial sphere enterprise performance are presented. It can be concluded that its evaluation is a procedure that allows presenting objective results of the activities of the evaluated enterprises, both current and prospective, obtained in the framework of the implementation of the overall development strategy by influencing various groups of efficiency factors.

This study investigates the relationships between industry-specific institutions, industry structure, and industry performance. The Norwegian Pelagic value chain’s harvesting industry and its processing industry comprised the empirical context. The study findings reveal that the harvesters (the fishers), on average, achieved nearly twice the return on assets relative to the processors. Furthermore, the fishers’ cash flow margin was, on average, more than eight times higher, and their annual growth rate was approximately 70% above the corresponding figures of the processing industry. This study argues that the two industries’ performance differences are related to the variations in their institutional setups. The processing industry is subject to the general Norwegian business environment, whereas the fish harvesting industry benefits from a sector-specific framework that supports its relative competitiveness. The fishers have collectively established a legally supported sales organization, thereby strengthening their bargaining power, vis-à-vis the processors (buyers). The fishers’ rivalry is curbed by catch share regulations, and incumbent fishers are protected from intruders through entry barriers, for example, license requirements. Moreover, the processing industry’s potential threat to vertically integrate upstream into the fish harvesting industry is blocked through legislation. Finally, in contrast to the processing industry, the fish input cost is free for the harvesting industry. This study concludes that the fish harvesting industry has gained a sustained competitive advantage over the processing industry, based on a more supportive industry-specific institutional framework.

The digital transformation puts to the test the sustainability of traditional business models. The aim of this research work is to formulate a framework that explains resources, capabilities and management choices necessary to respond to the new environment. The proposal is based on literature review of both theoretical and empirical research. The framework abstracts complexity to isolate a few key variables. Its specification is based on system dynamics since it naturally models forces of change in a complex system so that their influences can be better understood.La transformación digital pone a prueba la sustentabilidad de los modelos de negocio tradicionales. El objetivo de este trabajo de investigación es formular un marco de referencia que explique los recursos, capacidades y decisiones gerenciales necesarias para responder al nuevo ambiente. La propuesta se basa en una revisión literaria de investigaciones tanto teóricas como empíricas. El marco de referencia abstrae la complejidad para aislar unas pocas variables clave. Su especificación se basa en dinámica de sistemas dada que naturalmente modela fuerzas de cambio en un sistema complejo de modo que sus influencias pueden entenderse mejor.A transformação digital testa a sustentabilidade dos modelos de negócios tradicionais. O objetivo desta pesquisa é desenvolver um modelo para explicar os recursos, capacidades e decisões de gestão necessárias para responder ao novo ambiente. A proposta é baseada em uma revisão da literatura tanto da pesquisa teórica e empírica. O modelo abstrai a complexidade para isolar algumas variáveis-chave. Sua especificação é baseada en dinâmica de sistemas dado que naturalmente modela as forças de mudança em um sistema complexo de modo que sua influência pode ser melhor compreendida.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which Porter’s five competitive forces (PFCF) framework, among other factors drive the choice of response strategies adopted by public universities in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach – The study design was descriptive and utilized a cross-sectional survey of all the public universities in Kenya by administering a structured questionnaire to the top management team. Additional primary data were collected through observations and interviews. Secondary data were also collected in order to corroborate the data collected from the primary sources. Findings – PFCF framework influenced the choice of response strategies adopted by the public universities “to a great extent”, the most influence being the threat from new entrants. The influence of the choice of response strategies by PFCF framework was independent of the age and category of the universities. Pressure from stakeholders, changes in government policies and regulations, reforms in higher education, unethical response strategies by some universities and university location also influenced the choice of response strategies. Research limitations/implications – The study collected data from the top management team only; however, other stakeholders could have given additional information not reported here. Further, the research only considered public universities and not all higher education institutions (HEIs) in Kenya, and was cross-sectional, hence generalization and application of the results over a long time, respectively, may be limited. Practical implications – The value of this study lies in HEIs achieving a competitive advantage and shaping strategic policy direction in the face of changing environment and global commodification of higher education. Originality/value – Current public universities in Kenya have adopted a business-like approach in their operations in view of changing environment and have adopted coping strategies. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence the choice of response strategies is important for improvement of quality, efficiency and effectiveness as well as in policy formulation and serve as a guide to strategic management.

The present paper deals with the topic of the modern approach of knowledge transfer in the context of the open innovation mechanisms, by using the instrument of business model for the technology transfer entities, emphasizing competition, competitive advantage and value capture. The UPBs approach to technological transfer is strongly based upon its collaboration with socio-economic environment. Its strategic decision is to develop deep, long-term relationships with industry, rather than conducting research on a contractual basis, which is necessary but not sufficient. Each technology transfer entity from ReNITT should define its business model and use it as an instrument for developing their \"business\" strategy. By testing a pilot model for a technology transfer centre, in the real framework of our Romanian R&D&I system, it will be offered valuable information on the feasibility of such an initiative, concluded with a best practice example associated with a valid case study.

Clear empirical demonstrations of the theoretical principles underlying assortative mating remain elusive. This article examines a moderator of assortative mating—how well couple members knew each other before dating—suggested by recent findings related to market-based (i.e., competition) theories. Specifically, competition is pervasive to the extent that people achieve consensus about who possesses desirable qualities (e.g., attractiveness) and who does not. Because consensus is stronger earlier in the acquaintance process, assortative mating based on attractiveness should be stronger among couples who formed a relationship after a short period rather than a long period of acquaintance. A study of 167 couples included measures of how long partners had known each other before dating and whether they had been friends before dating, as well as coders' ratings of physical attractiveness. As predicted, couples revealed stronger evidence of assortative mating to the extent that they knew each other for a short time and were not friends before initiating a romantic relationship.