Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 6 Articles
The open innovation model often neglects the frictions that external knowledge flows could encounter\r\nwhen crossing organisational boundaries. This study recognises such barriers and investigates the\r\nimpact of these barriers on knowledge transfer effectiveness by using data on small new technologybased\r\nfirms (NTBFs) located in the emerging South African economy. The empirical results show that\r\nthe characteristics of inter-organisational knowledge exchange relationships (organisational and\r\ntechnological similarity and contact frequency) do have an impact on the effectiveness of knowledge\r\ntransfer. The findings stress the relevance of a relational approach, as factors derived from it act as\r\nbarriers to effective knowledge transfer for small firms....
This study investigates the dynamic capabilities (DCs) and competitive advantage of South African\r\nsmall and medium enterprises (SMEs). DCs are organisational processes purposefully designed to\r\nalter the ââ?¬Å?firmââ?¬â?¢s resource baseââ?¬Â in other to achieve competitive advantage in a rapidly changing\r\nenvironment. DCs govern a firmââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Å?valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutableââ?¬Â organisational\r\nresources. Research has shown that South African SMEs contribute approximately 35% to the national\r\ngross domestic product. SMEs are significant in their contributions to economic growth, innovation of\r\nnew products, technological progress and competitive advantage. However, most SMEs are\r\nconfronted with challenges such as; changes in technologies, innovative products, customer\r\ndemands, and the desire to remain flexible. SMEs are often faced with competitive forces which\r\nthreaten their survival. The failure rate of SMEs is much higher than that of larger organisations. South\r\nAfrican SMEs fail at a rate of between 70 and 80%. SMEs need DCs to achieve competitive advantage in\r\nfast changing business environments. Research on DC has been on a piecemeal basis. An empirical\r\nresearch on SMEsââ?¬â?¢ DC from a developing countries context has not received wide attention. Through\r\nan online based survey of South African SMEs, our paper provides an insight into the types of\r\norganisational capabilities or DCs that can lead to competitive advantage within the SMEs. The\r\nstatistical findings clarify the notion that DCs alone cannot lead to competitive advantage. It was found\r\nthat sensing, integrative and behavioural capabilities are part of DC constructs: this study extends the\r\nused four DC constructs (absorptive, adaptive, innovative and networking capabilities) to include\r\nsensing, integrative and behavioural capabilities. The findings show DCs have significant impacts on\r\ncompetitive advantage, and are capable of influencing SMEsââ?¬â?¢ valuable, rare, inimitable and nonsubstitutable\r\n(VRIN) resources to achieve competitive advantage in a fast changing business\r\nenvironment....
The competitiveness of a firm depends on the quality of knowledge they apply to their business\r\nprocesses. Knowledge management (KM) processes are part of the firm business processes. These\r\nprocesses require turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge that can be widely shared\r\nthroughout a firm and appropriately applied. This study examines how SMEs and large firms apply KM\r\nprocesses in their daily business activities and analyse the influence of KM processes on their financial\r\nand non-financial performance. KM processes comprise knowledge acquisition, conversion and\r\napplication while firm performance is measured from financial and non-financial perspectives that\r\nconsist of profit, growth, innovativeness, customer satisfaction, quality and flexibility. Survey\r\nquestionnaires were distributed to managers at SMEs and large firms. Results showed that the effects\r\nof KM processes on financial and non-financial performance differ between SMEs and large firms.\r\nFindings from the survey could help these firms to enhance their financial and non-financial\r\nperformance via appropriate KM processes....
Following the needs to ingrain intrapreneurial spirit among Malaysian workforce, as highlighted in the National Economic Advisory 2010, the aim of this study is to identify the organizational architecture that can be designed to foster such behaviour which could subsequently lead to better job performance. Specifically, this study examines the effects of five dimensions of pro-intrapreneurship organizational architecture; namely, ââ?¬Å?management supportââ?¬Â, ââ?¬Å?work discretionââ?¬Â, ââ?¬Å?reward and reinforcementââ?¬Â, ââ?¬Å?organizational boundariesââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?time availabilityââ?¬Â on intrapreneurial behaviour which was then regressed to the job performance. A sample of 263 employees consisting of engineers and managers working in multinational companies participated in this study. The findings were tested using structural equation modeling procedure. In general, the results indicate that except for ââ?¬Å?organizational boundariesââ?¬Â, other organizational architecture namely ââ?¬Å?management supportââ?¬Â, ââ?¬Å?work discretionââ?¬Â, ââ?¬Å?reward and reinforcementââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?time availabilityââ?¬Â were found to have positive significant effects on intrapreneurship. In addition, intrapreneurial behaviour is found to be positively related to job performance. In short, it can be surmised forming an internal ecosystem that is conducive for the workforce to behave intrapreneurially is a wise step to foster innovativeness culture that could subsequently be translated into a long term growth and sustainability of the organization....
Although, a significant proportion of the country''s research has been devoted in recent years to the role\r\nof government in planning production activities, there have not been so much interest in looking at the\r\npolicies and mechanisms necessary to support Iranian industry in terms of industry size or volume of\r\nsuch activities, or in appropriate protection scheme patterns and types of volume manufacturing\r\noperations. This study purports to examine the part played by government, that is, the industry\r\nincidence of phenomena, such as globalized trade, alliances between multinational industries, new\r\neconomic blocs and increased competition in the international arena, strategies and mechanisms to\r\nsupport small industries and protectionist policies, and assessing part performance of those industries.\r\nThis study aims to investigate thoroughly the effectiveness of supportive government policies towards\r\nsmall production units, and to determine the identification of areas where small-scale industries still\r\nneed government assistance, and can so determine future decision about where this assistance can\r\nbest help. The results show clear differences between support levels that smaller firms can expect, and\r\nhow government agencies can help bridge this gap....
This study investigated the use of the leadership and strategic planning functions in improving the\r\nmanagement performance of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the province of Gauteng,\r\nSouth Africa. The primary objective was to establish the extent to which SMMEs in the construction\r\nindustry in the study area utilised leadership and strategic planning to achieve continuous\r\nimprovement in management performance. Primary data were collected through structured interviews\r\nwith 326 respondents from 64 randomly selected SMMEs in the built environment. The findings showed\r\nthe necessity of educating the owner-managers of SMMEs concerning the use of appropriate\r\nmanagement measurement tools and strengthening the implementation of the leadership and strategic\r\nplanning functions in order to improve management performance. These findings suggest that specific\r\nmanagement function-focused courses should be designed and implemented. Rewards should be\r\nintroduced for SMMEs that show signs of continuous improvement....
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