Search

This paper reports an empirical study on the co-evolution of competitive conditions dominating firms and organizational forms in the paper industry. It has two main theoretical implications. First, with respect to research on national business systems and the societal effect, we suggest that the country of origin imprints firms especially by allowing them to develop distinctive organizational forms. Second, we show that the competitive conditions, dominant forms and dominant firms remain in constant flux even in mature industries. There is, therefore, a need for co-evolutionary research to continue to combine long-term perspectives and intensive research designs in the study of specific industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study evidence in this paper suggests that management of technological change is more complicated than the existing literature has acknowledged. Rather than merely introduce or not introduce new technology, managers have to choose between more or less advanced technologies whose implications are difficult to assess. Moreover, the choice between advanced and conventional production technologies seems to be influenced more by situational determinants than by the habitual actions of managers or changes in management characters. Taking these situational determinants and firm-specific critical incidents seriously is essential, especially for an understanding of why managerial actors alter their approach to managing technological change. By adopting a longitudinal firm-in-sector perspective to technological change this paper demonstrates how coinciding increases in material resources and competitive pressures encourage management to adopt advanced instead of conventional technology. To justify this argument, the paper compares two consecutive technological change projects in the same firm and describes the background of their profoundly different degrees of sophistication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most direct way to guide and support the transformation and upgrading of grain enterprises, government subsidies have an important orientation for the transformation and development of Chinese grain enterprises and the improvement of new quality productivity. Based on the data of 136 grain listed companies and NEEQ listed companies from 2015 to 2022, this paper empirically tests the impact of government subsidies on the new productivity of grain enterprises and its transmission mechanism. The research results show that government subsidies have significantly improved the new productivity of grain enterprises. The analysis of the mechanism of action finds that government subsidies have promoted the improvement of new productivity of enterprises by optimizing the structure of human capital and improving the absorptive capacity of enterprises. Further research shows that the higher the degree of product market competition, the lower the tax burden of enterprises, and the government subsidy exceeds the threshold value of 8.9685, the greater the effect of government subsidy on the improvement of new quality productivity of enterprises. The economic consequence test shows that government subsidies can promote the new productivity of grain enterprises and effectively improve the total factor productivity of enterprises. The research in this paper provides relevant enlightenment for the Chinese government to strengthen project planning, strengthen resource coordination, and implement scientific and accurate policies in the new round of fiscal and taxation system reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important way to expand financing channels, the listing can significantly improve the enterprises' comprehensive competitiveness. However, few studies pay attention to the continuous impact of listing years on enterprise innovation. Based on the sample data of Chinese enterprises before and after listing from 2004 to 2017, this paper discusses the relationship between the listing years and dual innovation. And analyzes the moderating effect of slack. The research shows that the listing years are related to the quantity and quality of innovation in the inverted U-shaped, but the inflection point of the innovation quantity is later than the innovation quality. Before listing, the innovation quantity and quality increased; after listing, the innovation quantity first increased and then decreased, while the innovation quality declined. High slack makes the inverted U-shaped relationship between the listing years and innovation quality steeper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of increased competition at the product-market level on firms' strategic price decisions. We analyse this issue in a context of trade liberalization where only some firms benefit from the input tariff cuts. We focus on China which is characterized by a unique dual trade regime, where some imports of intermediate goods are subject to tariff (i.e., the ordinary status) whereas other (i.e., the processing status) have been exempted of tariffs for the last 30 years. The recent Chinese trade liberalization allowed ordinary importers to improve their competitiveness relative to processing firms. Facing stronger pressures in their export markets, processing firms must adjust their strategy. We find that ordinary firms took advantage of the Chinese' input trade liberalization to improve the quality of their exported products and processing firms respond to this quality sorting by decreasing their export prices and markups. This finding is more pronounced for lower-end product sold in in advanced economies, where the quality sorting of competitors is more relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's higher education expansion increases firms' human capital input in terms of the number of educated employees, while its quality undergoes questioning. It is unknown what employees with higher education bring to the firm in China. Considering that investment decision is one of the most important drivers of firm value, we examine how employees with higher education affect firms' investment efficiency in this paper. We document that the number of employees with higher education increases by 89% from 2008 to 2021. We further find that more employees with higher education are associated with higher investment efficiency through mitigating over- and underinvestment. This association is stronger for firms with high product market competition, low customer concentration, state-owned enterprises, and high senior manager education. Collectively, the results suggest that the information inputs channel, monitoring channel and up-and-down communications channel are likely underlying mechanisms through which higher educated employees affect firms' investment decisions. Overall, our paper sheds light on the real effect of higher educated employees on firms' investment efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economy & Market Communication Review / Casopis za Ekonomiju i Trzisne Komunikacije is the property of Pan-European University Apeiron and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the impact of product market competition (PMC) on companies' investment in external auditing. Design/methodology/approach: This paper applies a conceptual framework derived from demand–supply analysis and a panel data set of 2,263 listed manufacturing companies in China covering the period 2012–2019. In the assessment of PMC, this study measures industry-level competition intensity and company-specific market power separately. Findings: Industries appear to engage in a lower average level of external auditing if industrial competition intensity is either too high or too low. Similarly, companies spend less on external auditing if their market power is either too strong or too weak, and the company-level inverted U-shaped relationship is much more evident in industries with weak PMC. Originality/value: This paper shows that a company's external audit strategy is affected by the level of competition it faces in its market. The findings of this paper can improve the current linear PMC–auditing theoretical framework and provide insights into the strategic auditing of listed companies in China. The findings also have significant implications for policy recommendations regarding corporate governance and market scrutiny regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is recognized as a major competitor in world markets but is less well-known as an attractive market in its own right. This paper proposes that with the right strategies it is possible to successfully penetrate the difficult Japanese market. Problems and opportunities presented by the market are discussed, and some of the findings of a survey of Japanese and German mangers in Japan and German-based managers are reviewed. The paper covers the survey findings on market characteristics, barriers to entry, information requirements, factors contributing to success and methods of market entry. German and UK sources of information and advice on the Japanese market are given for those interested in pursuing the matter further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim/purpose - This paper attempts to arrange and present the methods of measuring the competences of production enterprises in the field of product innovations. Design/methodology/approach - The method used in this paper is a literature review, in the area of new product development management. The author assumes that the review and conceptual nature of this research is dominant. Findings - The obtained results indicate the importance of measurement in product innovation competencies and provide various metrics in this field. The author proposes new indicators to measure competencies in this area, i.e., the intensity of competition on new products market. Research implications/limitations - The results provide a basis for improving efforts of production enterprises in the field of product innovations. The limitations of the study include a complex character of considered theoretical constructs. Sets of measures must be adapted to the information needs of a specific enterprise. Originality/value/contribution - The values of these indicators reflect the directions of industrial enterprises' conduct in the process of developing new products and technologies. Moreover, these indicators show the strength of linking technology with the effectiveness of new product development, and consequently with the enterprise marketing, economic and financial efficiency. The contribution of research to the development of management sciences primarily includes the formulation of a set of indicators whose level determines product innovation competencies in industrial companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: This paper investigates how firms select reference organizations, that is, other firms to which they compare themselves. We question the exogenous nature of references (i.e., them being defined via industry‐categorizations) but suggest that, via motivations or purposes, firms endogenously select them. We evaluate our findings when analyzing proprietary data on hotels' self‐selection of comparison‐hotels. In support of our arguments, we find that in situations of increased uncertainty regarding firms' own relative abilities and standing, firms make adjustments to their selected references toward more similar ones. This enables them to obtain more diagnostic information about their relative abilities and this effect holds constant of (exogenous) industry‐entry or exit events. Our findings contribute to an updated understanding about the role of comparison organizations in firms' decision‐making. Managerial Summary: Prior work shows that comparisons with other firms (i.e., references) play an important role for our understanding of firms' decision‐making. For example, performance comparisons with references can trigger search or a decision‐need, ultimately, leading to acquisition‐decisions, new‐product‐introductions, and the like. When questioning the selection of such references, prior work has typically derived them from (exogenous) industry‐categorizations. We review this practice by relying on rare, longitudinal data on firms' reference self‐selection. When controlling for industry level effects, we find that firms adapt references as a function of changes in their comparison needs (e.g., self‐assessment). This is important because it implies an endogenous reference selection mechanism and shifts the attention from industry‐categorizations toward an understanding of comparison needs and their emergence when attempting to understand firms' decision‐making. Video Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast, subsidies granted by non-EU authorities fall outside EU state aid control, even where such foreign subsidies distort competition in the internal market. Systems competition - China's challenge to the competition order Do we need new rules to protect a level playing field for competition with firms from non-European Union countries? Under one approach firms that benefit from financial support of a non-EU state would need to notify their acquisitions of EU undertakings, above the threshold of €100m of EU-wide turnover, to the Commission. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of co-competition, within service-dominant logic, whereby multiple parties with mutually exclusive goals compete for the rights to co-create with a firm.Design/methodology/approach Within the context of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, the paper uses a naturalistic inquiry approach guided by the core objectives of qualitative research provided by Belk et al. (2012). These objectives include understanding the construct of study, the antecedents and consequences of what is being studied and, finally, the process used by the consumer during the phenomena. Additionally, the results are presented within an idiographic framework.Findings This study finds that co-competition arises when heterogeneous segments of consumers attempt different co-creation strategies with the firm, an overlooked dark side of co-creation and co-production of value. Additionally, the study finds evidence that co-competition may have led to co-destruction of value for both consumer parties and the firm.Originality/value The outcomes of this process could have significant financial and reputational impacts for the firm resultant from alienating both types of consumers competing for the rights to co-create. The conceptual framework established here provides a guide through which further investigation of co-creative forces can occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to explain in more detail the enterprises and business organizations as business entities in the global market. Every enterprise or organization, to survive and achieve success in the global market, must rely on legal subjectivity. This review is not easy as it is based on comparative analysis of laws, however, this will not be an obstacle to trying to establish the most essential facts, which will provide us with valuable information about the subjectivity of the business organization. The paper also examines the national legislation based on which the form of business organization is determined and the conditions that organizations must meet to gain the legal-business capacity to operate or operate in both the local and global market. Also, in this paper is seen the division of business organizations and their meaning, where special emphasis is given to the part of corporations which together with their divisions and subdivisions are treated in more detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on the second EIASM Workshop on Accounting, Strategy and Control that was held in Brussels, Belgium in September 1994. The workshop was opened by the presentations of the three guest speakers, Jeremy Dent, Richard Whipp and Hem Schreuder. Jeremy Dent explored the differences in competitive logic between Japanese and Western firms analyzing the challenges that are emerging for the finance function. Competitors analysis and resources allocation in particular appear as an interesting and critical perspectives. The different perspectives expressed in the opening lectures were then confirmed by the rest of the papers presented at the workshop. Some of the papers addressed conceptual and theoretical issues, other were more focused on the empirical dimension, with different kind of field research and case studies methodology. Some of the empirical papers adopted cross-sectional perspectives, some a longitudinal or again were concerned with the firm or the organization's level, the sector or national business systems.

A main source of competitive advantage is derived from the cost efficiency offered by firms' manufacturing and logistics operations. Consequently, firms typically globalise their operations whereby they may exploit the comparative advantages - defined as production functions - of the nations in which they are present. Production process design thus arises as a significant issue. The research presented in this paper targets two fundamental questions attached to production process design that multinational companies face, namely: (i) should plants that are located in different countries but producing similar products use similar production processes?; and (ii) given that the firm's policy is to use similar production processes, how should the production processes be designed? Among others, the paper shows, by way of a numerical illustration of a binational manufacturing network, that the option of choosing freely upon production process design for the respective facilities in certain cases adds little to firm value. In fact, the value of this option tends to zero as the volatility rate increases when the exchange rate is modelled as a geometric Brownian motion without drift rate, implying that firms should employ similar production processes throughout their manufacturing networks. That is, a market value approach stands up for the so-called copy-exactly approach to production process design in these settings. We furthermore show the effects of economies of scale on the optimal production process design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Whilst existing research generally assumes corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen as universally positive, firms increasingly adopt practices, and take stands, on highly polarizing social issues (e.g., gun‐control, LGBTQ rights, abortion). To better understand this phenomenon, we develop a theory about when firms will emulate, ignore, or oppose each other's CSR efforts, based on attributes of the underlying social issue (its salience and polarization), the level of market competition, and the substantiveness of CSR. Our theory predicts several distinct equilibrium outcomes, including the potential for social counter‐positioning, whereby rival firms take advantage of socio‐political polarization to horizontally differentiate by taking opposing stances on a polarizing issue. Counterpositioning is more likely when salience is high, but agreement is low, when markets are competitive, and when CSR is largely symbolic. Managerial Summary: Firms increasingly find themselves drawn, willingly or not, to taking stances on a controversial social issue (e.g., gun rights, abortion), though doing so risks alienating (some) stakeholders. In this paper, we develop a theory of why, when, and how firms should take a stance on a polarizing issue. We argue that firms profit from doing so when (1) the issue is salient, (2) markets are competitive, and (3) the actions are mostly symbolic. We also show that taking a stance on polarizing issues creates opportunities for the firms' competitors to counter their ideological positioning, strengthening weaker rivals in the process. Thus, in competitive markets, taking clear stances on polarizing, salient issues can segment the market, increasing the profits of all firms, and, potentially, intensifying polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Operating exposure to foreign exchange risk and exchange rate pass-through are investigated in the context of a Cournot model of equilibrium in a homogeneous product market, i.e. an industry populated by Nfirms, which compete exclusively on the basis of quantities produced/marketed and where each firm optimizes its decision based on expectations regarding the actions of its rivals that in fact eventuate. Whereas one firm sources its product domestically, the remaining N-1 firms source their product in a foreign country. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - By invoking two simplifying assumptions, namely, constant marginal cost functions and a linear inverted demand curve, and then deriving the Cournot equilibrium, this paper obtains clear implications regarding the effect of a currency devaluation on the competitive positions of the industry's N constituent firms as well as the pass-through effect on the industry price. Findings - The N-1 firms that source the homogeneous product from a foreign country, which experiences a devaluation, gain, while the single competing firm that sources domestically loses, both market share and profit. Formulas are derived which elucidate this intuitive result. The extent of exchange rate pass-through on the resulting equilibrium price is gauged to be incomplete, consistent with extant empirical evidence. As the number of firms increases, the extent of exchange rate pass-through likewise increases, approaching a limiting situation of complete pass-through. Originality/value - This paper is the first to examine the issues of exchange rate operating exposure and pass-through in the context of a Cournot model of competition, under the indicated two simplifying assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the determinants of the total factor productivity (TFP) for Ukrainian firms in the manufacturing sector across macro-regions using recent micro-level datasets for 2013. Our empirical results show some degree of heterogeneity across Ukrainian macro-regions; in particular, the link between the total factor productivity, firm size, imports and the level of competition seems to be valid for all macro regions. However, the effects of private ownership status, capital intensity and exports seems to be region specific. In addition, we found no relationship between firm productivity and foreign ownership for any of the regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interorganizational business process reengineering is a logical extension of discussions of the potential for interorganizational systems to fundamentally redefine relationships among buyers, sellers, and even competitors within an industry. This paper presents a model of the relationship between technological and process innovations and describes the interdependence of these two forces. This model is used to explain the inconsistency in the literature regarding the benefits of EDI and other interorganizational systems, which are described as providing strategic competitive advantage in some papers and as providing little or no benefits for implementing firms in other articles. The framework describes the importance of merging technological and process innovations in order to transform organizations, processes, and relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Metodos Cuantitativos para la Economia y la Empresa is the property of Universidad Pablo de Olavide and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent years, Chinese private companies have improved a lot in corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, especially in the philanthropic area. However, private companies' awareness and performance of social responsibility still have a big disparity with SOEs. And private companies' policy of social responsibility is subjective and preferential. To explain this contradiction, this paper tries to introduce political connection and, based on stakeholder salience theory, to test how political connection changes managers' perception of stakeholders' relative importance and cause changes in stakeholders' satisfaction level of social responsibility requirement. The result shows that (1) political connection has positive influence on private companies' CSR; (2) companies with political connection are significantly better than the ones without political connection in society-oriented and customers-oriented responsibility; (3) two kinds of companies have no significant difference in investors-oriented responsibility; (4) as for government-oriented and employee-oriented responsibility, companies with political connection are worse than ones without political connection. These findings are significant for China's future construction of competition system and private companies' choice of stakeholders and future investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the disadvantages of legacy system in companies. Legacy companies' approach in looking at interesting technologies is flawed in two ways. First, much time is being spent soliciting government funding to back the research for new technologies. Second, the culture of legacy companies is biased towards preserving synthetic assets. Legacy systems wont work in a very tight competition in the paper industry.

Small- and medium-sized firms in China have competed passively with advantaged enterprises since 2000, and the prosperity indexes have always been in the recession. This paper aims to find the optimal positioning-pricing strategies for disadvantaged small- and medium-sized firms and explore the complex influence of consumer preference uncertainty in the optimal strategies in duopoly market. In order to do so, the classic Hotelling model is modified to be a heterogeneous duopoly game model under consumer preference uncertainty. By using the backward recurrence algorithm, we first get the optimal equilibrium and then figure out the expected equilibrium solution through mathematical expectation method. The computational results show that disadvantaged enterprises could survive themselves in fierce competition as long as they choose appropriate strategies. In addition, consumer preference uncertainty plays a significant role in affecting the optimal strategy decisions of positioning and pricing in duopoly since producers can hardly obtain complete and perfect information about the market. Specifically, the increased uncertainty of consumer preference generally raises the expected equilibrium price and profit of duopoly enterprises. However, the expected equilibrium profit of the advantaged enterprise in a duopoly decreases with consumer preference uncertainty increasing under certain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketing innovation is identified as a search for creative and new solutions to problems and needs. For businesses to become more competitive and improving their performance, they must constantly develop new products as well as strategies. This paper is based on the research of areas of marketing in the context of Industry 4.0 and its impacts. The implications of digitization are the content of the research presented here. On the basis of the research, a pilot research was carried out among 50 enterprises that present themselves using Industry 4.0. A list of 15 basic tools of marketing innovation was compiled through an evaluation using the content analysis method. Eleven main impacts of marketing innovation which the respondents consider to be important were then generated. These impacts were described and subsequently evaluated using descriptive statistics methods, on the basis of which their importance was empirically verified. The impacts that businesses classed as being most important were: increasing the competitiveness of the company, increasing work productivity and changing the corporate culture. The results of the research showed that there are differences in how impacts are seen by SMEs and by large enterprises. The impacts are rated as most important by enterprises from the automotive industry with a European corporate culture. The research has empirically confirmed that businesses consider the greatest impact of innovative marketing in the context of Industry 4.0 to be the increase in enterprise competitiveness, which was the highest rated impact of the research. The paper has shed fresh light on our current understanding of innovation as a factor in competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides pricing strategy, warranty strategy becomes another important tool of competition for firms in manufacturing industries in recent years. In this context, this paper studies price and warranty competition problems in a supply chain with two manufacturers and one common retailer. The two manufacturers produce two substitutable products; one has high quality and the other has low quality. Mathematical models are developed to analyse these competition problems under four market structures: one centralized supply chain and three decentralized supply chains (i.e. Nash game, manufacturer-leading Stackelberg game and retailer-leading Stackelberg game). We find that the consumers’ sensitivity to warranty period plays an important role in the competition. As this sensitivity increases, the profits of the manufacturer with high-quality product and the retailer increase. However, as this sensitivity increases, whether the profit of the manufacturer with low-quality product increases or decreases depends on the magnitude of the product substitutability. The total profit of the supply chain increases in the consumers’ sensitivity to warranty period. Moreover, the manufacturer with high-quality product earns more than its rival when the sensitivity is low, and earns lower than its rival when the sensitivity is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess the maturity level of competitive intelligence (CI) in Moroccan companies, so as to improve theirs practices, and to justify their investment in competitive intelligence. To do so, we have identified the maturity model based on a comprehensive review of recent literature. The objectives of this paper are threefold: (1) to determine the major purposes of a CI maturity model (CIMM), (2) to identify the types of CI dimensions and levels of maturity, (3) to evaluate Moroccan companies in terms of CI practice. Our approach is to develop a conceptual framework of the CI maturity model that articulates (1) dimensions of CI, and (2) maturity levels of CI. We note that little attention has been given in previous research to how CI is actually conducted in Moroccan companies. For this purpose, an empirical study was conducted. The results discuss various perspectives and insights from a competitive intelligence maturity model point of view in the Moroccan context. The results show that the majority of the Moroccan companies are in an early stage of the CI levels, where the CI practice is only to employ environment scanning and the competition in the business environment is not intense. We also note the absence of CI structure at this level. Most of these Moroccan companies are not able to cope with changes in the business environment. The CI systems and processes are released on an irregular basis. This study is the first to investigate the Competitive Intelligence Maturity Model (CIMM) in the Moroccan context. The findings of this research show that there are six CI dimensions (CI culture of an organization; CI deliverables; CI sourcing; CI cycle; CI investment in terms of resources; CI users and CI application) that should be taken into account in CI implementation with regard to the CI level (early, mid, world class). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to determine the influence of various enterprise characteristics on on-the-job training. The paper focuses mainly on identifying the influence of a firm’s innovative activity, technological capacity for manufacturing and product market competition on its likelihood of having a training program and on training intensity.Design/methodology/approach The authors administered a firm-level survey to a sample of 2,000 Russian enterprises. This survey includes questions about on-the-job training and key information about the companies’ activities. Probit and ordered probit estimates are used in the statistical analyses.Findings The results indicate that an enterprise’s provision of training is determined largely by firm-specific factors, such as its innovative activity, technical and technological state of manufacturing and product market competition. The authors adopt two widely used measures of training: incidence and intensity. Innovative activity and the technical and technological state of manufacturing are decisive factors in explaining a firm’s provision of training, as they have a strictly positive effect on both the incidence and the intensity of training. Product market competition has a positive effect on the incidence of training and a negative effect on the intensity of training.Originality/value This paper is original because it assumes that the process of deciding whether to implement a training program at an enterprise and the corresponding proportion of employees involved in training is built on the presupposition that the training intensity decision is made in two stages. This paper is the first to present estimates of on-the-job training intensity based on data from Russian enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of electronic data interchange (EDI) is one of the essential determinant of business success. Increasing number of business organizations shows that EDI became an essential part of the IT environment and represents a competitive advantage in the customer-supplier relationships. It will also be a necessity for the participation in public procurement. The aim of this paper is to characterize the ways of exchange of documents between Czech companies and to identify the factors that influence the attitude to EDI implementation from a company perspective. The conclusions of this paper are drawn on the basis of primary data collected via questionnaire survey in 2014. This work provides a comprehensive view of the way of communication in the supply chain in the retail sector and highlights the main internal factors influencing the implementation decisions. The results indicate a positive relationship between the number of suppliers and the knowledge of EDI. The implementation decisions and expected benefits for company depend on the number of received documents. Despite the fact that electronic document sharing provides many advantages, the adoption of this communication is still insufficient. Therefore this phenomenon still represents a significant challenge for companies as information awareness is a critical indicator of the company's survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important part of any economy. They represent almost 99.8% of all enterprises in the Czech Republic. SMEs contribute significantly to job creation and GDP. They are considered to be the important source of economy growth and their innovative potential is emphasized too. One of the ways for their increase in competitiveness or achievement of growth is taking part in the internationalization process. These reasons point out the importance of paying special attention to SMEs. This paper focuses on the specifics of the internationalization process of Czech SMEs. Attention is paid to strategies that Czech SMEs use in foreign markets and to factors which may influence the use of particular strategies. The outputs of this paper are made on the basis of primary data obtained through several partial questionnaire surveys across different sectors of the Czech economy. Based on the data processing it was found that the most often used strategy in foreign markets by Czech SMEs are the 'focus' strategy, the strategy of differentiation and the cost leadership strategy. Interesting facts are found out by detailed look at the particular strategies. Micro and small enterprises use more often the 'focus' strategy. On the other hand, medium-sized enterprises follow rather the strategy of differentiation or the cost leadership strategy than the 'focus' strategy. It was found out that the use of particular strategy in foreign market is significantly affected by whether the enterprises have previous experience with foreign trade. In this context the paper focuses on the verification of the role of this previous experience and particularly on the findings what is the impact of this experience on the enterprise's success in internationalization. Based on the data processing the positive correlation between previous experience and success in internationalization was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines behavioural and regional/geographic cultural antecedents of sustainability in SME contexts. The study identifies prevailing macro-representations of sustainability in the literature and highlights an over-focus on large firms constituting the predominant unit of analysis. Moreover, there is a propensity in the literature to view sustainability primarily in terms of 'environmental' – closely linked to a corporate strategic imperative narrative of economic competitiveness and profitability. Overall, this perspective tends to generate accounts which are acultural, apolitical and ahistorical in terms of innovative actions and sustainability practices. In response, using a conceptual framework of moral identity, the paper develops a more micro-foundational insight to sustainability (developing notions of 'tangible' and 'intangible') and examines regional economic development attitudes at individual owner-manager/managing director level in small-to-medium-sized firms. Methodologically, an inductively framed interview schedule was employed with owner-managers and managing directors (n = 30) of manufacturing SMEs in the Baden-Württemberg region (Germany). The study identified a range of micro-foundational behavioural antecedents operating in the sample companies. In particular, it underlined that many of the SME owner-managers/managing directors expressed views informed by a particular moral identity connected with a perspective rooted in regionally bound, longstanding and 'expected' behaviours of trust, fairness, honesty and community responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of firms' digital transformation on labor income share utilizing a large sample of Chinese-listed enterprises from 2003 to 2020, and we find a negative correlation between digital transformation and enterprise labor income share. The results are robust to changing variable indicators, instrumental variable approach, and Difference-in-Difference method. The impact of enterprise digital transformation on labor income share is more pronounced for industrial industry, technology-intensive, and state-owned firms. Product market competition, employee wage bargaining power, and market size are essential in the relationship between enterprise digital transformation and labor income share. This study reveals that protecting employee rights and maintaining fair competition help weaken enterprise digital transformation's negative impact on labor income share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to help financial enterprises establish a solid foundation in a big data ecosystem (BDE) and fully play their competitive edges in the fierce business competition. This paper innovatively conducts research studies on the reform of enterprise financial management. First, it expounds on the relevant concepts of big data technology (BDT) alongside financial management. Afterward, the impact of BDT on enterprise financial management is examined. Consequently, a financial enterprise-oriented economic management model is proposed by integrating BDT, enterprise economic management (EEM), and enterprise performance evaluation methods. Further, an experiment is designed to verify the proposed model on estimating the annual enterprise operating income (OI) and human resource (HR) structure. The research findings show that the predicted and actual OI error is within 6%. The predicted enterprise personnel deployment only deviates slightly from actual personnel deployment. Thus, the proposed economic management model can accurately predict OI and cost. It provides a reliable reference for enterprise innovation management, optimizing recruitment conditions, sales strategy, and development strategy. Lastly, the research deficiencies are pointed out alongside corresponding suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers mixed duopoly games where a state-owned public firm and a foreign private firm compete in price. The public firm aims to maximize the un-weighted sum of consumer surplus and its own profit. The paper examines a desirable role (either leader or follower) of the public firm, an effect of eliminating the foreign firm and an endogenous role in price-setting mixed duopoly by adopting the observable delay game. Consequently, the paper shows that the unique equilibrium of price-setting international mixed competition is quite different from that of quantity-setting international mixed competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on competitive pressure plays an important part in understanding a firm’s behaviour in its changing environment. This paper provides an empirical contribution to the knowledge of the relationship between competitive pressure and internal information integration in this area by focusing on manufacturer internal information integration. The findings show that the degree of manufacturer internal information can be explained by the competitive strength of the largest firm in the industry. From a management perspective, the results indicate the need to regard the competitive landscape as an additional lever of manufacturer internal information sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to synthesize some relevant norms, namely European norms (EN), to the maintenance field. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on the conjunction of the most relevant norms to the maintenance field that represent a coherent set of tools to aid maintenance activity and maintenance companies to achieve a new level of competitiveness. Findings – Until now, the companies have not given relevance to specific certifications, such as PAS 55 or NP4492. But, with the increase of competitiveness and the market more and more exigent, it is necessary to introduce this new paradigm to raise the maintenance activity at an upper level. Practical implications – The approach presented in the paper constitutes a base for an upper level of competitiveness among companies, based on common standards that make the maintenance activity more exigent and transparent. Originality/value – The paper presents a conjunction among standards, including the newest ones, that constitutes a new vision for maintenance providers, representing a definitive contribution for a new positioning of the maintenance market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine characteristics of project management assets and project management performance outcomes as a step towards exploring the link between assets being valuable, rare, inimitable, and having organizational support and the achievement of competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyzes data from responses to an online survey by 198 North American Project Management Institute® members. Exploratory factor analysis is used to identify characteristics of project management assets and project management performance outcomes. Findings – In total, six factors that comprised the characteristics of project management assets, three factors that comprised organizational support for project management assets, and two factors that comprised the project management performance outcomes were extracted. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this study include sample size, response rate, and self-report bias, calling for a larger sample in ongoing research. This study is a step towards making the link between project management assets and performance outcomes. Practical implications – This study draws managerial attention to project management assets as sources of competitive advantage, applying the resource based view of the firm that assets are sources of competitive advantage if they add economic value, are rare, are difficult to imitate, and have organizational support. Originality/value – Few papers have applied the resource based view of the firm to examine project management capabilities as a source of competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the literature on the resource based view of the firm and contributes to an improved understanding of project management as a source of competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]