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Competitive Advantage (competitive + advantage)
Kinds of Competitive Advantage Selected AbstractsSustainable Development and the Sustainability of Competitive Advantage: A Dynamic and Sustainable View of the FirmCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2002Miguel A. Rodriguez Does the need for sustainable development hinder businesses' ability to create value? Is a firm's competitiveness negatively affected by considering that need? After quickly reviewing the main literature contributions on the relationship between business and society, and drawing from resource-based view of the firm and sustainable development literature, this paper presents a proposal for a dynamic and sustainable view of the firm. It shows how considering the changes introduced into the competitive landscape by sustainable development influences the way in which companies develop their resources, capabilities and activities, fostering the persistence of competitive advantages based on knowledge and innovation. [source] An Exploratory Analysis of the Value of the Skills of IT Personnel: Their Relationship to IS Infrastructure and Competitive AdvantageDECISION SCIENCES, Issue 1 2001Terry Anthony Byrd Abstract Determining and assessing the requisite skills of information technology (IT) personnel have become critical as the value of IT has risen in modern organizations. In addition to technical skills traditionally expected of IT personnel, softer skills like managerial, business, and interpersonal skills have been increasingly cited in previous studies as mandatory for these employees. This paper uses a typology of IT personnel skills,technology management skills, business functional skills, interpersonal skills, and technical skills,and investigates their relationships to two information systems (IS) success variables, IS infrastructure flexibility and the competitive advantage provided by IS. The study investigates these relationships using the perceptions of chief information officers (CIOs) from mostly Fortune 2000 companies. The contributions of this study are: IT personnel skills do affect IS success, technical skills are viewed as the most important skill set in affecting IS infrastructure flexibility and competitive advantage, and modularity is viewed as more valuable to competitive advantage than integration. Several explanations are offered for the lack of positive relationships between the softer IT personnel skills and the dimensions of IS success used in this study. [source] Managing Design for Competitive Advantage A Process ApproachDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 4 2000Eric M. Olson FOR EXECUTIVES who want to strengthen the design/ business relationship, Eric Olson, Stanley Slater, and Rachel Cooper make some clear recommendations. Make sure designers and design managers understand the organization's competitive strategy; enumerate the design elements inherent in that strategy; nurture open communication between design and other functions; develop design briefs that stimulate creativity at the same time they reinforce business strategy; and measure performance. It's advice that's both sound and challenging. [source] Corporate Governance and Competitive Advantage in Family-Controlled FirmsENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 3 2005Michael Carney Recent attempts to identify the basis of family-controlled firms' competitive advantage have drawn upon the resource-based view of the firm. This article supplements these efforts and advances the argument that family-controlled firms' competitive advantage arises from their system of corporate governance. Systems of corporate governance embody incentives, authority patterns, and norms of legitimation that generate particular organizational propensities to create competitive advantages and disadvantages. For comparative purposes, the characteristics of managerial, alliance, and family governance are reviewed. The impact of a family's control rights over a firm's assets generates three dominant propensities (parsimony, personalism, and particularism). These propensities give advantages in scarce environments, facilitate the creation and utilization of social capital, and engender opportunistic investment processes. The experience of family-controlled firms in emerging markets is drawn upon to illustrate the argument. [source] Competition in UKHigher Education: Competitive Advantage in the Research Assessment Exercise and Porter's Diamond ModelHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2000Paul J. CurranArticle first published online: 9 OCT 200 The UK public sector has been exposed to competition as a means of enhancing its performance. HE institutions now compete for resources on the basis of research. In this competitive environment the crucial question is not why one HE institution is more successful than another at research but why some institutions are home to a large number of departments that are successful. The answer lies in exploring what gives competitive advantage at the level of the department, discipline and nation. Porter' three layer ,diamond' model of competitive advantage is proposed as a framework for this exploration. This identified four major components: factor conditions (research orientation and accumulated wealth of institution); demand conditions (demand by academy for departmental research as measured by ability to secure external income/research students); related and supporting departments (research strength of institution and presence of a relevant cluster of research-strong departments) and departmental strategy, structure and rivalry (ability to focus departmental attention on the successful training of research students and publication in refereed journals). In a linked paper this model provided a framework to evaluate research performance in the discipline of geography (Curran, 2001). [source] Entrepreneurial Access and Absorption of Knowledge Spillovers: Strategic Board and Managerial Composition for Competitive AdvantageJOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2006David B. Audretsch The resource theory of the firm implies that knowledge is a key resource bestowing a competitive advantage for entrepreneurial firms. However, it remains rather unclear up to now how new ventures and small businesses can access knowledge resources. The purpose of this study was to suggest two strategies, in particular, that facilitate entrepreneurial access to and absorption of external knowledge spillovers: the attraction of managers and directors with an academic background. Based on data on board composition of 295 high-technology firms, the results clearly demonstrate the strong link between geographical proximity to research-intense universities and board composition. [source] The Effect of Franchisors' Communication, Service Assistance, and Competitive Advantage on Franchisees' Intentions to Remain in the Franchise SystemJOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2004Jyh-Shen Chiou This study developed and empirically tested a model examining the antecedents of franchisees' overall satisfaction and intention to remain in a franchise system. Based on a sample from a convenient store franchise system in Taiwan, the results showed that communication is very important in reinforcing franchisees' trust and overall satisfaction with the franchise system. The results also showed that competitive advantage of a franchise system is the basis for a franchisee's overall satisfaction and intention to remain in a franchise system. However, satisfaction of a franchisor's service assistance did not have direct impact on a franchisee's overall satisfaction toward the franchise system. [source] Comment on "From Industrial Policy to Innovation Policy: Japan's Pursuit of Competitive Advantage"ASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2007Kyung Tae LEE [source] The Most-Favoured-Customer Pricing Policy and Competitive AdvantageBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2000Iñaki Aguirre The paper investigates the effects on competition of the unilateral most-favoured-customer pricing policy. A model is considered in which a multimarket incumbent firm faces a threat of entry in one of its two markets. It is shown that contemporaneous most-favoured-customer clauses may change competition to the advantage of the incumbent both under strategic substitutes and strategic complements. If the duopolistic market is strong, the most-favoured-customer policy makes the incumbent ,tough' and may be used for entry deterrence purposes. [source] Interspecific Differences in Responses to Predation Risk May Confer Competitive Advantages to Invasive Freshwater Turtle SpeciesETHOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Nuria Polo-Cavia The nature of competitive interactions between native and introduced invasive species is unclear. In the Iberian Peninsula, the introduced red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is an invasive species that is competing and displacing the endangered native Spanish terrapin (Mauremys leprosa). We hypothesized that interspecific differences in antipredatory behavior might confer competitive advantages to introduced T. scripta. We examined whether interspecific differences in responses to predation risk affect the time that turtles remained hidden in the shell before using an active escape to water. Both turtle species adjusted hiding times by balancing predation threat, microhabitat conditions and the costs of remaining hidden. However, introduced T. scripta showed longer hiding times before escaping than native M. Leprosa, which, in contrast, switched from waiting hidden in the shell to escape to deep water as soon as possible. These interspecific differences might result from the risk of facing different types of predators in different microhabitats (land vs. water) in their original habitats. However, in anthropogenically altered habitats where predators have been greatly reduced, T. scripta may avoid potential costs of unnecessary repeated escape responses to water (e.g. interruption of basking). These behavioral asymmetries could contribute to the greater competitive ability of introduced T. scripta within anthropogenically disturbed environments. [source] Special Issue on ,Building Competitive Advantages in China's Emerging Market'MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2005Article first published online: 6 JUL 200 [source] Challenges and trends in bioseparationsJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Juan A Asenjo Abstract In this paper the issues and challenges presented 15 years ago for performing efficient separation processes for recombinant proteins are revised and discussed. Competitive advantage in production was seen as not only dependent on innovations in molecular biology and other areas of basic biological sciences but also on innovation of separations and downstream processes. The trend to develop techniques that exploit fundamental physicochemical principles more efficiently was emphasized, including analysis of the physicochemical properties of proteins and its relation to efficiency in bioseparation. 15 years ago the main thrust was also focused on the development of novel techniques. Clearly the challenges faced today, where highly optimized and efficient production processes exist, are dramatically different. The use of mathematical models for optimizing chromatographic separations and simplifying validation of such operations is extremely advantageous. Their use constitutes an example of how the challenges that bioseparations are facing and will be facing within the next few years can be met. Such models should be extended to a larger number of proteins, chromatographic procedures and experimental conditions. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Sustainable supply chain management and inter-organizational resources: a literature reviewCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2010Stefan Gold Abstract On the basis of a content analysis, this paper explores the role of sustainable supply chain management as a catalyst of generating valuable inter-organizational resources and thus possible sustained inter-firm competitive advantage through collaboration on environmental and social issues. Drawing on the resource-based view and its extension, the relational view, this paper highlights that partner-focused supply management capabilities evolve to corporate core competences as competition shifts from an inter-firm to an inter-supply-chain level. The ,collaborative paradigm' in supply chain management regards strategic collaboration as a crucial source of competitive advantage. Collaboration is even more essential when supply chains aim at ensuring simultaneously economic, environmental and social performance on a product's total life-cycle basis. Inter-firm resources and capabilities emerging from supply-chain-wide collaboration are prone to become sources of sustained inter-firm competitive advantage, since they are socially complex, causally ambiguous and historically grown and hence particularly difficult to imitate by competitors. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Environmental reporting by Indian corporationsCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2004A. Sahay Environmental management has entered boardrooms, factories and business premises with economic, social and legal consequences. Sound environmental management provides corporations with a competitive advantage in addition to fulfilling corporate social responsibility and adding value to the business. The command and control policy of governments, the world over, has not produced the desired result. Corporate environmental reporting is emerging as a tool for the same. Indian corporations, like their counterparts in developed countries, took hesitant steps towards environmental protection , most of them driven by legal compliance. A selected few companies, however, took to environmental protection, enhancement and reporting through overall business considerations. The study indicates that environmental reporting, barring a few cases, is unsystematic and non-comparable. Though good work is being done by some industrial sectors and some units in different sectors, the reports seem to be aimed more at publicity than providing environmental facts and figures. A good quality of environmental reporting, like good environmental performance, needs to be encouraged and rewarded. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Functional Management Competence and Growth of Young Technology-Based FirmsCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008Sören Salomo Acknowledging an increased research interest into the success factors for young technology-based firms in the last decade, the present study serves two main purposes. First, we aim at developing a comprehensive concept of functional management competence in young technology-based firms. Functional management competence covers the understanding of and proficiency in managing specific functional tasks (Katz, 1974). As we focus on young technology-based firms, it is suggested that marketing, financial and technology management tasks are at the core of functional management competence. Second, we aim at delineating and validating an appropriate measurement model for functional management competence. In order to test the model's nomological validity, we investigate the impact of functional management competence on firm growth. Therefore, building on established firm development approaches, we propose a phase model for the development of young technology-based firms. Our study builds upon data from 212 young technology-based firms in the field of microtechnology, nanotechnology, electronics, optics and lasers. We use formative measurement models to establish valid and reliable constructs and a path model based on partial least squares modelling to investigate the performance effects. The results suggest that functional management competences generally are significant drivers of firm development speed. In particular, technology and marketing management competences are shown to impact development speed. While technology management competence is positively driving development speed, the marketing management competence impact on speed is mediated by competitive advantage of the new products developed by young technology-based firms. Financial management competence has no significant link to firm development speed. [source] How Attitudes of Leaders May Enhance Organizational Creativity: Evidence from a Chinese StudyCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2007Karen Yuan Wang It has been argued that a key factor in the development of competitive advantage is the provision of an environment that encourages employees to be creative. Leaders play a crucial role in cultivating an environment that encourages subordinates to be creative. Based on a survey of 219 managers in privately owned enterprises in China, this study investigates how trust in subordinates in terms of their reliability and their loyalty to the leader is related to leaders encouraging subordinates to be creative. The findings reveal positive relationships between these two types of trust in subordinates and leaders encouraging subordinates to be creative. The findings also reveal that attitude to formalization moderated the relationship between trust in subordinates and encouraging them to be creative. [source] Inter,organisational Relationships in the Worldwide Popular Recorded Music IndustryCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2002Jonathan Gander This paper analyses the worldwide popular recorded music industry and examines how product, firm and industry features result in key resources coagulating around the two firm types; the major and independent. We argue that these firm specific resources are complementary and participating firms would benefit from their union. However though complementary, they are inimical and close association risks damaging their value. Collaboration between the two firm types that hold these resources therefore needs to be designed not along traditional concerns of protection from opportunism, or the requirement to control key resources. Instead competitive advantage may be gained by designing and managing structural relationships that protect each partner's resource set from the hostile elements of the others; a contamination rather than an appropriation focus. [source] A Design Theory Approach to Building Strategic Network-Based Customer Service Systems,DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 3 2009M. Kathryn Brohman ABSTRACT Customer service is a key component of a firm's value proposition and a fundamental driver of differentiation and competitive advantage in nearly every industry. Moreover, the relentless coevolution of service opportunities with novel and more powerful information technologies has made this area exciting for academic researchers who can contribute to shaping the design and management of future customer service systems. We engage in interdisciplinary research,across information systems, marketing, and computer science,in order to contribute to the service design and service management literature. Grounded in the design-science perspective, our study leverages marketing theory on the service-dominant logic and recent findings pertaining to the evolution of customer service systems. Our theorizing culminates with the articulation of four design principles. These design principles underlie the emerging class of customer service systems that, we believe, will enable firms to better compete in an environment characterized by an increase in customer centricity and in customers' ability to self-serve and dynamically assemble the components of solutions that fit their needs. In this environment, customers retain control over their transactional data, as well as the timing and mode of their interactions with firms, as they increasingly gravitate toward integrated complete customer solutions rather than single products or services. Guided by these design principles, we iterated through, and evaluated, two instantiations of the class of systems we propose, before outlining implications and directions for further cross-disciplinary scholarly research. [source] Strategic Decisions of New Technology Adoption under Asymmetric Information: A Game-Theoretic Model*DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 4 2003Kevin Zhu ABSTRACT In this paper we explore strategic decision making in new technology adoption by using economic analysis. We show how asymmetric information affects firms' decisions to adopt the technology. We do so in a two-stage game-theoretic model where the first-stage investment results in the acquisition of a new technology that, in the second stage, may give the firm a competitive advantage in the product market. We compare two information structures under which two competing firms have asymmetric information about the future performance (i.e., postadoption costs) of the new technology. We find that equilibrium strategies under asymmetric information are quite different from those under symmetric information. Information asymmetry leads to different incentives and strategic behaviors in the technology adoption game. In contrast to conventional wisdom, our model shows that market uncertainty may actually induce firms to act more aggressively under certain conditions. We also show that having better information is not always a good thing. These results illustrate a key departure from established decision theory. [source] An Exploratory Analysis of the Value of the Skills of IT Personnel: Their Relationship to IS Infrastructure and Competitive AdvantageDECISION SCIENCES, Issue 1 2001Terry Anthony Byrd Abstract Determining and assessing the requisite skills of information technology (IT) personnel have become critical as the value of IT has risen in modern organizations. In addition to technical skills traditionally expected of IT personnel, softer skills like managerial, business, and interpersonal skills have been increasingly cited in previous studies as mandatory for these employees. This paper uses a typology of IT personnel skills,technology management skills, business functional skills, interpersonal skills, and technical skills,and investigates their relationships to two information systems (IS) success variables, IS infrastructure flexibility and the competitive advantage provided by IS. The study investigates these relationships using the perceptions of chief information officers (CIOs) from mostly Fortune 2000 companies. The contributions of this study are: IT personnel skills do affect IS success, technical skills are viewed as the most important skill set in affecting IS infrastructure flexibility and competitive advantage, and modularity is viewed as more valuable to competitive advantage than integration. Several explanations are offered for the lack of positive relationships between the softer IT personnel skills and the dimensions of IS success used in this study. [source] Declaring victory: Toward a new value proposition for business designDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2004Carol Moore Evaluating the nexus between business and design, Carol Moore asserts that companies can establish and sustain a competitive advantage by investing in experience design, simultaneous design, and the design and delivery of urgently needed information. She identifies five promising business-design "themes" and urges designers to work in collaborative teams and fully immerse themselves in the context of their endeavors. [source] Phorid fly parasitoids of invasive fire ants indirectly improve the competitive ability of a native antECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Natasha J. Mehdiabadi Abstract., 1.,The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), is an invasive species of south-eastern U.S.A. Since its introduction from South America approximately 70 years ago, this pest has devastated natural biodiversity. 2.,Due to such ecological costs, Pseudacteon phorid fly parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) from South America are being introduced into the U.S.A. as a potential biological control agent. Here, the indirect effects of these specialised parasitoids on an interspecific native ant competitor, Forelius mccooki (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), are evaluated. 3.,Over the course of a 50-day laboratory experiment, the results show that the native ant improved aspects of exploitative, but not interference, competition when S. invicta -attacking flies were present compared with when they were absent. 4.,Forelius mccooki colonies from the phorid treatment had approximately twice as many foragers at food baits relative to controls; however, there was no significant difference in interference aspects of competition or native ant colony growth between the two treatments. 5.,These results suggest that the S. invicta -specialised parasitoids help shift the competitive balance more in favour of F. mccooki than if these flies were not present; however, this competitive advantage does not translate into increased colony growth after 50 days. These laboratory findings are interpreted with regard to the more complex interactions in the field. [source] Lancashire, India, and shifting competitive advantage in cotton textiles, 1700,1850: the neglected role of factor prices1ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 2 2009STEPHEN BROADBERRY In the early eighteenth century, wages in Britain were more than four times as high as in India, the world's major exporter of cotton textiles. This induced the adoption of more capital-intensive production methods in Britain and a faster rate of technological progress, so that competitive advantage had begun to shift in Britain's favour by the late eighteenth century. However, the completion of the process was delayed until after the Napoleonic Wars by increasing raw cotton costs, before supply adjusted to the major increase in demand for inputs. [source] European industry: the emerging market competitiveness challengeECONOMIC OUTLOOK, Issue 3 2006Article first published online: 24 AUG 200 As the global economy has become increasingly open to 'free' trade, European industry - and, indeed, industry across the developed world - has found itself faced with growing competition from low cost, emerging market countries. How is it facing up to this stiff challenge? Newspaper headlines may suggest that effort has been focused on raising trade barriers to keep competition at bay. However, such actions are a thin veneer over the very real, structural changes that are rapidly taking place. This article, by Grant Colquhoun, examines the changing structure of the EU15's trading patterns and the differential impact across manufacturing sectors. It then analyses the steps industry is taking to cope with the competitiveness challenge. As well as attempting to squeeze costs, it is clear that industry in Europe is restructuring in order to focus on higher value added activities, where it typically has a competitive advantage over emerging markets. [source] Multiparasitism of Choristoneura fumiferana by the ichneumonid Tranosema rostrale and the tachinid Actia interrupta: occurrence in the field and outcome of competition under laboratory conditionsENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 2 2002Michel Cusson Abstract Tranosema rostrale (Brishke) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) and Actia interrupta Curran (Hymenoptera: Tachinidae) are the two endoparasitoids most frequently encountered in low-density populations of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae), in the Quebec City region. Monitoring of attack rates of implanted C. fumiferana larvae at two different study sites suggested the possible existence of competition between the two parasitoids, with A. interrupta seemingly displacing T. rostrale. Here, we show that multiparasitism involving these two species does occur in the field, but at a frequency too low to explain the seasonal pattern of decline in apparent parasitism by T. rostrale that accompanies the rise of A. interrupta attack rates. We also provide preliminary evidence, from laboratory experiments, that A. interrupta has a competitive advantage over T. rostrale and that the success of parasitism by A. interrupta may be enhanced by prior parasitism by T. rostrale under certain conditions, possibly due to the presence of the latter species' polydnavirus. In addition, we describe a PCR-based method that we developed to help detect the presence of T. rostrale eggs which often escape detection by simple visual examination of the dissected host larvae; DNA sequences specific to the polydnavirus injected by the female wasp at the time of oviposition can be readily amplified from whole host larvae. [source] Firm-Specific Human Capital and Governance in IPO Firms: Addressing Agency and Resource Dependence ConcernsENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2009Jonathan D. Arthurs Entrepreneurs with firm-specific human capital represent both a potential source of competitive advantage and a threat to appropriate the rents that are ultimately generated by a new venture. This situation presents interesting agency and resource dependence challenges. While potential investors in these ventures will want assurances that their interests are protected, they will also want to ensure that these key entrepreneurs remain with the organization. Using agency theory and resource dependence theory, we examine the types of governance mechanisms that are implemented in firms going through an initial public offering comparing those ventures which indicate a dependence on these critical entrepreneurs versus those that do not. Our analysis reveals that ventures exhibiting dependence on key entrepreneurs are associated with higher insider and outsider ownership by the board, greater start-up experience by the board, greater use of contingent compensation, and greater use of involuntary departure agreements. [source] Why Do Some Family Businesses Out-Compete?ENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 6 2006Governance, Long-Term Orientations, Sustainable Capability This article seeks to link the domains of corporate governance, investment policies, competitive asymmetries, and sustainable capabilities. Conditions such as concentrated ownership, lengthy tenures, and profound business expertise give some family-controlled business (FCB) owners the discretion, incentive, knowledge, and ultimately, the resources to invest deeply in the future of the firm. These long-term investments accrue from particular governance conditions and engender competitive asymmetries,organizational qualities that are hard for other firms to copy, and thus, if tied to the value chain, create capabilities that are sustainable. Investments in staff and training, e.g., create tacit knowledge and preserve it within the firm. Investments in enduring relationships with partners enhance access to resources and free firms to focus on core competencies. And devotion to a compelling mission dedicates most of these investments to a core competency. When such investments are farsighted, orchestrated, and ongoing, capabilities will tend to evolve in a cumulative trajectory, making them doubly hard to imitate and thereby extending competitive advantage. Arguments are supported by making reference to the literature on corporate governance and agency theory and to emerging research on FCBs. [source] Corporate Governance and Competitive Advantage in Family-Controlled FirmsENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 3 2005Michael Carney Recent attempts to identify the basis of family-controlled firms' competitive advantage have drawn upon the resource-based view of the firm. This article supplements these efforts and advances the argument that family-controlled firms' competitive advantage arises from their system of corporate governance. Systems of corporate governance embody incentives, authority patterns, and norms of legitimation that generate particular organizational propensities to create competitive advantages and disadvantages. For comparative purposes, the characteristics of managerial, alliance, and family governance are reviewed. The impact of a family's control rights over a firm's assets generates three dominant propensities (parsimony, personalism, and particularism). These propensities give advantages in scarce environments, facilitate the creation and utilization of social capital, and engender opportunistic investment processes. The experience of family-controlled firms in emerging markets is drawn upon to illustrate the argument. [source] Professional Employer Organizations and Their Role in Small and Medium Enterprises: The Impact of HR OutsourcingENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 1 2003Brian S. Klaas While effective HR services and programs can help firms gain competitive advantage, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often lack the internal resources required to develop and deliver these services and programs. As a result, SMEs increasingly are outsourcing HR activities to professional employer organizations (PEOs). Questions remain, however, about the conditions under which SMEs will benefit from outsourcing HR to a PEO, as well as about the type of benefits that are potentially available. The very nature of many HR activities raises questions about the risks associated with market governance and a PEO's ability to ensure service quality for SMEs. In order for these questions to be addressed, it is necessary to understand the process by which PEO utilization affects SME outcomes. In this article, we use transaction cost economics, social exchange theory, and the strategic HR literature to develop a framework for understanding the factors and conditions likely to affect whether and how an SME will benefit from using a PEO. [source] Sustainability and competitive advantage: Empirical evidence on the influence of strategic choices between environmental management approachesENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2005Marcus Wagner First page of article [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||