Strategic Orientations, Dynamic Capabilities, and Firm Performance: an Analysis for Knowledge Intensive Business Service
- PDF / 696,220 Bytes
- 21 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 31 Downloads / 168 Views
Strategic Orientations, Dynamic Capabilities, and Firm Performance: an Analysis for Knowledge Intensive Business Services Soumodip Sarkar 1,2 & Dulce Matos Coelho 1,3 & João Maroco 4
Received: 18 August 2015 / Accepted: 4 October 2016 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract The strategic orientations of a firm are considered crucial for enhancing firm performance and their impact can be even greater when associated with dynamic capabilities, particularly in complex and dynamic environments. This study empirically analyzes the relationship between market, entrepreneurial and learning orientations, dynamic capabilities, and performance using an integrative approach hitherto little explored. Using a sample of 209 knowledge intensive business service firms, this paper applies structural equation modeling to explore both direct effects of strategic orientations and the mediating role of dynamic capabilities on performance. The study demonstrates that learning orientation and one of the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation have a direct positive effect on performance. On the other hand, dynamic capabilities mediate the relationships between some of the strategic orientations and firm performance. Overall, when dynamic capabilities are combined with the appropriate strategic orientations, they enhance firm performance. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the knowledge economy, given the important role knowledge intensive business services play in such a dynamic and pivotal sector.
* Soumodip Sarkar [email protected] Dulce Matos Coelho [email protected] João Maroco [email protected]
1
CEFAGE-UE, Évora, Portugal
2
Department of Management, University of Évora, Largo dos Colegiais, n 2, Évora, Portugal
3
Department of Economics and Management, ESCE-IPS, Setúbal, Portugal
4
Department of Psychological Sciences, ISPA-IU, Lisbon, Portugal
J Knowl Econ
Keywords Strategic orientations . Dynamic capabilities . Firm performance . Knowledge intensive business services
Introduction Strategic orientations are the strategic directions implemented by a firm that creates the proper behaviors for the continuous superior firm performance (Narver and Slater 1990). Strategic orientations are generally associated with innovative and distinctive competencies. Most studies have found the different dimensions of strategic orientations of a firm to have a positive impact on firm performance, albeit to a varying degree. Although the direct effects of strategic orientations on performance have been examined, especially in the earlier period of research in this field, many scholars argue that strategic orientations may not play out directly, but rather their impact is most felt when enacted in conjunction with the presence of other factors (e.g., Wales et al. 2013; Wiklund and Shepherd 2003). This vindicates the recommendation to pay attention to the process by which strategic orientations affect performance and to analyze the moderation or mediation of internal and external variables (Zhou e
Data Loading...
