scholarly journals The Effect of Internal Marketing on Competitive Advantage as Organizational Coaching – The Mediating Effect of Service Innovation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Hamdoun ◽  
Mohamed Akli Achabou ◽  
Sihem Dekhili

Purpose This paper aims to examine the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance in the context of developing countries. More specifically, the mediating role of a firm’s competitive advantage and intangible resources, namely, human capital and reputation are studied. Design/methodology/approach The study considered a sample of 100 Tunisian firms. The analysis makes use of the structural equation modelling method to explore the relationship between CSR and financial performance, by including mediator variables. Findings The results confirm that CSR has no significant direct effect on financial performance. In particular, they indicate that the social dimension of CSR has a negative impact on performance. However, CSR does have a positive impact on competitive advantage via the two intangible resources considered, human capital and company reputation. Research limitations/implications The research fills a gap that occurred in the previous literature. In effect, previous studies focussed only on the direct link between CSR and financial performance. In addition, it enriches the limited literature on CSR strategies in the context of developing countries. However, further studies should explore the opposite relationship, i.e. the impact of financial performance on CSR strategy. In addition, the authors believe that amongst other potential research avenues, it would be interesting to study the moderating role of the activity sector. Practical implications From a practical point of view, this study suggests new applications with respect to the link between CSR and financial performance. To enhance their company’s financial performance, managers need to ensure that intangible resources are managed efficiently. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by examining how a firm’s intangible resources mediate between CSR and competitive advantage and how competitive advantage mediates between intangible resources and financial performance. Second originality is related to the study of the link between CSR and the financial performance of business organisations in the context of a developing country.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-178
Author(s):  
Özlen Onurlu ◽  
Suna Karataş

In a highly competitive environment, the meeting of customer demands and expectations in an effective way is highly crucial for companies that want to have a competitive advantage and to keep on existing in the long run. The main objective of companies is making profit in a sustainable way and this is possible by assuring customer satisfaction. The quality of the services that companies offer their customers is closely related with the performance of the employees. This has made it necessary that marketing activities for employee satisfaction be developed prior to customer satisfaction. Feeling more motivated, workers start working more eagerly as a result of these marketing activities which are called internal marketing. So, companies make their profitability sustainable by means of keeping their customers satisfied and loyal. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between internal marketing activities applied to employees and employee motivations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-255
Author(s):  
Lutfi Nurcholis

This paper aims to investigate the effect of IT-strategy alignment, responsiveness, operational flexibility, and business relationship on sustainable competitive advantage and the mediating effect of responsiveness, operational flexibility, and business relationship in relationships between IT-strategy alignment and sustainable competitive advantage. Data were collected from 189 Batik SME in Pekalongan and analyzed by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The result shows that IT-strategy alignment significantly affects responsiveness. Responsiveness, operational flexibility, and also business relationship significantly affect sustainable competitive advantage. Furthermore, responsiveness, operational flexibility, and business relationship mediate the correlation of IT-strategy alignment and sustainable competitive advantage. Responsiveness, operational flexibility, and business relationship have the confidence and value that puts customers on every business decision. It encourages Batik SME to improve the sustainable competitive advantage based on the customers’ expectations. IT-strategy alignment is essential to enhance responsiveness, operational flexibility, and business to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. That IT-strategy alignment can improve the sustainable competitive advantage of the Batik SME.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubham Dixit ◽  
Shiwangi Singh ◽  
Sanjay Dhir ◽  
Swati Dhir

Purpose This study aims to identify the antecedents of strategic thinking and its relationship with competitive advantage. Further, this study analyses the mediating effect of strategic thinking between its antecedents and competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach A self-reported questionnaire with 51 questions was floated among 220 professionals from various industries in India. The response was analysed using the partial least squares-structural equation modelling methodology using SmartPLS software. Findings The direct effect of creativity, corporate culture and knowledge management are established with strategic thinking, as well as a competitive advantage. Also, the study finds a significant relationship between strategic thinking and competitive advantage. The study finds no mediation (direct effect) in the case of creativity, corporate culture and knowledge management. Further, no mediation (no relationship) is found in the case of vision. Practical implications Business must start adopting strategic thinking practices in their decision-making process to create a competitive advantage. Further, the influence of corporate culture, creativity and knowledge management on strategic thinking highlights their importance. Originality/value The study establishes the impact of antecedents of strategic thinking on competitive advantage. The study highlights the importance of other factors along with strategic thinking for achieving competitive advantage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-251
Author(s):  
Swati Panda ◽  
Satyendra C. Pandey ◽  
Andrea Bennett ◽  
Xiaoguang Tian

Purpose Given the competitive landscape in the higher education setting, it is important that universities adopt strategies that create competitive advantage for them. Universities must leverage their resources efficiently to address this goal. Creating a positive brand image is one such strategy. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize university brand image as its heritage, service quality and trustworthiness and investigate their relationship with student’s satisfaction. It also investigates the role of university reputation as a mediating variable. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a mixed method approach. The first stage involved qualitative interviews and focused group discussions with students to understand the factors responsible for student satisfaction with their respective universities. The second stage involved administering a survey questionnaire in two geographies – the USA and India to investigate the hypothesized relationship. The authors use regression analyses to test these relationships. Findings Findings indicate that a distinct brand image plays an important role in students’ level of satisfaction across both the USA and India. Service quality has a greater impact on student satisfaction levels across both contexts (as compared to university heritage and trustworthiness). The authors also find a positive mediating effect of university reputation in the relationship between university brand image and student satisfaction levels. Originality/value The current research contributes to the services marketing literature in the university context. It offers a framework for decision making in universities. It suggests that universities must work toward developing their brand image by focusing on its three dimensions – heritage, trustworthiness and service quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Soheila Raeisi ◽  
Nur Suhaili Ramli ◽  
Meng Lingjie

This paper aims aimed to present the trends of the literature review in internal marketing and service innovation between 1990 and 2016. The significant reason to conduct this research is that significant variables of internal marketing to link with service innovation are not clearly defined. This research yielded 22 systematic reviews of articles in the Scopus library and adopted a thematic analysis to analyze the data collected. This study provides provided answers to research questions by elaborating on overall trends, objectives, theoretical framework, methodologies, and potential variables that strongly connect between internal marketing and service innovation. While sample sizes are limited to this paper, it suggests suggested fruitful recommendations for future research to overcome this limitation. This research has had two practical implications for managers to redefine their roles and the relationship between members of the organization and to help managers and the firms to consider internal marketing efforts towards motivation, organizational culture, and organizational learning.


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