Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically whether a hybrid, compared with other forms of competitive advantage, contributes to better business performance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on 105 food manufacturing firms in Greece, a European Union (EU) member...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the applicability of Grant’s framework in the current changing and dynamic environment. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, a critical review of Grant’s paper was conducted to identify the limitations and weaknesses of the framework,...

Purpose – This study aims to focus on how companies operating in international food commodity markets can improve their long-term competitiveness and profitability upon financial pressure. Management can choose between generic strategies of either cost leadership or enhanced value adding by...

Extending Simon’s (1990) work, this paper proposes an effective management control system that allows companies to integrate different management control systems in order to improve operational effectiveness, employee creativity, and company competitiveness. Reviews conventional and modern...

Market share is often used to describe the position and success of a firm in an industrial sector. While the impact of market share is not always reflected in a firm’s profitability or performance, many firms see it as an important organisational goal. Accordingly, it could be argued that...

An empirical investigation of the relationship between IT and competitiveness of Japanese manufacturing companies, this paper finds an indirect correlation between the two variables. IT improves competitiveness through labor empowerment and strategic alliances rather than directly. The paper...

The order of entry of a firm in a market is associated with its ability to create value. This paper suggests that it pays to be a first mover in an emerging market, the darlings of 2001. It touches on the definition of an emerging market, discusses the importance of emerging markets in the...

For sustainable competitive advantage a firm must be able to create and retain customers. One of the necessary conditions for this is that a firm's product must be able to meet the customers' needs and wants. For product planning and development, a firm therefore needs to know what customers...

Purpose – Practitioners argue that the way they treat their employees has an impact on firm success. However, they frequently do not equate this with relationship building. On the other hand, the academic relationship marketing literature does highlight internal relationships as having an...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine types of exporting firms featuring strategy orientations and profitability of differential emphasis. Design/methodology/approach – To answer the questions the paper raises, data of 82 exporting firms established in Greece are...