The Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Small And Medium Entreprises (Smes) with Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management And Innovative Intelligence: Building A Conceptual Framework (original) (raw)
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This study is to explore the relationship of knowledge management, innovative intelligence and sustainable competitive advantage by using partial least square. Knowledge management practices are known for its impact on organizational performance however, it is yet to be explored on sustainable competitive advantage especially on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). This study is also attempts to explore the role of innovative intelligence in mediating the relationship. Hundred twenty questionnaires have been collected from knowledge-based SMEs. Partial least square analysis is used in the analyses to determine the relationships. Knowledge management was found to have indirect relationship with sustainable competitive advantage where innovative intelligence served as a mediator of the relationship of knowledge management and sustainable competitive advantage. The findings showed that SMEs have not exploited their organizational knowledge to develop sustainable competitive advantage through innovation. Innovative intelligence is identified as an important catalyst for SMEs to sustain its competitive advantage.
Sustainable competitive advantage is important when companies keep searching new ways to offer value better than their competitors, especially when the competitive environment changes. Knowing which elements of competitive advantage to deploy would help companies set effective competitive strategies from the very beginning. Intellectual capital as intangible resources is important for a sustainable competitive advantage. The main concerns of this paper are to identify the elements of sustainable competitive advantage of small and medium enterprises and how intellectual capital influences sustainable competitive advantage. Focus group approach was used to explore the perception of sustainable competitive advantage and intellectual capital of SMEs. Content analysis was analysed using a mechanical method. The findings show that cost leadership and differentiation strategies are commonly used by SMEs to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, innovation is considered vital to create value for customers. The majority of the participants agreed that human capital is the most important element of intellectual capital regardless of industry. Innovation capital is regarded more important than relational capital and structural capital.
Can Intellectual Capital of SMEs Help in Their Sustainability Efforts
Small and medium enterprises due to their smaller size and resources face numerous challenges to sustain themselves. In the face of mounting pressures from the competitors, SMEs need to position themselves in such a way so as to cater for the changing customer needs and expectations of their customers. To achieve this, developing the internal knowledge and knowing capabilities becomes imperative. The present study is an attempt to investigate the role of intellectual capital towards sustainability. Sample consisted of SMEs selected from the database of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 335 respondents with a response rate of 51%. The results of the study indicate that intellectual capital is having a significant relationship as well as influence on sustainability of SMEs. Further, multiple regression results reveal that knowledge and innovativeness dimensions of intellectual capital are more influential in creating sustainability for small enterprises. However, employee competences, intellectual agility and skills have been found to insignificant in Malaysian context. The results reveal that if intellectual capital of the employees is not optimally harnessed, it would lead to failure. The study is significant not only for the owners/managers of SMEs but also for the policy makers. Future directions are also provided for researchers interested in the area.
Intellectual Capital – The Key for Sustainable Competitive Advantage for the SME's Sector
Procedia Economics and Finance, 2015
With the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda and its major objective, namely that the EU would become the most dynamic and competitive knowledge based economy in the world, it became clear the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) are the especially affected by these plans, because they represent the driving force for the European economy. In this context of creating and maintaining a competitive advantage for the SME's, it is crucial for them to make good use of the intellectual capital of their employees, in an efficient and proficient manner, in order to increase their potential for innovation. The aim of this article is to show, through an original argumentation, based on the analysis of specialized literature, the important role that intellectual capital plays in the sector of SME's in order to obtain a real and sustainable competitive advantage.
The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 2020
SMEs as an organization to succeed and to be sustainable must have the most essential and strategic capital, namely creativity, competitive advantage, and intellectual capital. This study aims to explore how creativity and intellectual capital determines SMEs' sustainability as well as examine the emerging role of competitive advantage in supporting this relationship. A quantitative method was applied to gain a better understanding of the relationship between variables undergoing Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS). This study collected data from 123 SMEs in East Java of Indonesia using an online survey. The approach adopted in this study is a convenience random sampling method, which is widely used in entrepreneurship and SMEs' sustainability research. The findings showed that intellectual capital positively affects both competitive advantage and SMEs' sustainability. Additionally, the result of this study confirms a robust relationship between intellectual capital and SMEs' sustainability. However, partially, creativity failed in explaining SMEs' sustainability. Furthermore, this study confirmed that competitive advantage has successfully mediated both the influence of creativity and intellectual capital to SMEs' sustainability. Although this research only involved participants in East Java, this study can be the first step for relevant research of SMEs' sustainability, in particular, in Indonesia.
Sustainability
The aim of the current paper is advance a comprehensive framework meant to bridge three major concepts, namely intellectual capital (IC), the internationalization process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the achievement of sustainable competitive advantage. The paper stresses upon a managerial perspective within the internationalization context, investigating the human, structural and relational capital apposite to managers or entrepreneurs. By directly addressing the relationships among the constructs, the endeavor is complementary to previous systematic reviews on similar topics which tangentially discuss the conceptual triad and thus proposes an integrative research agenda for future interdisciplinary studies straddling the fields of management, business, entrepreneurship and sustainability. In terms of methodology, a systematic literature review was envisaged, by applying a stepwise approach and multifold criteria. Over 100 scientific articles published in peer-r...
Role of Intellectual Capital towards Sustainability: Study of Malaysian SMEs
Today's complex business environment has created numerous challenges for the small and medium enterprises especially related to their sustainability. SMEs due to their smaller size and resources are vulnerable to external shocks and are prone to failure. SMEs are working to attain competitive advantage and sustainability through developing skilled human resources that would help them achieve competitiveness and sustainability. The present study is an attempt to investigate the role of intellectual capital towards sustainability. Sample consisted of SMEs selected from the database of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 335 respondents with a response rate of 51%. The results of the study indicate that intellectual capital is having a significant relationship as well as influence on sustainability of SMEs. Further, multiple regression analysis was conducted for the dimensions of intellectual capital. The results indicate that knowledge and innovativeness were having significant influence on sustainability; while competence, intellectual agility and skills were found to be insignificant. The study provides future directions for the researchers interested in the area.
INTEGRATION OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND INNOVATION IN SMEs' PERFORMANCE: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Businesses or organizations are persistently searching for the most effective methods in order to stay competitive in the global market. In this research paper, literature and models of related innovation factors integration with the intellectual capital are adopted in proposing an extended model for the analyzing the human innovation capability in measuring the SMEs performance. SMEs are expected to shift their current practice into the global knowledge-based economy with the presence of liberalisation intervention. A discussion on the innovation factors and intellectual capital integration on SMEs performance with liberalisation intervention is presented and conceptual framework and model are proposed.
Intellectual Capital as a Panacea to Sustainability in Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises
Revista Gestão Inovação e Tecnologias, 2021
Small and Medium-scaled Enterprises (SMEs) are regarded as the engine of growth globally, as they play the critical role of economic diversification, job creation, entrepreneurial and technological development as well as revenue generation. Despite their significance, the survival rate of SMEs is shallow, especially in Less Developed Countries (LDCs), which posed a severe threat to macroeconomic stability, and significantly affect their sustainability. The study examines the relationship between Intellectual Capital and the sustainability of small and SMEs in Nigeria. Intellectual Capital (IC) was proxied by knowledge management (KM) and financial literacy (FL), while sustainability was proxied by the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) goals. A critical review of the available literature revealed that both knowledge management and financial literacy are crucial to the sustainability (SUS) of SMEs. The study further revealed that SMEs operators do not have adequate financial literacy, especially as it relates to risk exposure, which creates a threat to their long-term sustainability. The study recommends, therefore, that SMEs operators should double their efforts on knowledge acquisition and training, especially on financial concepts. Finally, the research proposed a framework that could be used by SMEs to gain sustainability.
The International Journal of Business and Management, 2013
Today, enterprises need to develop and carry out different and original practices in order to attain sustainable competitiveness and to keep up with rapid macro-level changes. In the process of differentiation, the concepts of “knowledge management” and “intellectual capital” are of significance. Knowledge management is a strategy that helps direct knowledge to the right centers in the processes of transmitting the right knowledge at the right time to the right targets, sharing knowledge with workers, and bettering the organizational performance. The fact that intellectual capital is addressed as a combination of three main dynamics demonstrates that the scope of this concept has widened significantly. Each of these dynamics “human capital”, “structural capital” and “relational (or client) capital” is a separate value and of utmost importance for sustainable competitiveness. The aim of this study, thus, is to provide a perspective by conceptually discussing the notions of knowledge ...