The relationship between knowledge management strategic orientation and business strategic orientation among SMEs

Little is known about how Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) practise Knowledge Management (KM) from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Some research has been conducted in this field but from a western cultural perspective. Research on KM and SMEs in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia is limited. The research reported in this paper investigated KM strategic orientations and business strategic orientations in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The research involved the development of a theoretical framework relating to KM strategies and business strategies. Three KM strategies were proposed: aggressive, conservative and balanced and were linked to Miles and Snow’s typology: prospectors, defenders and analysers respectively. The empirical research involved a survey of Saudi Arabian SMEs. A total of 143 SMEs, participated in the survey. The results indicate that the proposed classifications and relationships between KM strategic dimensions were valid. It further shows that there was an association between business strategy and KM strategy exists and the proposed linkage between: prospectors and aggressive KM strategy, defenders and conservative KM strategy and analysers and balanced KM strategy were mostly confirmed but with some inconsistency regarding knowledge breadth dimensions.

Effects of informal institutions on the performance of microenterprises in the Phillipines : the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation

The study investigates the effects of informal institutions and entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of microenterprises at the subnational level within a developing country context. Using structural equation modeling based on a large-scale survey of 735 microenterprises in the Philippines, it is found that informal institutional factors and entrepreneurial orientation are associated with firm performance. However, further analysis reveals a strong mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the informal institutions-firm performance relationships. This finding is novel and adds to our understanding of the mechanism through which informal institutions affect firm performance, particularly for microenterprises in developing countries.

Retail brand orientation, positional advantage and organisational performance

This study adopts a resource-based view of branding referred to as brand orientation. Despite the importance of branding in retail, relatively little empirical research has been conducted to understand the degree to which retailers can be considered brand oriented. The purpose of the present research is to establish a conceptualisation of brand orientation that is applicable in a retail context across countries. Moreover, we seek to empirically validate a model of the retail brand orientation–positional advantage–organisational performance relationship and to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the factors driving retailer performance. A mail survey was used to collect data from retail firms in Australia, USA and UK. The unit of analysis is the retail firm. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the measurement properties of the study constructs and structural equation modelling was performed to test the research model. The findings suggest that four elements of retail brand orientation (functionality, distinctiveness, augmentation and symbolism) play different roles in relation to certain aspects of positional advantage, which highlights the importance of developing strength in all four areas. Similarly, a position of superiority in only one aspect of a retailer's offer is insufficient to assure both financial and strategic returns.

Orientation dependence of the substructure characteristics in a Ni- 30%Fe austenitic alloy deformed in hot torsion

The present work examines the microstructure and texture evolution in a Ni-30wt.%Fe austenitic model alloy deformed in torsion at 1000 °C, with a particular emphasis on the orientation dependence of the substructure characteristics within the deformed original grains. Texture of these grains was principally consistent with that expected for simple shear and comprised the main A, B and C components. The deformation substructure within the main texture component grains was characterised by "organised" arrays of parallel microbands with systematically alternating misorientations, locally accompanied by micro-shear bands within the C grains. With increasing strain, the mean subgrain size gradually decreased and the mean misorientation angle concurrently increased towards the saturation. The stored deformation energy within the main texture component grains was principally consistent with the respective Taylor factor values. The microband boundaries corresponded to the expected single slip {111} plane for the A oriented grains while these boundaries for the C oriented grains represented a variety of planes even for a single grain.

Structured self-reflection as a tool to enhance perceived performance and maintain effort in adult recreational salsa dancers

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of structured self-reflection in community dance classes would influence achievement goal orientations, levels of intrinsic motivation, or perceived dance performance. The Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) were modified slightly to reflect involvement in salsa dancing rather than sport and then were administered to 139 Latin dance students at the beginning and end of an 11-week term. The dance classes were divided into control and intervention groups, balanced in terms of sample size and level of instruction. The intervention group completed a salsa self-reflection form during or after class for 9 weeks. At the posttest all students rated their salsa performance and the intervention group evaluated the self-reflection process. Results indicate that although achievement goal orientations were not affected, structured sell-reflection is perceived to be a positive tool and may be a useful technique to enhance perceived performance and maintain effort and perceived importance. The participants' perceptions of the self-reflection process were positive, with no negative effects of engaging in the process reported.