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The mediating roles of cost leadership and cost focus strategies on innovation capabilities and export performance: rResults from an emerging country
No full textAlthough there are several studies analyzing how cost leadership and cost focus competitive strategies influence export performance, this article examines the relationship between innovation capabilities (ICs) and export performance (ExPf), as well as the mediating effects of cost leadership and cost focus competitive strategies among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Mozambique. Based on empirical survey data collected from 250 SME managers in Mozambique, we utilized Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) for data analysis. Findings demonstrate that both cost leadership and cost focus competitive strategies partially mediate the ICs-ExPf relationship. Furthermore, these competitive strategies enhance the direct
effect of ICs on export performance. These results suggest that SMEs from emerging countries, such as Mozambique, can effectively develop ICs and leverage cost leadership and cost focus advantages to successfully compete in international markets. The implications of this study are significant for owners and managers of SMEs from emerging countries, as it provides valuable insights into the impact of cost leadership and cost focus advantages of firms’ innovation capabilities. By understanding these relationships, SMEs can make more informed decisions and adopt more effective management approaches when seeking to compete in internationally, particularly among SMEs in emerging countries.This work was financially supported by the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (UIDB/04058/2020), funded by national funds through FCTct—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio
Churn in services : a bibliometric review
No full textThe purpose of this article is to identify the most impactful research on customer churn and to map the conceptual and intellectual structure of its field of study. Data were collected from the WoS database, comprising 338 articles published between 1995 and 2020. Several bibliometric techniques were applied, including analysis of co-words, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-authorship networks. R software and the Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny package were used to perform the analyses. The results identify the most active and influential authors, articles, and journals on the topic. More specifically, through co-citations and bibliographic coupling, it was possible to
map the oldest articles (retrospective analysis) and the current research front (prospective analysis). The retrospective analysis, based on co-citations, revealed that the foundations of this research field are constructs such as quality of service, satisfaction, loyalty, and changing behaviors. The prospective analysis, performed through bibliographic coupling, revealed that current research is embedded in predictive analysis, clusters, data mining, and algorithms. The results provide robust guidance for further investigation in this field.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The internationalization of nongovernmental organizations: characteristics and challenges
No full textAlthough the internationalization of business firms has been intensively studied, the internationalization of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is still in a growing-up stage as
NGOs are focused on serving specific social interests. They may not only be influenced by social, political, and economic goals, but also cater to social or humanitarian services dealing with health, environmental protection, and human rights. Based on the importance of NGOs and the lack of previous studies on their internationalization process, this paper analyzes the results of a systematic literature review (SLR) on the internationalization of NGOs. It is possible to conclude that this topic is under-researched and fragmented and has been dealt with by following qualitative studies. Moreover, the internationalization of NGOs is far from similar to the models that explain the internationalization of for-profit businesses. NGOs are clearly tuned to the services they provide and seek complementary resources from governmental sources and state agencies so that they are capable of providing a variety of human and financial resources. The main limitation of this study is that it is based solely on two academic databases: SCOPUS and WoS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Performance indicators to support firm-level decision-making in the wine industry: a systematic literature review
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify the main firm-level performance indicators and group them in dimensions that support decision-making in the wine industry.
Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this goal, an SLR approach was conducted in the Scopus database from 2009 to 2019. From a set of 607 articles, only 25 studies related to firm-level performance indicators were considered and, following an inductive thematic analysis and an interpretative synthesis, separated into different specific foci that include social, economic and environmental dimensions.
Findings – There is a limited number of papers identifying indicators regarding the firm-level performance of wine firms, and even fewer studies including indicators on an integrated approach to measure the different dimensions of firm performance. This paper documents that economic and environmental indicators cover 78.2% of all SLR indicators analyzed. As this group of indicators is limited to a set of sub-dimensions, this paper found that several groups of indicators are misrepresented, such as product portfolio or certifications related to marketing activities and indicators covering purchasing and supply chain activities, which play a crucial role in the competitiveness of the wine industry.
Practical implications – For practitioners, it discloses the most pertinent indicators they need to improve to craft their business strategies. This framework is of added value for policymakers to customize their support programs for specific producers to develop their competitive strategies. It could be deployed in teaching programs as a tool to address the importance of aligning different types of indicators to achieve firmlevel performance in the wine industry.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature identifying a framework of analysis that includes indicators of four dimensions, namely, economic, social, territorial and environmental. This framework aims to relate performance measures to corporate strategy as a management control tool. The framework intends to improve the fit between firms’ activities and their competitive context and to be flexibly adapted to various products/firms in the wine industry.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Foreign and multinational ownership impact on firm exit: a sectoral analysis
No full textThis article examines the impact of foreign and multinational ownership on firm exit using a sample of Portuguese firms for the period 2007–2016, with Kaplan–Meier survival functions and a Cox proportional hazard model. The results show that purely domestic firms endure worse survival prospects than multinationals, but this is more related to firm-level variables and not because of the effects of foreignness or multinational ownership. The disaggregated results at a sectoral level provide support for the contingent role of foreignness in very specific sectors of the Portuguese economy.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant/Award Number: UIDB/05037/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Normas bibliográficas da NP 405: guia completo e detalhado
No full textinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Differences between stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and compare different groups of customers’ perceptions (i.e. stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers) of several loyalty antecedents such as satisfaction, trust, service quality, switching costs, marketing communication, and loyalty itself.
Design/methodology/approach – This study was carried out based on data collected through a questionnaire from 353 telecommunication services users in Portugal and using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and analysis of variance.
Findings – The three types of customers – stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers – clearly differ among themselves. Stayers differ from switchers regarding their communication efforts perceptions,
and from heavy switchers in their loyalty, satisfaction, and trust levels. Switchers differ from heavy switchers in their loyalty levels.
Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine differences between customers taking into account the impact of their personality, price sensitiveness, and orientation toward the adoption of new technologies.
Practical implications – As there are several differences among stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers, companies should not only recognize the heterogeneity of their customer base, but also
target their marketing efforts accordingly.
Originality/value – This study is one of the few identifying groups of customers perception’s toward service providers. It also complements previous research by splitting them intro three different groups
and by analyzing their behaviors across a set of previously unexamined marketing variables.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Subsidiary survival: a case study from the Portuguese electronics industry
No full textPurpose – The existing literature suggests that multinational corporations (MNCs) divest subsidiary units whenever they cease to enjoy the advantages of ownership, location or internalization. However, not all MNCs divest under these conditions. This paper aims to explore the factors that contributed to the survival of a particular subsidiary and prevented it from being divested.
Design/methodology/approach – The analysis focuses on an individual subsidiary of a large foreign MNC in the electronics industry, which divested other subsidiaries from Portugal. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews.
Findings – The subsidiary’s diverse customer base, specificity and high level of efficiency, the local advantages, the existing governmental agreements and the parent MNC’s previous unsuccessful relocation experiences seem to have contributed to the survival of the subsidiary.
Research limitations/implications – Although the results of the case study are not generalizable to the entire population of firms, the featured case study is a rare survival success story in the Portuguese electronics industry.
Practical implications – The proposed framework may offer public authorities measures to create conditions to encourage firms to retain their investment in a particular site. For corporate strategists, new perspectives on subsidiary survival are provided.
Originality/value – This paper is one of the few qualitative studies in the field of subsidiary survival. The results offer an integrative framework on which factors contribute to the survival of a subsidiary located on a comparatively unfavorable labor cost location and support the role of the organizational learning and of previous failed relocation experiences and relocation barriers when a parentMNC decides whether to retain a unit.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) by means of a PhD scholarship (Grant No. SFRH/BD/115337/2016).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Mudanças e conflitos nos paradigmas missionários católicos no colonialismo tardio em Moçambique
No full textO paradigma missionário católico manifesto no acordo entre o Estado português e a Santa Sé na Concordata de 1940 e no Acordo Missionário, atribui à Igreja Católica uma «utilidade imperial» e um sentido «civilizador», associados ao nacionalismo português. Após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, essa visão cede o lugar ou entra em conflito com novos paradigmas missionários baseados nas ideias de «desenvolvimento» ou de «libertação». No período do colonialismo tardio (1961-1974), os conflitos entre os diferentes paradigmas missionários articularam-se com as diversas clivagens políticas e eclesiais.The Catholic missionary paradigm manifested in the agreement between the Portuguese state and the Holy See in the 1940 Concordat and Missionary Agreement, attributes to the Catholic Church an ‘imperial utility’ and a ‘civilising’ sense, associated with Portuguese nationalism. After the Second World War, this vision gave way or came into conflict with new missionary paradigms based on the ideas of ‘development’ or ‘liberation’. During the period of late colonialism (1961-1974), the conflicts between the different missionary paradigms were linked to the various political and ecclesial conflicts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio