Analyzing organizational barriers towards building postpandemic supply chain resilience in Indian MSMEs: a grey-DEMATEL approach

Purpose

This study aims to identify the barriers to building supply chain resilience and assess the contextual relationship between them in the Indian micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector for the post COVID-19 era.

Design/methodology/approach

Barriers to supply chain resilience were extracted from the extant literature and were evaluated using the grey sets and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach from strategic, tactical and operational business perspectives. The responses from experts on the identified barriers were collected through a structured questionnaire. The prominence-net effect results obtained after the DEMATEL application helped identify the most prominent barriers, their net cause and effect, and their correlation with each other.

Findings

A total of 16 barriers to resilience, identified from the literature, were considered for analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the lack of flexibility is the most critical causal barrier to building a resilient supply chain. Lack of planned resource management was also found to be an influential barrier. The study also identified the supply chain design, need for collaboration and technological capability as important factors for the MSME sector to focus on.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to assessing barriers to the supply chain resilience of MSMEs in India. More extensive research may be needed to reveal the global trend.

Practical implications

The study is significantly important for the MSMEs looking to establish resilient supply chains. Managers can use the findings to identify the weak links in the supply chain for strategic and tactical planning and can take corrective actions.

Originality/value

The study pinpoints the key linkages between barriers that impede MSMEs to make their supply chains resilient and robust to mitigate the impact of future disruptions and adversities. The work may be used by practitioners to further their attention on the significant challenges.

Barriers to Innovations and Innovative Performance of Companies: A Study from Ecuador

This research aimed to examine the relationship between the barriers to the development of innovation and innovative performance. This is a quantitative, not experimental, cross-sectional research, and the National Survey of Innovation Activities of Ecuador is used. Bivariate Probit regression was used to process the data. The results show empirical evidence that Ecuadorian companies have a great number of barriers to innovation. The main barriers to product innovation and process innovation are as follows: lack of company funds, high costs of innovation, and lack of qualified personnel in the company and the country. In addition product innovation is affected by the lack of market information, and process innovation is affected by the lack of financing from external sources, lack of information on technology, and a market dominated by established companies. The research has theoretical implications because it contributes empirical evidence on the relationship between innovation barriers and innovative performance in developing countries where evidence is scarce. The research has practical implications because it serves as a basis for forming public policies. Business managers and administrators can improve innovative performance by minimizing the impact of the main barriers to innovation.

Is Innovation a Driver of Sustainability? An Analysis from a Spanish Region

1. Background. It is well-known that innovation contributes to economic growth, improves productivity and enables competitive advantage. However, beyond these matters, it would be of interest to know what role innovation plays in relation to sustainability. This paper focuses on whether innovation is a driver of sustainability in its three dimensions: social, economic and environmental. 2. Methods. The study was conducted with companies in the Valencian community (Spain) to analyze whether they significantly contribute to sustainability as innovators. Economical sustainability was assessed based on economic and financial profitability; social sustainability was assessed by employment generation. To determine whether companies contributed to environmental sustainability, we considered those which, apart from a reputation (“label”) in innovation, had some kind of environmental certification. 3. Results. Our results indicate that innovative companies are more profitable and generate more employment. However, there are no differences in terms of performance and employment generation between innovative companies and those that are also environmentally sensitive. 4. Conclusion. Innovation is a driving force of economic and social sustainability in the studied area, but environmental sensitivity is not a driver for economic and social sustainability.

Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship—Introduction

Entrepreneurship and innovation are positively related (Zhao 2005; Kyvik 2018; Sant et al [...]

Linking transformational leadership with employees’ engagement in the creative process

Purpose

Given that individual creativity is a critical element to achieving organizational competitiveness, the purpose of this study is to attempt to investigate how transformational leadership (TL) drives employee creative process engagement (CPE) by improving their creative self-efficacy (CSE).

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis has been performed based on 194 responses from information and communication technology firms using a cross-sectional survey design. The study follows a deductive research approach to test the hypotheses. It uses SmartPLS2 and IBM SPSS 21 for a structural equation model.

Findings

The investigation finds that TL significantly predicts CPE, and CSE partially mediates the TL–CPE relationship. The result demonstrates that TL shapes an organizational climate conducive to the employees’ CPE by building employees’ self-efficacy.

Research limitations/implications

The study sample was drawn from a single sector of the Bangladeshi economy. The sampling design represents a limitation, for which the findings cannot be broadly generalized. Replications and augmentations of the study in various industrial areas will help test the robustness and generalizability of the discoveries.

Practical implications

TL and CPE are desirable organizational outcomes across all cultures. From a practical standpoint, the outcomes demonstrate that TL is linked to CPE and CSE among information and communication technology employees. This study extends the appropriateness of CSE into Asian countries. Notably, it provides additional insight into a contemporary TL model that can unequivocally impact leadership development in the Bangladeshi information and communication technology firms. Managers or chief executive officers in the small and medium enterprises are expected to exhibit TL attributes by designing a supportive organizational climate that will motivate employees to exhibit creative activities.

Social implications

TL transforms employees’ psychological state to get them to engage in creative processes, benefiting the organizational stakeholders by their unconventional creative behavior. The TL-driven innovative outcome through employees’ CPE contributes to the development of social well-being.

Originality/value

This paper adds significance to the extant literature regarding the determinants of the mediating impact of CSE on TL and CPE from the viewpoints of information and communication technology firms, particularly from developing countries, such as Bangladesh. It also contributes to reconcile the findings of the previous studies around the globe in both developed and developing countries.