Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
9/10, 179-208
Rassim KARBOV
R. Asst., Department of Business Administration, Faculty of
Business and Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University
Abstract
In todays hyper-competitive markets, manufacturing SMEs try to
gain advantage by deploying surprise strategies and use of
technology through which they secure the advantage of introducing
goods to the market prior to their competitors. Meanwhile,
electronic commerce offers a rich array of opportunities to improve
manufacturing SMEs competitive performance. Choosing a
particular e-commerce application is a strategic decision that must
be made in the context of the companies strategies. Therefore, the
primary purpose of this study is to explore the essence of generic
competitive, growth and e-commerce strategies in enhancing the
competitiveness of manufacturing SMEs in Kazakhstan through
integrated E-Strategy Model. The primary data was collected
through a questionnaire distributed to the managers of 80
manufacturing SMEs in Kazakhstan. The hypothesized
relationships were tested by single and multiple regression analysis,
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1. Business Strategies
Effective strategies have always leaded many companies to highperformance results. Researches have shown that a firms strategy
is the most important determinant of companys performance
(Heracleous, 2003). According to Shrader et al, (1984), Strategy
is the primary means of reaching the focal objective. The focal
objective is whatever objective is in mind at the moment. Strictly
speaking, it is literally meaningless to talk about strategy without
having an objective in mind. Viewed in this context strategy
becomes an integral part of the ends-means hierarchy. Strategy is
the direction and scope of an organization over the long term.
In changing world some companies perform better than their
rivals in terms of global, business, corporate and functional level
productivities due to implementation and capitalization of
strategies. However, an organizations strategy must be appropriate
for its resources, environmental circumstances, and core objectives.
The process involves matching the company's strategic advantages
to the business environment the organization faces. One objective
of an overall corporate strategy is to put the organization into a
position to carry out its mission effectively and efficiently.
1.1. Growth Strategies (Ansoffs product/market growth
matrix)
Based on the contemporary researches, many authors have
commented on the typical limitations of strategic alternatives such
as small market share and limitations of resources and skills to the
small firms (Carson, 1985). According to Storey and Sykes, (1996),
due to these limitations, not all strategies are typically suitable for
SMEs. Therefore, appropriate strategies are those that avoid direct
competition with bigger firms and contribute to the developments
of close customer relationships and new product versions. In the
specific language of Ansoffs Matrix, it has been suggested by
Perry, (1987) that for SMEs the most appropriate growth strategies
is therefore product development and market development.
Furthermore, Cravens et al., (1994) addressed that organizational
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H4: The quality and usability of the Web Site is positively related
to e-commerce strategy implementation.
H5: Clearly defined processes of the company exert a positive
influence on e-commerce strategy implementation.
H6: Relationship building with stakeholders is positively related to
e-commerce strategy implementation.
H7: Brand name of a company and its products will significantly
influence e-commerce strategy implementation.
H8: Overall motivation for using the internet and will to innovate
will have a positive impact on e-commerce strategy
implementation.
H9: Sensitivity of a product to price competition on the internet
will have an effect on overall e-commerce strategy
implementation.
Earlier it has been mentioned that companies can achieve
competitiveness essentially by differentiating their products and
services from those of competitors and through low costs (Lynch,
2003). Choosing a particular e-commerce application is a strategic
decision that must be made in the context of the companys
competitive strategy (Lanckriet and Heene, 1999). The nature of
the e-commerce makes it easier for buyers and sellers to search,
meet, compare prices and negotiate and thereby helps in reducing
transactional costs (Berthon et al.., 2003).
Research by Pearson, (1999) shows that e-commerce
strategies significantly support generic competitive strategies in a
way of achieving cost leadership, differentiation and focus.
Therefore, it is hypothesized that:
H10: E-commerce strategies have a positive impact on supporting
generic competitive strategies.
The Ansoff Matrix as growth strategies presents the product and
market choices available to an organization. It is argued that ecommerce strategies are used to sell more existing products into
existing products. E-commerce strategies can increase awareness
of a firm within the industry by pursuing market penetration
(Murphy, R and Bruce, M. 2003). Moreover, e-commerce
strategies facilitate market development. For instance, Amazon
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initially used this as a growth strategy by taking their existing ecommerce strategy of book in the US market and developing it for
the UK. Hereby, e-commerce has facilitated the development of
new products and services (Murphy, R and Bruce, M. 2003).
According to McDonald, (2000) e-commerce helped firms to reach
their growth strategies by developing new products/services and
introducing them to new market segments in a way of pursuing the
diversification. Thus, it is hypothesized that:
H11: E-commerce strategies facilitate the implementation and
achievement of growth strategies.
E-commerce offers a rich array of opportunities to improve
business performance. An empirical study by Straub and Klein,
(2001) identified that e-commerce strategies benefited companies
on cutting costs and rising productivity, accessing new customers
and markets, and gaining sustainable competitive advantage by
attempting to achieve a complete integration of e-commerce into
the companys overall business strategy.
Another research shows that e-commerce strategies have great
impact on firms sales growth and profitability (Karagozoglu and
Lindell, 2004). Therefore, it can be hypothesized that:
H12: E-commerce strategies have a positive impact on perceived
firms competitiveness.
Methodology
Mainly, the descriptive statistics used to measure the demographic
variable and reliability, correlation and regression analysis for
testing the reliability and credibility of the hypotheses.
Hypothesized relationships are tested by using Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS 13).
1. Study Setting and Sample
The study is carried out in Kazakhstan amongst the managers of
manufacturing SMEs. The main aim of this study as previously
explained is to exhibit and test a model that explores the essence of
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Gender
Female
Male
58
22
72.5
27.5
Age
18-29
30-59
31
43
38.8
53.7
60+
7.5
Education
Two year university
Four year university
Master
Doctorate
7
39
30
8.8
48.7
37.5
5.0
Position
Managing Director (GM)
Finance Manager
IT Manager
Marketing Manager
Operation Manager
24
8
23
13
12
30.0
10.0
28.7
16.3
15.0
Years in position
Less than 10
More than 10
49
31
61.2
38.8
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Number of employees
Less than 10 (Micro Enterprises)
10-49 (Small Enterprises)
50-300 (Medium Enterprises)
0
33
47
0.0
41.3
58.7
Type of ownership
Sole Proprietorship
Family
State Enterprise
Other
7
15
36
22
8.8
18.7
45.0
27.5
35
45
43.7
56.3
38
8
15
3
4
5
7
47.5
10.0
18.7
3.8
5.0
6.3
8.7
195
31
49
38.8
61.2
46
29
5
57.5
36.2
6.3
51
28
1
63.8
35.0
1.2
12
30
38
15.0
37.5
47.5
12
4
8
17
39
15.0
5.0
10.0
21.3
48.7
50
30
62.5
37.5
home
Strategic decision
Owner
16
20.0
Manager
Family member
Other
35
13
16
43.8
16.2
20.0
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197
Measure
DOC 1
CS
GS
ECS
CSF
FCOM
Chronbach's alpha
0.79
0.82
0.70
0.89
0.71
0.76
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Regression
Residual
Regression
Residual
Regression
Residual
Regression
Residual
Regression
Residual
Sig.
8.708
46.816
2.229
5.987
3.696
4.667
2.734
5.630
1.236
17.095
14.509
.000
29.043
.000
8.146
.000
18.694
.000
5.638
.020
1
78
1
78
7
72
2
77
1
78
8.708
.600
2.229
.077
.528
.065
1.367
.073
1.236
.219
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Coefficients
Mode
1
B
(Constant) .302
DOC
Sig.
.499
.606
.546
1.247 .327
(Constant) .712
.178
DOC
.117
.631
.396
3.809 .000
3.992 .000
.521
5.389 .000
7.959 .000
CSF1
.011
.050
.025
.226
.822
CSF2
.0184 .063
.417
2.914 .005
CSF3
.193
.058
.349
3.303 .001
CSF4
.034
.031
.113
1.098 .276
CSF5
.138
.043
.312
3.219 .002
CSF6
.154
.075
.310
2.057 .043
CSF7
-.016
.031
-.051
-.519
.605
(Constant) .924
.179
5.466 .000
CS
.127
.037
.326
3.452 .001
GS
.428
.095
.424
4.489 .000
.384
.162
5.246 .000
.260
2.375 .020
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201
FCOM GS CS
.277*
.013
.131 .146
.248 .197
DOC
Sig. (2-tailed)
ECS
Sig. (2-tailed)
CSF1
Sig. (2-tailed)
CSF2
.124
.273
.260*
.020
.063
.579
-.018
.521*
.000
.472*
.000
.171
.129
.242*
.396**
.000
.388* .408*
.000 .000
.156 .164 .292**
.168 .146 .009
.118 .142 .430* .517**
.031 .296
.361* .194
Sig. (2-tailed)
CSF4
Sig. (2-tailed)
CSF5
Sig. (2-tailed)
.219
.096
.399
.212
.059
.001 .084
.081 .019
.475 .870
.379**.125
.001 .270
.017 .000
.013 .151
.907 .180
.290**.454*
.009 .000
CSF6
.067
Sig. (2-tailed) .557
.138 .004
.222 .969
.116
.304
CSF7
Sig.
tailed)
N
.019
.256* .506**.768**.412**.401**.201
.022 .000 .000 .000 .000 .074
.080 .227* .254* .152 .014 .242* .357**
.865
80
.661 .658
80
80
.043
.481
80
80
(2.967
80
.000 .000
.406**.325**0.85
.000 .003 .452
.128 .224* .356**-.038
.257 .046 .001 .738
.023
.179
80
80
.904
80
.031 .001
80 80
From the table above, it can be seen that most of the variables were
positively correlated with each other. Growth and e-commerce
strategies were positively correlated with dependent variable, and
they were statistically significant. Growth and e-commerce
strategies have a positive impact on perceived firms
competitiveness.
Conclusion
In the presence of dynamic environment and competitive world,
small and medium sized enterprises in Kazakhstan face
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Whats more, (H6) is not accepted. The test results show that there
is no significant correlation between relationship buildings with
firm stakeholders and e-commerce strategies. According to Cragg
and King, (1993) the reason behind that could be the following:
lack of knowledge competency and skill level of business operators,
lack of e-commerce readiness in some industry sectors, lack of
ambitiousness for extracting benefits and understanding of ecommerce. Therefore, we can say that e-commerce strategies are
not affected by stakeholder relationship building behavior of a
company.
However, (H7 and H8) are accepted. The correlation results
present that brand name of a company and its products and overall
motivation for using the internet and will to innovate have a
positive impact on e-commerce strategy implementation. Moreover,
(H9) is not accepted the statistical results have shown that
sensitivity of a product to price competition on the internet does
not affect overall e-commerce strategies. There wasnt any
significant correlation between these two variables. The reason can
be the same as in hypothesis 3.
Hypothesis (H10) is accepted. Based on the test results, it
can be said that e-commerce strategies have a positive impact on
supporting and achieving competitive generic strategies which are
set by a firm. The e-commerce strategies are significantly
correlated and have a great effect on the growth strategies. Thus,
(H11) is accepted.
Lastly, there is evidence based on correlation test results
showing that, successful e-commerce strategies have positive
impact on overall perceived firms competitiveness. Therefore, we
can conclude that (H12) is accepted.
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Appendix
List of Abbreviations
Dimensions
Distinctive
Organizational
Capabilities
(DOC)
Critical Success
Factors (CSF)
Competitive
Strategies (CS)
Growth Strategies
(GS)
E-commerce
Strategies (ECS)
Perceived Firms
Competitiveness
(FCOM)
Variables
Employee Dedication
Technology
Know-how
Resources
Content
Convenience
Control
Interaction
Brand Image
Commitment
Price Sensibility
Cost Leadership
Differentiation
Focus
Market Penetration
Product Development
Market Development
Diversification
E-mail
Browsing company homepages
Market and product research
Exchange of information with clients
Information search
Exchange of information with suppliers
Receiving orders from clients
Placing orders to suppliers
Intra-company communication
Medium of payment
Placing job recruitment advertisements
Video-conference
Overall competitive performance from
utilization of e-commerce strategies
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