The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage
International small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter several problems, including how to manage the industry forces in order to achieve their performance goals. Focusing mainly on international SMEs, we explored this issue by examining competitive advantage as a mediator in the relations...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Administrative Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/4/132 |
| _version_ | 1797461952936542208 |
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| author | Shahab Sharfaei Jeen Wei Ong Adedapo O. Ojo |
| author_facet | Shahab Sharfaei Jeen Wei Ong Adedapo O. Ojo |
| author_sort | Shahab Sharfaei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | International small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter several problems, including how to manage the industry forces in order to achieve their performance goals. Focusing mainly on international SMEs, we explored this issue by examining competitive advantage as a mediator in the relationship between industry forces and international SMEs’ performance. This study was conducted in the context of the Iranian market. Iran offers substantial economic opportunities to international SMEs since it has a population of 85 million people, a range of natural resources, and a sophisticated manufacturing industry. In Iran, an international SME is a firm with less than 100 employees that originated outside of Iran but has an entity inside the country. The partial least squares method was employed in analyzing the survey data collected from 166 international SMEs in Iran. The results indicate that industry forces have significant effects on performance, but competitive advantage does not have a mediating impact. The results of this study reaffirm that international SMEs should be aware of the consequences of industry forces in order to attain their performance goals. This is especially critical for some developing economies which are more characterized by ambiguities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:27:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1a518bef38ae4a26aa0689bc5bf46636 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:27:36Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Administrative Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1a518bef38ae4a26aa0689bc5bf466362023-11-24T12:35:49ZengMDPI AGAdministrative Sciences2076-33872022-10-0112413210.3390/admsci12040132The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive AdvantageShahab Sharfaei0Jeen Wei Ong1Adedapo O. Ojo2Faculty of Business Administration, Prague University of Economics and Business, 130 67 Prague, Czech RepublicFaculty of Management, Multimedia University, 63100 Cyberjaya, MalaysiaFaculty of Management, Multimedia University, 63100 Cyberjaya, MalaysiaInternational small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) encounter several problems, including how to manage the industry forces in order to achieve their performance goals. Focusing mainly on international SMEs, we explored this issue by examining competitive advantage as a mediator in the relationship between industry forces and international SMEs’ performance. This study was conducted in the context of the Iranian market. Iran offers substantial economic opportunities to international SMEs since it has a population of 85 million people, a range of natural resources, and a sophisticated manufacturing industry. In Iran, an international SME is a firm with less than 100 employees that originated outside of Iran but has an entity inside the country. The partial least squares method was employed in analyzing the survey data collected from 166 international SMEs in Iran. The results indicate that industry forces have significant effects on performance, but competitive advantage does not have a mediating impact. The results of this study reaffirm that international SMEs should be aware of the consequences of industry forces in order to attain their performance goals. This is especially critical for some developing economies which are more characterized by ambiguities.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/4/132industrial organizationSME performancestructural equation modellingsmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)developing economies |
| spellingShingle | Shahab Sharfaei Jeen Wei Ong Adedapo O. Ojo The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage Administrative Sciences industrial organization SME performance structural equation modelling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) developing economies |
| title | The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage |
| title_full | The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage |
| title_short | The Impact of Industry Forces on International SME Performance in Iran: The Mediating Effect of Competitive Advantage |
| title_sort | impact of industry forces on international sme performance in iran the mediating effect of competitive advantage |
| topic | industrial organization SME performance structural equation modelling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) developing economies |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/12/4/132 |
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