No abstract

The resource-based view of the firm (RBV) argues that valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources are the source of a firm's sustained competitive advantage (SCA); this contention has been tested in an increasing number of studies. However, the extant empirical literature emphasizes the significance of resources and capabilities (R&Cs) played and few studies focus on SCA, the other end of the RBV logic. Therefore, this study aims to address this deficiency by focusing on the measurement of SCA. Further, SCA is traditionally measured by financial performance in the empirical studies, which is not only inconsistent with the theory but also proves to be practically difficult in access to the data. However, this paper argues that process performance is more appropriate to measure SCA and this theoretical idea is examined with the survey data collected in 2011/2012 using 209 valid responses from participants in the Chinese clothing companies. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to test hypothesized relationships between the endogenous construct of process performance and three exogenous constructs measuring R&Cs. The results suggest that process performance is an appropriate and effective method measuring SCA in terms of good construct validity and of consistency with the RBV expectations.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the ability of the Chinese geographical indications (GI) system to offer extra guarantees on food safety. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a network approach, the research includes a literature review and takes a sample of GI products in Jiangxi Province as a means of exploring the ability of the GI system to enhance food safety in China. Findings – The safety level of Chinese GI food products is not automatically ensured by GI schemes alone. The Chinese Government appears to be using GI labels more as a promotional tool to enhance farmers’ incomes rather than as a means of reducing safety concerns and is thus missing an opportunity to enhance food safety in tandem with adding value. Originality/value – This research is of academic value and of value to policy makers. The results suggest an urgent need to encourage producers to attend GI management programmes, to generate appropriate GI standards, to be actively involved in GI issuing processes, and thus to provide “safe” GI products. Meanwhile, with weak government enforcement, there is also a need to build an effective food safety regulatory system to ensure food safety and protect consumers’ rights.

With the continuing globalization of the world economy, countries seek to develop and support their venture capital market. Whether venture capital really can trigger innovation or vice versa or not at all is of interest not only to academia, but also to commercial firms, venture capital institutions, and government agencies. Based on statistical data collected from the Chinese market, this paper aims to provide material insight on, firstly, whether venture capital can influence innovation and, if so, by how much; and secondly, whether venture capital leads innovation or whether it is innovation which leads developments in venture capital. The innovation of the sample firms is quantified by the consideration of patent counts and associated productivity growth. The sample firms collected from a group of innovation active industries, are selected by a number of discriminative covariates widely cited in the extant literature. The empirical findings demonstrate that venture capital has a positive but limited impact on innovations in the current market. Innovation and productivity growth in particular, may also be triggered by the growth potential of firms. We therefore propose a few possible unique factors to explain the underlying mechanism of venture capital in promoting innovation within the context of the Chinese market.

The recent changes in the UK National Health Service were heralded by the publication of the Griffiths report in 1983 which highlighted the need for a business‐like’approach to management. The policy makers’generic strategy of the late 1980s and early 1990s centred around the concept of‘quasi‐markets’. These were artificial internal markets encompassing the purchasers and providers of public services. Little research has been undertaken into this new phenomenon of the‘quasi‐market’but entrepreneurship economic theory would suggest that for markets to be efficient would require a supply of alert and aware entrepreneurs. Within the restructured NHS, the mantle for entrepreneurial management seems to have been placed firmly on the shoulders of the newly created‘business managers’. A 1993 survey amongst NHS business managers in first and second wave trust hospitals in the Trent Regional Health Authority indicated that whilst business managers were knowledgable of what entrepreneurial activity is, they currently feel constrained in their new roles for a variety of reasons. The authors suggest that rational economic analysis is insufficient to explain this lack of innovatory endeavour. Instead policy makers’attention should be devoted to liberating health managers from their current constraints to encourage their entrepreneurial development.