Impact of environmental scanning on organizational resilience and competitive advantage: a study of Egyptian SMEs

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of environmental scanning (ES) on competitive advantage (CA) through the mediation of organizational resilience dimensions within manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a cross-sectional design to collect data. This study used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 249 Egyptian SMEs. This study employed the Smart partial least square structural equation modeling technique to test the hypotheses.FindingsES positively affects CA both directly and indirectly through the mediation of organizational resilience dimensions, namely, robustness and agility. However, ES does not affect integrity; therefore, integrity does not mediate the ES–CA relationship. These results indicate that organizational resilience partially mediates the relationship between ES and CA.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size was small, covering only Egyptian manufacturing SMEs. The results may be different in the service sector and other countries. The study was cross-sectional which could not trace the long-term effects of ES and organizational resilience on CA. Therefore, a longitudinal study should be conducted, based on resource availability.Practical implicationsManagers in Egyptian SMEs should scan their environments to build organizational resilience and, in turn, enhance their CA.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first endeavors to investigate the role of ES in building CA through organizational resilience in the context of Egyptian SMEs.

Does relational capital matter to food and beverage SMEs’ resilience? The mediating role of environmental scanning

“…Moreover, Vakilzadeh and Haase (2021) asserted that environmental scanning, as a predictive tool, is considered a building block of resilience. Besides, in accordance with our results, YahiaMarzouk and Jin (2022a) found that environmental scanning activities positively affected OR, namely robustness and agility.…”

“…An important contribution of our study pertains to the impact of relational capital on environmental scanning. Despite the large number of empirical research that have investigated ES activities in firms around the world (e.g., Jorosi, 2008 ; Wong and Hung, 2012 ; Aldehayyat, 2015 ), and the empirical studies that confirmed its positive impact on resilience and survival during crises (e. g., Vakilzadeh and Haase, 2021 ; YahiaMarzouk and Jin, 2022a , b ), studies examining the factors that may facilitate the environmental scanning activities are still largely lacking. In this regard, we argued that RC enables enterprises to collaborate with other businesses, communities, and governmental agencies out of a sense of mutual respect and trust in order to gather important information.…”

“…Based on the observed research gaps, the authors conclude that the relational capital of a firm is a significant, albeit overlooked, factor influencing environmental scanning activities and a firm’s resilience to crisis occurrences. Besides, previous studies in the field of ES are either just theoretical ones recommending the importance of studying the role of ES in enhancing OR (e.g., Vakilzadeh and Haase, 2021 ; Thomas and Suresh, 2022 ), or empirical studies investigating its direct and indirect impacts on resilience (e.g., YahiaMarzouk and Jin, 2022a , b ), or investigating the consequences of ES (e.g., Fathi et al, 2021 ; Blaique et al, 2022 ). Accordingly, we noticed that most of ES studies are ignoring the factors that can facilitate the scanning mission of managers.…”

Strategic management accounting and sustainable performance: The serial mediating role of business strategies and competitiveness

“…Strategic management accounting is a dataset that executives use as an effective tool that helps executives in strategic planning, decision-making, and operations contributes to greater business efficiency (Navarro-Garcí a et al, 2016;Wajdi and Arsjah, 2019). Additionally, strategic management accounting reflects information used to develop business strategies to create competitive advantages over competitors (Kaneko and Yimruan, 2017), even during changing business situations (Panjaitan et al, 2018;YahiaMarzouk and Jin, 2022). Consequently, the implementation of strategic management accounting integrated with technological information and market data with future visions enables executives to evaluate opportunities and risks in business competition, allowing them to formulate appropriate strategies based on their resource capabilities (Stocker et al, 2021).…”