The Nexus between Innovation and Business Competitive Advantage: A Conceptual Study

Abstract

Despite the fierce competition in the business environment, firms accept relatively low innovative solutions in their daily activities and consequently lose competitive advantage, experience creeping growth at a snail's pace directly associated with the firm's inadequate finance and eventual collapse. This study examined the interrelationship between access to finance, innovation, and competitive advantage. Premised on the study findings, results revealed that innovation is an all-important strategy that differentiates the products and services of business firms and consequently sustaining competitive advantage. The results suggest that adequate financing can be a mechanism by which innovation and competitive advantage positively relate to increased performance. The strength between these variables would be heightened as access to finance increased. It was further established that firms with encouraging innovative culture would gain rare core competencies and maintain the position of the market leader while sustaining competitive advantage. Based on these findings, the study recommends that business firms conduct market surveys to determine the need of current and prospective customers. Management should prioritize, invest heavily in research and development, and the government should strive to provide adequate financial support, infrastructural facilities, and incentives for business operations.

Current Status of Market Mavens Research: A Literature Review

“…There are many types of systematic review research, including bibliometric reviews that focus on the evolution of a scientific area over time [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], meta-analysis [24,25], systematic reviews [26][27][28][29][30][31][32], narrative reviews [33,34], framework-based reviews [35], and structured reviews, which focus on the widely applied theories, constructs, and methods [36].…”

Innovativeness and Competitive Advantage of Small and Medium-Size Enterprises in Kogi State, Nigeria

“…The notion that innovation is a unique and strategic tool for pursuing performance or CA has persisted over time despite being controversial. Studies (Aziz & Samad, 2016;Boachie-Mensah & Acquah, 2015;Ferreira et al, 2018;Nafiu et al, 2020;Onileowo et al, 2021;Ukpabio et al, 2018) have been able to establish that there is a linear relationship between innovations and CA. There is a research oversight on the relevance of constructs and sub-constructs of innovations as exposed by Clauss (2016); as these have explanatory potential on the nature of the CA.…”

Earnings Management: An Analysis of Corporate Strategy, Financial Performance, and Audit Quality

“…Izzati (2017), Wardani and Isabela (2017) and Widyasari, Harindahyani, and Rudiawarni (2017) support the finding that the strategy adopted by a company can influence earnings management actions. Onileowo, Muharam, Ramily, and Khatib (2021) showed that earnings management can be maintained by companies that develop innovation and maintain a competitive advantage.…”