Desalegn Abraha Gebrekidan

Networked (interactive) position: a new view of developing and sustaining competitive advantage

Purpose – In the extant literature a firms development of its competitive advantage is seen to be the task of the firm alone. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new and a broader approach of how competitive advantage can be developed and maintained in todays highly competitive and dynamic markets. To this end, how a firm handles its relationships with significant actors in its network becomes very decisive for the development of its competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a network approach, case studies have been used to shed lights on the extent to which the development of competitive advantage of firms affect and are affected by their interaction with some actors in a network of exchange relationships.Findings – An important conclusion of this study is that a firms highly valued performance, an indication of its strong position or competitive strength, has its roots in its regular and intensive interaction with some significant actors in its network.Research limitatio...

Factors Predicting Consumers’ Assessment of Advertisements on Social Networking Sites

Marketers act on social networking sites (SNSs) in order to be more efficient in merchandising their products and/or services. Even so, the scope of the published studies regarding the assessment o ...

Establishment processes in a one party economy : the case of Eritrea

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the issues of how business people perceive the business environment, how government policies impact the environment and how the environment impacts the establishment processes and position development of new firms in the Eritrean market. The process is discussed by keeping a strict focus on the main actors and the activities they carried out, as well as how the available resources are utilized and exchanged in the market. Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on the establishment process model developed from the network approach, case studies based on interviews and focus group discussions have been used to shed light on the extent to how government policies and the environment impacts the establishment processes and position development in the Eritrean market. Findings - An important conclusion of this paper is that the main obstacle for business establishment is the hostile attitude of the government to the private sector. Another significant obstacle for building a successful position in the market is the state-owned command economy network of relationships. An additional crucial hindrance is the non-existence of a market economy network of relationships that can provide firms in the private sector with the resources they need to perform their operations. Research limitations/implications - All firms in this paper have demonstrated that the main obstacle for establishment is the hostile attitude of the government to the private sector. Another obstacle is the state-owned command economy network of relationships, which hinders firms from building a successful position in the market. An additional crucial hindrance is the non-existence of a market economy network of relationships that can provide firms in the private sector with the resources they need to perform their operations. Since the paper is based on case studies and focus group discussions, conducting a similar study on a representative sample of firms selected from a larger population will be very useful. Originality/value - This paper makes a unique contribution by focusing on the establishment process in a market, which is regulated, controlled and owned by the one party government. The other unique contribution is that a firm has to identify the secrets of business success and to follow the same strategy.