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The effects of employee competencies and IT applications on operations strategy: an empirical study of retail firms in China

The effects of employee competencies and IT applications on operations strategy: an empirical... Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between employee competencies, information technology (IT) applications, operations strategy, and business performance. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the resource‐based theory, this study employs a path analytic framework to investigate how employee competencies and IT applications influence the development of competitive operations strategies and business performance for a sample of retail firms in China. Findings – The findings indicate significant and positive relationships between employee competencies and operations strategy (e.g. low cost, quality and flexibility). IT applications also play a vital role in helping retailers pursue a flexibility strategy. The operations strategies of low cost and flexibility in turn influence business performance. Originality/value – This study seems to be the first in investigating the impacts of employee competencies and IT applications on operations strategy and performance in the service sector, especially in the Chinese context. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Measuring Business Excellence Emerald Publishing

The effects of employee competencies and IT applications on operations strategy: an empirical study of retail firms in China

Wantao Yu; Ramakrishnan Ramanathan
Measuring Business Excellence , Volume 16 (1): 18 – Mar 16, 2012
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1368-3047
DOI
10.1108/13683041211204635
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between employee competencies, information technology (IT) applications, operations strategy, and business performance. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the resource‐based theory, this study employs a path analytic framework to investigate how employee competencies and IT applications influence the development of competitive operations strategies and business performance for a sample of retail firms in China. Findings – The findings indicate significant and positive relationships between employee competencies and operations strategy (e.g. low cost, quality and flexibility). IT applications also play a vital role in helping retailers pursue a flexibility strategy. The operations strategies of low cost and flexibility in turn influence business performance. Originality/value – This study seems to be the first in investigating the impacts of employee competencies and IT applications on operations strategy and performance in the service sector, especially in the Chinese context.

Journal

Measuring Business Excellence – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 16, 2012

Keywords: China; Employees; Competences; Information technology; Operations management; Employee competencies; IT applications; Operations strategy; Retail service industries

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