Impact of intellectual capital on exportation performance: Research on the Turkish automotive supplier industry

Intellectual capital is a concept emphasizing the fact that the nonmaterial can create more values than the material, and also envisioning that business enterprises can create values through the development of employee relations, creativity, and innovation. The connection between increasing structural and functional performance of exportation and the accumulation of acquired intellectual capital of a business enterprise in today's databased competitive environment is a highly important issue. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of acquired intellectual accumulation of business enterprises on their exportation performance, which operate in the Turkish automotive supplier industry following an export-based production policy. A survey has been conducted to achieve this goal on 107 enterprises active in automotive supplier industry that appear in "The Research of Most Exporting Companies in Turkey," annually published by The Turkish Exporters Council. It has been determined by this research that the exportation performance of a business enterprise is greatly affected by its intellectual accumulation. The improvement of exportation performance of business enterprises, possessing accumulation of intellectual capital, is more positive as compared to the ones without it, in the aspects of structural, employee, and customer capital. © 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved

Unlocking the relationships between strategic planning, leadership and technology transfer competence:the mediating role of strategic quality management

Abstract Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationships between firms’ strategic planning (SP), leadership and technology transfer competence (TTC) by specifically incorporating the mediating role of strategic quality management (SQM). Design/methodology/approach: This study performs structural equation modeling using AMOS on survey data collected from 200 Turkish firms operating in multiple industries and sectors. Findings: This study finds that leadership in Turkish firms operating in multiple sectors is positively associated with SQM. This study further finds that SQM positively influences Turkish firms’ TTC and mediates the roles of SP and leadership in TTC. Research limitations/implications: A key research implication from this study relates to the mediating role of SQM in TTC in an emerging economy context. This study highlights that SP and leadership can play an essential role in TTC through the mediating mechanism of SQM. Consequently, SQM emerges as a crucial linking pin in conveying the impact of quality management practices on technology transfer in emerging markets. Practical implications: An essential managerial implication of this study relates to the critical roles of leadership, SP and SQM in TTC. For the managers of firms operating in a relatively uncertain emerging context such as Turkey, it is essential to adopt a supportive and empowering leadership style, where open communication and innovative activities are viewed positively and SQM is adopted holistically. Also, SP should be streamlined throughout the firm and followed by SQM to support TTC. Originality/value: This paper links the technology (and knowledge) management and the strategy and leadership literature streams by focusing on the mechanisms of technology transfer and delving into the linkages between SQM, leadership, SP and TTC. It specifically presents SP and leadership as precursors to SQM in their joint influence on TTC. Accordingly, this research bridges technology, strategy and leadership research and provides a broader picture of technology transfer that encompasses the joint role of different processes in firms’ TTC