IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v30y2021i4p1598-1609.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When natural resources run out, market knowledge steps in: Lessons on natural resource deployment from a longitudinal study in a resource‐scarce region of Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Desalegn A. Gugissa
  • Paul T.M. Ingenbleek
  • Hans C.M. van Trijp
  • Mebrahtu L. Teklehaimanot
  • Workneh K. Tessema

Abstract

With the increasing scarcity of natural resources, the ability to maintain quality standards during resource‐scarce times becomes more critical for business performance. Theories on managing resource scarcity cannot be easily tested in contexts where resources are still abundant. This study therefore turns to an emerging market context in which natural resource availability naturally varies strongly between seasons, namely, that of Ethiopian pastoralists who for many generations learned to adapt to natural resource scarcity. Central to our theory is the natural resource deployment capability, which is the ability of a business to make efficient and effective use of available resources to maintain business performance during resource‐scarce times. Using three‐wave longitudinal data from 120 pastoral family‐based livestock businesses, the study shows that when resources are scarce or extremely scarce, market knowledge helps to better deploy the scarce natural resources, leading to higher product quality. The findings imply that businesses with a better understanding of markets have stronger natural resource deployment capability. The lesson for businesses that are confronted with approaching resource scarcity is therefore to strengthen their ability to deploy resources efficiently and effectively by strengthening their market knowledge in which such capability is rooted.

Suggested Citation

  • Desalegn A. Gugissa & Paul T.M. Ingenbleek & Hans C.M. van Trijp & Mebrahtu L. Teklehaimanot & Workneh K. Tessema, 2021. "When natural resources run out, market knowledge steps in: Lessons on natural resource deployment from a longitudinal study in a resource‐scarce region of Ethiopia," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1598-1609, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:4:p:1598-1609
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2696
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2696
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2696?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pelin Demirel & Effie Kesidou, 2019. "Sustainability‐oriented capabilities for eco‐innovation: Meeting the regulatory, technology, and market demands," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 847-857, July.
    2. Yasemin Y. Kor & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2005. "How dynamics, management, and governance of resource deployments influence firm‐level performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 489-496, May.
    3. Kevin Zheng Zhou & Julie Juan Li & Nan Zhou & Chenting Su, 2008. "Market orientation, job satisfaction, product quality, and firm performance: evidence from China," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(9), pages 985-1000, September.
    4. Sarstedt, Marko & Ringle, Christian M. & Smith, Donna & Reams, Russell & Hair, Joseph F., 2014. "Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): A useful tool for family business researchers," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 105-115.
    5. Christopher B. Barrett & Michael R. Carter, 2010. "The Power and Pitfalls of Experiments in Development Economics: Some Non-random Reflections," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(4), pages 515-548.
    6. Kjell Mårtensson & Karin Westerberg, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Strategies Towards Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 1-9, January.
    7. Nardia Haigh & Andrew Griffiths, 2009. "The natural environment as a primary stakeholder: the case of climate change," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(6), pages 347-359, September.
    8. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    9. Berazneva, Julia & Lee, David R., 2013. "Explaining the African food riots of 2007–2008: An empirical analysis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 28-39.
    10. Anonymous, 2014. "Introduction to the Issue," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 109-110, August.
    11. Ingenbleek, Paul T.M. & Tessema, Workneh Kassa & van Trijp, Hans C.M., 2013. "Conducting field research in subsistence markets, with an application to market orientation in the context of Ethiopian pastoralists," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 83-97.
    12. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    13. Keith R. Phillips & Edward Rodrigue & Mine K. Yücel, 2013. "Water scarcity a potential drain on the Texas economy," Southwest Economy, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Q4, pages 3-7.
    14. Anonymous, 2014. "Introduction to the Issue," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-2, May.
    15. Owais Khan & Tiberio Daddi & Fabio Iraldo, 2020. "Microfoundations of dynamic capabilities: Insights from circular economy business cases," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1479-1493, March.
    16. Chaminda Wijethilake & Bedanand Upadhaya, 2020. "Market drivers of sustainability and sustainability learning capabilities: The moderating role of sustainability control systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2297-2309, September.
    17. Martina K. Linnenluecke & Andrew Griffiths & Monika Winn, 2012. "Extreme Weather Events and the Critical Importance of Anticipatory Adaptation and Organizational Resilience in Responding to Impacts," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 17-32, January.
    18. Mark Kroll & Peter Wright & Richard A. Heiens, 1999. "The contribution of product quality to competitive advantage: impacts on systematic variance and unexplained variance in returns," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 375-384, April.
    19. Barrett, Christopher B., 2008. "Smallholder market participation: Concepts and evidence from eastern and southern Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 299-317, August.
    20. Alan C. Acock, 2013. "Discovering Structural Equation Modeling Using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number dsemus, March.
    21. Raimund Bleischwitz, 2001. "Rethinking Productivity: Why has Productivity Focussed on Labour Instead of Natural Resources?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 19(1), pages 23-36, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Zan & Jin, Jun & Li, Meng, 2022. "Does media coverage influence firm green innovation? The moderating role of regional environment," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Quan Cai & Ying Ying & Yang Liu & Wei Wu, 2019. "Innovating with Limited Resources: The Antecedents and Consequences of Frugal Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Vicente Roca-Puig, 2020. "The Symbiotic Bond of Income Equality and Organizational Equilibrium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Marcello Sansone & Roberto Bruni & Annarita Colamatteo & Maria Anna Pagnanelli, 2017. "Dynamic capabilities in retailers? marketing strategies: Defining an analysis model," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(2), pages 17-42.
    4. Kirti Nayal & Rakesh D. Raut & Vinay Surendra Yadav & Pragati Priyadarshinee & Balkrishna E. Narkhede, 2022. "The impact of sustainable development strategy on sustainable supply chain firm performance in the digital transformation era," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 845-859, March.
    5. Torres de Oliveira, Rui & Indulska, Marta & Steen, John & Verreynne, Martie-Louise, 2020. "Towards a framework for innovation in retailing through social media," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    6. Silvia Ranfagni & Wilson Ozuem, 2022. "Luxury and Sustainability: Technological Pathways and Potential Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, April.
    7. Patrizia Pastore & Antonio Ricciardi & Silvia Tommaso, 2020. "Contractual networks: an organizational model to reduce the competitive disadvantage of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe’s less developed regions. A survey in southern Italy," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1503-1535, December.
    8. Andrea C. Martinez‐Lozada & Angela Espinosa, 2022. "Corporate viability and sustainability: A case study in a Mexican corporation," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 143-158, January.
    9. Florian Hofmann & Melanie Jaeger‐Erben, 2020. "Organizational transition management of circular business model innovations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2770-2788, September.
    10. Park, Joonyong & Kim, Renee B., 2022. "Importance of offline service quality in building loyalty of OC service brand," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Antonio Juan Briones-Peñalver & Juan Andrés Bernal-Conesa & Carmen Nieves Nieto, 0. "Knowledge and innovation management model. Its influence on technology transfer and performance in Spanish Defence industry," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-21.
    12. Fernandez de Arroyabe, J.C. & Arranz, N. & Schumann, M. & Arroyabe, M.F., 2021. "The development of CE business models in firms: The role of circular economy capabilities," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    13. CHEN, Helen S.Y., 2020. "Designing Sustainable Humanitarian Supply Chains," OSF Preprints m82ar, Center for Open Science.
    14. Merriam Haffar & Cory Searcy, 2018. "Target‐setting for ecological resilience: Are companies setting environmental sustainability targets in line with planetary thresholds?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1079-1092, November.
    15. Eunae Yoo & Elliot Rabinovich & Bin Gu, 2020. "The Growth of Follower Networks on Social Media Platforms for Humanitarian Operations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(12), pages 2696-2715, December.
    16. Ya Sun & Gongyuan Wang & Haiying Feng, 2021. "Linguistic Studies on Social Media: A Bibliometric Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    17. Winskell, Kate & Sabben, Gaëlle, 2016. "Sexual stigma and symbolic violence experienced, enacted, and counteracted in young Africans’ writing about same-sex attraction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 143-150.
    18. Shisong Jiang, 2021. "“When Paradigms Are Out of Place”: Embracing Eclecticism in Legal Scholarship by Academic Turns," Laws, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, October.
    19. Houshmand Masoumi, 2021. "Residential Location Choice in Istanbul, Tehran, and Cairo: The Importance of Commuting to Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, May.
    20. Tanja Lepistö & Tiina Mäkitalo-Keinonen & Tiina Valjakka, 0. "Opportunity recognition in a hub-governed network – insights from garage services," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-24.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:4:p:1598-1609. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.