IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v14y2024i11p306-d1524063.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Effects of Entrepreneurial and Digital Orientations on the Competitive Advantage of Saudi Firms: Is Strategic Agility the Missing Link?

Author

Listed:
  • Wassim J. Aloulou

    (Business Administration Department, College of Business, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh 12652, Saudi Arabia)

  • Amin K. Alsadi

    (Business Administration Department, College of Business, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh 12652, Saudi Arabia)

  • Faouzi M. Ayadi

    (Business Administration Department, College of Business, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh 12652, Saudi Arabia)

  • Thamir H. Alaskar

    (Business Administration Department, College of Business, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh 12652, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

This study explores the intricate relationships between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), digital orientation (DO), strategic agility (SA), and competitive advantage (CA) in Saudi firms. We investigate whether strategic agility serves as the missing link in these relationships. We examine direct and indirect effects among these constructs using structural equation modeling on data collected from 307 Saudi firms. The results confirm the direct positive links between EO and SA with CA. However, the findings also reveal a surprising result—there is no direct link between DO and CA. At the same time, both DO and EO exerted significant positive influences on SA. This study emphasizes the mediating role of SA. We find that SA partially mediates the relationship between EO and CA, underlining the importance of EO while pointing out the additional value given to this relationship by SA. Additionally, SA fully mediates the relationship between DO and CA, suggesting that firms must develop SA to translate their digital capabilities into CA. These results contribute to the strategic management literature by explaining the interplay between strategic orientations, agility, and competitive advantage in the Saudi context. They also provide practical implications for managers seeking to enhance the competitiveness of their firms during this digital age by showing that investing in SA in conjunction with entrepreneurial and digital resources is of paramount importance.

Suggested Citation

  • Wassim J. Aloulou & Amin K. Alsadi & Faouzi M. Ayadi & Thamir H. Alaskar, 2024. "Exploring the Effects of Entrepreneurial and Digital Orientations on the Competitive Advantage of Saudi Firms: Is Strategic Agility the Missing Link?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-23, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:306-:d:1524063
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/11/306/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/11/306/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rameshwar Dubey & David J. Bryde & Cyril Foropon & Gary Graham & Mihalis Giannakis & Deepa Bhatt Mishra, 2022. "Agility in humanitarian supply chain: an organizational information processing perspective and relational view," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 559-579, December.
    2. Kindermann, Bastian & Beutel, Sebastian & Garcia de Lomana, Gonzalo & Strese, Steffen & Bendig, David & Brettel, Malte, 2021. "Digital orientation: Conceptualization and operationalization of a new strategic orientation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 645-657.
    3. Osama Musa Ali Al-Darras & Cem Tanova, 2022. "From Big Data Analytics to Organizational Agility: What Is the Mechanism?," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    4. Kibeshi Kiyabo & Nsubili Isaga, 2020. "Entrepreneurial orientation, competitive advantage, and SMEs’ performance: application of firm growth and personal wealth measures," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jinshan Zhang & Man Liu, 2024. "How to Leverage Digital Sustainability Orientation to Promote Environmentally Sustainable Practices of Manufacturing Enterprises in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-20, June.
    2. Daniela Ioniță & Ion Alexandru Olteanu, 2023. "SME and digital transformation: a dream too far?," Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 7-16, April.
    3. Li, Ganglei & Shao, Yunfei, 2023. "How do top management team characteristics affect digital orientation? Exploring the internal driving forces of firm digitalization," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Maurer, Joshua D. & Creek, Steven A. & Allison, Thomas H. & Bendickson, Joshua S. & Sahaym, Arvin, 2023. "Affiliation rhetoric and digital orientation in crowdfunding appeals," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Al-Omoush, Khaled Saleh & Garcia-Monleon, Fernando & Mas Iglesias, José Manuel, 2024. "Exploring the interaction between big data analytics, frugal innovation, and competitive agility: The mediating role of organizational learning," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    6. Alhamzah Alnoor & Abbas Gatea Atiyah & Sammar Abbas, 2024. "Unveiling the Determinants of Digital Strategy from the Perspective of Entrepreneurial Orientation Theory: A Two-Stage SEM-ANN Approach," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 25(2), pages 243-260, June.
    7. Nezih Altay & Graham Heaslip & Gyöngyi Kovács & Karen Spens & Peter Tatham & Alain Vaillancourt, 2024. "Innovation in humanitarian logistics and supply chain management: a systematic review," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 335(3), pages 965-987, April.
    8. Yuqiu Lu & Guowei Li & Zhe Luo & Muhammad Anwar & Yunju Zhang, 2021. "Does Intellectual Capital Spur Sustainable Competitive Advantage and Sustainable Growth?: A Study of Chinese and Pakistani Firms," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440219, February.
    9. Raghu Nandan Chawla & Praveen Goyal & Deepak Kumar Saxena, 2023. "The role of CIO in digital transformation: an exploratory study," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 797-835, December.
    10. Manuel Chaves-Maza & Eugenio M. Fedriani, 2022. "Defining entrepreneurial success to improve guidance services: a study with a comprehensive database from Andalusia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, December.
    11. Wang, Shusheng & Yan, Yan & Li, Haitong & Wang, Baolin, 2024. "Whom you know matters: Network structure, industrial environment and digital orientation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    12. He, Kai & Bouncken, Ricarda B. & Kiani, Ataullah & Kraus, Sascha, 2024. "The role of strategic orientations for digital innovation: When entrepreneurship meets sustainability," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    13. Huynh, Minh-Tay & Nippa, Michael & Aichner, Thomas, 2023. "Big data analytics capabilities: Patchwork or progress? A systematic review of the status quo and implications for future research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    14. Chotia, Varun & Cheng, Yue & Agarwal, Reeti & Vishnoi, Sushant Kumar, 2024. "AI-enabled Green Business Strategy: Path to carbon neutrality via environmental performance and green process innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    15. Kevin Escoz Barragan & Felix Simon Rudolf Becker, 2025. "Keeping pace with the digital transformation — exploring the digital orientation of SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1361-1385, March.
    16. Rameshwar Dubey & David J. Bryde & Cyril Foropon, 2024. "Design and management of humanitarian supply chains for pandemics: lessons from COVID-19," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 335(3), pages 885-898, April.
    17. Yan He & Zhaoshu Liu & Min-Jae Lee, 2024. "Navigating Sustainable Value Creation Through Digital Leadership Under Institutional Pressures: The Moderating Role of Environmental Turbulence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Larissa Pinon de Carvalho & Thiago Poleto & Camila Carvalho Ramos & Fernando de Assis Rodrigues & Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho & Thyago Celso Cavalcante Nepomuceno, 2023. "Predictors of Digital Competence of Public University Employees and the Impact on Innovative Work Behavior," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-25, May.
    19. Bhandari, Krishna Raj & Zámborský, Peter & Ranta, Mikko & Salo, Jari, 2023. "Digitalization, internationalization, and firm performance: A resource-orchestration perspective on new OLI advantages," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    20. Ayman Abu-Rumman & Ata Shraah & Faisal Al-Madi & Tasneem Alfalah, 2021. "Entrepreneurial networks, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance of small and medium enterprises: are dynamic capabilities the missing link?," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.

    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:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:306-:d:1524063. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.