Best practices, performance advantage and trade-offs: new insights from frontier analysis

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2024

Authors

Sousa, R (Author) Other; Ana Maria Cunha Ribeiro dos Santos Ponces Camanho (Author) FEUP; Silva, MC (Author) Other; da Silveira, GJC (Author) Other; Arabi, B (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Journal of Productivity Analysis

Vol. 62

Pages: 91-110

ISSN: 0895-562X

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 2 Citations

Scopus - 4 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Z-FWH

DOI: 10.1007/s11123-023-00714-y

Abstract (EN): There are still important theoretical and empirical gaps in understanding the role of best practices (BPs), such as quality management, lean and new product development, in generating firm's performance advantage and overcoming trade-offs across distinct performance dimensions. We examine these issues through the perspective of performance frontiers, integrating in novel ways the resource-based theory with the emergent practice-based view. Hypotheses on relationships between BPs, performance advantage, and trade-offs are developed and tested with stationary and longitudinal (recall) data from a global survey of manufacturing firms. We use data envelopment analysis, which overcomes limitations of mainstream methods based on central tendency. Our findings support the view that BPs may serve as a source of enduring competitive advantage, based on their ability to lead to a heterogeneous range of dominant and difficult-to-imitate competitive positions. The study provides new insights on contemporary debates about the role of BPs in generating performance advantage and how practitioners can sustain internal support and extract benefits from them.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 20