This study examines the impact of the barrier of adopting hybrid strategy on strategic performance using the oil sector in Iraq as a case. International oil companies consider various strategies in order to achieve superior performance. The procedure needs to overcome certain essential barriers for the adoption of the hybrid strategy that combines the cost leadership and differentiation strategy. The questionnaire was distributed online due to the COVID-19 pandemic that led to the closure of companies in the country. Out of the 537 questionnaires answered, 483 were used for further analysis which yielded usable response rate of 90%. The structural equation modeling results confirmed that the high costs of technologies, the priority of other external matters, inadequate industry regulation, insufficient supply, organizational capabilities, strategic capabilities, and financial capabilities are significantly related to strategic performance. The researchers recommend conducting an in-depth study of the phenomenon based on theoretical and empirical foundations, especially considering the relationship between the barriers of a hybrid strategy and strategic performance based on linear and non-compensatory relationships. This research sheds light on the barriers to adopting the hybrid strategy required by the oil sector as it relies on continuous production.
The prime concern of this study is to explore how technology influences entrepreneurial marketing decisions during the world pandemic (COVID-19). The study uses a sample of 127 SMEs from Bangladesh. Data were collected by sending out questionnaires electronically and by mail. Smart PLS (SEM) 3.0 was used to analyse the data following the quantitative method. The study reveals positive and significant relationships between entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, opportunity development and opportunity exploitation with their entrepreneurial marketing decisions. It also claims that entrepreneurial passion mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and opportunity development with their entrepreneurial marketing decisions. However, entrepreneurial passion does not mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation and entrepreneurial marketing decisions. The study offers researchers a broader and more wide-ranging view of the importance of artificial intelligence in small firms. Researchers, educators and practitioners will benefit from the findings. The analyses are more complex and varied than the methodologies used in most of the limited previous research.
Year 2020 has cultivated new arena in education. Covid-19 has not only reformed the world but also revived the process of operations. One among them is academics. Never in history of education was a lecture delivered without the physical presence of lecturers, in an academic environment. Even in present wildest innovative decade, the idea of eliminating the academia was not an option. However, after the pandemic encounter, it happened. These are not mere changes, but it is a transformation. While this phenomenon is getting acceptable gradually by takers, the mammoth turnaround is happening in Ph.D. final viva voce defenses too. Practice of online defense is approved by leading Universities so as to avoid stagnation of researchers in final stage. Question is, will it be appropriate to accept final defenses in online stream? and has the institutions developed rubrics to assess the researches which are presented online? Finally, if this is the only choice then how best we can use the technology to generalize it as a system? This research was executed through Delphi technique method from academia, research aspirants and policy-makers. Partial least square is used to quantify the data after interpreting qualitative data. Thirteen homogeneous University's respondents were used as sample. Focus of this paper remains to substantiate the benefits of emerging technology and developing a scheme for virtual streaming, rather identifying reasons to avoid them.