THE EFFECTS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MANUFACTURING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES ON COMPETITIVE STRATEGY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FAMILY AND NONFAMILY FIRMS

摘要

This paper examines the effects of human resource management, manufacturing, and marketing strategies on competitive strategy and firm performance and how they differ between family firms and nonfamily firms. Data for the study came from 122 manufacturing firms in Ghana. The results indicate that there is no difference in the relationship between market orientation and competitive strategy for both family and nonfamily firms. A human resource participation strategy is associated with competitive strategy and profitability for family firms but not for nonfamily firms. A delivery strategy is related to cost leadership strategy, sales growth and profitability for family firms but not for nonfamily firms. While flexibility is related to differentiation strategy for only family firms, it also impacts profitability for only nonfamily firms. We show that there is no consistent pattern with regard to the relationships between functional strategies and competitive strategy, and between functional strategies and performance, for family and nonfamily firms.