Corporate life cycle and cash holding decisions: A South African study

Innovative marketing practices are essential for firms to increase sales and profitability. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of firms’ marketing innovation based on the employment of resource-based view and stakeholder theory. A probit regression model linking marketing innovation with proxies of firms’ resources and pressures from firms’ stakeholders was tested based on a dataset of 5,857 Vietnamese enterprises taken from a survey by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam in 2016. The findings indicate that firms’ size decreases the probability of marketing innovation by 1%, while internal knowledge gained from internal R&D causes the probability of marketing innovation to increase by 0.18%. Besides, the political connection and collaborations with competitors and private consultants drive the probability that firms implement the marketing innovation up by 0.09%, 0.12%, and 0.09%, respectively. On the other hand, export-oriented firms are more likely to implement marketing innovation by 0.03%, while foreign ownership reduces the chance of this decision by 0.05%. This research also reveals the essential role of the firm’s market pressures to enter into new markets or improve product quality in encouraging marketing innovation by 0.16% and 0.13%, respectively.

Acknowledgment
This research was supported by National Economics University, Grant Number: 343-QĐ-ĐHKTQD.

This paper investigates the impact of debts on corporate cash holding levels and how this impact varies through five large markets of the ASEAN economic community due to different business environment features, namely, macroeconomic factors and legal characteristics. Using the Generalized Method of Moments for dynamic panel models to analyze mega data of non-financial ASEAN-5 firms from 2009 to 2018, this study examined that ASEAN-5 firms maintain relatively high cash after the financial crisis. Second, macroeconomic policies strongly affect the adjustment speed of corporate cash holdings and corporate cash reserve levels in ASEAN-5 firms. Besides, the estimates indicate that there is an alternative nexus between debts and cash reserves in ASEAN-5 firms. Finally, the impact of debts on corporate cash holdings is sustainably influenced by the macroeconomic conditions and the specific characteristics of the legal environment. This paper provides a rational framework for decision-making by corporate managers and macro-policymakers to solve the agency problems related to the alternative nexus between free cash flow and debt.

Indonesia’s blue economy holds immense potential due to the marine ecosystem and maritime area, encompassing the marine fisheries sector, marine tourism, and fisheries influencing the market. Despite this significant potential, these resources have not been optimally utilized to boost economic growth. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the competitive advantage of the Blue Economy sector by enhancing the outcomes of the tourism, processing, and sales of fisheries in Indonesia through the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory. The Resource-Based View theory explains the formulation and creation of competitive advantages by utilizing tangible and intangible resources such as innovation, strategy, capability, and culture. This study employs a quantitative method through an online survey with a total of 319 respondents working in the Blue Economy sector, including fisheries, marine product sellers, and marine tourism. The analytical methodology uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SMART PLS to assess the determination of competitive advantage. The findings of this study show that capabilities, operational capabilities, response capabilities, technological capabilities, innovation culture, innovation strategy, and strategic alignment significantly influence competitive advantage. Moreover, the competitive advantage in the blue economy sector is most influenced by innovation strategy with a beta of 0.375. This suggests that enhancing innovation strategies can positively impact Indonesia’s fisheries industry, as evidenced by fisheries tourism being the largest tourism sector in Indonesia, competing with international tourism. Additionally, Indonesia’s fisheries sector is a major contributor to exports.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank all the stakeholders, including entrepreneurs, government officials, and academics, for their willingness to provide in-depth information on maritime matters in North Sulawesi and other assistance essential for the success of this study.