Perceived external R&D purchases and internal R&D expenditures as innovation drivers in large Ecuadorian firms

Global competition has forced companies, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to improve their competitive advantage. Supply chain management practices are the ways to improve the competitive advantage, particularly in the global competition context. However, there is still doubt SMEs can compete globally, considering they face limited resources, skilled workforce, and business networks. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of supply chain management practices, covering cross-functional integration, partnership, responsiveness, and resilience. Moreover, this study has examined which practices dominate in improving competitive advantage. The quantitative study involved 445 SMEs located in East Java, Indonesia. The respondents are supervisors or higher levels and work in departments related to supply chain management, as they can provide the relevant information and possess complete knowledge of management practices. The data were collected via a questionnaire designed with a five-point Likert scale. The responses were analyzed using SmartPLS software 4.0. The results show that cross-function integration improves supply chain partnership, responsiveness, and resilience (β = 0.705, 0.382, 0.324; t-value = 25.177, 6.697, 5.783). Supply chain partnerships affect supply chain responsiveness, resilience, and competitive advantage (β = 0.327, 0.257, 0.249; t-value = 5.933, 4.536, 5.651). Moreover, supply chain responsiveness improves supply chain resilience and competitive advantage (β = 0.285, 0.106; t-value = 5.690, 2.099). Supply chain resilience improves competitive advantage (β = 0.435 and t-value = 8.987). SMEs can enhance their competitive advantage by integrating their internal cross-functional integration and adopting supply chain partnership, responsiveness, and resilience.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank DIKTI 2023 and Research and Community Outreach Petra Christian University for providing the grant to fund this research.

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.

Knowledge sharing in MSMEs refers to sharing information, skills, or experiences between business owners, employees, customers, or other parties such as mentors, business communities, or educational institutions. This study aims to analyze the relationship between innovation performance and knowledge-sharing outcomes within handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia. It highlights the role of absorptive capacity as a crucial intermediary, emphasizing its importance in enhancing the connection between shared knowledge and improved innovation performance. A quantitative methodology is applied in alignment with the study’s objectives, as the research involves numerical and statistical data. Methods for collecting the data included interviews and questionnaires. The total population for this study comprises 165 managers/owners of handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia. The analysis is conducted using the SEM-PLS technique. The findings indicate that knowledge-donating and knowledge-collecting, as pillars of knowledge sharing, are key in bolstering absorptive capacity and advancing innovation performance. This relationship is statistically supported with a p-value of less than 0.05. Indirectly, knowledge-donating significantly affects innovation performance through absorptive capacity (p < 0.05), and knowledge-collecting significantly affects innovation performance through absorptive capacity in handicraft MSMEs in Medan, Indonesia (p < 0.05). Based on this study’s results, MSMEs in the craft sector can increase innovation by building a culture of knowledge sharing internally among employees and externally with business partners, communities, or clients.

Acknowledgment
The study was funded in 2024 under the Basic Research - Regular (PF-R) category by the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. The administration of the Faculty of Economics and Business, as well as the staff of the Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, were also thanked, along with the other levels of administration at the university.