بازنگری ارتباط میان استراتژی کسب و کار و کارایی Revisiting the link between business strategy and performance: Evidence from hotels

1. Introduction The present study aims to analyze and identify the strategy factors driving the performance of hotels. Several studies have examined how managers formulate and implement business strategies to gain sustainable competitive advantages (Durand et al., 2017; Furrer et al., 2008; Hoskisson et al., 2013) in their markets. Scholars suggest that, when formulating or implementing strategies, managers should focus on the external environment, called the position-based view (Porter, 1985); or the internal environment, called the resource-based view (RBV) (Barney, 1991). These studies claim that no approach fully explains a company’s performance or the success of a single strategy (Lam et al., 2015). Grant (2016) suggests that companies should combine these two approaches to gain sustainable competitive advantages. However, because of the ongoing debate concerning these approaches (Parnell, 2006), combining them has not been adequately considered or executed when formulating and implementing competitive strategies (Armanios et al., 2017; Brenes et al., 2016; Hoskisson et al., 2000). Scholars have advised managers in the hospitality industry to follow either the position-based view (Chathoth and Olsen, 2007), resourcebased view (Claver-Cortés et al., 2007; Marco-Lajara et al., 2016), or both views simultaneously (Koseoglu et al., 2013; Lam et al., 2015; Pereira-Moliner et al., 2015). Some specific characteristics of hotel companies, such as the lack of inventory and the fact that production and consumption coincide in space and time (the servuction process) require special capabilities in employees. In the servuction process, both clients and employees can modify the services provided and their cost. Thus, applying these two approaches in the hotel industry may play an important role both in the formulation and implementation of competitive strategies (Koseoglu et al., 2013; Koseoglu et al., 2016). Consequently, to clarify key success factors, more studies examining how the application of both approaches simultaneously impacts hotel performance are needed. The present study addresses the relationship between business strategy and firm performance in hotels by examining the following research questions: What is the structure of the relationship between business strategies and firm performance, including market performance and profitability? What factors—industry forces, firm assets, or both—drive firm performance? How do these factors influence firm performance? Through a literature review, the position-based view and the resource-based view are examined, to explain both their competitive success related to hotels and the research model which integrates both approaches. Following this, the research design and methodology of this study are discussed. The results achieved by estimating the research model by Partial Least Square are then shown. After discussing the primary results of this research, relevant conclusions, as well as theoretical and managerial implications, are drawn from the findings. In the final section, certain limitations are recognized that, in turn, shed light on future avenues of research.