RT Journal Article
T1 Can hybrid strategy improve SME performance? The role of innovation and adaptive capacity
A1 Gutiérrez Broncano, Santiago
A1 Linuesa Langreo, Jorge
A1 Rubio Andrés, María De Las Mercedes
A1 Sastre Castillo, Miguel Ángel
AB Purpose – This article focusses on the hybrid strategy, a simultaneous combination of cost leadership and differentiation strategy. The study aims to examine the impact of hybrid strategy on firm performance through its anticipated positive effects on process and product innovation. In addition, we study the moderating role of adaptive capacity in the direct relationships of hybrid strategy with process and product innovation. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modelling was used to analyse 1,842 Spanish firms with fewer than 250 employees. We randomly selected small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Spain from the Spanish Central Business Directory (2021) database. The overall sample design was based onstratified sampling.Findings – We found that hybrid strategy is positively related to firm performance and to process and product innovation. Additionally, in firms implementing hybrid strategies, process innovation fostered firm performance. Finally, adaptive capacity strengthened the relationships of hybrid strategy with process and product innovation. This sheds light on how and when hybrid strategy is most effective in fostering SME performance.Practical implications – We highlight that SMEs need to establish strategies that use diverse resources and capabilities and not just generate competitive advantage using one strategy (cost leadership or differentiation strategy). This requires an agile and flexible systems and structures.Originality/value – Our research provides novel results by proposing the adoption of hybrid strategies instead of pure strategies (cost leadership and differentiation strategy) as a way for SMEs to survive during crises. Unlike “stuck in the middle” strategies, our study demonstrates the importance of hybrid strategies in a comprehensivemodel that links them to innovation and firm performance, with adaptive capacity being a determining factor.
PB Emerald Publishing Limited
YR 2024
FD 2024-02-14
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102676
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102676
LA eng
NO Gutiérrez-Broncano, S., Linuesa-Langreo, J., Rubio-Andrés, M. and Sastre-Castillo, M.Á. (2024), "Can hybrid strategy improve SME performance? The role of innovation and adaptive capacity", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-07-2023-0566
NO UCM-Cofares Research Chair;  Faculty of Commerce and Tourism (Complutense University of Madrid-Spain) and by the project SBPLY/21/180501/000260 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the Operational Programme of Castilla-La Mancha 2021-2027
DS Docta Complutense
RD 3 may 2025