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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of factors of environmental uncertainty on the innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Innovativeness is widely accepted as an important characteristic for firm competitiveness and it has been studied by both researchers as well as business managers. Environmental uncertainty is a measure of the complexity of changing external forces faced by an organisation and it crucially impacts the responses of organisations in order to stay competitive. Based on approaches in existing literature, this study conceptualises environmental uncertainty comprised three separate dimensions — competitive intensity, market/demand turbulence, technological turbulence. Data for the study were collected from 156 SMEs in Turkey. SMEs are regarded as an important ingredient in the economic growth of nations and especially so in developing nations such as Turkey. The findings of the study reveal that market/demand turbulence and technological turbulence have a positive effect on the innovativeness of SMEs. Interestingly and contrary to popular belief, competitive intensity was not found to have significant effect on an SME's innovativeness. The implication of the results from this research is that the degree of organisational innovativeness for SMEs tends to increase and therefore should be supported in environments with greater technological and market/demand turbulence. This research makes an important contribution to the developing body of innovation literature and provides directions for managers and researchers in influencing innovativeness of firms.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of factors of environmental uncertainty on the innovativeness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Innovativeness is widely accepted as an important characteristic for firm competitiveness and it has been studied by both researchers as well as business managers. Environmental uncertainty is a measure of the complexity of changing external forces faced by an organisation and it crucially impacts the responses of organisations in order to stay competitive. Based on approaches in existing literature, this study conceptualises environmental uncertainty comprised three separate dimensions — competitive intensity, market/demand turbulence, technological turbulence. Data for the study were collected from 156 SMEs in Turkey. SMEs are regarded as an important ingredient in the economic growth of nations and especially so in developing nations such as Turkey. The findings of the study reveal that market/demand turbulence and technological turbulence have a positive effect on the innovativeness of SMEs. Interestingly and contrary to popular belief, competitive intensity was not found to have significant effect on an SME’s innovativeness. The implication of the results from this research is that the degree of organisational innovativeness for SMEs tends to increase and therefore should be supported in environments with greater technological and market/demand turbulence. This research makes an important contribution to the developing body of innovation literature and provides directions for managers and researchers in influencing innovativeness of firms.

China is the largest e-commerce market, contributing to a quarter of the global market share with some of the leading e-commerce companies headquartered here. As these businesses continue working round the clock — all year, expanding their operations across domains, regions and countries, innovation in Human Resource Management (HRM), then becomes a key enabler in ensuring that the workforce integrates and evolves along with the firm, and in parallel with the consistent changes in the industry. In retrospect, HRM practices in China have been maturing over the years as well with their increasing participation in global business networks.

Alibaba, the world’s largest retailer and e-commerce company, employs over 117,600 people across multiple geographical locations. A Chinese homegrown company, Alibaba has not only captured the local market share but has also consolidated its position in the top ranks of the global race. Its company culture is arguably one of the most peculiar as it seamlessly blends the best of Chinese culture and the Silicon Valley spirit. This case study aims to explore such innovations and more in HRM practices at Alibaba, along with highlighting and identifying crucial challenges faced by the company in this domain and how they tackled it as they kept scaling and expanding their operations.

The present study intends to create knowledge about complex organizational structures in Chinese businesses to further add on to the overall management knowledge base. It will also contribute toward the growing foundation, on which further research can be based.