The aim of this study is to analyze how to improve the competitive advantage and performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in North Sumatra through marketing entrepreneurship and architectural innovation capabilities. The type of research is quantitative research. The study focused on UMKM in North Sumatra who offered the following categories of products: handicrafts, food and beverages, coffee shops, bakeries, fashion, clothing, and services. The research population consists of all 84,758 UMKMs in North Sumatra. As for the sample number ranging between 100 and 200, or at least 5 times the number of variable indicators, when using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The entire sample size for stage 1 was 102 SME samples from Medan city. To analyze the research data, the study used SmartPLS (Partial Least Squares). The findings of this study show that market orientation (MO) has a negative and insignificant impact on SME performance from data processing and hypothesis testing results. Entrepreneurship Marketing Architecture Innovation Capacity (EMAIC) has a beneficial and significant impact on Competitive Advantage (CA). The ability of Enterprise Marketing Architectures (EMAC) to innovate has a significant and beneficial impact on their success. Entrepreneurship orientation (EO) provides tangible proof of SME success through competitive advantage (CA). Corporate orientation has no direct impact on SME performance through competitiveness (CA).

This study investigates the implications of KOLS, Digital Transformation, and Human Resource Development for Sustainable Competitive Advantage through Innovative Behavior and Organizational Innovation in East Java Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). 382 MSMEs in East Java were surveyed, and their data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results showed that KOLS, Digital Transformation, and Human Resource Development significantly positively affected Innovative Behavior, Organizational Innovation, and Sustainable Competitive Advantage. Moreover, Innovative Behavior and Organizational Innovation are important mediating roles in this relationship. The results highlight the importance of cultivating a culture of sharing knowledge, embracing digital transformation, and investing in employee development to increase the competitive advantage of MSMEs. This study provides practical implications for MSME management, emphasizing the need to develop strategies that promote knowledge-oriented leadership, adopt digital technologies, and enhance employee skills and competencies. Thus, MSMEs can foster a culture of innovation, which leads to a sustainable competitive advantage in the long term. This research contributes to understanding the factors driving Sustainable Competitive Advantage in East Java MSMEs. It offers valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in driving the growth and competitiveness of the MSME sector.

Nowadays, it is important to achieve and to sustain an organization’s competitive advantage in complex environments. This paper evaluates different concepts that have led to such benefits. The study sheds light on resource based view (RBV) and its role to reach sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) within banking industry of Iran. A valid research instrument was utilized to conduct a survey of 150 top- and middle-level managers from Mellat bank of Iran. With a response rate of 81.3 percent, 122 questionnaires were returned while a number of valid and usable questionnaires were 101. In order to determine validity of questionnaire, the content validity and Cronbach & apos; s alpha were used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire (RBV questionnaire 0.934, SCA questionnaire 0.843). The study utilized structural equation modelling, and a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and they tested the integrated model of MKM and SCA. Statistical support was found for the hypothesized relationships. Moreover it has been shown that RBV had the greatest effect on the market centered SCA, while it had the least influence on the financial centered. Structural equation modeling has been implemented and the study also used freedman test to rank the factors and the results show that tangible assets was the most important factor (0.71), followed by intangible assets (0.70), human resource capability (0.69), executive capability (0.64) and management capability (0.62) was the last important factor.