4.1 Quantitative research realized according to the hypothetical-deductive model
Analysis of existing knowledge (literature review)
In the research on the adaptability of energy enterprises, a review of the literature on strategic management in the field of energy enterprises and directions of research carried out in this field was carried out. An integrated model was then built based on accumulated knowledge with the intention of subjecting it to empirical testing. The hypothetical-deductive model was used in the completed research to determine the nature of features and events occurring in energy enterprises, and to find mechanisms and relationships occurring between them. A review of the literature shows that so far in the management sciences the issue of adaptation has not been discussed in detail and in the energy sector strategic management was not seen at all as an important element related to the development of enterprises. Literature analysis allows showing the current state of knowledge regarding the concept of adaptation in management sciences. Many authors described the adaptation from a specific point of view, while there was no comprehensive and comprehensive approach to this issue. Pérez-Nordtvedt, Khavul, Harrison, and McGee (2014) drew attention to the temporary adaptation to the changing environment. However, the issue of implementing adaptation as a new solution in organizational culture was described by Canato, A., Ravasi, D., & Phillips (2013). Magnusson, Westjohn, Semenov, Randrianasolo, Zdravkovic analyze the marketing adaptation and influence for better financial results. According Eakin, Patt (2011) adaptation depends also on the level of countries development and social sensitivity. Adaptation as companies self-adjust to the changing environment as a dynamic process between decision-makers and environment was described by Hatum, Pettigrew (2006) and aslo by Seroka-Stolka et al. (2016). Adaptation as a survival strategy for SME was analyzed by Andries, P., & Debackere (2006), (2007). The adaptation of enterprises to a new environment was the subject of research by Rutherfor, Parker, Koshiba, (2010). Opportunities and threats as drives for adaptation were the topic of research realized by Saebi, Lien, Foss (2017). A critical analysis of the literature shows that it is worth undertaking in-depth research on adaptability in the energy sector.
In Polish science, Garbara was a pioneer in thinking about adaptation, then called the adaptation process. He also distinguished active or passive adaptation of the organization to the environment (Garbara 1969). The importance of adaptation for enterprise development has also evolved over the last several years (Chakravarthy 1982). At the beginning, the concept of adaptation was formulated as continuous, dynamic adaptation to a changing, uncertain environment as well as proper and proper management of internal interdependencies [Miles Snow 1978]. Then, Ogunmokun and Li (1999) found that full adaptation is very rare in strategic management of an enterprise. Companies very often adapt and modify only selected fragments of their business activities (Ogunmokun & Li 1999). Chakravarthy (1982) defined adaptation as the ability to survive an enterprise in its environment (Balaji & Chakravarthy 1982), while Andries and Debackere (2007) emphasized that the ability to adapt to new conditions allows the company to survive in the market and even move towards becoming a leader (Andries & Debackere 2007). Scott and Davis (2007) postulated that each organization operates in a specific technical, social, cultural, legal environment to which it should adapt (Scott & Davis 2007). The beginning of the 21st century is a look at adaptation strategies as a factor that mobilizes an enterprise to be active in the new reality. Adaptations began to be perceived as an opportunity to use the opportunities emerging on the market and strive to gain a competitive advantage - at this point one can see the beginning of the view on adaptation as an active, anticipatory strategy. For enterprises seeking opportunities to operate on the market in a new reality and trying to take advantage of various opportunities, adaptability may become a factor of competitive advantage. In the energy sector, one example of a new reality could be action in e-energy (Satapathy 2014). The ability to adapt and the dynamics of adaptive changes that are implemented by decision makers in the enterprise shows their managerial abilities. Managers should implement the strategy to cooperate with the changing market in an effective and successful manner. In order to succeed, they should understand how changes within the organization affect its functioning and then make changes that will allow the company to adapt to the new, changing market situation [Center for Creative Leadership]. Then Eunni et al. (2003) and Sánchez, Lago et al. (2011) described adaptations as (1) the company's ability to develop the right direction of strategy and structure as well as internal relations and organizational culture in order to build a strong market position, and (2) the ability to face or even influence the external environment (Sánchez et al. 2011). Moreover organizational culture resulting from national traditions may affect the effectiveness of operational strategies and implemented activities (McCardle, Rousseau, Krumwiede, 2019).
4.2 Formulating hypotheses
The aim of quantitative research was to prove the truth or falseness of hypotheses formulated in them. In the case of quantitative research, research hypotheses were made to check and justify phenomena related to adaptability. The hypotheses were a guess about reality and they were checked by comparing the real state with the hypothetical one. The verification of hypotheses served to check whether a given opinion on adaptability should be adopted or whether it should be rejected. The following hypotheses were made in the research:
Selected energy companies with concessions in the field of generation (production service), transmission service and distribution service and sales service of energy belonging to the highly regulated sector were tested. In the first stage, 145 companies belonging to the broadly understood energy sector from all over Poland were included in the survey, classified according to the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD) to group 35.1 (production, transmission, distribution, trade services), while the second verification stage was carried out on selected enterprises from individual groups according to the PKD division and on company size. The surveyed companies were divided in terms of the number of employees into three basic groups (in accordance with Journal of Laws 2004 No. 173 item 1807 and in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 800/2008 of August 6, 2008): micro, small enterprises and large enterprises. The research was carried out in two stages: the first stage on a group of 145 companies and the second stage on a group of 14 companies. The first stage of the research was carried out in the form of a questionnaire, while the second stage of the research was carried out in the form of Telephone-Depth-Interviewing in order to compare previous results and identify possible new directions of enterprise development. The second stage of the research allowed to compare the situation of enterprises with the situation presented in the answers given in the first stage of the research and confirmed that companies are still implementing adaptation strategies.
4.4 Findings
The results of the conducted surveys show that in most enterprises, both micro, small and large, the impact of legislative and political elements of Poland and the EU on strategic decisions is considerably taken into account.
At the Fig. 6 we can see the elements of the environment which play pivotal role and less important role in the decision making process.
Legal, political and international environment has influence on decision making process and companies take under consideration those environments. From the Fig. 7 we can observe that intensity of influence depends on company size.
Figure 7 shows that power companies quite highly assess the impact of the national and EU legal and political environment on the actions taken - grades were given from 3 to 5.
Market research is a set of analyzes aimed at learning about market phenomena, factors and processes (including their genesis, current state and development trends - opportunities and threats) on the basis of which companies can formulate the most favorable current and planning decisions and build a development strategy. Market research concerns market analysis. Their goal is to learn about the situation on the market and to determine the company's share in this market and achieve knowledge about competitors. Frequency and regularity in carrying out market research regarding changes, the appearance of various occasions or the behavior of competitors are one of the conditions for rapid response and proper operation of enterprises. A quick response to emerging opportunities and threats gives the company the chance to adopt its strategy to market requirements. Due to the frequency and repeatability of market research, we can divide into two main types: continuous and periodic research. Continuous tests are conducted on a given sample continuously for some time. Periodic examinations are carried out on a given sample every certain time in advance. In this way we can determine the degree of response to a given factor. Of the large number of energy enterprises belonging to the group of micro and small enterprises, market observations and surveys are carried out once a year (periodic research), although there is also a large group of micro enterprises which regularly monitors the market – every day and this can be considered as continuous research. There is also a group of small companies which observe the market once a week. However, large companies regularly carry out market observations once a month (Borowski 2019). Another issue related to conducting market research and observing it is the issue of financial expenditure allocated for this purpose. After analyzing the problem, it is possible to observe differences in the frequency depending on the size of the enterprise. Large companies plan market research budgets for the next year in advance, while small enterprises make decisions depending on the availability of free funds. A small company is not able to carry out professional large market research alone because it is now a vast and highly specialized field of knowledge, and even large companies that once had their own research departments are now also outsourcing. At most, a small company can carry out a preliminary market investigation. This point of view regarding the financing of market research is an extension of previous research from 2019. The issue of market research and its financing in a group of companies is shown in Fig. 8
In the group of enterprises surveyed, the financing of market research is twice as high in large companies as in micro and medium companies, which is undoubtedly due to the high costs of the market research.
Energy utilities, which operate in a prosper industry based on modern technology and solutions, must closely monitor and observe their surroundings, make market research. Constant monitoring of change is one of the conditions for a quick response and proper action by businesses under the influence of emerging opportunities and threats. In the group of big companies all respondents indicated one answer, that monitoring is conduct once per month. Large companies carry out monthly market surveillance. It shows that in the big companies perhaps functioning similar rules, which regulate this activities. The situation in the groups of micro and small enterprises is totaling different. Among the numerous number of power companies belonging to the micro and small business group, the market is monitored and surveyed once a year. There is also a large group of microenterprises that monitors the market systematically every day. Among the group of the small companies, there are firms which carried out market observations every day and also less than once per year. Heterogeneous answers in the group of micro and small enterprises are the basis for wondering whether there is any relationship between the frequency of market research conducted and the size of the enterprise. In order to analyze if there are dependencies in frequency of market monitoring in the group of micro and small enterprises, the test chi-square (χ2) were realized. But as an extension of the research carried out by Borowski in 2019, V-Cramer analysis was also carried out.
Null hypothesis
Assumes that there is no association between market frequency and size of enterprises.
Oi – Observed value
Ei – Expected value
Example of Expected value calculation for size (micro, small) and frequency (every day,…, less) is shown in the Table 2, while results of expected value is shown in the Table 3.
Table 2 Matrix of expected value
|
s1 (micro)
|
s2 (small)
|
f1(every day)
|
n11
|
n12
|
f2 (once a week)
|
n21
|
n22
|
f3 (once a month)
|
n31
|
n32
|
f4 (once a year)
|
n41
|
n42
|
f5 (less)
|
n51
|
n52
|
E = (56*117)/137=48 (micro company, every day)
E = (21*117)/137=18 (micro company, once a month)
E = (21*20)/137=3 (small company, once per month)
Table 3 Results of expected value
|
|
Size of enterprise
|
|
|
micro
|
small
|
total
|
|
|
O
|
E
|
O
|
E
|
|
Frequency of market monitoring
|
Every day
|
56
|
48
|
0
|
8
|
56
|
Once a week
|
0
|
5
|
6
|
1
|
6
|
Once a month
|
15
|
18
|
6
|
3
|
21
|
Once a year
|
46
|
43
|
4
|
7
|
50
|
Less
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
4
|
|
117
|
117
|
20
|
20
|
137
|
Source: own study
In our research number of micro enterprises was 117 and number of small enterprises was 20. Totally in the group of micro and small 137 companies were investigated.
alpha level of significance (0.05), and our case degrees of freedom df = (c-1)*(r-1)=(2 − 1)*(5 − 1) = 4
where c – column; r – row. The theoretical χ2 distribution depending on alpha level of significance and degree of freedom is shown in the Table 4.
Table 4 Theoretical x2
|
alpha level of significance
|
df
|
0.20
|
0.10
|
0.05
|
0.025
|
0.02
|
0.01
|
0.005
|
0.002
|
0.001
|
1
|
1.642
|
2.706
|
3.841
|
5.024
|
5.412
|
6.635
|
7.879
|
9.550
|
10.828
|
2
|
3.219
|
4.605
|
5.991
|
7.378
|
7.824
|
9.210
|
10.597
|
12.429
|
13.816
|
3
|
4.642
|
6.251
|
7.815
|
9.348
|
9.837
|
11.345
|
12.838
|
14.796
|
16.266
|
4
|
5.989
|
7.779
|
9.488
|
11.143
|
11.668
|
13.277
|
14.860
|
16.924
|
18.467
|
5
|
7.289
|
9.236
|
11.070
|
12.833
|
13.388
|
15.086
|
16.750
|
18.907
|
20.515
|
6
|
8.558
|
10.645
|
12.592
|
14.449
|
15.033
|
16.812
|
18.548
|
20.791
|
22.458
|
7
|
9.803
|
12.017
|
14.067
|
16.013
|
16.622
|
18.475
|
20.278
|
22.601
|
24.322
|
In our case empirical χ2emp = 56,32 and is higher than theoretical χ2theor = 9,48, so null hypothesis was rejected. There is association in the decision process concerning the frequency of market analysis in the group micro and small enterprises.
As mentioned in the article, the chi square test informs about the existence of dependence, while the test itself does not tell us about the strength of the relationship. In order to check whether the correlation is strong or weak, a contingency factor was used. In the case of multi-divisive tables that appear in our research, the V-Cramer coefficient was used. One final χ2 chi square based measure of association that can be used is Cramer’s V. Once the χ2 chi square value has been calculated, the determination of V is relatively straightforward. This measure is defined as contingency coefficient
where:
V - Cramer Coefficient
χ2 - result of chi square test
n - number of observation
m - the smaller of the c and r numbers specifying the number of columns and rows
Cramer’s V equals 0 when there is no relationship between the two variables, and generally has a maximum value of 1, regardless of the dimension of the table or the sample size. In our case V = [9.482/137(2 − 1)]1/2 = 0,8
We can conclude that there is quite strong relationship between our variables.
Another important issue was the perception of adaptation by energy companies. The adaptation strategy is an important way of developing enterprises; however the level of perception of the significance of adaptation strategies depends on the size of the enterprise. The issue of adapting the enterprise to the environment is also concerning its involvement in the field of research and development (R + D). "Research and development" actions of the companies can rely on internal or external activities. Depending on the size of the company, there is a difference in the number of companies carrying out research on their own or by outsourcing. The research results are shown in Fig. 9.
Research results on the importance of adaptation are presented in Fig. 9 and it follows that all enterprises recognize the important role of adaptation. As the size of the enterprise changes, the approach to the importance of adaptation strategies in company development changes. For large enterprises, the adaptation strategy plays an important and crucial role, while in the group of micro-enterprises over 60% recognize the importance of adaptation.
In order to indicate the relations between size of the company and their macro and microenvironment as well as internal, external activities R + D (expanding research from 2019), the Pearson Correlation was calculated. Pearson Correlation was used in the statistical analysis of variables. The Pearson Correlation is a measure of the linear correlation between two variables x and y. Variable x in or case is the size of the company and variable y is the influence of macro- and micro- environmental factors. A value of coefficient is between 1 and − 1, where 1 is completely positive linear correlation, 0 is no linear correlation, and − 1 is completely negative linear correlation. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (PCC) was calculated using the following equation:
where r is the correlation coefficient of x and y,
denotes the mean of x, and
denotes the mean of y.
The coefficient rxy ranges from − 1 to 1, and it is invariant to linear transformations of either variable.
The coefficient of Pearson correlation for 3 groups of enterprises and elements of macroenvironment are shown at the Table 5.
Table 5 Pearson Correlation
Coefficient of Pearson Correlation p < 0.05 N=3 (micro, small and large enterprises)
|
|
Size of the company
|
Agencies: ERO, CCP*
|
0.8660
|
State authority
|
-1.0000
|
EU authorities
|
-0.8660
|
Administrative institutions
|
0.8660
|
Competitors
|
0.8660
|
Market
|
0.0000
|
Suppliers
|
0.8660
|
Customers
|
1.0000
|
Internal activities R+D
|
0,1977
|
External activities R+D
|
0,0495
|
*ERO – Energy Regulatory Office; CCP - Competition and Consumer Protection
Source: calculation based on the own research
From the Table 5 we can conclude that there is very strong negative correlation between size of company and state authorities. The big company didn’t indicate the strong relations with State authorities. The larger the company, the smaller the influence of the State authorities. And opposite situation with customers, if the bigger company, the bigger is influence of the customers. However, there is no correlation in outsourcing research and development (R + D) activities or the realize of these activities by own company teams.