In crisis-affected emerging markets such as Myanmar, organizational sustainability and competitive advantage increasingly depend on the effective management of internal strategic resources. Within the education sector, digital media production has become a core strategic capability rather than a supporting function, particularly for institutions delivering technology-enabled learning services. However, despite substantial investments in advanced production technologies and skilled human capital, operational inefficiencies often undermine strategic performance.
This study examines the impact of Production Workflow Management on Strategic Performance Outcomes, with Resource Efficiency serving as a mediating variable, within the Strategy First Education Group (SFEG) in Yangon, Myanmar. Drawing upon the Resource-Based View (RBV), Bottleneck Theory, and Human Capital Theory, the research adopts a positivist philosophy and a deductive, quantitative research design. Primary data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 141 internal stakeholders, including media production staff and client departments. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS, incorporating descriptive statistics, reliability and validity testing, multiple regression analysis, and mediation analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS Macro (Model 4).
The findings indicate that Production Workflow Management has a significant positive effect on Resource Efficiency (β = 0.587, p < 0.001) and Strategic Performance Outcomes (β = 0.646, p < 0.001). Resource Efficiency also demonstrates a strong positive influence on Strategic Performance (β = 0.611, p < 0.001). Crucially, mediation analysis confirms that Resource Efficiency partially mediates the relationship between Production Workflow Management and Strategic Performance, with a significant indirect effect (β = 0.218, 95% CI [0.140, 0.307]). This result demonstrates that workflow improvements enhance strategic outcomes both directly and indirectly by stabilizing human capital and maximizing technology return on investment.
The study contributes to Level 7 academic knowledge by empirically validating the causal mechanism linking operational rigor to strategic advantage in a volatile emerging market context. Practically, it offers evidence-based managerial recommendations for improving workflow standardization, inter-departmental coordination, and human capital retention to achieve sustained competitive performance.
