Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how clarity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation of Japanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) achieves constructive firm performance outcomes. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of the literature review, the authors present...

Purpose Over the decade the trend of Global Fortune 500 firms has shown significant changes – Japanese and Chinese firms in particular. The purpose of this paper is to present trend analysis of Global Fortune 500 – Japanese and Chinese firms. Key research questions are: what are the relevant...

Purpose: Technologies change quickly in the automotive industry. This can provide opportunities to firms from emerging economies who try to enter the world stage of automotive production, provided they can react to this more nimbly than established competitors. How technological change affects...

Purpose – The purpose of this exploratory paper is to analyze how complexity of an artifact affects designing processes of its mechanical, electric, and software sub‐systems. Design/methodology/approach – Based on existing empirical research and frameworks of axiomatic design, product...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a development model of the Korean IT industry based on the concept of open and cluster innovation and reveal the synergistic effects between the textile and electronic industries. Design/methodology/approach – The analytical data on the Gumi...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine complex risk management practices of Japanese firms in a turbulent environment. Design/methodology/approach – The focus of this research is to examine risk management practices based on product accidents in Japanese firms. It examines how...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to review a major section of the literature on benchmarking practices in order to achieve better perspectives for emerging benchmarking research streams. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the benchmarking literature and presents a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop research frameworks for two types of green supply chains based on Fisher's seminal work. In spite of Fisher's contribution to the literature, his study has rarely been extended into green supply chain contexts, except in a few conceptual...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine various aspects of integration in order to structure and define the concept of supply chain management integration. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on an extensive literature review in three steps and a series of interviews...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate headquarters control business units, the governing of which has emerged as a vital issue as business portfolios have grown increasingly complex due to diversification, globalization, and corporate group expansion via spinoffs and...