Although a responsive supply chain is an integral part of order-winning manufacturing strategies, it has not been clear how firms build a responsive supply chain in global manufacturing environments. Built upon a synthesis of the existing literature and relevant theories, this paper presents a...

The characteristics of the EU and Italian food market, dominated by evolving regulations, rise of new emerging countries, globalisation, advances in ICT and technology sector, increase of retailers’ bargaining power, and changes in consumer patterns, affect especially SMEs, which are forced to...

In this paper determinants of information systems (IS) outsourcing are deduced from transaction cost economic theory, resource-based theory and power theory. They are summarized in a theoretical framework which is tested using a sample of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany. The...

Third-party logistics (3PL) services have experienced unprecedented growth. However, we are not aware of any study that explores the relationships among logistics outsourcing, competitive advantage, and business performance. We study the mediating role of logistics outsourcing as a strategy to...

The terms pull and lean production have become cornerstones of modern manufacturing practice. However, although they are widely used, they are less widely understood. In this paper, we argue that while the academic literature has steadily revealed the richness of the pull/lean concepts, the...

Because of globalisation and an associated global manufacturing environment, cost competitiveness has become necessary. In order to survive, the manufacturing firms have to provide a high level of service to the customers and a high level of throughput with the lowest Work-In-Process (WIP)...

The resource-based view is the dominant paradigm in strategic management. One of the unanswered questions is how innovations are addressed in the resource and competence based literature. In answering this question the conformance of the fundamental methodological principles of the...

The importance and challenges of supplier–customer cooperation has been widely recognized in the academic literature but the dynamics of such relationship remain understudied. We do not yet fully understand how customer–supplier relationship should be pursued in order to co-create mutual...

The paper considers the approaches to the theory of the firm developed by strategic management scholars: positioning theory, resource-based view, dynamic capabilities approach, knowledge-based view, strategic theory of the firm, as well as open innovations theory. The author shows how the ideas...

Vor dem Hintergrund dynamischer und komplexer Umweltbedingungen wird im Rahmen der Strategischen Managementforschung der Fokus bei der Suche nach Faktoren erfolgreicher Unternehmensfuehrung zunehmend auf interne Ressourcen und Faehigkeiten gelegt. Vor allem der Pool der Humanressourcen bietet...