Purpose – The paper examines the moderating role of a purchasing function's absorptive capacity (AC) on the relationship between the use of electronic purchasing tools and category level purchasing performance. The authors argue that an e‐purchasing tool may not in itself positively...

Purpose – The study seeks to classify retailer‐driven clothing supply networks to provide new insights on their structure and operation and examine whether or not differences are evident in the types of networks operated by different types of retailer. Design/methodology/approach – A...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the integrated model of operations strategy as proposed by Schmenner and Swink to explain whether firms trade‐off or accumulate capabilities, taking into account their positions relative to their asset and operating frontiers....

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate which integrative planning and control practices are used in hospitals and what their effects are on patient flow. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a three‐hospital multi‐case study carried out in The Netherlands. The...

Purpose – Previous research suggests new service development (NSD) is characterized by less stable offerings, less formal processes and is more emergent than new product development. In face of these issues, it seems managers must concern themselves more with the management of the underlying...

Describes a two‐ and, later, a three‐dimensional view of supply chain dynamics within a theoretical framework derived from research carried out in the UK automotive industry. However, the authors believe that the models developed have a far wider applicability than this narrow sectoral and...

It is now becoming apparent that the prevalent “stock‐push” approach in the automotive industry of building vehicles against a long‐term forecast and fulfilling the large majority of orders from existing stock is no longer a viable proposition. Pressure from rising stock levels in the...

Purpose – This paper examines the diversification of services and activities by freight forwarders in the UK. Following similar studies conducted in the USA, the paper analyses the trends towards service and revenue diversification that has been observed in this sector....