bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Aligning product variety with supply chain and business strategy
Authors: Um Juneho , Han Neungho , Grubic Tonci , Ghalib Asad 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the strategic alignment between product variety and supply chain (SC) focus through cost leadership or differentiation to improve business performance.Design/methodology/approachThe research investigated product variety-related capabilities and strategies in SCs including level of variety, SC agility, SC cost efficiency, cost leadership, differentiation and business performance, and aimed to justify the theory by testing structural equation modelling using survey data from the UK and South Korea.FindingsDifferentiation links high product variety and agile SC while cost leadership is aligned with low product variety and SC efficiency. High product variety negatively impacts on cost leadership strategy. Also, product variety should be mediated by cost leadership or differentiation strategy to improve business performance. Companies in South Korea display higher SC agility, cost leadership and cost efficiency than companies in the UK, while the UK companies exhibit a higher level of product variety and differentiation than those in South Korea.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings contribute to theoretical development of variety issues at the alignment of business strategy and SC management according to the level of product variety.Originality/valueThe findings can help international companies set up specific variety-related strategies to achieve global competitiveness.
Proposing an improved economic value model for human resource valuation
Authors: Ghasemi Sasan , Shahin Arash , Safari Ali 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an improved economic value model for human resource valuation. For this purpose, the probability of promoting people to a higher position and the satisfaction coefficient of employees and customers have been computed by competency and Kano models.

Design/methodology/approach
In order to calculate the probability of promoting people to a higher position, competency model and questionnaire have been used. The satisfaction coefficient of employees and customers has been calculated as a factor influencing the survival of an individual in the organization by using the Kano model. For this purpose, two questionnaires have been designed; one was completed by the employees and the other by the customers. The proposed model has been examined in a consulting company in Iran.

Findings
The human resource value of the company under study has been estimated over 29bn rials (Iranian currency). The obtained results indicate that the proposed approach as an integrative monetary and nonmonetary measure can remove the limitations of the economic value model.

Practical implications
The proposed model helps organizations in managing their human capitals more effectively.

Originality/value
In this study, the Kano and competency models have been integrated with one of the common models of human resource valuation, i.e. the economic value model. The proposed integrated model seems more effective compared to the basic model of economic value model. Application of the proposed model within the context of Iran for the first time would constitute as potential for contribution to the knowledge of human resource management in the developing countries.
The relationship between managerial entrenchment, earnings management and firm innovation
Authors: Salehi Mahdi , Mahmoudabadi Mahbubeh , Adibian Mohammad Sadegh 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the qualitative effect of corporate governance components, in the form of managerial entrenchment index, on earnings management and innovation.

Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the variable of managerial entrenchment, which includes the variables of management independence, dual role of management, management tenure, the board compensation and the board ownership percentage, was initially estimated through the exploratory factor analysis and its effect was evaluated on the dependent variables of the study using the test of multivariable regressions. Hence, a total of 103 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange were selected and analyzed during 2011–2016. In this paper, the Jones model is used as the variable of accrued earnings management and for calculating the real earnings management, the models of abnormal operational cash flows, abnormal production costs and abnormal optional costs are employed. Moreover, the research and development cost to total costs ratio is used for calculating the innovation.

Findings
The results indicate a negative and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and accrual-based earnings management; moreover, the entrenched managers are less likely to engage in manipulating the real activities accruals in Iran context. Furthermore, the findings show that there is a positive and significant relationship between managerial entrenchment and firm innovation.

Originality/value
What really sets this paper apart from other studies is that this research will make aware investors and stakeholders of this fact that managerial entrenchment will be a good way to diminish the manipulation of financial reporting and improve the corporate situation in emerging markets, particularly those bazaars facing with economic sanctions such as Iran. Undeniably, the study results will complete the knowledge gap between the developed economies and the emerging markets.
Prioritizing warehouse performance measures in contemporary supply chains
Authors: Laosirihongthong Tritos , Adebanjo Dotun , Samaranayake Premaratne , Subramanian Nachiappan , Boon-itt Sakun 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
Due to the importance of efficiency and responsiveness measures rather than just efficiency measures, this research recognizes both measures when considering overall performance of warehouse operations. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to prioritize overall performance measures associated with warehouse operations in manufacturing, third-party logistics service provider and retail industry supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an integrated approach that involves the Q-sort method to group measures into four categories. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process was then used to prioritize individual performance measures within each category and integer liner programming model was used to validate prioritized categories, using the judgment of multiple decision makers across three industries.

Findings
The result shows that the financial category is a dominating performance category in managing warehouse operations across all three industries selected. Within the financial category, cost of insurance accounted for 25 percent of total weight of the category, and is considered to be a powerful measure. The financial category is verified by multiple decision makers across three industries, as the most important performance category.

Research limitations/implications
As part of adopting the proposed methodology in practice, it needs to be guided by overall methodology appropriate for industry-specific contexts.

Originality/value
Key novel aspects of this study are to categorize warehouse operations measures and analyze their perspectives in different industries, understand dominant categories of warehouse operations measures in the contemporary supply chain and finally to explore to what extent current practices lead to achieving efficiency and responsiveness in the selected industries.
Flexible budgeting influence on organizational inertia and flexibility
Authors: Oyadomari José Carlos Tiomatsu , Afonso Paulo Sérgio Lima Pereira , Dultra-de-Lima Ronaldo Gomes , Mendonça Neto Octavio Ribeiro Ribeiro , Righetti Maria Carolina Gazso 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how the use of flexible budgets may influence different institutional logics (organizational inertia and flexibility).Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research based on a single case study in a multinational subsidiary company was carried out. The data were mainly collected using the dialog technique through open-ended and semi-structured interviews and complemented with direct observation in informal and formal meetings and the analysis of internal documents. Content analysis was used for the analysis of the findings.FindingsThe use of flexible budgets, which isolates the negative variations due to the decrease in sales volume, may contribute to organizational inertia. However, this can be counterbalanced if the managers try to minimize the decline in performance through initiatives that promote organizational flexibility. In this case study, it was found that the alignment between the production director and the controller, who frequently work under different institutional logics, was important to stimulate organizational flexibility particularly in continuous improvement projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this paper are based on only one in-depth case study. Hence, the results cannot be generalized, but a theoretical contribution can be made. Furthermore, the findings are constrained by the constructs used and the specific managerial and theoretical perspectives that have supported the analysis.Practical implicationsThese results can be useful particularly for companies that are dealing with the abrupt drop in the sales volume and use the flexible budget as a performance assessment technique. These firms must pay attention because this combination can stimulate organizational inertia. To counteract this problem, it is necessary that controllers and the managers work by understanding the initiatives that promote organizational flexibility, mainly by Kaizen projects, which can minimize performance decline.Social implicationsThe main contribution may be how to deal with the different managers’ behaviors, given the decrease in sales volume, and it can help an organization survives in times of economic recession and fierce competition environments.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to both practical and academic dimensions. Indeed, despite being widely used, flexible budgeting is not a widely researched topic.
Retail supply chain responsiveness
Authors: Sandberg Erik , Jafari Hamid 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review existing research on retail supply chain responsiveness, develop categories to be included in a retail-specific responsiveness framework, and identify future research areas within the scope of retail supply chain responsiveness.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an inductive systematic literature review of 46 academic, peer-reviewed articles. Based around the two major review questions on retailers’ role in the creation of supply chain responsiveness and future research areas, an inductive, qualitative, content analysis was conducted. Further analysis was conducted by using the software NVivo 11.

Findings
Existing research are grouped into a framework of four categories that together span the existing research. The categories are labelled supply chain orchestration, market orientation, supply chain operations and supply management. Two to three subthemes in each category are presented. Thereafter, promising future research areas are outlined, covering methodological issues, theoretical underpinnings, inclusion of context variables and outcomes of retail supply chain responsiveness.

Research limitations/implications
The conducted systematic literature review has been limited to academic, peer-reviewed articles.

Practical implications
The findings of the paper constitute a promising initial step towards a retail-specific framework on retail supply chain responsiveness.

Originality/value
The paper questions the comprehensiveness of established models in responsiveness, and argues that existing “general” literature on supply chain responsiveness gives little guidance and structure to retailers’ specific role and involvement in supply chain responsiveness. In particular, the paper focusses on the retailers’ role for creation of supply chain responsiveness, which has not previously been addressed in research.
A performance analysis of Brazilian public health: TOPSIS and neural networks application
Authors: Araujo Claudia Affonso Silva , Wanke Peter , Siqueira Marina Martins 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to estimate the performance of Brazilian hospitals’ services and to examine contextual variables in the socioeconomic, demographic and institutional domains as predictors of the performance levels attained.Design/methodology/approachThe paper applied a two-stage approach of the technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) in public hospitals in 92 Rio de Janeiro municipalities, covering the 2008–2013 period. First, TOPSIS is used to estimate the relative performance of hospitals in each municipality. Next, TOPSIS results are combined with neural networks in an effort to originate a performance model with predictive ability. Data refer to hospitals’ outpatient and inpatient services, based on frequent indicators adopted by the healthcare literature.FindingsDespite a slight performance increase over the period, substantial room for improvement is observed. The most important performance predictors were related to the demographic and socioeconomic status (area in square feet and GDP per capita) and to the juridical nature and type of ownership of the healthcare facilities (number of federal and private hospitals).Practical implicationsThe results provide managerial insights regarding the performance of public hospitals and opportunities for better resource allocation in the healthcare sector. The paper also considers the impact of external socioeconomic, demographic and institutional factors on hospitals’ performance, indicating the importance of integrative public health policies.Originality/valueThis study displays an innovative context for applying the two-stage TOPSIS technique, with similar efforts not having been identified in the healthcare literature.
Cost of quality measurement in food manufacturing companies: the Greek case
Authors: Psomas Evangelos , Dimitrantzou Christina , Vouzas Fotis , Bouranta Nancy 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the cost of quality (CoQ) of food manufacturing companies. The study aims at empirically validating the conceptual structure of the core dimensions of CoQ (prevention, appraisal, internal and external failure cost) and determining their level and relationships. Determining the reasons for not measuring the CoQ as well as the barriers-difficulties and benefits of the CoQ measurement is also an aim of the present study.

Design/methodology/approach
Greek food manufacturing companies were approached through a structured questionnaire and 91 participated in the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis are applied for data analysis.

Findings
The structure of the core dimensions of CoQ is empirically validated, while all of them range within medium levels and are inter-related. The reasons for companies not measuring the CoQ as well as the barriers-difficulties of companies measuring the CoQ are not significant. On the contrary, significant benefits are derived from the CoQ measurement.

Research limitations/implications
The small sample of the food manufacturing companies operating in one country and the subjective business evidence collected are the main limitations of the present study.

Practical implications
Food companies can be motivated to establish a robust CoQ measurement system, which would reflect the level of the CoQ dimensions. According to the results of the CoQ measurement, a food company can make decisions to increase the prevention and appraisal costs and decrease the internal- and external-failure costs in order to be more competitive in the market.

Originality/value
The paper provides deeper insights into the level and inter-relations of empirically validated CoQ dimensions. Very few studies on the CoQ in food manufacturing companies have been carried out in Greece and the present study makes the picture of the CoQ status in this sector more clear.
A customer journey perspective on service delivery system design: insights from healthcare
Authors: Ponsignon Frederic , Smart Andi , Phillips Laura 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide novel theoretical insight into service delivery system (SDS) design. To do so, this paper adopts a customer journey perspective, using it as a frame to explore dimensions of experience quality that inform design requirements.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilises UK Patient Opinion data to analyse the stories of 200 cancer patients. Using a critical incident technique, 1,207 attributes of experience quality are generated and classified into 17 quality dimensions across five stages of the customer (patient) journey.FindingsAnalysis reveals both similarity and difference in dimensions of experience quality across the patient journey: seven dimensions are common to all five journey stages, from receiving diagnosis to end of life care; ten dimensions were found to vary, present in one or several of the stages but not in all.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include a lack of representativity of the story sample and the impossibility to verify the factual occurrence of the stories.Practical implicationsAdopting a patient journey perspective can improve the practitioner understanding of the design requirements of SDS in healthcare. The results of the study can be applied by managers to configure SDS that achieve a higher quality of patient care throughout the patient journey.Originality/valueThis paper extends existing literature on SDS design by adopting a customer journey perspective, revealing heterogeneity in experience quality across the customer journey currently unaccounted for in SDS design frameworks. Specifically, the findings challenge homogeneity in extant SDS design frameworks, evidencing the need for multiple, stage-specific SDS design requirements.
Balancing risk and revenue: cost of quality within the banking industry
Authors: Duarte Patricia , Low Jwen Fai , Schiffauerova Andrea 
Published: October 2018

PurposeBy developing a better understanding of costs associated with improving organizational quality and costs incurred by neglecting it, banks could devise more optimal operational policies. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes a generic banking cost of quality (COQ) model developed from Colombian banking data. The model has been developed using the product performance approach, which is consistent with strategizing from a long-term and organization-wide perspective. The proposed COQ function is composed of prevention and appraisal categories, costs caused by events of operational risks and opportunity costs caused by events of credit risks measured though non-performing loans.FindingsThe model was validated using data obtained from three major Colombian banks. The significant theoretical contribution of this research stems from the development of a banking COQ model which represents a pioneer effort at quantifying quality costs in financial institutions.Originality/valueThis is a unique attempt at using a product performance approach in service industry and also a rare effort toward incorporating opportunity costs in COQ. Managerially, the proposed COQ model can be established as a holistic business strategy and can serve as a tool helping managers to evaluate the impact of quality management initiatives and to decide on trade-offs between quality level and quality costs.
The effect of inventory performance on product quality
Authors: Lin Yu , Liang Biwei , Zhu Xuechang 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship among inventory performance, financial performance (FP) and product quality.

Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is based on two-stage least squares analysis of detailed firm-transaction data from Chinese manufacturing export firms for the period between 2001 and 2013.

Findings
Results show that inventory performance has a positive impact on product quality while using inventory efficiency, inventory productivity and inventory leanness to measure inventory performance. Furthermore, the effect of inventory performance on product quality is found to be partially mediated by FP.

Practical implications
The research provides mangers evidence of the benefits of inventory performance as an antecedent of product quality. Managers without sufficient liquidity or cost advantage to get better FP can achieve product quality improvement through enhancing inventory management performance.

Originality/value
This study first empirically investigates the relationship between inventory performance and product quality, and examines the mediating effect of FP on this relationship.
Using asset-based criterion to implement quality management philosophy in service operations to enhance business performance
Authors: Mehra Satish 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the impact of successfully assessing basic resources of an organization, such as technology and human resources, needed to enhance performance of service businesses through the use of quality management ideals. Effective coordination of these two types of organizational assets is shown to impact both the design and the implementation of quality management practices, which than leads to enhanced organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachRetail banking firms were surveyed for this study to analyze empirical data related to technology and people-based assets. Results were corroborated on the basis of in-depth interviews with several banking managers to provide real-world verification of the findings.FindingsThis study identifies the significance of key assets in a banking service environment that can help the implementation of quality management philosophy. Paper discusses how managers can focus on the development of key assets as well as the use of these assets in the design of quality management processes to enhance business performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis research focused on a specific sector of the service industry, the banking sector. Relatively small size of the study sample may have impacted the outcome of research applicability on a wide spectrum of businesses. Also, constantly changing financial regulations could not be incorporated in the study. On the positive side, strong managerial feedback provides guidance toward adopting the study results, and lays the foundation for future research suggesting an additional focus on corporate responsibility and sustainability issues while managing quality.Originality/valueAs today’s rapidly evolving society pushes people out of service encounters, replacing them with efficient and cost-saving technology, roles of both the people and the technology in an organization must be fully understood. This paper shows that, despite the exponential growth of technological innovation, both people and technology are critical to enhancing organizational performance through successful adoption of quality management practices.