ALBERT

Notes: Purpose - To explore the relationship between the dimensions of supply chain flexibility and firm performance in a sample of automotive suppliers. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical survey of a representative sample of 126 Spanish automotive suppliers during the months of September and October 2003. Data gathered through a mail survey to purchasing managers by using a structured questionnaire. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyse the relationship between the different supply chain flexibility dimensions, between supply chain flexibility dimensions and firm performance dimensions, and between supply chain flexibility dimensions and environmental uncertainty dimensions. A multivariate analysis studied the determinants of supply chain flexibility. Findings - The research has found a positive relation between a superior performance in flexibility capabilities and firm performance, although flexibility dimensions are not equally important for firm performance. On the other hand, the results show that companies enhance more the basic flexibility capabilities (at the shop floor level) than aggregate flexibility capabilities (at the customer-supplier level). However, aggregate flexibility capabilities are more positively related to firm performance than basic flexibility capabilities. Thus, companies might miss opportunities to improve competitiveness by underestimating customer-supplier flexibility capabilities. Finally, the results indicate that flexibility capabilities are enhanced in supply chains with higher environmental uncertainty, technological complexity, and mutual understanding, but with lower interdependence among the agents involved in the supply chain. Research limitations/implications - There are other factors not included in the model that could impact the relationship between flexibility, supply chain characteristics and firm performance. On the other hand, the research has used cross-sectional data, which are limited in order to explain causal relationships. Another limitation of the research is that we did not use any secondary data (like manual financial reports) to crosscheck firm performance. Practical implications - The results of the research contribute to a better understanding of the forces and constraints that companies face with flexibility capabilities. Originality/value - The paper analyses the relationship between supply chain flexibility dimensions and firm performance. The model provides a framework of supply chain flexibility dimensions that may be used as a test base for further research.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to effect a comparison of the pricing strategies followed by hypermarkets, compared with those that discount stores carry out. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from the direct observation of the supermarket shelves of nine frequent purchase product categories in several hypermarkets and discount stores. Diverse statistical analyses were applied to these picked up data, such as mean comparisons, ANOVA and correspondence analysis. Findings - The article concludes that the hypermarkets tend to have higher mean prices, and use promotional tools more profusely than the discount stores. Research limitations/implications - For future research, it would be very important to examine consumer price evaluations based on a theoretical approach in the same formats, and in this way consumer reactions to price changes could be understood. Also, examining the cross-country differences in retail stores may be quite interesting. Practical implications - Relationships between hypermarkets and hi-lo pricing, plus discount stores and EDLP pricing, have been found. Therefore, retail managers of both formats have to know all about these pricing strategies. In this way, the managers of these firms would know the kind of customers that can be attracted and the signals and image that can be projected in the market. Originality/value - This paper directly compares the pricing and promotional activities of hypermarkets versus discount stores. Researching into whether price and promotional differences exist between the two format retailers will help consumers and managers to know the true price level of each format.

Notes: Purpose - To analyse the web acceptance and usage between goal-directed users and experiential users, incorporating intrinsic motives to improve the particular and explanatory TAM (technology acceptance model) value - traditionally related to extrinsic motives. Design/methodology/approach - A survey instrument was used to gather data to test the relationships shown in the research model. Data were collected from a sample of online questionnaires filled out by subscribers located in three discussion-mailing lists - administered by RedIris - about different topics (e.g. experimental sciences, social sciences and humanities). A structural equation modeling (SEM), specifically partial least squares (PLS), is proposed to assess the relationships between the constructs together with the predictive power of the research model. Findings - The empirical development suggests that there is scope for further extension of TAM to adapt to the web-based usage and its profitable consequences. The article may help to further the empirical research and to clarify and examine a web acceptance and usage model. In general, experiential and goal-directed behaviours moderate the key relationships in the model. Experiential and goal-directed users do not weigh extrinsic and intrinsic motives in the same way when on the web. Goal-directed users are more driven by instrumental factors and focused on their decision-making process while experiential users are more motivated by process.. Research limitations/implications - First, constructs of enjoyment and concentration are used to define flow. However, because of the flow definition's conceptual-vagueness, operationalising the flow construct has been questioned in the previous empirical works. Second, the cross-sectional study is also an important limitation. Since the users' perception and intention can change over time, it is important to measure these quantities at several points of time. Third, the sample sizes are relatively small. Fourth, the model needs to be tested with more objective measures to compare possible divergences. Finally, the model clearly does not include all the relevant variables. Practical implications - The results could be used to explain and to improve the experiential and goal-directed users' experience of being and to return to the web. Originality/value - The value of this study is to reveal the moderating influences of browsing-modes on relationship between flow and TAM-beliefs on the web, and, also, how the flow impacts the attitude and intention to use web between experiential and goal-directed users.

Notes: Purpose - This paper explores the implementation of yield management using different reservation modes at a global hotel network (referred to as the "Group"). Design/methodology/approach - The Group operates close to half-a-million rooms in about 4,000 hotels world-wide. Following an overview of yield management in hotel industry, the two reservation modes used in the Group are presented. The performance of Group's online and off-line reservation modes globally over a two-year period is then discussed in terms of three yield management performance measures, namely: average price (AP), occupancy rate, and average revenue per available room. Findings - The findings indicate that the online mode outperforms the off-line mode with respect to performance measures of AP and average revenue. Further to a global-based comparison, a localized evaluation of these two modes is also presented for two sub-groups of hotels clustered in a given region. Statistical analysis of findings is provided, pointing to a substantial revenue increase for the hotel sub-group that switched from the off-line to the online reservation mode, compared with the hotel sub-group that continued to operate off-line. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with the online reservation mode. Research limitations/implications - Future research could look into the impact of specific macro and micro economic conditions on the three yield management performance measures defined. Originality/value - The research reported is of value to hotel executives who want to pursue online reservations.

Notes: Purpose - The customer portfolio and relationship management have been of contemporary interest to the academics and practitioners. This paper aims to systematically analyze the review and critique of this important area and broadly to discuss the customer portfolio theories and their implications in reference to marketing and purchasing perspectives. Design/methodology/approach - The major conceptual contributions in the area of customer portfolio and relationship management have been categorically analyzed in the paper. The paper provides an insight of how marketers interpret and describe companies' actions and the discussion provides a framework for relationship management, the central tenet of which is to enable managers to invest their resources in the most efficient and effective way. Findings - The review of literature shows that the customer portfolio analysis can provide strategic input to the firm towards developing a successful planning process. The conceptual discussion in the paper on relationship management may lead the strategies in managing the corporate social capital. The alternative models have been developed in the paper in reference to the market environment and values concepts discussing the triadic relationship among the organization, supplier and customer that reflects on the contemporary managerial perspectives. Originality/value - The managerial implications of the discussion presented in the paper would be helpful to plan and create strategies to optimize returns on customer relationship over time. This paper would be of interest to the scholars as well as practitioners engaged in strategic planning of a firm.

Notes: Purpose - The present empirical study intends to address a significant topic for business management, such as the influence of market orientation (MO) on the internal and external environments of an organisation. More precisely, the main objective of this paper focuses on the effect of such an orientation on employees - organisational commitment and OCBs - as well as on customers - satisfaction and perceived service quality. Design/methodology/approach - Structural equation models are employed to analyse the data collected from the spanish retail banking sector in order to verify the hypotheses corresponding to the causal relationships proposed in our research model. Findings - The results achieved in this research represent significant contributions both from a theoretical perspective as well as for management in the service industry. From a theoretical perspective, these findings reinforce the research position stressing the role of the employees in the MO relationship and the operational level of the business incorporating new evidence into this emerging field of study. Research limitations/implications - Limitations of the study can account for the anomalous relationships that have been identified. First, the cross-sectional nature of the study could have been an obstacle to revealing short-term answers. In addition, the empirical study focused on one particular case in the service industry - banking - hindered the generalization of results. Originality/value - Provides further research on the role of market orientation as a major source of achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

Notes: Purpose - Supply chain management is an increasingly important organizational concern, and proper management of supplier relationships constitutes one essential element of supply chain success. However, there is little empirical research that has tested the effect of supplier development on performance. The main objective is to analyze the effect of supplier development practices with different levels of implementation complexity on the firm's purchasing performance. Design/methodology/approach - Three supplier development constructs were defined: basic supplier development, moderate supplier development, and advanced supplier development. Three structural models were hypothesized and tested using structural equation modeling through field research on a sample of 306 manufacturing companies in Spain. Findings - Identified important interrelationships among the various supplier development practices, basic, moderate, and advanced. Also indicated that the implementation of supplier development practices significantly contributes to the prediction of purchasing performance. Research limitations/implications - The use of a single key informant could be seen as a potential limitation of the study. The study was a cross-sectional and descriptive sample of the manufacturing industry at a given point in time. A more stringent test of the relationships between the different levels of supplier development and performance requires a longitudinal study, or field experiment. Practical implications - This study focused on supplier development practices and revealed how involving suppliers in supplier development activities is important and may help buyers to increase their purchasing performance. The findings from the structural analysis should provide practicing managers with insights on how these practices and their benefits are related in terms of purchasing performance, thus affecting their ability to make better sourcing decisions. Originality/value - Fills an important gap in the purchasing literature with respect to the area of supplier development. While there is much written about supplier development based on conceptual and case study research, this study is unique in that it is the first attempt to empirically model the relationships between different levels of supplier development and their impact on purchasing performance using a comprehensive set of practices.

Notes: Purpose - Corporate governance empirical studies have primarily focused on the effects of corporate characteristics on market value, discretionary accruals, voluntary disclosure and firm performance. Nevertheless, corporate governance characteristics and the legal system of investor protection may also influence the role of statutory auditors and the demand for audit quality. The aim of this study is to investigate the corporate governance role of external audits in the Spanish capital market context. Design/methodology/approach - This article measures this question by considering the conflicts of interests between managers and shareholders analysed in the agency theory. This article uses a logistic regression using a matched pair design, developed with the dependent variable indicating whether the firm receives a qualified opinion, and the independent variables representing ownership concentration, board ownership, board size and family members on the board. Empirical support for this study is gathered from a sample of Spanish listed firms during the period 1999-2002. Findings - The results support that higher insider ownership provides better corporate governance structure leading to higher quality of financial reporting and, therefore, less likelihood of receiving qualified audit reports. On the other hand, the presence of family members on the board increases the possibility of obtaining a qualified report. Originality/value - This study focuses explicitly on the end result of the audit decision process: the presence or absence of a qualification, which is the central concern of the financial statement user.

Notes: Purpose - Feedback learning transforms social knowledge into individual knowledge. In this process, tension arises because the current knowledge impedes the assimilation of new learning. Therefore, the feedback requires what Schumpeter refers to as "creative destruction": discarding, or at least setting aside, the institutional order to enact variations that allow intuitive insights and actions to surface and be pursued. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of "technological systems" on feedback and the effects on the creation of relational capital. Design/methodology/approach - In this paper, the literature is reviewed to identify relevant measures and present a structural equation model, which is validated through an empirical investigation of 151 SMEs in the Spanish technological and information systems sector. Findings - The results indicate that "the creative destruction" depends on the technology system of the company. Furthermore, if the creative destruction is a prior step in the feedback process, then the feedback process is influenced more by the creative destruction. Practical implications - The results indicate that despite the majority of companies having connections to the internet, managers do not know the potential business benefits of technology systems for their clients, individuals and teams, and ignore the problem of human integration. Originality/value - The findings are significant, since they introduce the traditional focus of a technology system at the feedback learning process.

Notes: Purpose - Although an extensive body of research treats the fields of corporate governance and sustainable development separately, less attention has been paid to the interaction between both fields. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by examining how corporate governance systems are evolving in order to integrate sustainable development thinking into them. Design/methodology/approach - Drawing from corporate governance, sustainable development, and stakeholder theory literature, an analysis is performed of the governance systems of the 18 corporations that are leading the market sectors considered by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Findings - The results of our in-depth analysis of the 18 cases are presented and the sustainable corporate governance model that emerges from that analysis is proposed. Research limitations/implications - This model does not attempt to question or replace the previous recommendation and frameworks suggested in the literature on corporate governance and codes of governance. On the contrary, the model should be viewed as a way of integrating sustainable development/corporate responsibility into the fabric of already existing governance models suggested elsewhere. Originality/value - The suggested model seems to be a good framework both for managers and for researchers because it can be used to improve the firm's governance systems as well as a guide for future research on sustainable corporate governance.