Lean operating principles are based on the systems of Toyota Japan. Companies around the world, in all sectors of the economy, now embrace these approaches to improve quality, cost and productivity. Different purchasing and sourcing practices in lean organisations mean that winning sales from...

The Internet has become one of the most competitive retail marketplaces. Companies operating in this area face demanding customers intolerant of any service failure and a large number of competitors. A key issue in how companies can serve this market is the way in which they internally manage...

Collaboration between marketing and operational areas is critical to business success. Despite this, in practice most companies suffer hostile and adversarial relationships between these functions. Existing research has not sufficiently addressed methods for improving this situation outside of...