This paper studies how a retailer decides the length of product line in a vertically related industry. We study a market with two product varieties. Each retailer decides the number of varieties it procures from an upstream manufacturer. The manufacturer may open an online store and encroach on...

Purpose – Examining the strategic contingency of plant improvement capability and innovation capability. Two forms of fit between the two capabilities and competitive priorities were empirically tested. Design/Methodology/Approach – Data collected from a sample of 238 manufacturing plants...

Based on three case studies, a new Lean financial model is developed. This new model improves the organization by increasing Lean goal congruent behavior. The new financial (costing) model uses the waste categories known from Lean in order to create decision information for Lean decisions such...

The ability to manufacture several products on the same production line and switch seamlessly among them allows a firm to both hedge against demand uncertainty and respond to competition. In this paper, we empirically analyze the deployment of manufacturing flexibility in the North American...

The extant literature acknowledges the role of overseas subsidiaries in the growth and development of multinational companies (MNCs). Such subsidiaries are viewed as critical players in the innovation process at MNCs. Although this topic has gained importance, it remains largely under-researched...

In the face of global competition and product commoditization, manufacturing firms are increasingly opening up to opportunities in the service markets. Despite the growing interest, many new product-service providers struggle to deploy open service innovation effectively, not least because they...

Returned products and how manufacturing companies handle those products require dedicated reverse logistics activities. A reverse logistics activity that concerns a returned product may involve some information technologies and systems (IT&Ss). The existence of IT&Ss in manufacturing companies...

Using data collected by the World Bank, we empirically investigate the relationship between Chinese manufacturers' supply chain attributes, raw material and finished goods inventory turnover, and return on sales. Our findings indicate that location proximity, relationship continuity, and the...

I report the results of observations of management practices in 20 Russian manufacturing subsidiaries of Western multinational corporations (MNCs). I argue that to counterbalance the higher country-specific risks associated with investing in Russia, MNCs impose on their Russian subsidiaries high...

Freight Transport Time (FTT) is an important resource for manufacturing companies, firstly as a cost driver of logistics processes and secondly as a key factor of customer satisfaction. Yet, there is a lot of controversy between researchers regarding the strength of the link between changes in...