JIT purchasing, like many other trends in supply management, is not applicable to just any circumstances; rather, its implementation responds to particular factors. Focusing on the characteristics of the purchased products, this paper contributes to identifying some of these factors. Seven...

Purpose – This research paper analyses the link between manufacturing proactivity, understood as the tendency of a company to implement the most modern and advanced production management practices and business performance. Design/methodology/approach – Over a sample of 186 industrial...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of purchasing and supply strategies on business performance. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical results are based on information provided on a questionnaire by purchasing managers in 180 Spanish industrial firms. Findings...

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to study the relationship between information technology (IT) investments and performance in the purchasing function. A study is made not only of whether this relationship exists, but also of the mediating role played by both purchasing practices and...

This paper reports on an empirical study based on 103 Spanish companies which have conducted foreign direct investment (FDI). Built on the eclectic paradigm, it aims at finding out the main ownership, internalization and location factors which affect such internationalization processes. The...

Purpose – This article aims to offer empirical evidence pertaining to the relationship among entrepreneurship, market orientation and business performance within the context of disadvantaged socio‐economic regions of the European Union. Design/methodology/approach – Two groups of...

Building on previous literature, proposes a theoretical approach to the study of the factors affecting the major decisions related to the internationalisation process of firms. Provides some empirical evidence through the study of a group of newly internationalised companies in one of the less...

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...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study of supply chain flexibility, asking: what specific inter‐firm practices are used to achieve increased flexibility in buyer‐supplier pairs and in the wider supply chain or network, and how do these practices and effects...

Examines the manufacturing strategy framework developed by Hill and its development, comparing it to work in manufacturing strategy and other related fields. Discusses Hill’s distinctive concepts of order‐winning criteria and order‐qualifying criteria. Also raises issues relating to...