The importance of benchmarking in the achievement of better results in the purchasing function and in overall business performance has been widely asserted in literature. However, few studies have addressed the implementation of benchmarking in the supply function and its impact on purchasing...

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...

The topic of this research focuses on firm's perceived implementation of quality management practices in the purchasing function. More specifically, this paper describes an exploratory research effort to analyze and classify quality management practices in purchasing and assesses the...

Purpose – Many studies claim that the implementation of quality management practices and specific information systems can help organizations to improve performance. The objective of this article is to provide insights into current quality management and information systems theory and practice...

Purpose – ISO 9000 certification has a growing importance for companies, mainly in Europe but also in other countries. Several papers have analysed the effects of ISO 9000 certification on company results, with contradictory conclusions. The purpose of this work is to clarify these possible...

Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to introduce strategic purchasing (SP) and supplier development (SD) as constructs that could have the potential to contribute to the success of relationship marketing efforts. Based on the relational view of the firm, the authors propose that SP is an...

Information technology (IT) and total quality management (TQM) have significantly impacted on most organizations and each has been widely researched. However, there is little well‐founded empirical research on the relationship between the two, particularly on the way in which TQM is influenced...

Purpose – To provide insights into current IT and total quality management (TQM) theory and practice on operational and quality performance, in particular the use of IT in supporting TQM policies and practices. Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses derived from the key features of TQM and...

Purpose – The present study aims to draw on operations management and information technology literature to examine the effect of three information technology resources (electronic data interchange (EDI), computer‐aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), and enterprise resource planning...