Search results

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to investigate how the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model enablers influence the four types (product, process, organizational and marketing) of innovation performance of a manufacturing firm.

The study uses survey data from a sample of 580 manufacturing firms in Greece and employs structural equation modeling to test the developed hypotheses.

The results reveal that enablers of the EFQM model are either directly or indirectly associated with the four types of innovation. Furthermore, the findings show that it is essential for a firm to manage all the facilitating enablers included in the EFQM model, since they cannot boost innovation when implemented in isolation.

The sample is limited to one country (Greece). In addition, researchers have to assess the same relationships considering the effect of external factors such as environmental uncertainty. The potential consequences of enablers on innovation performance may be mediated by customer or people results.

The empirical findings of the present study help managers to develop the appropriate quality strategies and allocate the respective resources according to the desired type of innovation.

Based on the multi-dimensional structure of quality, this empirical study determines the contribution of EFQM model enablers to specific innovation performance dimensions of manufacturing companies.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the role of organizational culture in creating a supportive environment for business model innovation (BMI) by focusing on the mediating role of strategic flexibility and the moderating effect of technological capability.

To achieve this objective an empirical survey was conducted among 379 participant firms in Greece. CFA and finally hierarchical regression analysis were performed to validate the data and examine the hypothesized relationships.

The results show that strategic flexibility mediates the relationship between organizational culture and BMI. The effect of organizational culture on strategic flexibility is stronger for firms with increased technological capability.

Data were collected at only one point in time from one country, Greece. This might pose limitations on the generalizability of our results. Furthermore, we did not explore many internal or external mediating or moderating factors in the relationship between organizational culture and BMI.

Managers should consider incorporating a suitable organizational culture into their strategies to enable them improve their strategic flexibility, which further promotes BMI.

The current state of knowledge of both theory and practice for critical organizational factors such as organizational culture, strategic flexibility, BMI and technological capability will be extended.

The purpose of this paper is to study the management systems integration from both sector and size perspectives.

Extant literature is reviewed focussing on food-related management topics. A single case is used to delve into the understanding of integrated management systems (IMSs) using the contingency approach. Data are drawn from documents and archives, on-site observations and by interviewing employees of all hierarchy levels.

This case shows how size and sector-related constraints may condition integration in terms of IMS scope, strategy, level, audits, resources, motives, benefits and difficulties. Traceability is identified as an integration “catalyst” for multiple MSs in food companies. It is further discussed, how an environmental management system would be embedded within the existing integrated structure.

Conclusions bring to light the sustained business leverage provided by food IMSs. Thus, food industry managers are driven to streamline the quality, food safety and environmental processes following an IMS approach. Future research on multiple cases of different size would reflect a wider IMS sector-specific perspective. Research on other sectors is expected to provide different particular aspects of integration, as well.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first in-depth study on the adoption of an integrated generic and sector-specific MS from the contingency perspective. The case visualizes the contribution of integration when addressing the critical food safety and quality operations and the significant environmental aspects.

The purpose of this paper is to dissect the diffusion of the number of organizations that implemented multiple management systems (MSs), considering the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards (quality, environment and safety) in the South European countries: Italy, Portugal and Spain. In addition, based on the data collected, forecasting models were developed to assess at which extent the multiple certifications are expected to occur in each studied country.

Data concerning the evolution of the amount of multiple MSs in Italy, Portugal and Spain were collected for the period between 1999 and 2015. The behavior of the evolution of the number of MSs over the years was studied adopting both the Gompertz and the Logistic models. The results obtained with these two models were compared and analyzed to provide a forecast for the next years.

The diffusion throughout the years of the number of MSs presents an S-shaped behavior. The evolution of the amount of MSs in countries with a lower saturation level are properly fitted by the Gompertz model whereas the Logistic model fits more accurately when considering countries with a larger saturation level.

The data related to the early years are not available in some of the countries. To overcome this shortcoming missing data were extrapolated from the data set provided by the annual ISO survey. Additionally, the integration level attained by each company was not assessed and, on this regard and in the scope of this paper, an integrated management system is understood as implemented when organizations have multiple MSs implemented.

The results provide a cross-sectional portrayal of the diffusion of MSs certifications in the South European countries and enable a forecast for the trend in the next years.

This study aims for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to analyze the diffusion of multiple MSs throughout the years.

This study aims to develop a framework that examines how different leadership styles influence talent management (TM) and how these leadership styles and TM influence firms’ sustainable performance considering the moderating role of environmental dynamism.

To achieve these objectives, an empirical survey was conducted among 480 participant firms in Greece. Hierarchical regression was performed to test the hypotheses.

This study reveals the significance of authoritative and transformational leadership on TM. The results also show the positive effect of talent development on sustainability. Moreover, entrepreneurial leadership is found to be the most influential style for economic sustainability, whereas transformational and transactional leaderships are the most influential leadership styles for social and environmental sustainability performance.

The data was collected at only one point in time, while sustainability is a continuous process. Moreover, only four leadership styles were addressed.

Proper leadership style should be selected to facilitate different sustainability dimensions. Talent development is a valuable investment toward sustainable performance of firms.

This study contributes to the upper echelon theory, identifying whether and how different leadership styles affect TM and sustainability. The study also advances the human recourse development literature by critically reviewing and identifying the influence of TM on firms’ sustainable performance. Moreover, the role of environmental dynamism is revealed on all the above relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the five European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model enablers, as the latent factor “enabler excellence,” are associated with business performance, taking into consideration the mediating role of innovation in this relationship.

The analysis followed in order to investigate the relations among the various constructs of the proposed model includes an initial exploratory factor analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis and finally structural equation modeling.

According to the study findings, “enabler excellence” and innovation performance directly contribute to business performance. Moreover, this paper concludes that innovation performance partially mediates the effect of excellence enablers on business performance.

This study does not separate between radical and incremental innovation; thus, it would be very interesting to explore this issue in future research. Moreover, it might be useful for researchers to reassess the proposed relationships examining the mediating role of organizational culture.

This study offers clear implications for managers, proving that they should give higher emphasis on quality management (QM) and the four dimensions of innovation in order to achieve increased performance.

Based on the multidimensional structure of the EFQM model, this empirical study determines the contribution of QM to business performance taking into consideration the role of innovation performance as a mediator in this relationship.

e-Business (e-B) organization is an integrated synergy of internet and supply chain. It is an organizational environment which consists of associations among suppliers, customers, work force and information technology. An important issue for an e-B organization is the comprehension of the critical factors that affect its success, in order to realize its full advantages and how it results in efficiency improvements of the organizations. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that determine the successful implementation of e-B and second to develop an integrated e-B model based on the CSFs.

By following a quantitative approach, primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 174 Greek e-B firms. An initial exploratory factor analysis was conducted, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings have shown that there was a direct association of the Resource Based View (RBV) on the supply chain view (SCV) of a firm, which in turn influenced the performance/results of an e-B organization. It is concluded that e-B performance results and value creation are linked to customers’ and partners’ orientation (SCV) and human resources and information technology (RBV).

The proposed framework contributes to the understanding of the successful implementation of e-B, by proposing a fifthfold framework. The proposed framework portrayed a very fundamental result, that the resourced based view and the SCV of the organization are the critical priorities and have a direct and positive affect on the performance and efficiency of the successful implementation of e-B.

The purpose of this research is twofold; firstly, to propose and test a measuring instrument for the efficient and effective integration of management systems (MSs), identifying the particular aspects that may distinguish the substantive (internalized) from the superficial (ceremonial) integration; and secondly, to propose and test a scale for corporate sustainability performance (CSP).

A literature review has identified pertinent variables and yielded relevant measuring items. A field survey has been conducted. The survey instrument has been administered to Greek organizations certified to two or more MS standards. Collected data from 280 respondents has been processed using exploratory factor analysis.

Internalization has been identified as the main construct to interpret substantial MS integration in terms of resources and the extent of integration. The extracted internalization factors are human resources, strategic resources, information systems, integration tools, outsourcing, internal processes integration level and audits' integration level. CSP has been operationalized in terms of the company's relationships with its stakeholders. The extracted CSP factors are customer–supplier relationship, the employees, investors/shareholders, financial institutions, the environment, state and society.

This research findings can be used by management professionals, certification bodies and governmental authorities in order to foster the implementation of multiple MSs and highlight the critical issues for their successful integration and internalization, which is imperative for their prosperity and contribution toward CSP. Practitioners are also provided with an instrument to monitor CSP through the company's relationships with its stakeholders toward satisfaction of their needs.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study on the internalization of integrated MSs. In addition, the development of a CSP scale intends to bring together corporate sustainability management with CSP.

In this study, the deployment of an integrated Quality Function Deployment (QFD) decision framework is presented to help cities design targeted strategies to become “smart”. Arguably smart cities leverage advanced technologies to enhance their smartness to improve everyday urban life. To this end, a QFD – Analytic Hierarchy Process – Analytic Network Process (QFD-AHP-ANP) framework is proposed to deliver guidance for selecting the appropriate mix of smart technologies based on the specific smart needs of each city.

The AHP and ANP methods are incorporated into QFD to enhance its methodological robustness in formulating the decision problem. AHP accurately captures and translates the “Voice of the Experts” into prioritized “Smart City” dimensions, while establishing inter-relationships between these dimensions and “Smart City Technologies”. Meanwhile, ANP explores tradeoffs among the technologies, enabling well-informed decisions. The framework’s effectiveness is evaluated through an illustrative application in the city of Thessaloniki.

Applying the framework to this real-world context confirms its practicality and utility, demonstrating its ability to particularize local, social, political, environmental and economic trends through the resulting mix of technologies in smart urban development strategies.

The importance of this study lies in several aspects. Firstly, it introduces a novel QFD decision framework tailored for smart city strategic planning. Secondly, it contributes to the operationalization of the smart city concept by providing guidance for cities to effectively adopt smart technologies. Finally, this study represents a new field of application for QFD, expanding its scope beyond its traditional domains.

The quality assessment of e-commerce services is of particular research interest, as it has been widely found that quality is directly linked to customer satisfaction and loyalty, which in turn leads to improved sales results, the creation of reputation and enhanced competitiveness for active companies in the industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the quality in e-commerce and to examine the relationships developed among its individual dimensions and satisfaction, perceived value, perceived risk and customer loyalty.

Initially, exploratory factor analysis with the equamax rotation method was applied to identify the perceptions of consumers regarding quality, value, satisfaction, risk and loyalty. The effect of the factors that make up perceived quality of e-services on customer value, satisfaction, risk and loyalty was examined by using OLS regression analysis. Likewise, path analysis was applied to confirm the impact of perceived quality on total consumer satisfaction, perceived value and loyalty, utilizing perceived risk as a moderating variable.

The authors found that quality overall has a positive and statistically significant relationship with perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty and negative with perceived risk. From the individual dimensions of quality, it has been found that ease of use of websites, design, responsiveness and security lead to increased levels of perceived value, while ease of use, responsiveness and personalization lead to an increase in the overall satisfaction of consumers. Overall, it has been documented that high levels of quality lead to higher satisfaction and perceived value, mitigating perceived risk and positively impacting the adoption of desirable consumer behaviors as reflected in customer loyalty.

In this respect, future research in the field of e-commerce can examine the quality of the respective electronic services taking into account different product and business categories. In addition, the future research can focus on the impact of high satisfaction, perceived value and customer loyalty on various sizes of business performance, including sales, market share, competitiveness, financial efficiency and sustainability.

Given the clear relationship between quality, perceived value and satisfaction, e-commerce businesses have the potential to benefit significantly from improvements in the quality of their services, as this leads to increased levels of perceived value, high level of satisfaction and hence enhanced customer loyalty, which is in turn reflected in increased sales, positive word-of-mouth, improved reputation and brand loyalty. In this way, e-businesses will be able to improve their financial position, achieve higher market shares, maintain their competitive advantage, attract new development resources and become sustainable on a long-term basis.

Businesses need to understand the factors that determine the quality in e-commerce to be able to achieve customer satisfaction and reduce perceived risk through improved quality. These factors, which consumers perceive as important for quality, are critical.

The concepts of quality, perceived value, risk, satisfaction and loyalty are considered to be interlinked in both traditional consumer research and e-commerce, as high levels of perceived quality are believed to lead to positive assessments of the cost-benefit and, hence, the perceived value (Cronin et al., 2000; Sweeney and Soutar, 2001; Korda and Snoj, 2010) and loyalty. In this context, this study attempted to study the relationship of these five variables, through both regression and path analysis, resulting in similar results. According to the findings of the study, perceived quality of website services has a positive and statistically significant impact on perceived value, satisfaction and an opposite effect on perceived risk, while the last is mitigating variable for and loyalty.