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Based on literature and an empirical case, the purpose of this paper is to present a framework for decision‐making in utilities where unbundling considerations are taking place. The paper analyses the implications of splitting long‐term network planning activity from the organization responsible for short‐term network operation activities.

The proposed framework includes an analysis of impacts of external forces, set‐up of common targets and performance models, and alignment of responsibilities in the new organization. The empirical results and validation of the proposed framework is performed by an electric utility, where legal unbundling of activities has taken place; the study includes expert interviews and theoretical analysis.

Colliding interests in the new business model can be avoided if economic and technical targets are mainly set by the regulator for both network development and operation activities.

The results are based on internal re‐organization; a complementary study on re‐organizing network business activities to an external service provider could give information about the generalizability of the findings.

Application of the proposed framework for decision‐making and lessons learned can support electric utilities when planning for unbundling and strategic target‐setting in the unbundled business model.

The study presents experiences of re‐organized network business activities in a pioneering market area with a long experience of outsourcing. The detailed analysis of internal re‐organization within one electric utility can facilitate further restructuring phases.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key outage‐cost‐influencing applications (fault location and network restoration, fault reporting, field crew management, and reconfiguration) of the distribution management system (DMS) and analyzes the benefits provided by them. The objective of the study is an evaluation of their influence on outage costs deriving from the adoption of automatic equipment in managing distribution systems.

Cost and benefit calculations in this paper are made for a typical North European rural medium‐voltage network. The benefits are calculated in terms of outage costs for each of the above‐presented applications and compared with the investment cost, including the annual cost of maintenance, of the DMS. The empirical results and validation of the theoretical calculations are performed by an electric utility, where the DMS benefit evaluation is taking place.

By capitalizing the applications of the DMS, it is possible to acquire considerable benefits in outage costs. It is shown that the greatest cost‐based benefits are obtained from the fault location and field crew management applications. The case study further shows that the DMS can reduce the operation costs of utilities.

The calculations are based on network expert assumptions about System Average Interruption Duration (SAIDI), carried out for a specific overhead‐line network operating in a specific European rural medium‐voltage environment. Sharing of utilities' de facto SAIDI results as a basis for calculations would decrease the need for subjective expert assumptions in the future analyses.

Application of the proposed framework for decision making and lessons learned can support electric utilities when planning for unbundling and strategic target‐setting in the unbundled business model.

There are few reports available on similar actual DMS‐application‐based cost benefits due to the nature of private utility information that is preferably not disclosed.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the governance choices of firms operating in the electricity distribution network operation activities. The study aims to consider both costs and benefits of different governance choices and to examine which of the activities could be outsourced and which it is preferable to keep in‐house. The study makes a distinction between the electricity retail services and electricity distribution network activities and focuses solely on the network business.

The study is based on a four‐staged process and utilizes the extended transaction cost economics as a theoretical framework. The research design includes in‐depth interviews with ten managers and CEOs of Finnish electrical utilities, analysis and interpretation of findings and verification of results by electricity network business experts.

The extended transactional cost economics theoretical framework and research design support analysis of governance structures and make‐or‐buy decisions. The findings demonstrate that the activities of the companies operating in the electricity distribution business differ in terms of potential long‐term efficiency effects when sourced from the market or made in‐house. The determinants of the governance choice depend partly on the nature and strategic importance of the activity in question. Operations management seems to be a function to be kept in‐house in the current market situation, whereas there are clear potential benefits that can be obtained by outsourcing field work activities. The results related to the governance of control room activities are more complicated.

This study brings not only the transaction costs but also the benefit‐side and the dynamic aspects of boundary choices under assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to explore if an expatriate’s career situation at the level of the couple (single career couple (SCC)/dual career couple (DCC)) is related to the expatriate’s work-to-personal-life conflict (WLC) and if the expatriate’s gender is related to WLC. The authors also investigate if the level of WLC is different for men and women in a DCC or SCC (interaction).

The study was conducted among 393 Finnish expatriates who were in a relationship and were working. A moderated hierarchical regression was utilized in the data analysis.

Gender or DCC/SCC status was not separately related to WLC but an interaction effect between gender and a couple’s career status on WLC was significant. In DCC couples, women experienced more WLC than men. In SCC couples, women experienced less WLC than men.

The findings indicate that organizations should develop practices to support both DCCs and SCCs, for instance, by providing mentors for expatriates and their family members, or through organizing family events for company employees. Couples should also negotiate their roles and responsibilities in both the personal life and work-life spheres before moving abroad and also during the time they live abroad, especially women involved in a DCC and men involved in an SCC.

This is the first study focusing on expatriates’ WLC that simultaneously takes account of how the gender and career situation of the couple are related to it.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the diffusion dynamics of electric and hybrid commercial vans and its enabling factors in the city logistics (CL) contexts. The case of parcel delivery in Torino, Italy, is considered. Attention is paid to the influence on the choice of low impact vehicles of not only public strategies but also operational aspects characterizing urban freight distribution systems.

A System Dynamics model based on the Bass diffusion theory computes the number of adopters of low-emission vehicles together with the quantity of vans required and the associated economic savings. The model includes variables about freight demand, delivery frequency, van carrying capacity, routes, stops, distances traveled, and vehicle charging stations. A sensitivity analysis has been completed to identify the main diffusion levers. The focus is on advertising and other drivers, such as public contributions, taxes traditional polluting vehicles are subjected to, as well as on routing optimization strategies.

Advertising programs, green image, and word-of-mouth drive market saturation, although in a long time period. In fact, low-impact vehicles do not offer any economic advantage over traditional ones requiring higher investment and operating costs. Public incentives to purchase both green vehicles and charging stations, together with carbon taxes and a congestion charge affecting polluting vehicles, are able to shorten the adoption time. In particular, public intervention reveals to be effective only when it unfolds through a number of measures that both facilitate the use of environmentally friendly vehicles and discourage the adoption of traditional commercial vans. Route optimization also hastens the complete market saturation.

This work fosters research about the mutual relationships between the diffusion of low-emission commercial vehicles and the operational and contextual CL factors. It provides a structured approach for investigating the feasibility of innovative good vehicles that might be part of assessments of CL measures and requirements. Finally, the model supports studies about the cooperation among stakeholders to identify effective commercial vehicle fleets.

This study fosters collaboration among CL players by providing a roadmap to identify the key factors for the diffusion of environmentally friendly freight vehicles. It also enables freight carriers to assess the operational and economic feasibility of adopting low-impact vehicles. Finally, it might assist public authorities in capturing the effects of new urban transportation policies prior to their implementation.

Most of the current CL literature defines policies and analyzes their effects. Also, there are several contributions on the diffusion of low emission cars. The present study is one of the first works on the diffusion of low-impact commercial vehicles in urban areas by considering the associated key operational factors. A further value is that the proposed model combines operational variables with economic and environmental issues.

The purpose of the paper is to identify and discuss the transport service triad (TST) as a key unit of analysis to understand the operations and conditions for change in freight transport systems at the micro level, i.e. at the level of analysis where business decisions and change interaction take place.

The theoretical framing is rooted in the IMP approach and in the literature on triads. A case study approach is used to illustrate the TST by analyzing a case involving a wholesaler of installation products, tools and supplies, a main construction company and a transport service provider.

The paper shows how the connections between the business relationships in the TST, influenced by connections to relationships outside the triad, impact on the efficiency in freight transport. The paper illustrates how analysis of TSTs can be applied in micro-level studies of change in freight transport systems and in supply networks.

The triadic approach is instrumental to understand change in the transport system because it includes all relevant parties and relationships of concern, as well as the logic framing of their actions. However, while arguing that TSTs are generic to their nature, each TST is unique and needs to be identified and analyzed in its specific context.

The suggested framework may contribute to an understanding of the embeddedness of transport services in supply/business networks. The framework may support the development of new ways of operating and creating value for customers and offering sustainable transport solutions.

From the transport policy makers’ perspective, micro-level analysis is important to understand behavioral adjustments to new policies.

This paper aims to examine the current strategic landscape of UK “bricks and clicks” retailers. The main focus of this work is to consider how e‐commerce may provide competitive advantage via an insight into the current strategies employed by UK retailers.

The paper uses both secondary and primary data analysis to explore its research questions. The paper begins with an overview of the e‐strategy literature and then goes on to examine the key areas of e‐value creation for bricks and clicks companies. Next an analysis of the results of a survey of the UK's top 500 retailers tests the existing literature and provides new evidence of emerging e‐strategies.

The data analysis in this research reveals significant gaps between theory and practice and leads to the development of a new model of business “e‐value‐added”.

It is difficult to generalise the findings from this survey, given the small number of respondents. Further in‐depth qualitative research is needed to enable us to understand better the organisational issues around e‐commerce development and implementation.

It is suggested that, in order to exploit the internet to its full potential, legacy retailers need to analyse a variety of situational antecedents in order to identify e‐value creation opportunities. In addition, they must consider whether integration or separation with bricks and clicks operations will deliver the best solution in each value‐adding interface.

This research offers a new insight into current e‐tail strategies for bricks and clicks businesses, and as such is likely to be of interest to academics and practitioners alike.

The study develops a structure for procurement digitalisation by identifying its context drivers, technology interventions and performance-inducing mechanisms and exploring the linkages between these variables.

The study draws on rich interview and workshop data on 48 digital intervention projects, as reflected by mental models of managers from 12 case organisations in manufacturing, retail and service sectors. Supported by an a priori structure, the study employs an abductive cross-case analysis approach.

Results suggest several categories within the elements of context, intervention and mechanism to structure procurement digitalisation and the linkages between them. Seven propositions that reflect digitalisation strategy options in procurement are developed regarding the linkages. Internal complexity dominantly drives procurement digitalisation, motivating communication support and process structuring interventions, which in turn aim at procurement coordination and control as well as process improvement. External coercive pressure and external dynamism also drive interventions for information processing and decision aiding, which appear to be linked with supply market knowledge, strategic alignment and supplier capability assessment. Therefore, an internal–external dichotomy is observed as the main thrust of procurement digitalisation.

The study supports decision makers in developing digitalisation strategy options for different procurement contexts. The results also raise awareness of a possible bias in existing strategies for procurement digitalisation.

A novel forward-looking approach is employed to enable the design and construction of systems that do not yet exist by focusing on the mental models of managers in a systematic way.