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This article investigates how strategic flexibility (SF) is achieved in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), exploring whether SF contributes to firm growth and the associated enablers and barriers of SF.

To offer a more nuanced view of SF in SMEs, a qualitative approach is applied. Researchers conducted and analyzed 91 interviews with owners and chief executive officers (CEOs) of SMEs exhibiting high growth and explored whether SF contributes to firm growth and the associated enablers and barriers of SF.

The results show a connection between SF and firm growth and confirm the importance of strategic orientation for SF in SMEs. Contrary to the existing literature, this study found a neutral impact of external networks and a positive impact of slack resources on SF. The lack of competent employees emerged as a considerable barrier to SF in SMEs.

More research focusing on the relationship between SF and firm growth is suggested, as well as further research about the relevance of slack resources and external networks as enablers of SF in SMEs.

Motivating and developing valuable employee competence are the key managerial implications. Additionally, business consultants and business developers in the public sector must find ways to increase business consultants and business developers' relevance to SMEs.

This article explores SF in SMEs, a context of disagreement in previous literature, and finds that SF contributes to SME growth. A qualitative approach is used, enrichening a field dominated by quantitative methodological choices.

As environmental awareness becomes more widespread, the issue of making manufacturing more sustainable has gained increasing attention. The natural-resource-based view (NRBV) sets out to explain how firms can reduce their environmental footprint while simultaneously improving their financial performance. Drawing on the NRBV and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) literature, this study examines the relationship between pollution prevention, risk-taking and financial performance.

Data from 303 Swedish manufacturing firms were collected through a survey.

The findings reveals a positive relationship between pollution prevention and financial performance, and this relationship is found to be negatively moderated by risk-taking; that is, pollution prevention reduces the requisite for risk-taking in the achievement of financial performance.

This is the first study to explore how risk-taking moderates the relationship between a pollution prevention strategy and financial performance.

Several studies have highlighted the importance of management accounting practices such as formal short-term planning and formal long-term planning for SME performance. However, few studies have considered what actually explains differences in the use of formal planning (from a management accounting approach) in SMEs. Family ownership and EO are two plausible explanations for such differences. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine how family ownership and EO are correlated to the use of formal short-term planning and formal long-term planning in SMEs.

In this study, the authors examined how family ownership and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affect the use of formal planning by analyzing a sample of 156 Swedish manufacturing SMEs, using multivariate regression analysis.

As could be expected, the authors were able to validate the notion that family firms use less formal planning than non-family firms. However, in contrast to some previous studies, the authors found that there is a strongly positive relationship between EO and the use of formal short-term planning and long-term planning.

Whereas many previous studies on family business have assumed that family firms use less formal planning than non-family firms, the present study is one of few to actually confirm this notion. Also, this study has provided strong evidence that EO is positively correlated to the use of formal planning, in the short term and in the longer term.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a comparative conceptual framework to analyze hybrids of western and Chinese strategic management types, where the foundation is an institutional strategic management theory.

This framework is then applied to develop a research instrument that is used in a pilot study of 21 cases in China, primarily Swedish MNCs.

In this study, a complex picture emerges of the various mixes of management types in international firms operating in China. The results demonstrate that the comparative institutional strategic management framework developed seems to work for studying such mixtures of management types.

The discussion is based on the assumption of two dominating management types in international firms in China. The authors have found different mixtures among the firms. Besides strategic management, the theory and instrument might also be useful for human resource management issues like recruitment and talent management.

Practical implications include a potentially useful measurement tool for strategic management in international firms and for evaluating executives in existing and new positions. Moreover, a contribution is made to global management, since the framework is also useful for comparing strategic management types of international firms in and outside China.

This paper contributes to this research in two ways. First, a comparative theory is specified to study the hybrids of strategic management types of international firms, especially for firms in China. Second, an instrument is developed for researching such management mixes and used on a pilot study of international firms operating in China.

The purpose of this paper is to describe challenges the manufacturing industry is currently facing when developing future assembly information systems. More specific, this paper focuses on the handling of assembly information from manufacturing engineering to the shop floor operators.

Multiple case studies have been conducted within one case company between 2014 and 2017. To broaden the perspective, interviews with additionally 17 large and global manufacturing companies and 3 industry experts have been held. Semi-structured interviews have been the main data collection method alongside observations and web questionnaires.

Six focus areas have been defined which address important challenges in the manufacturing industry. For manual assembly intense manufacturing company, challenges such as IT challenges, process challenges, assembly process disturbances, information availability, technology and process control, and assembly work instructions have been identified and hinder implementation of Industry 4.0 (I4.0).

This longitudinal study provides a current state analysis of the challenges the manufacturing industry is facing when handling assembly information. Despite the vast amount of initiatives within I4.0 and digitalization, this paper argues that the manufacturing industry needs to address the six defined focus areas to become more flexible and prepared for the transition toward a digitalized manufacturing industry.

The purpose of this study is to identify the prescribed formative elements of supply chain resilience (SCR) in literature, to compare them with the unique characteristics of high reliability organisations (HROs) and derive lessons useful for improving SCR.

Two systematic literature reviews are carried out as follows: one on SCR and the other on HRO, which identified 107 studies and 18 papers, respectively. The results from the review are presented, analysed and synthesised.

Findings suggest that despite significant similarities in some of the proposed formative elements for SCR and the characteristics of HROs, the strong managerial commitment exhibited in HROs is absent in SCR literature. More importantly, the most cited characteristic of HROs, which is their flexible decision making structure is pointed out as a prima lesson towards developing resilience in supply chains.

A decision making framework to facilitate flexible decision making for supply chains during crisis is presented. Further, practical lessons are pointed out from principles common to both streams of literature such as redundancy, human resource management, collaboration, agility, flexibility, culture and risk avoidance that can be implemented in supply chains.

This paper is the first study to systematically review HROs, adapt a HRO decision making framework and also apply the Cynefin framework to SCR. This, therefore, provides the basis to launch further research into the use of these theories and the role of decision-making in SCR creation.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank supply chain disruption causes for Western buying firms in the Chinese market; to identify supplier-relationship-specific mitigation strategies to avoid and resist such disruptions; and to develop and propose a framework of relational supply chain disruption management with Chinese suppliers.

Two group exercises with 42 representatives from Western manufacturing buying firms and nine in-depth interviews were conducted. The group exercises applied the nominal group technique.

The authors identified and ranked 22 disruption causes in China for Western buying firms. Evaluating the five most urgent causes, 43 mitigation strategies could be identified that build on implementing strategic relationships with Chinese suppliers. A framework of relational supply chain disruption management for Western buying firms was developed with six propositions on primary constructs, mediators, and moderators, highlighting guanxi as a fundamental construct of relations within the Chinese culture.

The findings contribute to theory development at the intersection of risk management and culture. Quantitative testing of the proposed relationships in the framework is needed to derive more reliable conclusions.

The study depicts how cultural differences between Chinese suppliers and Western buyers influence relational supply chain disruption management strategies. Using the study findings, managers of Western buying firms are informed regarding the most pressing disruption causes in the Chinese market and the value and strategic use of Chinese-supplier relationships.

The study provides a valuable contribution to the scant body of literature on disruption management in supply chains with Chinese suppliers. It contributes to our understanding of a successful risk management in the presence of cultural differences.

This paper analyses the strategies designed by Franco´s dictatorship to address the “problem” of children with physical disabilities, focusing on the relevance given to vocational training.

The paper draws mainly on official documents, reports from international organisations, and Spanish experts' papers.

Francoism turned labour into one of the key pillars of its national project and included vocational training in the different stages of school life. From the mid-1950s, vocational training also became a key factor for the dictatorship's strategy towards disability. Following the recommendations issued by international agencies, Francoism began to adopt different measures towards the rehabilitation of children with disabilities. One of them was the creation, in 1959, of a special unit for adolescents within the National Institute for the Rehabilitation of Invalids. In addition to medical treatment, this unit provided children with education and vocational training.

The value of this paper lies in the fact that the topic it analyses has been little studied. Until now no attention has been given to the special unit for adolescents, despite it being a very interesting example of the medical model of disability and its contradictions. During their stay at the unit children were promised greater autonomy and independence, but their lives also became medicalised and they were forced to collaborate with experts.