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Lean manufacturing has the potential for simultaneously improving the competitiveness and the social sustainability of the apparel industry in developing countries. However, there is limited research on the ways to a successful lean implementation in developing countries and with an emphasis on occupational health and safety (OHS) improvement.

The paper investigates four cases of lean implementation in garment factories and uses the design science research strategy, building on the context-intervention-mechanism-outcome (CIMO) framework to identify explanatory mechanisms that can be used for designing future action.

The study identifies tangible mechanisms that can lead to successful lean implementation. The most important mechanisms relate to practical top management support, worker involvement, application of lean tools and training.

The findings of this study can guide better lean implementation for the many garment factories in developing countries.

While the lean literature provides general recommendations for lean implementation, knowledge about the transfer mechanisms in developing countries as well as the connections between lean and OHS is limited. This paper contributes to lean implementation theory and to the discourse of positive lean by integrating efficiency and working conditions. In addition, the paper identifies transfer mechanisms for lean implementation in the garment industry in a developing country.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Lean are both widely used approaches to business process improvement. However, research is limited on their interactions when implemented in combination, leveraging the advantages of both. The purpose of this paper is to propose a generic framework for implementing ERP and Lean in combination to develop digitally supported business process improvement capability and improved competitiveness.

Principles and elements for the framework were derived from the extant literature and subsequently applied as input for solution incubation using design science research (DSR) in a five-year case study. Study results and learnings enabled solution refinement and the development of a generic framework for digital supported process improvement capabilities.

The paper presents a case study narrative and proposes a framework for digitally supported business process improvement capability based on Lean and enabled digitally by ERP. The framework delivers tangible productivity and quality improvements deployed, and an increase of continuous improvement capability.

This paper provides a novel generic framework and a set of guidelines for implementing Lean and ERP in SMEs and/or service companies to improve their business process excellence. The paper contributes to the scientific literature by providing insights on how SMEs and service operations can integrate Lean and ERP methods, digitalize and streamline processes in the organization and build continuous improvement capabilities.

Upcoming as well as mature industries are facing pressure as regards successfully managing operational excellence, and, at the same time, driving and managing innovation. Quality management concepts and practices’ ability to tackle this challenge have been questioned. It has even been suggested that there is a need to provide and promote an updated/changed, and even re-branded, version of Total Quality Management, merging quality management (QM) and innovation management (IM). Can such a shift then actually be spotted? The purpose of this paper is to explore and see if there are any signs suggesting that QM and IM actually are about to merge.

The study is based on literature reviews, document studies and interviews.

The paper highlights three signs indicating that QM and IM indeed are approaching each other, and that it is a movement driven from both sectors, e.g., in the work with new ISO-standards and the Toyota Kata framework.

The indicated development has fundamental and extensive practical implications. It will for example have to be followed by a similar merging of the two fields in the educational system, and in the competences of future managers.

A group of researchers met in Charleston, South Carolina, USA to discuss the past and future of the marketing/entrepreneurship interface. The purpose of this paper is to summarize main discussions from the three‐day summit.

Roughly 16 hours of presentations and discussions were digitally recorded. The lead author reviewed the recordings making copious notes, which were organized into 17 themes for further analysis. Future research directions based on discussion around the most poignant themes are reported.

The paper presents nine categories of discussions around the interface including: the four research perspectives; “the future is in the past;” marketing; entrepreneurship; small business marketing; entrepreneurial marketing; practical significance; context of research; and modeling.

Throughout the nine sections, this paper highlights considerations for future research. It suggests that scholars conducting research at the interface consider the theoretical perspective of their research to improve collective theory building and better positioning. It suggests that scholars also consider the firm and industry context of their empirical research. Finally, it suggests a number of research questions.

The paper suggests that during the research design phase, scholars make efforts to consider the practical significance that will result from their research. In particular, they should consider that research in start‐ups (all businesses start somewhere) and small businesses (the vast majority of all enterprises) can have widespread impacts.

This paper provides a unique approach to conceptually organizing marketing/entrepreneurship interface research and provides an abundant source of ideas for future research.

This exploratory study examines differences in opportunity recognition by industry. A sample of 142 entrepreneurs completed a detailed questionnaire. Certain differences by industry were in the product, firm and respondents’ characteristics as well as in opportunity recognition processes, especially in regards to innovation and level of creativity. In addition, there was a very clear, significant relationship between level of creativity and the number of opportunities identified and pursued across industries. The implications of this is that future research that involves creativity, such as using the creativity‐based model provided by Lumpkin et al. (2003), should include industry in the analysis.

This paper seeks to detail an exploratory examination of a multidimensional, creativity‐based theoretical model of opportunity recognition originally proposed by Hills et al. and later refined by Lumpkin et al., but never empirically tested. The paper also aims to examine the relationship between individual dimensions of the model and creativity.

Analyses were conducted using AMOS software on a sample of 145 entrepreneurs. One structural equation model (SEM) and three confirmatory factor analysis models were tested.

The five‐dimensional model – consisting of preparation, incubation, insight, evaluation, and elaboration – was determined to be the best fitting model. The SEM model also indicated that incubation and elaboration were significantly related to creativity. Overall, a multidimensional, creativity‐based approach to modeling opportunity recognition is supported by this study.

Cross‐sectional data do not allow for testing of the process aspect of the model; however, they do provide evidence that the model can stand up to empirical tests of the five elements of the model. Future research should examine opportunity using multiple dimensions and a creativity perspective. Additional research is needed to examine the process aspects of opportunity recognition.

Fostering opportunity recognition processes that are iterative and involve multiple stages is likely to promote more creative entrepreneurial outcomes.

This study provides one of the few examples of a multidimensional perspective on opportunity recognition as well as an empirical examination of a creativity‐based theoretical model of opportunity recognition.

This study reports on an inductive, qualitative content analysis exploring depictions of the United States and U.S. citizens in translated, international literature for children. The sample included 18 titles recognized with the Batchelder Award or Honor, a recognition given to U.S. publishers who translate and publish outstanding children’s literature with international origins. The study was situated within the framework of cosmopolitanism, a theoretical perspective acknowledging the importance of local values, culture, and traditions while embracing the global and the unfamiliar. Findings revealed depictions of the United States on the local level as a destination, refuge, and glamorized place of diversity. On the global level, the United States was portrayed as a world power with regard to its military, economics, media, and culture. These findings promote perspective taking and critical literacy as they offer a window for U.S. students into how people from other nations perceive their country.