M. van der Spiegel, P.A. Luning, G.W. Ziggers and W.M.F. Jongen
Manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. However, their effectiveness cannot be assessed because an instrument does not exist. This article is based…
Abstract
Purpose
Manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. However, their effectiveness cannot be assessed because an instrument does not exist. This article is based on a study that was set up to identify performance measurement indicators of an instrument that measures effectiveness of food quality systems, called IMAQE‐Food.
Design/methodology/approach
The instrument has been developed by translating a conceptual model in quantifiable performance measurement indicators. Literature research, qualitative research, Delphi sessions, and quantitative research were used.
Findings
In total, 28 relevant and comprehensible indicators were obtained that measure performance of quality management, production quality and their influencing factors in the bakery sector.
Originality/value
This paper will make a contribution to the body of knowledge in the field of food quality management by developing an instrument to measure effectiveness instead of compliance with norms and requirements or merely performance. This will support food manufacturers in deciding which system is most suitable to achieve their objectives. The developed procedure can be used for providing insight in determining the desired level of quality management, and for extending the instrument for other applications.
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Xiaoyun Li, Suicheng Li, Jianqi Qiao and Mengchao Wu
This study aims to develop a moderated mediation model to explain the practices of supply base management and how they can achieve innovation performance, and the authors explore…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a moderated mediation model to explain the practices of supply base management and how they can achieve innovation performance, and the authors explore the boundary conditions of this implementation mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used the bootstrap procedure to conduct empirical tests on 328 Chinese manufacturers to verify the proposed model.
Findings
The results showed that supplier innovation focus, supply-base structuring and long-term relationship focus have a positive impact on innovation performance through supplier innovativeness, and the mediation performs differently under technology and demand uncertainty.
Research limitations/implications
The authors only focused on innovation performance, and it does not explore the links between supply base management and other performance outcomes. This study involves part of the supply network which is easier to manage, i.e. supply base. The authors ignored the importance of other members in supply network. Finally, the data obtained in this study belong to the cross-sectional data during the same period but it accomplishes the research aim well.
Practical implications
The focal firm needs to improve their supply base composition, establish permeable organizational boundaries, and build long-term strategic partnerships characterized by equality and trust with suppliers to stimulate supply base members to make innovative contributions.
Originality/value
This study complements the implementation path of manufacturers around innovation, emphasizing multidimensional characteristics of supply base management. And this study clarifies the mechanism and boundary conditions between supply base management and innovation performance.
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M. van der Spiegel, W.J. de Boer, P.A. Luning, G.W. Ziggers and W.M.F. Jongen
The purpose of this paper is to show that manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. This paper aims to describe the validation of IMAQE‐Food – an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show that manufacturers use several quality assurance systems to assure quality. This paper aims to describe the validation of IMAQE‐Food – an instrument that measures effectiveness of food quality systems.
Design/methodology/approach
Generalisability, reliability and validity of the instrument were analysed at a sample of 48 bakeries. Reliability and validity of variables were determined using a procedure based on Cronbach's alpha and rotated factor analysis. Generalisability of the instrument was examined by analysing characteristics of the bakery industry and by adapting the instrument for the vegetable and fruit‐processing sector.
Findings
The paper finds that IMAQE‐Food is a reliable and valid tool to assess effectiveness of quality systems in bakeries with more than ten employees. IMAQE‐Food appears to be also applicable for the vegetable and fruit‐processing sector.
Practical implications
It is shown in the paper that IMAQE‐Food will support food manufacturers in deciding which system is most suitable to achieve their objectives.
Originality/value
This paper will make a contribution to the body of knowledge in the field of food quality management by validating an instrument to measure effectiveness instead of compliance of norms or only measuring performance.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not transaction marketing is being employed together with various types of relationship marketing. A classification scheme of…
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not transaction marketing is being employed together with various types of relationship marketing. A classification scheme of contemporary marketing practices (Coviello, Brodie and Munro, 1997) is reviewed, and the need to enrich earlier research findings is discussed. A case study methodology for conducting research into the New Zealand wine sector is then considered. The preliminary findings suggest that vineyards increasingly employ a pluralistic approach to marketing combining transaction marketing with relational types of marketing, and that the softer sides of marketing are becoming important, such as social bonding, networks and interactions. The findings also give insights into whether or not vineyards are driven by their product or market.
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The purpose of this paper is to offer a view that a firm's critical resources and capabilities span firm boundaries, and are embedded in inter‐firm resources and routines.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a view that a firm's critical resources and capabilities span firm boundaries, and are embedded in inter‐firm resources and routines.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on a capability view the paper argues that firms can engender sustainable competitive advantage by enabling firms to build and leverage inter‐organizational relationships to generate relational rents by: fostering close working relationships with a limited number of suppliers; building effective network structures, and developing a long term orientation. Using PLS path modelling, the paper empirically tests a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of 176 Dutch firms.
Findings
The results demonstrate that inter‐firm network capability significantly and substantially affects supplier performance as well as buyer performance, thereby providing evidence of the predictive validity of the inter‐firm network capability construct.
Originality/value
The study contributes to a more complete understanding of a firm's collaborative capabilities in developing and leveraging inter‐organizational relationships and enhances the knowledge of the drivers of rent generating capabilities that contribute to the firm's performance.
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While inter-organizational collaboration concerns processes of organizing between firms, it is always initiated and enacted by individual people who perceive a need for…
Abstract
While inter-organizational collaboration concerns processes of organizing between firms, it is always initiated and enacted by individual people who perceive a need for collaboration. This chapter takes the perspective of these actors and their efforts to seek collaboration as they pursue an agenda for change. Collaboration processes are thus conceptualized as path creation and internal strategizing. The chapter focuses specifically on how actors sell the need for collaboration internally and how they draw on their external network to promote change. It illustrates this process of issue selling and collaboration with six case studies in the area of new product development, new forms of network governance, and network-wide change of business practices. Comparing these more or less successful trajectories highlights the relevance of the relational context in issue selling, the role of intentionality within emerging processes, and interplay between external collaboration and internal strategizing.
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Sonia Froufe, Mame Gningue and Charles–Henri Fredouet
Due to the globalization of trade, hundreds of millions containers pass every year through world ports. Such a situation is extremely challenging in terms of securing freight…
Abstract
Due to the globalization of trade, hundreds of millions containers pass every year through world ports. Such a situation is extremely challenging in terms of securing freight transport operations. However, costs and lead-times are still very important components of supply chains' performance models. Therefore, the drive for enhanced safety and security cannot be made at the expense of these other two factors of competitiveness, and the processes implemented by the global supply chain links, including the maritime port one, should tend to a joint optimization of trade facilitation and operational safety / security.
The research on which this paper feeds back falls within the frame of this mixed performance requirement. More specifically, the paper presents a decision-support system dedicated to managing the risks associated with land and maritime container transportation; this system is based on the modeling of the knowledge of a group of experts, and covers the three phases of risk identification, assessment and avoidance / mitigation.
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Wen-Chin Tsao, Ming-Tsang Hsieh and Tom M.Y. Lin
Stimulated by trends in group purchasing and online social communities, consumers are changing their shopping behavior and increasingly turning to websites for their shopping…
Abstract
Purpose
Stimulated by trends in group purchasing and online social communities, consumers are changing their shopping behavior and increasingly turning to websites for their shopping needs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how website quality influences shopping websites to create value for the customer and promote loyalty among customers, as well as moderating effects of online shopping experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected data from 275 respondents for testing against the proposed research model by means of the partial least squares (PLS) path modeling. ADANCO software was used to assess the reliability and validity of the measurement model, conduct an analysis of the goodness of model fit for the overall model, and test the hypotheses through structural modeling.
Findings
Empirical results demonstrate that system quality and electronic service quality (e-service quality) have a significant positive effect on the perceived value of consumer/seller relationship; the perceived value of the consumer/seller relationship has a significant positive effect on online loyalty; online shopping experience does not exert a moderating effect on the relationship between website quality and the perceived value of consumer/seller relationship.
Originality/value
This study applied the PLS path modeling approach using ADANCO variance-based structural equation modeling software to verify that website quality plays an important role in distinguishing a brand from other brands in e-tailing, making it an essential factor of a shopping website’s business success. This study further verified that the amount of previous online shopping experience a consumer has does not interfere with the positive influence that website quality exerts on the perceived value of the consumer/seller relationship. The above indicates that it is imperative for website managers to adopt online shopping experience of consumers as a market segmentation variable so as to enhance website quality, increase the perceived value of consumer-seller relationships, and win consumer loyalty.
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Fabrício Oliveira Leitão, Ely Laureano Paiva and Karim Marini Thomé
The literature has suggested that capabilities have been used to generate performance and competitive advantage, especially in industries with higher technological dynamism in…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature has suggested that capabilities have been used to generate performance and competitive advantage, especially in industries with higher technological dynamism in developed economies. However, knowledge of the topic still needs to be systematically analyzed in agribusiness. Thus, this article fills this gap because it systematically reviews the literature on agribusiness capabilities and performance, classifies and codifies its characteristics, and determines what is known and what gaps there are in the knowledge regarding these subjects.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review of agribusiness capabilities and performance was conducted based on Cronin et al. (2008) protocol. Thirty-six articles from the WoS and Scopus databases were identified and analyzed.
Findings
This article identified, classified and coded 12 capabilities agribusiness firms employ to improve performance. This article reveals several gaps regarding capabilities and performance in agribusiness, especially emphasizing commodity products, in addition to studies with fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, meat, agricultural inputs and biofuels. It was also found that higher-order capabilities are more strongly related to performance than lower-order capabilities, that the performance benefits conferred by capabilities are more evident in developing economies, and that the relationship between capabilities and performance is more robust in agribusinesses with lower levels of technological dynamism.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the debate about agribusiness capabilities and performance in three aspects. First, it systematically reviews the literature on these subjects; second, it classifies and codifies agribusiness capabilities and performance characteristics; third, it provides a research agenda on the theme.
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Jing Zhang and Mingfei Du
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a B2B firm can improve its value appropriation from industrial buyer–seller relationships by leveraging its network capability, as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a B2B firm can improve its value appropriation from industrial buyer–seller relationships by leveraging its network capability, as well as the curvilinear moderating role of the firm’s network embeddedness.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper empirically examines seven research hypotheses about the relationship between network capability and value appropriation and the curvilinear moderating effect of network embeddedness based on a questionnaire survey among 232 Chinese B2B firms.
Findings
It is found that network capability helps sellers appropriate value from industrial buyer–seller relationships via information acquisition, network resources and power. The mediating effect of network resources is the highest, followed by power and information acquisition. In addition, a seller’s embeddedness in a business network positively moderates the network capability and value appropriation link in an inverted U-shaped way.
Originality/value
The study makes significant contributions to the literature on value appropriation and also provides insightful implications for B2B firms to capture value from industrial buyer–seller relationships by leveraging network capability and network embeddedness.