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This research aims to establish the role of the purchasing function’s strategic alignment in the relationship between well-established practices and performance in that function. It is argued that the strategic alignment of purchasing may have effects (direct, mediating and moderating effects) on the purchasing function’s operating performance.

The hypotheses derived from key studies about strategic and advanced purchasing practices are tested with data from 156 industrial companies using structural equation modelling methodology.

The results suggest that the effect of strategic alignment on the role of purchasing consists of mediated effects on purchasing performance through implementation of certain advanced practices. It was also concluded that strategic alignment – as well as the implementation of these advanced purchasing practices – fosters the implementation of differentiation strategies based on quality, dependability and flexibility rather than on the implementation of cost leadership strategies.

Although it is a common practice in operations management research, the use of perceptual measures obtained from a single informant constitutes a noteworthy limitation. Future research should make an effort to combine different sources of information and to identify and use more objective indicators.

Top managers should take into account the need to involve the purchasing function in the firm’s strategic planning process.

The results not only confirm findings from previous literature as to the purchasing function’s strategic relevance but also help clarify the mechanisms that make this integration important.

Balancing exploration and exploitation is a strategic challenge for technology-based companies striving to successfully implement ambidexterity in rapidly changing markets. This study aims to look at the extent in which corporate universities can be instrumental in the cross-functional deployment of the resources, capabilities and experience needed to achieve organizational ambidexterity.

This study is the result of a single case study of ZTE University in China. Data from archives, direct observations, and semi-open interviews have been triangulated and analyzed with pattern matching technique.

This study analyzed the development of capabilities allowing the strategic combinations of exploration and exploitation, and to clearly witness how the corporate university was dynamically linked with those development.

The empirical results offer new insights on the most relevant capabilities for technology-based companies and notably those that are more likely to be exploited through a corporate university.

This paper aims to analyze how information technology (IT) can help explain performance by the purchasing function. In addition to analyzing the direct effect and mediating role of purchasing practices in the relationship between IT and purchasing performance, as has been considered in previous research, this study investigates the possibility of a moderating effect of IT in the relationships between purchasing practices and purchasing performance.

The propositions are tested with data from 156 purchasing managers, collected through a survey of members of the Spanish Association of Professionals of Purchasing and Supply Management who work in industrial companies.

Although IT investments exert a positive effect on the purchasing function, the results show that this effect takes place through the implementation of purchasing practices that in turn improve the results of the purchasing function.

Instead of focusing on a single, specific effect of IT investment in the purchasing function, this paper considers three potential effects (direct, mediated and moderating). Thus, it provides a more comprehensive overview of the topic and a more complete elucidation of the actual effects.