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Down with inventory! Do away with inventory! So cry the advocates of the Just‐in‐Time doctrine—a doctrine that holds that inventory by nature is idle and wasteful and by reason is an encumbrance on the operations and finances of an organization. Their denouncements of both intentional and negligent stockpiling inspire reform and herald the redesign of operating systems along more utilitarian lines. But where should an organization begin and how far should it go to pursue the fundamentals of an inventory curtailment policy? If the quest starts with immediate reduction of stocks, must it deliberately end with complete systems conversion? The answer will depend on current circumstances and operating philosophies for the future, if there were no temporal, operational, or financial constraints on organizations, they would simply produce or replenish inventory as dictated by customer demand. Their goal would be to buy, manufacture, and distribute directly to the actual demands of the marketplace. It would be rational for organizations to operate with a demand‐driven pull system.

Traditionally, aggregate inventory realignment has tended to be a reactive response to crisis signals revealed by financial performance measurements. Symptoms and problems are usually confounded, while corrective actions are localized with less than adequate customer connectivity. This article links inventory requirements to customer requirements for response, quality, and their benefit‐to‐cost ratio by focusing on reduction of valueless time, valueless activity, and valueless variance in business processes. Interestingly, what satisfies customers can also efficiently align inventory. Several maxims are introduced throughout the paper to align the purpose and significance of inventory to a customer context.

Should an organization modify its ordering policies when a supplier announces an impending price increase for an item? Announced price increases are a common economic phenomenon. This article develops the optimal stock replenishment strategies in response to a price change. It is shown that the optimal response depends on the number of order cycles before the price change becomes effective. The potential cost savings can be substantial. The familiar model for determining the optimal stock replenishment strategy for an impending price increase assumes a buyer has limited replenishment opportunities before the increase. This paper extends the model to include multiple replenishment opportunities. Optimal replenishment strategies are developed for any length of notification period and cost savings are identified.

Generic product offerings in a boundaryless competitive environment do not support economic viability. Time‐based dimensions of a product are becoming an increasingly important component in assessing strategic advantage. A generalized framework is provided for analyzing product environments based on production/consumption gaps that can lead to an augmented product. Traditional long lead times and high inventory levels are less appropriate and more costly endeavours that may not even achieve product parity.

Entrepreneurship-related research in management and organizational journals has experienced rapid growth, particularly in the last several years. The purpose of this study is to identify the researchers and universities that have had the greatest influence on entrepreneurship research since the turn of the century. Using a systematic and comprehensive study identification protocol, the authors delve into the individual and institutional actors contributing to scholarship in entrepreneurial studies for the period from 2000 to 2015. Examination of top-tier management and organizational journals revealed that a total of 371 entrepreneurship-related articles were published during this period by 618 authors from 303 different institutions. Rankings for the most prolific individuals as well as institutions, adjusted and unadjusted for journal quality, are presented. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations and implications of the research undertaken here.

Inventory service levels are a concern of every inventory system. Poor service levels may result in loss of customers and sales, whereas excessive service levels result in loss of money due to large inventories. Although inventory service levels have been discussed widely in the professional literature, the emphasis has been on service levels during replenishment lead times. Overall service levels, which are much more relevant to customers, have received little attention, and the results presented are often mistaken. This article reviews measures of inventory service levels both for single and multiple items, relates single item measures during lead times to their overall counterparts, and shows that overall measures are not only more relevant to customers, but also require lower safety stock from the provider of the goods.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between time-based manufacturing competence (TBMC), time-based competitiveness, time-based manufacturing capability, and the performance of SMEs engaged in the steel minimill industry in the USA.

This study was based on an empirical investigation of manufacturing firms in the steel minimill industry in the USA. The sample of firms was provided by the US Association of Iron and Steel Engineers. In order to obtain valid and reliable measures of the variables, previously validated scales were used to measure all variables. The primary data for the study were collected from a self-administered mail survey of 137 SMEs with the sample consisting of 71 SMEs indicating a response rate of 52 percent.

Statistically significant positive relationships were found between all independent variables and performance. The results also indicate that the high performers have a higher TBMC than the low performers. The findings further confirm the assertion in the manufacturing strategy literature which states that time, as a strategic factor, is a source of competitive advantage.

From a methodological perspective, a potential concern may be that the measures are all self-reported. Consequently, the relationships tested may be susceptible to the influence of common method variance.

TBMC enables SMEs to offer high-quality products at low cost and in a timely manner. This reflects the value of the positive relationship between TBMC and business performance.

This study’s finding identifies the need for time-based competition. The literature suggests that the strategic focus on time enables firms to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. Nevertheless, this suggestion has been based on conceptual rather than empirical research. The results of this study provide empirical support for that suggestion with respect to SMEs.

The purpose of this study is to propose a typology of culture and to present a hybrid model to be used as the base in organizational behavior and cross-cultural management research.

This study provides a conceptual analysis and general review of the literature to clarify and to classify the usage of culture models and cultural orientations to reduce confusion concerning cultural studies.

The first part of the proposed typology covers only the concept of organizational culture which has been examined around qualitative and cognitive approaches. While the second part is related to the use of socio-cultural dimensions, the third part of the proposed typology covers universal cultural orientations (patterns) framework only. The outcome of this study is the presentation of a hybrid model which provides a comprehensive methodological framework for conducting culture research.

The typology of culture developed in this study would be of help for researchers designing their studies on the subject of culture, socio-cultural dimensions and cultural patternings from more appropriate theoretical perspectives and methods.

The theoretical framework in this study provides insight in selecting more suitable culture models to examine the subject in managerial organizational studies.

The contrast between Japanese purchasing practices and US traditional purchasing practices provides a good insight into the relative importance of JIT for US firms. Since the initial implementation of JIT purchasing in late 1980 by Kawasaki Motors (Lincoln plant), at least 50 companies in the US such as GM, Ford, Nissan, Hewlett‐Packard, Xerox, Goodyear, GE and other large US corporations, have adopted and implemented the concept. This has significantly altered not only the way these companies plan and control their production facilities and purchasing systems but has also led to improvements in their product quality and productivity.

The purchasing function is growing in importance in today's industrial economy. In many purchasing situations there are a number of conflicting considerations that influence the final purchasing decision. The professional purchasing person must make profitable buying decisions under these circumstances. The single item purchase lot sizing literature in the past has served as the foundation for developing and studying the requirements planning based models and techniques. The purchasing manager's methods for making quantity (lot size) decisions are examined. Significant literature on the subject is classified and a taxonomy provided. Variations within the purchase lot sizing literature are discussed. Purchase lot sizing literature has important limitations by focusing exclusively on lot sizing as the relevant criterion for making economic order size decisions. A logical extension would be to include, the economic performance of alternative lot size procedures in a capacitated Materials Requirement Planning (MRP) environment. Another extension should consider the economics of jointly ordering from one vendor.