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This study investigates the issue of power in business‐to‐business relationships and constitutes an appraisal of the theory relating to issues of supply chain relationships; in which the received view from the relationship marketing literature with its emphasis on trust, dyadic symmetry and mutuality is questioned. It is contended, alternatively that other types of relationships, for example, those based on selfishness are equally relevant; and that power imbalanced business relationships are just as important to the understanding of business exchange.

Specific reference is made to power relationships in vertical food supply channels in the UK, where the majority of control lies in the hands of large multiple retailers. The paper cites case material drawn from studies into the relationships between UK‐based fresh food supplier organisations and their principal customers, the leading UK food retailers.

Specific outcomes are determined with regard to issues of power, mutuality and the nature of power‐dependent relationships. Power play is omnipresent in exchange relationships and is not always seen in a negative light. Relationship‐building is perfectly possible in asymmetric relationships and weaker parties are tolerant of power imbalance.

The study concludes that power should be a central consideration when concerned with business relationships and that imbalances in power are no specific barrier to parties entering into relationships or to their success.

Findings from chosen case studies are transferable to other vertical channel circumstances. Any future investigation should consider the expression and limits of power and the boundaries of tolerance to power imbalance.

Provides evidence of the nature of power‐dependent business relationships.

Youth leadership life skills are the “development of life skills necessary to perform leadership functions in real life” (Miller, 1976, p.2). A model developed by Kapostasy indicates life skills should be taught through FFA (Staller, 2001). Thus, it is important to evaluate youth leadership life skills developed to determine the effectiveness of leadership curriculum and its quality and impact. This research study surveyed Arkansas FFA members after attending the 2012 Arkansas Leadership Conference to determine the leadership life skills developed while at the conference. Furthermore, this study looked at relationships between FFA participants and FFA participation with youth leadership life skills and provides recommendations for future research and for practitioners.

This paper aims to look at the relative position of thought leadership between the areas of military and civilian logisticians.

The paper provides a theoretical framework in an exploratory study using the literature to evaluate the constraints on the military side of logistics thought.

The discussion identifies challenges that may preclude military logistics thought from becoming the leaders for the foreseeable future.

The paper provides an examination of the changing role between military and civilian logistics that has not been carefully examined since just after the Gulf War in 1991.

The purpose of the research is first, to understand, explain, and evaluate the nature and extent of marketing skill development in MBA programmes relative to the needs and desires of practitioners and students, and second, to present findings and recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of skill development in MBA programmes for the benefit of both marketing practitioners and academics.

The research design/methodology is based primarily on survey research on skill development in MBA programmes from the perspectives of both graduates and marketing practitioners.

This research suggests that six important skill weaknesses – decision making, leadership, problem formulation, persuasion, creativity, and negotiation – need to be developed among future marketers and that a marketing education framework should be based on the pillars of a project and dissertation, classroom debate and discussion, and oral presentations.

Future research should focus on understanding and explaining to an even greater extent how marketing education can make more effective use of interactive, hands‐on learning approaches typified by a project and dissertation, classroom debates and discussions, and oral presentations.

Implications for practice include the suggestion that practitioners must also assume responsibility for developing initiatives that facilitate marketing skill development as well.

The new and original value and contribution of the research is that it extensively characterises and quantifies the extent of a marketing skill development gap – the gap between what marketing skills are being developed in MBA programmes and what practitioners want and need in marketers of the future in addition to providing recommendations to close the marketing skills gap.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the competitiveness of the Uruguayan rural tourism sector against its main competitors from Argentina and Brazil, as perceived by Uruguayan stakeholders on the supply side. The paper will also evaluate the potential of Uruguay as a rural tourism destination in attracting German tourists.

Two different questionnaires were administered, one to Uruguayan rural tourism stakeholders and another one to potential German tourists in Germany.

The findings indicate that the main strengths of Uruguayan rural tourism offer, compared to Argentina and Brazil, are the hospitality and friendliness of local people, the natural and cultural attractions and the country’s security and safety. Main weaknesses identified were the poor management of several destination components that are key to create a successful tourism destination and poor management of the “demand conditions” component of Dwyer and Kim’s (2003) integrated model.

There is very limited research done on the competitiveness of Uruguay as a rural tourist destination in attracting foreign tourists (Mackinnon et al., 2009). The objective of this study is to partially fill this gap by assessing how competitive Uruguayan rural tourism is and evaluating whether Uruguay represents an attractive market for German tourists looking for agro tourism and farm holiday destinations. The German market was chosen because it is one of the top tourist-generating countries and one of the biggest spenders in international tourism (The World Tourism organization, 2010). Moreover, most tourists – from outside South America – selecting Uruguay as a tourist destination come from Germany, USA and Australia (Peralta, 2012).

This study's purpose is to examine the relationships between the biographical characteristics gender, age, years of experience and employment position, and job satisfaction of staff members in Catholic primary schools.

Survey data were collected from 356 staff members from Catholic primary schools. Research hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis and comparison of means.

Age, gender and position were related to a number of facets of job satisfaction as well as overall job satisfaction. No significant relationships were identified for years of experience.

The findings hold implications for Catholic diocesan school systems and school administrators in relation to teacher retention and for further research regarding teacher's aides.

This study includes non‐teaching staff and investigates the role of employment position as a biographical variable.

This paper aims to examine the barriers that act as a hindrance and are the reason behind the struggles for the successful practice of diversity and inclusion. It also provides suggestions that organisations across the Asian region can adopt to have a conducive work environment to flourish diversity and inclusion.

Qualitative data were collected from 21 in-depth semi-structured interviews, where the male and female interviewee ratio was 6:4. The interviewees were diversity and inclusion leaders, diversity and inclusion consultants and human resources (HR) experts from Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, UAE, Singapore, Bangladesh and Nepal. The interviewees belonged to varied industries, including information technology, automobile, manufacturing, engineering, logistics and independent consultants. Every interview recorded was transcribed, and an inductive content analysis technique was used using NVivo. Broad themes and several antecedents were identified which hinder the successful practice of diversity and inclusion.

There exists a patriarchal mindset in society as the main reason; that is why Asian countries are finding it difficult and are struggling to embrace diversity and inclusion successfully. There is a lack of awareness amongst managers about how inclusive gender diversity impacts the company’s financial status. Reports show that companies that have female board members have better profit margins in comparison to those that do not.

This study was conducted within one industry setting, the service sector; therefore, the findings may not apply to other industries because of the different organisational cultures and HR policies.

This study offers managerial implications that can help the organisation foster and embrace diversity and inclusion by overcoming the barriers.

There should be fair and equitable inclusivity of females in the workplace. Female employees should be heard without biases and discrimination and allowed to speak up with equity. Females should not be seen differently during organisational decision-making, participation and empowerment.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the few to explore the challenges faced by Asian region organisations to embrace diversity and inclusion by empirical evidence. The study shows how the Asian region struggles to go beyond gender diversity and move away from patriarchal hegemony, which is the study’s unique contribution.

The changing requirements of manufacturing exert considerable pressure on manufacturing resources while competition is intensified as a result of increasing new entrants into the market. The marketplace has consequently been turned into a “battlefield”. The competition for market share has driven improvement initiatives since the 1960s. The extension of MRPII to integrate with other advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) that were hitherto isolated is considered as one of the initiatives embarked on by manufacturers in search of improved performance. Reports a major study of these initiatives and the associated benefits. Reviews integration and extension of MRPII and presents the state‐of‐the art in the UK companies from a survey of 120 manufacturing enterprises. Discusses some empirical findings about the benefits of integration and extension of MRPII with other AMTs.

The purpose of this article is to analyze problems involved in using a four‐tiered, indirect sales‐and‐distribution (S&D) model and describe how a manufacturing small and medium‐sized enterprise's (SME's) controller can master them.

The approach taken is an in‐depth case study of an Asian SME selling its homeopathic remedies through European wholesalers and retailers to geographically dispersed consumers.

The case study provides four main conclusions. First, entering into an indirect S&D relationship with wholesalers and retailers is just one more step along the road to outsourcing an enterprise's non‐core functions in a global economy. Second, as long as an SME is on this road, its controller must make the best of the situation and master the resulting complexity in the areas of sales and distribution. Third, above all, integrating business partners' wholesale and retail trade data into the SME's own management information system represents a major technical challenge. Fourth, presenting a clear, complete, and multidimensional overview of sales figures and inventory levels is a task likely to demand more time and attention in the future.

The research methodology employed here is descriptive, not explanatory. Because the study observes just one firm, it may not be representative of the general SME population. Moreover, much of the information collected is retrospective data and recollections of past events, which may be subject to problems inherent with memory or inadequate recordkeeping. Nevertheless, the findings form a foundation for better understanding the use of a four‐tiered, indirect S&D model.

While much of the literature explicitly or implicitly assumes use of direct S&D models, this article specifically addresses problems arising from an SME's employment of an indirect model and its loss of direct contact with consumers.

Literature evidences that altruism and conscientiousness are very important discretionary behaviours within the broader framework of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) among teaching community. The present study is intended to examine the effect of role clarity, perceived cohesion and felt responsibility on altruism and conscientiousness among college teachers in Kerala.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 354 college teachers, and the causal effect was examined using Partial Least Square-based structural equation modelling.

Validity and reliability of the model were established through measurement model evaluation. Explanatory power of the model was established. Cohesion and felt responsibility significantly predicted altruism, but the effect of role clarity on altruism was not significant. Effect of cohesion, felt responsibility and role clarity on conscientiousness was significant.

The study contributed to the existing theory on antecedents of OCB. The model has high levels of predictive accuracy – role clarity, cohesiveness and felt responsibility – capable of explaining the discretionary behaviour among college teachers.