Journal•ISSN: 1935-5181
American Journal of Business
Emerald Publishing Limited
About: American Journal of Business is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Supply chain & Total quality management. It has an ISSN identifier of 1935-5181. Over the lifetime, 411 publications have been published receiving 5356 citations.
Topics: Supply chain, Total quality management, Corporate social responsibility, Stakeholder, Social responsibility
Papers published on a yearly basis
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors build a framework for linking the established work of competitive advantage with the emerging discipline of value marketing and the outcome of this linkage is the concept of strategic value management, which focuses on the right combinations of product quality, customer service and fair prices as the key to selling to today's value conscious consumers.
Abstract: This paper builds the framework for linking the established work of competitive advantage with the emerging discipline of value marketing. The outcome of this linkage is the concept of strategic value management. Strategic value management focuses on the right combinations of product quality, customer service and fair prices as the key to selling to today’s value conscious consumers. The core of the strategy stresses the firm’s ability to combine and manage these dimensions of value in a way that a strategic value advantage is created and maintained. This advantage provides long‐term profitability for the firm and satisfaction for the customer segment. Three companies that excel at strategic value management, Southwest Airlines, Hewlett‐Packard, and Nordstrom, illustrate how this advantage provides long‐term profitability for their firm and satisfaction for their customer segment. Value oriented actions have been developed to support a strategic value approach.
524 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide insights into the performance of surveyed firms across key components of working capital management by using the CFO magazine's annual Working Capital Management Survey, and discover that significant differences exist between industries in working capital measures across time.
Abstract: Firms are able to reduce financing costs and/or increase the funds available for expansion by minimizing the amount of funds tied up in current assets. We provide insights into the performance of surveyed firms across key components of working capital management by using the CFO magazine’s annual Working Capital Management Survey. We discover that significant differences exist between industries in working capital measures across time. In addition, we discover that these measures for working capital change significantly within industries across time.
320 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the working capital position of small firms responds to changes in the level of economic activity and their investment in working capital, as measured by the inventory to total assets and current assets to total asset ratios, were relatively stable over the time period of this study.
Abstract: This paper studies how the working capital position of small firms responds to changes in the level of economic activity. Fifty small firms were studied for the time period 1980‐1991. The findings from this study showed that liquidity increased slightly for these firms during economic expansion with no noticeable change in liquidity during economic slowdowns. Their investment in working capital, as measured by the inventory to total assets and current assets to total assets ratios, were relatively stable over the time period of this study.Findings suggest that working capital management practices of small firms in response to changes in economic activity do not follow commonly held expectations.
220 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between outsourcing strategies and organizational performance and found that organizations generally considered themselves successful at outsourcing, however, while they achieved significant improvement in organizational performance, they have not reached the magnitude of improvements ascribed to outsourcing.
Abstract: Outsourcing is the strategic use of outside resources to perform activities that are usually handled by internal staff and resources. By using a well‐managed outsourcing agreement, companies can gain in markets that would otherwise be uneconomical. This study was designed to explore why companies are undertaking outsourcing projects and identifies factors that may facilitate or impede outsourcing projects. In addition, this article examines the relationships between outsourcing strategies and organizational performance. The results show that organizations generally considered themselves successful at outsourcing. However, while they achieved significant improvement in organizational performance, they have not reached the magnitude of improvements ascribed to outsourcing.
168 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Ireland et al. examined the influence of top managers' prestige, structural and expert power on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance and concluded that top managers with a high tolerance of risk, those who favor innovative activities and those who display a high degree of proactiveness will positively impact firm performance.
Abstract: Organizational researchers have long recognized the important role that top managers play within entrepreneurial firms (Ireland, Hitt and Sirmon 2003). Utilizing Covin and Slevin’s (1989) conceptual framework, the current study explores three key entrepreneurial characteristics of top managers and the impact these characteristics have on firm performance. Specifically, we argue that top managers with a high tolerance of risk, those who favor innovative activities and those who display a high degree of proactiveness will positively impact firm performance. In addition, this study examines the influence of top managers’ prestige, structural and expert power on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. We conclude the study with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications of our findings and suggestions for future research in this area of study.
134 citations