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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing knowledge about the relationships between information technology (IT), lean manufacturing (LM), organizational environmental issues and business performance.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 122 elite manufacturers, and the hypothesized relationships were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

IT competence in LM acts as a lower-order organizational capability, and its business value should be recognized through the intermediate roles of LM effectiveness and environmental management capability. Findings recommend that the net benefits of LM are mainly materialized through waste and pollution reduction and simplified implementation of proactive environmental practices.

Among other limitations, relying on a rather small sample size and cross-sectional data of this research, and lack of generalizability of findings, tends to have certain limitations. An interesting direction for future research would be to extend this research by assessing interaction of other types of IT resources with LM and organizational environmental issues.

Both LM and proactive environmental management are information-intensive. Investment in both technological and human aspects of IT resource aimed at increasing the effectiveness of LM activities and proactive environmental practices is imperative for contemporary manufacturers.

This study introduces the IT capability of IT competence in LM and two organizational capabilities of LM effectiveness and environmental management capability. By doing so, the study highlights the significant role of organizational environmental issues in devising firms’ IT and advanced manufacturing technology investment strategies in LM context.

The aim of this study is to present a model for service supply chain performance evaluation (SSCPE) based on fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM).

Despite the unique nature of services, which distinguishes them from goods, the performance evaluation of service supply chains (SSCs) has still not received adequate attention from researchers or practitioners. With the help of in-depth interviews conducted with insurance industry experts in Iran, the performance measures of SSCs are defined, and the relevance between the performance measures, which are based upon the knowledge of experts in this field, are presented as a fuzzy cognitive map.

By blocking the aggregate map of experts, a model for SSCPE is developed that discusses performance measures and metrics of strategic, tactical and operational SSC processes, such as service-providing management, service-enabling management, market management, cash-flow management, customer-relationship management, supplier-relationship management, knowledge- and information-flow management and risk management. Indexes of FCM models indicate that the supply chain service quality and strategy blocks have the most importance compared with others.

The paper develops an original SSCPE model that can be used as a basis for SSC improvement and develops an excellence model for SSC.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the existing knowledge about the value of post-implementation Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system at the firm level.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 217 Malaysian firms that successfully implemented ERP system. Data analysis was conducted with partial least squares-structural equation modeling and partial least squares multi-group analysis techniques.

Higher ERP spending and greater ERP scope in the post-implementation stage were associated with higher performance gains.

Among other limitations, relying on a small sample size and cross-sectional data of this study and lack of generalizability of findings tend to have certain limitations. An interesting direction for future research would be to extend this study by conducting a multi-level analysis to understand how ERP spending and scope would affect the micro-level performance.

Non-financial performance gain is another valuable outcome of ERP implementation. The choice between in-house and off-the-shelf ERP systems will have dramatic impacts on the future profitability of firms. ERP risk management team and related practices during implementation phase result in a significantly higher financial gain in the post-implementation phase.

This study assesses the business value of ERP at the post-implementation phase while accounting for key contextual and managerial issues, a topic that has received little attention to date.

In order to answer which opportunities are better to pursue, the purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test a decision-making model for evaluating and selecting entrepreneurial opportunities.

First, the authors identified common evaluation criteria through a systematic review of 45 high quality articles published in top entrepreneurship and management journals between 2000 and 2017. Second, fuzzy screening technique has been employed to offer the decision-making model. Third, the authors used data of six evaluations provided by five experts at a medium-sized biotech firm to test the model.

The study shows that common decision criteria for evaluating entrepreneurial opportunities fall into seven categories. According to these criteria and using fuzzy screening technique, a multi-expert multi-criteria decision-making (ME–MCDM) model has been suggested for evaluating and selecting opportunities.

This model can be served in situations in which decision makers should select a small number of opportunities among the larger set with regard to opportunity profile and minimal information. More opportunities and more decision makers can be included in the model. When the number of opportunities and decision makers are high, it is possible to use programming for fast, accurate and easy calculation.

This study is the first systematic review of opportunity evaluation criteria. It is also the first considering opportunity evaluation as a multi-expert decision-making process.

Some essential issues about modeling of reverse logistics (RL) systems and product recovery networks include consideration of the qualities of the returned products, taking into account uncertainty and integrating the forward and reverse flows. The purpose of this paper is to develop the integrated RL model, which focuses on the control of inventory and production planning problems in a case of uncertainty in demand, quantities and qualities of returns.

The model involves a forward production route, three alternative recovery routes and a disposal route. Various levels of qualities are considered for returned products. A fuzzy mixed integer programming model (FMIP) is developed to provide a solution for the problems of production planning and inventory control. After maximizing the satisfaction degree, different solutions can have the same maximum. Moreover, policies that use all recovery routes and reduce the overall uncertainty have no chance to be chosen. To tackle these problems, a two-phase approach method is applied.

According to the results of the numerical example, using different and appropriate recovery options based on the quality of returns can significantly decrease the recovery costs. Similarly, it is shown that the two-phase approach can be an effective and efficient method to reach a satisfactory solution for such problems.

In this study, after maximizing the FMIP model, a two-phase approach ‒ as a novel optimization technique in this research ‒ is employed to achieve a desirable solution.

The paper aims to explore how business intelligence (BI), integration and agility influence supply chain performance.

The study was performed by the exploratory sequential mixed method in two phases including meta-synthesis as a qualitative method and survey as a quantitative method. Data were collected through a survey of 369 Iranian companies across various industries. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses.

The results show that BI, integration and agility play an important role in achieving better supply chain performance. In the meantime, BI has the greatest impact on supply chain performance. Additionally, BI has a positive and significant effect on the integration and agility of the supply chain. The study also found that integration has a direct effect on supply chain agility.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the paper theoretically and empirically presents a new conceptual model of the relationship between BI, integration, agility and supply chain performance. The study helps researchers and practitioners to achieve insights into supply chain performance improvement.

COVID-19 has become a global challenge with a significant rate of prevalence, and it has exerted devastating consequences in epidemic, economic and social terms. Therefore, a number of studies have already been, or are now being, conducted on the detrimental effects of the virus. In this respect, a question may arise: Is there any possibility to turn the threat of the virus outbreak into an opportunity in some sectors such as the banking industry? In this research, the effects of COVID-19 outbreak as an intervening element on the acceptance of branchless banking were studied.

In this research, the factors affecting the acceptance and development of branchless banking in Iran at the time of COVID-19 outbreak were identified by systematically studying the theoretical framework, conducting further research and interviewing the experts; then, a causal loop diagram of the problem in the proposed case study and the flow rate model were presented.

The simulation results showed that banking transactions and a bank's financial resources would increase by implementing the package policy of reducing the number of branches, promoting incentive policies and increasing the budget rate of the bank in Information Technology (IT). Further, by promoting customers' acceptance of new technologies, the spread of COVID-19 can be viewed as a positive factor, or even a catalyst, in the acceptance and development of branchless banking in Iran.

Based on the proposed model, the difficulties faced by individuals during the spread of COVID-19 could act as justifiable incentives to boost appropriate organizational preparations for making changes to the classic working processes. Processes such as telecommuting, job rotation and so on are among these changes.

For organizations competing in volatile environments, strategic agility is the key for sustaining in the market. It is essential for such organizations to identify the main agility indicators that contribute to their strategic core. The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a systematic methodology that identifies key agility indicators through prioritization and establishing the intra- and inter-relationships among them.

The methodology consists of four phases. Phase I forms a pool of agility key performance indicators (KPIs). Phase II categorizes and ranks the KPIs based on their importance and the gap that exists between their current and desired level. Using interpretive structural modeling, phase III establishes the intra-relationships among the KPIs as well as agility attributes, agility enablers and improvement paths, collectively referred to as agility indicators. Finally, phase IV analyzes the inter-relationships among agility indicators using three consecutive houses of quality.

To demonstrate the capability of the proposed methodology, it was applied to a dairy food company operating in a competitive environment. The application could address the shortcomings of previous agility methodologies and helped the company to assign resources to the right agility indicators with the highest influence on strategic agility.

The methodology was applied to a single organization only. The application does not include long-term post-implementation observations and measurement of strategic agility.

Practitioners can benefit from the methodology to identify the right agility indicators of their organization and assign organizational resources for the improvement of such indicators. The methodology ensures selecting indicators that contribute to organization’s strategic agility, although ostensibly seem unrelated.

The paper contributes to the literature of strategic and organizational agility by proposing a systematic methodology that considers both intra- and inter-relationships among agility indicators. The methodology also makes a decent contribution in addressing organizational ambidexterity by analyzing mutually exclusive indicators pertaining to current and future opportunities for the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing knowledge about the relationships between advanced manufacturing technology (AMT), lean manufacturing (LM), agile manufacturing (AM), and business performance.

A questionnaire-based survey was performed to collect data from 189 Iranian automobile part manufacturers. Statistical analysis of hypothesized relationships was conducted via partial least squares structural equation modeling.

AMT significantly contributes to the development of both LM and AM. These manufacturing systems can co-exist in one system, and LM is a precursor to AM. LM contributes to operational performance whereas AM improves marketing performance and financial performance.

Relying on the cross-sectional data of this research, and lack of generalizability of findings are key limitations. An interesting direction for future research would be to empirically offer a hybrid lean-agile approach and further map the mechanism through which this hybrid approach can be achieved in practice.

Both LM and AM are information-intensive and highly supported by AMT. They contribute to different aspects of business performance. Pursuing both cost-leadership strategy and product mix flexibility is viable via hybridizing the lean and agile systems.

This study is among the first to address issues related to the lean-AM relationship among developing countries. This study is unique in the sense it shows the mechanism through which the value of AMT is truly transformed to performance improvement.

The purpose of this paper is to apply a philosophical framework in order to come to a life‐world oriented understanding of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for evaluating system success. To do so, according to Dooyeweerd's theory of aspects, a multi‐aspectual understanding is derived based on end‐user's everyday experience of the system.

Through a qualitative case study, data are gathered based on 17 semi‐structured interviews. The company within which this study was conducted is an Iranian manufacturer which fully implemented a SAP R/3 system about four years ago. In order to analyze text data, an interpretive text analysis is conducted.

According to the results, among all 15 aspects and from end users’ point of view, the qualifying aspects are analytical, pistic, economic and formative, which means that the other aspects are ignored or repressed throughout the organization. All these qualifying aspects include both positive and negative norms but for three of them (analytical, economic and formative) the positive norms are dominant. Regarding the pistic aspect, even though it includes strong positive norms, they are not dominant compared to negative norms. Synthesizing results show that according to “Meeting objectives”, “User satisfaction” and “Emancipation” as general norms, ERP success, in order to be completely realized, requires each general norm to be considered as a multi‐aspectual criterion.

First, the management team has to concentrate not only on economic and formative objectives but also on the other aspectual objectives which are more qualitative and intangible. Each aspectual objective requires its own specific methods and data to be measured, therefore the management team must provide supportive conditions so that multiple measurement systems are allowed to be implemented. Second, through new long‐term plans, budgets and training courses, already ignored aspects such as psychic, lingual, social, aesthetic, juridical and ethical must be more focused in order to bring to them more visibility and recognition throughout the organization. Third, In order to increase the positive norms for all aspects, holding periodical workshops and training courses is helpful. In addition, implementing reward systems can be a complementary action in order to improve positive norms.

The paper shows that evaluating ERP success according to end users’ point of view brings more visibility to some issues which are usually ignored or missed by quantitative or uni‐aspectual approaches. Furthermore, utilizing Dooyeweerd's framework as a life‐oriented philosophy for evaluating ERP success is a novel work, which may lead to a kind of development and enrichment in the ERP success literature.