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This study aims to study research on franchise chain performance that has focused on franchisors’ efforts to align their interests with those of franchisees to address partner uncertainty. In contrast, the question of what a franchisor should do to address another type of uncertainty and task uncertainty remains understudied. The authors suggest a franchisor’s coordination as a key means of alleviating task uncertainty and ongoing support and plural form as two mechanisms of coordination. The authors also posit that aligned interests between the franchisor and the franchisee improve, whereas one-sided interest impedes, chain performance. Furthermore, providing greater ongoing support or deploying plural form amplifies the positive effect of aligned interests on chain performance.

The authors relied on secondary data to test the hypotheses. The authors collected data for analysis from Bond’s franchisee guide and Nation’s Restaurant News restaurant database. They also tested the framework by analyzing 17-year, panel data of 71 restaurant chains operating in the USA and Canada using system generalized method of moments.

Results show that aligning interests does improve chain performance, but that the positive effect is amplified when aligned interests are matched with a chain’s provision of ongoing support or use of plural form.

The authors explicate why it is not enough to address the misaligned interests or lack of coordination alone; a chain manager needs to address both of these problems together. In addition, the authors explicate how two franchisee coordination mechanisms – ongoing support and plural form – help a chain augment the beneficial effect of aligning interests on chain performance. Without solving the twin problems of misaligned interests and coordination simultaneously, a chain is unlikely to achieve its full performance potential.

This paper aims to investigate the potential benefits and limitations associated with aligning accreditation and academic program reviews in post-secondary institutions, using a descriptive case study approach.

The paper describes two Canadian graduate programs that are subject to both external professional accreditation and institutional cyclical reviews, as they underwent an aligned review. The process was developed as a collaborative effort between the academic units, the professional associations and the university’s graduate-level quality assurance office. For each program, a single self-study was developed, a single review panel was constituted, and a single site visit was conducted. The merits and challenges posed by the alignment process are discussed.

Initial feedback from the academic units suggests that the alignment of accreditation and program reviews is perceived as reducing the burden on programs with regard to the time and effort invested by faculty, staff and other stakeholders, as well as in terms of financial expenses. Based on this feedback, along with input from reviewers and program evaluation committee members, 14 recommendations emerged for ways in which an aligned review process can be set up for success.

The results suggest that aligned reviews are not only resource-efficient but also allow reviewers to provide more holistic feedback that faculty may be more willing to engage with for program enhancement.

The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge about conducting aligned reviews in response to external accreditation requirements or institutional needs. It summarizes the potential benefits and limitations and offers recommendations for potential best practices for carrying out aligned reviews for policymakers and practitioners.

Customer value creation is dependent on a firm’s capacity to fulfil its brand promises and value propositions. The purpose of this paper is to explore frontline employees’ (FLEs’) motivation to align with value propositions.

The paper explores FLEs’ motivation to align with a firm’s value propositions as operationalised brand promises. A longitudinal, three-phase case study was conducted on a business-to-business company in the building and technical trade sector.

This study reveals factors that foster and weaken employees’ motivation to align with a firm’s brand promises and value propositions. The findings show that co-activity and authentic, practice-driven promises and value propositions foster FLEs’ motivation to uphold brand promises and value propositions, whereas an objectifying stance and power struggle weaken their motivation.

The study indicates that a bottom-up approach to strategising is needed and that FLE is to be engaged in traditional managerial domains, such as in developing value propositions. By creating space and agency for FLE in the strategising process, their motivation to align with value propositions is fostered. Four motivational modes are suggested to support bottom-up strategising.

The paper is unique in its focus on FLEs’ motivation. Developing value propositions traditionally falls within the domain of management strategising, while employees are ascribed the role of enactment. Contrary to the established norm, this paper highlights employees’ active role in strategising and developing value propositions.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of alignment of conductive particles on the piezoresistivity of composite based on a theoretical model. The piezoresistivity of composite is associated with the characteristics of conductive network formed by the conductive particles distributed in the composite, which can be changed through aligning the conductive particles.

The orientations of the tunnel resistors formed by each two adjacent conductive particles are dependent on the aligned level of the conductive particles, and different orientations induce different deformations for a tunnel resistor under external strain, which determines the piezoresistivity of the composites. To investigate the resistance behavior of composites with various characteristics of conductive networks, a piezoresistivity model is developed in this paper by considering the aligned level of conductive particles.

The results obtained from the proposed piezoresistivity model indicate that the sensitivity and stability of composites can be enhanced through aligning the conductive particles. Also, the piezoresistivity of composites filled with randomly distributed conductive particles is isotropic, and it turns to be anisotropic when the conductive particles are aligned.

The change and its mechanism of the piezoresistivity upon the aligned level of conductive particles have been pointed out in this paper based on the proposed model. The achievement of this paper will help the people understand, predict and optimize the piezoresistivity of composites, and provide a new approach to design a strain sensor based on the piezoresistivity.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of managerial discretion on the effectiveness of say on pay (SOP) as a governance mechanism. This goal covers an important gap since the issue of how effective SOP is in promoting more aligned compensation has proved somewhat controversial.

This empirical research opted for a panel methodology for the period 2003–2017, using a sample of large UK listed-companies (specifically, 3,445 firm-year observations). Data were obtained from several sources (Manifest Ltd, BoardEx, Worldscope, Factset Ownership and DataStream).

Results show that managerial discretion plays an important role in the effectiveness of SOP as a mechanism for increasing aligned CEO compensation. While individual discretion (latitude of objectives) exerts a negative effect, contextual discretion (latitude of action) increases SOP effectiveness. The global effect of managerial discretion is positive when there is high level of both individual and contextual discretion.

This empirical study provides evidence concerning an emerging topic in the literature regarding the impact of SOP as a shareholder activism mechanism of corporate governance on executive compensation. By taking managerial discretion into consideration as a relevant moderating factor, it also offers a better explanation of SOP effectiveness as a governance mechanism.

This study aims to investigate the implementation of lean human resource management (HRM) practices in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and explore how various factors interact to influence their successful adoption. By exploring the interplay among these factors, the research seeks to identify key drivers affecting the adoption of lean HRM in manufacturing SMEs. Ultimately, the research intends to provide insights that can guide organisations, practitioners and policymakers in effectively implementing lean HRM practices to enhance operational efficiency, workforce engagement and competitiveness within the manufacturing SME sector.

The study combined total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) and Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) analysis. TISM helped in understanding the hierarchical relationship among different factors influencing lean HRM implementation, whereas MICMAC analysis provided insights into the level of influence and dependence of each factor on others.

The research revealed that “top management support” emerged as the most independent factor, indicating that strong support from top management is crucial for initiating and sustaining lean HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs. On the other hand, “employee involvement and empowerment” was identified as the most dependent factor, suggesting that fostering a culture of employee engagement and empowerment greatly relies on the successful implementation of lean HRM practices.

While the study provided valuable insights, it has certain limitations. The research was conducted within the specific context of manufacturing SMEs, which might limit the generalizability of the findings to other industries. Expert opinions introduce subjectivity in data collection. Additionally, the study may not cover all critical factors, allowing room for further exploration in future research.

The findings have practical implications for manufacturing SMEs aiming to implement lean HRM practices. Recognising the pivotal role of top management support, organisations should invest in cultivating a strong leadership commitment to lean HRM initiatives. Furthermore, enhancing employee involvement and empowerment can lead to better adoption of lean HRM practices, resulting in improved operational efficiency and overall competitiveness.

This research contributes to the field by offering a comprehensive exploration of the interplay among factors influencing lean HRM implementation. The use of TISM and MICMAC analysis provides a unique perspective on the relationship dynamics between these factors, allowing for a nuanced understanding of their roles in the adoption of lean HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs. The identification of “top management support” as the most independent and “employee involvement and empowerment” as the most dependent factors adds original insights to the existing literature.

This study explores how firms develop innovation ecosystems through forming alliances with suppliers and the effects on innovation, economics and consumer welfare.

This study develops two game theory models to compare supply chain structures with and without ecosystem alignment. (1) A single supplier provides components to two competing manufacturers (one innovative and one non-innovative). (2) An innovative manufacturer (focal firm) aligns with a supplier that also supplies components to a competing manufacturer.

An ecosystem construction strategy that alliances use to reconfigure coopetitive relationships and ecosystem alignment is identified. A manufacturer aligning with a supplier will strengthen the monopoly of the alignment, which is beneficial to both Allies but always harmful to the competitor. Interestingly, such an ecosystem construction strategy may be beneficial to future innovation, the industry and consumers.

The findings raise several topics that warrant further exploration. For example, scenarios with multiple suppliers were not considered. Furthermore, the implementation of regulatory measures to mitigate the harmful effects of alignment on innovation should be investigated.

This paper provides a guide for enterprises seeking alignment and to the corresponding measures required to stimulate innovation within ecosystems. What’s more, the aligned firm should not always attempt to win the race but should instead take measures to encourage the competitor to share demand information.

Firstly, most research on supply chain management has focused on its economic impacts. There is a lack of research on the influence of ecosystem alignment on the innovation incentives of firms. Furthermore, the literature still lacks evidence of how ecosystem construction strategies can increase consumer welfare. In the present study, the authors model a complex market structure that includes a competitor, which is becoming increasingly common in high-tech markets. Thirdly, this paper is one of the few that examines the impacts of market-structure changes on innovation incentives. Most importantly, this study extends the current literature by studying coopetition in the ecosystem context.

Numerous service organizations involve employees in strengthening customer relationships. While the literature has emphasized the importance of a sustainable market orientation (SMO) for an organization’s image, it has not explored how employees’ behavior in sustainable service organizations influences the reputational effect. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of SMO-aligned employee behavior on customer attitude and behavior, while considering different SMOs and the role of value-based brand choice.

The authors conducted a 2 (SMO-aligned vs nonaligned) × 3 (social, environmental or economic SMOs) between-subject, scenario-based experiment with 313 participants to test the hypotheses. A moderated mediation analysis was also conducted.

The results show that SMO-aligned employee behavior has a positive impact on customers’ trust in contrast with SMO-nonaligned behavior independent of the SMO. The relationship between employee behavior and customer word-of-mouth is mediated by trust. Furthermore, the effect on trust is moderated by value-based brand choice.

This study contributes to employee behavior research by examining the impact of SMO-aligned employee behavior on customer outcomes in sustainable service organizations. Adding to previous research on employee behavior, it further considers the impact of value-based brand choice.

Once an uneven substrate is aligned, traditional control theories and methods can be used on it, so aligning is of great significance for the development of wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). This paper aims to propose a shape-driven control method for aligning a substrate with slopes to expand the application of WAAM.

A substrate with slopes must be aligned by depositing weld beads with slopes. First, considering the large height differences of slopes, multi-layer deposition is needed, and the number of layer of weld beads must be ascertained. Second, the change in the deposition rate is controlled as a ramp function to generate weld beads with slopes. Third, the variation of the deposition rate must be fine-tuned to compensate for the deviation between the actual and theoretical layer heights at the deposition of each layer. Finally, the parameters of the ramp functions at the deposition of each layer are determined through an optimization method.

First, to model the response function of layer height to deposition rate, the experiments are conducted with the deposition rate jumping from 4 to 8 mm/s and from 8 to 4 mm/s. When the deposition rate jumps from 4 to 8 mm/s and from 8 to 4 mm/s, the difference in the height of each layer decreases as the number of layer increases. Second, the variation of the deposition rate can be fine-tuned based on the deviation between the measured and theoretical layer heights because the variation of the deposition rate is proportional to the layer height when the initial and end deposition rates are near 4 or 8 mm/s, respectively. Third, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for single-layer aligning and aligning a substrate with one or more slopes.

The proposed method can expand the application of WAAM to an uneven substrate with slopes and lays the foundation for aligning tasks focused on uneven substrates with more complex shapes.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activity (CPA) are two important components of firms’ nonmarket strategies, oriented toward shaping the firm’s political and social conditions. Although this is acknowledged in the literature, there are contradictory arguments and evidence, concerning, first, whether and under which conditions firms align their CPA and CSR activities, and second, what the impacts might be if they do align these activities. In light of this, this chapter draws from earlier reviews of nonmarket strategies, to explore the factors at multiple levels, macro and micro, that may drive a firm’s alignment of CPA and CSR. In doing so, we draw from management research to identify the macro- and micro-level factors that shape CPA and CSR alignment as CSR and CPA alignment research mostly focuses on outcomes rather than identifying the drivers of alignment. We develop a general model that integrates the macro- and micro-level discussions to make suggestions about where future research needs to go to increase understanding of when corporations will combine their CPA and CSR efforts and the merits of these efforts.