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The objective of this paper is to assess the use of performance measurement systems in firms implementing just‐in‐time (JIT). A mail questionnaire, with a response rate of 85 percent, was sent to larger New Zealand manufacturing companies. A total of 36 percent of the sample of companies had implemented a JIT programme. JIT firms were found to use non‐financial performance indicators to a greater extent than non‐JIT firms. For JIT firms there was a significant positive correlation between use of non‐financial performance indicators and organisation performance. A significant positive correlation was also found between the use of non‐financial performance indicators and organisation performance for all firms in the survey. Results from this study suggest that there are benefits in adapting the accounting performance measurement system to support and enhance JIT implementation. The study indicates potential benefits from the use of non‐financial performance measures for both JIT and non‐JIT firms.

This study aims to (1) develop a structural equation model in understanding the relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and contractor competitiveness and (2) test the moderating effect of firm sizes on this relationship.

A literature review showed an urgent need to investigate the relationship between CSR implementation and contractor competitiveness holistically. CSR and contractor competitiveness variables were identified through the literature review and discussions with experienced professionals. Using a survey questionnaire, a total of 252 completed questionnaires were received. A structural equation modeling technique was then applied to analyze the data collected. Multigroup analysis was employed to test the moderating effect of firm sizes on the relationship between CSR implementation and contractor competitiveness.

The results indicated a strong relationship between CSR implementation and contractor competitiveness. This relationship is not moderated by firm size.

This research is one of the first studies to holistically explore the linkages between CSR implementation and contractor competitiveness. The findings can be served as a solid foundation to promote CSR performance in construction firms. Contractors of different sizes are suggested to implement CSR activities to foster competitiveness.

An amalgamation of Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytical Network Process (ANP) has been performed to develop a decision-making framework for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. A primary survey was conducted to collect real-time data from the heterogeneous stakeholders of microfinance institutions across India. The validation of the proposed framework is performed by comparing the results against the conventional method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP).

This study identifies various dimensions and indicators for measuring the performance of Indian microfinance institutions. Additionally, the ranking and prioritisation of the performance dimensions and indicators is obtained by considering the mutual interrelation between them.

The study indicates that there exists a significant dyadic relationship between financial performance and social performance for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. Governance is found to unidirectionally influence both financial and social performance. Among all the considered dimensions, financial performance of a microfinance institution is the most critical dimension for improving the overall performance. The top five performance indicators of the Indian microfinance institutions are funding source, borrowing and overhead cost, size of the firm, end-use of the money and depth of outreach.

The study was conducted in the context of Indian microfinance institutions; hence the scope of generalisation of the results is limited. This research considers both subjective and objective aspect of the performance dimensions and indicators from the perspective of multiple stakeholders (i.e. firm, society and regulator). The integrated framework is expected to aid in improving overall performance of microfinance institutions by focusing on the most critical (high prioritised) performance indicators.

An integrated DEMATEL-ANP framework is used in the domain of microfinance to assess the performance dimensions. This study is unique in terms of analysing performance of microfinance institutions from the perspective of heterogeneous stakeholders.

This chapter focuses upon two types of interaction. One is the interaction between departments within the Danish Trademark and Patent Office (DKPTO). Additionally, the interaction between the DKPTO and firms is analysed. The chapter discusses in what ways an institution like a national patent office is important for product innovation, not just by providing an appropriability system for product innovations in firms, but additionally by improving the long-run capabilities of both firms and the DKPTO itself. The research builds upon interviews in the DKPTO, case stories from firms and of patent granting procedures.

With respect to internal competencies, it is found that no efforts were carried out to create environments for learning between the departments in line with the “learning organizations” described in earlier chapters. However, taking the tasks of the departments into account, the need for such efforts was not obvious. Links to external organizations are not only confined to industrial firms. Many firms, especially the large firms, would not mind if the tasks of the national patent system were moved to the EPO-level. On the other hand, in particular, small, new firms may feel more confident with a national patent office.

This chapter is concerned with the question that is indigeneity, and its situation within literary and juridical imaginaries. As a persistently unsettling presence, indigeneity appears outside the law, before the law and beyond the law – indeed, in Derrida's terms, as an evocation of the unconditional. Whereas the law determines indigeneity to recognise it, I propose that its expression in Indigenous literature evokes a Derridean unconditional to which the law must perpetually, if momentarily, respond. This chapter elaborates a conception of indigeneity, as expressed in Indigenous literature, as disruptive and deconstructive of non-Indigenous law, opening its narratives to transformation.

This study aims to empirically investigate the impact of barriers (i.e. organizational and industrial barriers, corporate social responsibility (CSR) characteristics) on CSR practices and the roles of education and government support in mitigating these barriers. In addition, the positive effect of CSR practices on social sustainability performance (SSP) is examined.

A framework of hypotheses between barriers, CSR practices and SSP is established. Using a survey questionnaire, empirical data are collected from 17 construction firms in Vietnam. PLS-SEM is used to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results indicate that organizational and industrial barriers negatively affect CSR practices. This study also finds that education and training and government support could enable construction firms to reduce the impact of such barriers.

The data are collected in Vietnam; thereby the findings are only applicable in developing countries. Further research should also be conducted in other countries to improve the generalizability of the theoretical framework.

The findings of this study suggest that construction firms could apply several strategies (e.g. providing their employees with CSR training and education; embedding CSR into their firm policy, mission and vision) to mitigate the impact of CSR barriers and, accordingly, ensure the success of adopting CSR practices.

This study is one of the first efforts in the construction industry that empirically investigates the impact of barriers on CSR practices and the moderating effects of training and education as well as government support.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of customer service in the academic library setting and ways in which its management can be best approached in the electronic environment.

The study adopts a two‐phase methodology. First is a content analysis of the literature on customer service in libraries, focusing on electronic services, to identify main issues and strategies being used to address customer issues. This is followed by a qualitative data‐gathering approach to explore user perspectives on the quality of electronic services, focusing on customer service.

The findings reveal that the concerns of library customers in the web environment are similar to those in the traditional library environment. They are concerned about receiving online help for technical problems and also help to search and use information. Reference services are still highly in demand with an emphasis on the characteristics of the online librarian. Another major need is the ability to give feedback and receive a quick response from the library.

The study is limited to web‐based library customer service quality as perceived by postgraduate students at four research universities. Thus, it cannot be generalized to the whole academic library's clientele views, though it is applicable to electronic library services at other institutions. The subjectivity of the researchers' interpretations of qualitative data are also acknowledged.

This paper will be helpful to academic libraries in managing the quality of electronic library services by focusing on what the customers require and deem important. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on electronic customer services in academic libraries.

This study contributes to the shortage of studies on the perceived quality of library electronic library services, as is evident in the literature.

This study examines the control issues related to three major flows among MNC subsidiaries: knowledge flows, product flows and capital flows. It also investigates the relationship between the strategic management style of headquarters and the control approaches employed. The results show the dominance of output control, even in situations where researchers have argued that they should not be relied upon. The study also found that as knowledge flow increases, reliance on financial control decreases and reliance on socialisation control increases. Consistent with other studies, the dominant management style is the strategic control style, while the least popular is the financial control style. The paper calls for using alternative theoretical lenses, such as institutional theory, to provide additional insights not available through the contingency lens.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Value Management towards achieving sustainability through reducing the construction waste during the design process.

To achieve the abovementioned aim, a research methodology consisting literature review and survey questionnaire is designed to achieve the following objectives: first, building a comprehensive understanding of the research topic through reviewing literature related to the nature of the construction industry, waste in construction, sustainability, the design phase and Value Management; second, presenting and analysing two case studies to validate the role of Value Management towards reducing waste in construction projects; third, conducting a survey questionnaire with a representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to evaluate their perception and application of Value Management towards reducing the construction waste during the design phase; and finally, proposing a business improvement framework to facilitate the integration of Value Management into the design phase as an approach for reducing construction waste.

The construction waste has a negative impact on achieving sustainability objectives. The design process plays a major role in generating waste throughout the project life cycle. This is a result of improper decisions taken during the design phase. Egypt as a developing country does not have the required technical or financial resources to deal with the huge amount of waste generated during the construction process. The Egyptian Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 focussed on eradicating the waste from its source (i.e. design phase). Integrating Value Management into the design phase will help developing creative ideas and better decisions, which will enable achieving sustainability objectives and reducing construction waste.

The Egyptian Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 has discussed the importance of dealing with the wastes from the source. Although the construction waste is a dangerous type of waste, most research studies have not focussed on the design process as a source for the construction waste. In this research, the design phase was discussed as an important element in reducing the construction waste by using Value Management approach.

The purpose of this paper is to examine ABC success determinants in mature ABC sites.

The study surveys 65 managers of service and manufacturing organizations using ABC.

The stepwise regression results indicate that top management support is the key determinant of ABC success in mature ABC sites.

This research shows that top management support continues to be critical to ongoing ABC success. Past research has shown that top management support is critical in the early stages of ABC adoption and if withdrawn is a major cause of ABC implementation failure. Despite the technical benefits of ABC adoption the extent of change, the resource commitment and the management of conflict and power means that careful consideration of the determinants of success is crucial. Many researchers have examined this at initial implementation or have confounded their results by not distinguishing the stage of adoption. Very few have researched beyond the initial implementation to examine what factors continue to ensure ABC success once fully integrated. Other determinants examined were resource adequacy, education, performance improvement and reward link, and competition intensity.

Practically any ABC adoption needs to secure top management support from inception through to routinisation and integration.

The novelty of this study is in the way ABC success is measured and that the sites examined are only mature adoption sites. By examining only “mature” ABC sites the differences in the stages of implementation are not confounded in the results.