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The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the critical factors for the diffusion of web technologies in supply chain management (SCM) functions, based on the technology‐organizational‐environment model, and to identify the benefits resulting from diffusion.

Data were collected, via an internet survey, from 251 respondents, ranging from middle‐level to top‐level managers, from firms which currently utilize web technologies for their supply chain activities. Structural equation modelling was employed for five factors: relative advantage; competitive pressure; complexity; trialability; and top management support, which have been hypothesized to affect the diffusion of web technologies in SCM functions.

The results suggest that all the factors except trialability are significant predictors of web technologies' diffusion in supply chain functions. The results show also that by diffusing web technologies, organizations can enhance their supply chain activities.

The survey was conducted in a Malaysian context, using a limited set of variables, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings.

This study provides a greater understanding of managers' perception of web technology diffusion in their organizational SCM functions, and benefits realizing from diffusion of web technology, such as operational efficiency.

Those interested in adopting web technologies in their supply chain activities may find these results helpful in guiding their efforts.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a prototype of Online Food Delivery Application that addresses the actual needs of the user and to study the factors affecting the acceptance of Food Friend Application (FFA).

This is an applied research study using design thinking to study the real needs of consumers when ordering food online during the COVID-19 outbreak. The real needs of customers were used to create FFA. Then, the key predictors of FFA adoption were studied by integrating psychological variables, including Alertness to distinction, Openness to novelty, Orientation in the present; and Technological variables Design, Information Quality and Mobility, with comprehensive data analysis. Initially, Structural Equation Modeling was used to study the statistical relationships toward FFA acceptance, while a neural network model was used to validate the first step analysis.

Analysis results from both methods confirmed that Alertness to distinction, Orientation in the present, Mobility and Openness to novelty affected FFA at statistically significant levels. Surprisingly, technological variables in terms of Design and Information Quality had no statistical relationship toward FFA.

In addition to dealing with digital disrupts, the current business world also needs to deal with the pandemic and the rapidly changing consumer behavior. COVID-19 is a clear catalyst for digital business trends, for example, food delivery that has to deal with dramatic changes in consumer behavior. The strong methodological results of this research are greatly beneficial to academics, food online delivery service providers, application developers and government agencies.

Supplier selection along with continuous evaluation of their performance is a crucial activity in healthcare supply chain management for effective utilization of scarce resources while providing quality service at an affordable price, and minimizing chances of stock-out, avoiding serious consequences on the illness or fatality of the patients. Presence of both qualitative and quantitative evaluation criteria, set of potential suppliers and participation of different stakeholders with varying interest make healthcare supplier selection a challenging task which can be effectively solved using any of the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods.

To deal with various qualitative criteria, like cost, quality, delivery performance, reliability, responsiveness and flexibility, this paper proposes integration of grey system theory with a newly developed MCDM tool, i.e. mixed aggregation by comprehensive normalization technique (MACONT) to identify the best performing supplier for pharmaceutical items in a healthcare unit from a pool of six competing alternatives based on the opinions of three healthcare professionals.

While assessing importance of the six evaluation criteria and performance of the alternative healthcare suppliers against those criteria using grey numbers, and exploring use of three normalization procedures and two aggregation operations of MACONT method, this integrated approach singles out S5 as the most compromised healthcare supplier for the considered problem. A sensitivity analysis of its ranking performance against varying values of both balance parameters and preference parameters also validates its solution accuracy and robustness.

This integrated approach can thus efficiently solve healthcare supplier selection problems based on qualitative evaluation criteria in uncertain group decision making environment. It can also be deployed to deal with other decision making problems in the healthcare sector, like supplier selection for healthcare devices, performance evaluation of healthcare units, ranking of physicians etc.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Brian Vickery has been a prolific writer as this list — which covers a period of forty active years — indicates. There are almost certainly omissions. He has, for example, been an incisive if gentle reviewer, in this and other journals, of the contemporary literature. Only a few of his extended reviews are included here. The bibliography illustrates the breadth of Brian's professional interests: from Bradford's law in the forties to expert systems in the eighties, with significant contributions to contemporary developments throughout the interim. The range is formidable and characteristic.

This research aims to focus on developing a customized support surface using additive manufacturing (AM) for effective pressure relief for patients who are in bed or wheelchair suffering from pressure ulcers (PU).

A novel customized support surface is developed using AM technology incorporated with magnetic levitation and ball and socket mechanisms. Magnetic levitation provides cushioning effect for the developed cushion to users who are sitting in a wheelchair and increases the rate of healing. The ball and socket mechanism provides the user body's self-adaptive mechanism and reduces shear and friction forces between the surfaces of the additive manufactured cushion and the human buttocks.

From the results of ISO 16480-6 biomechanical standardized tests, the additive manufactured support surface performed better than, or on par with, the most widely available commercial cushions. It is evident that the developed cushion’s peak pressure values are lower when compared with other cushions. The overall efficiency of the developed cushion was qualitatively reported; 67% of people felt it was excellent and 22% of people responded as good and 11% were satisfactory. Henceforth, the overall effectiveness of the developed support surface provides a better experience to the end-user in the view of PU reduction.

A developed additive manufactured customized support surface will be an alternative approach for the reduction of PU, and it overcomes the drawbacks faced by the currently available cushions.

CavinKare was planning to introduce soaps and detergents product in the market. Owing to the ongoing price war in the detergent segment between Hindustan Lever Limited and P&G, the company's managing director and chief executive officer were weighing the risks and benefits of entering the soaps and detergents market. They had to decide whether to enter the market or delay the entry. Another option was to abandon the entry plan altogether. The case discusses the dilemma faced by the company on market entry due to the changed market conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the satisfaction consequences in repurchase situations.

Online travel services are chosen because customers in these types of services had direct contact with firms. A conceptual model of CS‐RPI link is developed and used to test proposed hypotheses. A total of 514 respondents are used to test the proposed model.

The empirical findings indicate that psychological mediators are useful when repurchase situations are considered. The study provides the roles of positive attitude in the formation of CS‐RPI link. Also, three factors: adjusted expectations, trust, and positive attitude, are found to have a significant mediating influence on the link of CS‐RPI.

Future researchers attempting to replicate and extend these findings may wish to collaborate with companies marketing products and services online and track customers' actual behaviors. This would be an excellent way to validate the current model relationships, particularly those involving repurchase intentions and customer satisfaction.

The results can be used by web site designers to tailor their sites' features and marketing analysts to monitor the changes of click‐through rates as a parameter of the CS‐RPI. The discovery of significant interrelationships between satisfaction and trust, such as adjusted expectation, positive attitude and repurchase intention, reinforces the importance of the psychological state when repurchasing behavior is considered. For instance, it was observed that the three mediators result in lower levels of the indirect effect, but this is not limited in the whole process of the CS‐RPI.

The conceptual framework is tested in an understudied e‐service context that is characterized by consumer‐focused competition. This context is noteworthy because no research has investigated determinants between the two parties. Research suggests that companies should understand how to capture determinants on post‐satisfaction, since competing businesses are only a mouse‐click away in e‐commerce settings.

The recent development of online food delivery systems (OFDS) consolidated the restaurant industry’s representation in the electronic distribution landscape. The purpose of this study is to examine consumers’ intentions to use OFDS.

A comprehensive structural model was developed based on UTAUT2 and extended the model with three additional constructs: impulse buying tendency, congruity with self-image and mindfulness. Data were collected from 605 US respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test the model.

Performance expectancy was the strongest predictor of intentions to use OFDS, followed by congruity with self-image. Low-magnitude predictors included habit and mindfulness, while impulse buying tendency had a negative impact on intentions to use OFDS.

The study validates a comprehensive yet parsimonious conceptual model that explains consumers’ intentions to use OFDS. The model brings together constructs that capture the essence of the online food ordering tasks and the consumers’ cognitive processes that inform such tasks.

This study offers substantial practical implications for two types of practitioners: OFDS developers and restaurants and provides a mapping of the factors influencing consumers’ intentions to use OFDS.

This study provides a first theoretical perspective on consumers’ intentions to use OFDS, which have not been studied so far. Studying such intentions provides insight into consumers’ adoption behaviors, which are critical to the success of OFDS.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the value creation mechanisms of open-standard inter-organizational information system (OSIOS), which is a key technology to achieve Industry 4.0. Specifically, this study investigates how the internal assimilation and external diffusion of OSIOS help manufactures facilitate process adaptability and alignment in supply chain network.

A survey instrument was designed and administrated to collect data for this research. Using three-stage least squares estimation, the authors empirically tested a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of 308 manufacturing firms in China.

The results of the study show that OSIOS can perform as value creation mechanisms to enable process adaptability and alignment. In addition, the impact of OSIOS internal assimilation is inversely U-shaped where the positive effect on process adaptability will become negative after an extremum point is reached.

This study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights on how OSIOS can improve supply chain integration and thus promote the achievement of industry 4.0. By revealing a U-shaped relationship between OSIOS assimilation and process adaptability, this study fills previous research gap by advancing the understanding on the value creation mechanisms of information systems deployment.