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The purpose of this article is to define and explore the strategic value of customer advocacy through the lens of the brand management literature.

The paper reviews recent analysis of the value and vulnerabilities of brands and branding in order to understand why customer advocacy is becoming an attractive strategic option for many firms. A model of empowered consumer value drivers is constructed to demonstrate how they are becoming an important source of brand value. A framework for brand management in a customer advocacy context is introduced and examples of companies pursuing advocacy‐based strategies and practices are illustrated.

Through careful brand management, customer advocacy is capable of unlocking new consumer value.

The paper offers a discussion of the opportunities presented to brand management when developing customer advocacy.

Digital asset management as a technology for handling electronic material is used in different contexts for various technical purposes. Explores the effects of this technology on the marketing supply chain, being a new application area of digital asset management solutions. A conceptual framework is provided to describe marketing processes in the world of information technology and marketing communication logistics. Based on a literature review, possible benefits of digital asset management in this setting are presented. Anticipated benefits are evaluated in an indicative case study. The description of marketing supply chains leads to new insights for supply chain management.

The fusion of disparate information systems is creating new clarity for companies, their suppliers, and their customers.

In this chapter, we argue that the growth of punitive school discipline in US schools has created an inequitable system of school punishment that is reflective of the development of the school-to-prison pipeline and the establishment of an educational “total institution.” Current school discipline practices negatively affect student academic growth in the classroom as a result of an increase in suspensions and expulsions. Data in this chapter exemplify the overreliance on punitive school discipline in one urban school to address behavioral issues and also further expand on the concept of school-to-prison pipeline using the “total institution” theory of command and control of a population proposed by Goffman (1961). We argue that there are more effective measures of school discipline and seek to provide alternate possibilities for school leaders to address the draconian treatment of Black and brown boys in today’s traditional public school environments.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how blockchain technology can improve supply chain adaptability, alignment and agility which collectively enhance competitive advantage which in turn influences firm performance.

The conceptual framework of the present study is developed by conducting an extensive literature review on blockchain technology, supply chain adaptability, alignment, agility and competitive advantage. The sample data were collected from 397 supply chain practitioners in India to validate the conceptual model. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to ascertain the validity of the measures used and a structural model was analyzed for testing the proposed conceptual framework.

The results of the present study show that blockchain technology can improve supply chain adaptability, alignment, agility which lead to competitive advantage, which leads to better firm performance. Besides, trust generated through blockchain use also increases firm performance.

Currently, the respondents do not have practical experience of using blockchain technology. They have responded based on their knowledge about supply chain and blockchain which they acquired from published sources. Different supply chains require different strategic choices and different information needs. But the present study assumes that all supply chain needs are identical. The present study assumes that government regulations regarding blockchain technology are favorable; however, currently, there is no legal framework to address blockchain technology. The findings of the current study indicate that companies not only should create more awareness regarding blockchain but also should actively work with IT companies that are engaged in developing blockchain-based supply chain solution. Managers, as well as IT companies and academicians, should join hands to study and develop a framework for regulating blockchain technology and suggest these to the policy actors.

The present study shows that supply chain practitioners are confident that blockchain technology will help improve supply chain parameters. These findings can help IT companies and their marketers for developing and promoting blockchain-based IT applications. In addition, the important implication for supply chain practitioners is that blockchain helps in creating a competitive advantage and increases firm performance.

The effect of IT on important supply chain variables has been studied in the past; however, there is not a single study which sheds light on how disruptive technologies such as blockchain will affect supply chain adaptability, alignment, agility and firm performance.

Distributed trust technologies, such as blockchain, propose to permit peer-to-peer transactions without trusted third parties. Yet not all implementations of such technologies fully decentralize. Information professionals make strategic choices about the level of decentralization when implementing such solutions, and many organizations are taking a hybrid (i.e. partially decentralized) approach to the implementation of distributed trust technologies. This paper conjectures that while hybrid approaches may resolve some challenges of decentralizing information governance, they also introduce others. To better understand these challenges, this paper aims first to elaborate a framework that conceptualizes a centralized–decentralized information governance continuum along three distinct dimensions: custody, ownership and right to access data. This paper then applies this framework to two illustrative blockchain case studies – a pilot Brazilian land transfer recording solution and a Canadian health data consent sharing project – to exemplify how the current transition state of blockchain pilots straddles both the old (centralized) and new (decentralized) worlds. Finally, this paper outlines the novel challenges that hybrid approaches introduce for information governance and what information professionals should do to navigate this thorny transition period. Counterintuitively, it may be much better for information professionals to embrace decentralization when implementing distributed trust technologies, as hybrid models could offer the worst of both the centralized and future decentralized worlds when consideration is given to the balance between information governance risks and new strategic business opportunities.

This paper illustrates how blockchain is transforming organizations and societies by highlighting new strategic information governance challenges using our original analytic framework in two detailed blockchain case studies – a pilot solution in Brazil to record land transfers (Flores et al., 2018) and another in Canada to handle health data sharing consent (Hofman et al., 2018). The two case studies represent research output of the first phase of an ongoing multidisciplinary research project focused on gaining an understanding of how blockchain technology generates organizational, societal and data transformations and challenges. The analytic framework was developed inductively from a thematic synthesis of the findings of the case studies conducted under the auspices of this research project. Each case discussed in detail in this paper was chosen from among the project's case studies, as it represents a desire to move away from the old centralized world of information governance to a new decentralized one. However, each case study also represents and embodies a transition state between the old and new worlds and highlights many of the associated strategic information governance challenges.

Decentralization continues to disrupt organizations and societies. New emerging distributed trust technologies such as blockchain break the old rules with respect to the trust and authority structures of organizations and how records and data are created, managed and used. While governments and businesses around the world clearly see value in this technology to drive business efficiency, open up new market opportunities and create new forms of value, these advantages will not come without challenges. For information executives then, the question is not if they will be disrupted, but how. Understanding the how as will be discussed in this paper provides the business know how to leverage the incredible innovation and transformation that decentralized trust technology enables before being leapfrogged by another organization. It requires a change of mindset to consider an organization as one part of a broader ecosystem, and for those who successfully do so, this paper views this as a strategic opportunity for those responsible for strategic information governance to design the future instead of being disrupted by it.

This paper presents a novel analytic framework for strategic information governance challenges as we transition from a traditional world of centralized records and information management to a new decentralized world. This paper analyzes these transitions and their implications for strategic information governance along three trajectories: custody, ownership and right to access records and data, illustrating with reference to our case studies.

This paper predicts a large number of organizations will miss the opportunities of the new decentralized trust world, resulting in a rather major churning of organizations, as those who successfully participate in building the new model will outcompete those stuck in the old world or the extremely problematic hybrid transition state. Counterintuitively, this paper argues that it may be much less complex for information executives to embrace decentralization as fast as they can, as in some ways the hybrid model seems to offer the worst of both the centralized and future decentralized worlds with respect to information governance risks.

This paper anticipates broader societal consequences of the predicted organization churn, in particular with respect to uncertainty about the evidence that records provide for public accountability and contractual rights and entitlements.

Decentralized trust technologies, such as blockchain, permit peer-to-peer transactions without trusted third parties. Of course, such radical shifts do not happen overnight. The current transition state of blockchain pilots straddles both the old and new worlds. This paper presents a theoretical framework categorizing strategic information governance challenges on a spectrum of centralized to decentralized in three primary areas: custody, ownership and right to access records and data. To illustrate how decentralized trust is transforming organizations and societies, this paper presents these strategic information governance challenges in two blockchain case studies – a pilot Brazilian land transfer recording solution and a Canadian health data consent sharing project. Drawing on the theoretical framework and case studies, this paper outlines what information executives should do to navigate this thorny transition period.

The aim of this study is to identify and prioritize a list of key digitization enablers that can improve supply chain management (SCM). SCM is an important driver for organization's competitive advantage. The fierce competition in the market has forced companies to look the past conventional decision-making process, which is based on intuition and previous experience. The swift evolution of information technologies (ITs) and digitization tools has changed the scenario for many industries, including those involved in SCM.

The Best Worst Method (BWM) has been applied to evaluate, rank and prioritize the key digitization and IT enablers beneficial for the improvement of SC performance. The study also used additive value function to rank the organizations on their SC performance with respect to digitization enablers.

The total of 25 key enablers have been identified and ranked. The results revealed that “big data/data science skills”, “tracking and localization of products” and “appropriate and feasibility study for aiding the selection and adoption of big data technologies and techniques ” are the top three digitization and IT enablers that organizations need to focus much in order to improve their SC performance. The study also ranked the SC performance of the organizations based on digitization enablers.

The findings of this study will help the organizations to focus on certain digitization technologies in order to improve their SC performance. This study also provides an original framework for organizations to rank the key digitization enablers according to enablers relevant in their context and also to compare their performance with their counterparts.

This study seems to be the first of its kind in which 25 digitization enablers categorized in four main categories are ranked using a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tool. This study is also first of its kind in ranking the organizations in their SC performance based on weights/ranks of digitization enablers.

The purpose of this paper is to convey a sample of current collaboration perspectives in purchasing. The purchasing function has a critical role to play in collaborative relationships since it is a key facet of any given supply chain. These relationships may be beneficial when coordinated actions benefit buyers, suppliers, and the entire supply chain more than the uncoordinated efforts of individual firms. Despite the commonly reported benefits that can be gained in close relationships, recent research has indicated that collaboration attempts between firms in supply chains have not been as widespread as anticipated.

This research investigates the progress the purchasing function has made in achieving collaborative supply chain relationships. Input is gained from purchasing professionals via semi-structured interviews of procurement professionals. Grounded theory is used to deduct key themes from the interviews.

Results from a small sample size of nine interviews indicate that collaboration in purchasing has not yet reached the theoretical ideal, and it is suggested that key issues such as trust still do not exist at levels that would be appropriate to support collaborative relationships.

This paper can be used as a basis to support further analysis that may broaden the scope of input from purchasing professionals. It is also difficult to draw generalizations from an interview method, and the sampling technique utilized limited the pool of potential interviewees to a sample size of nine semi-structured interviews.

This paper provides insights that purchasing professionals and those that deal with them can consider when engaging in supply chain relationships. It provides potential insights into where the purchasing function stands in its use of a collaborative strategy.

This paper focuses specifically on how the purchasing function is utilizing collaboration by gathering input from purchasing professionals. This practical viewpoint provides a realistic perspective that complements previous research on collaboration.