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Proactive planning strategies for “slow-onset” disruptions that affect humanitarian supply chains (SC) developed to address chronic pressing societal problems, can have a significant impact on boosting the operational and financial performance of these chains. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology that quantifies the impact of a risk mitigation strategy widely employed in commercial SCs, namely emergency sourcing (ES), on the performance of humanitarian SCs taking into account backorders’ clearance time, unsatisfied demand, and cost.

Discrete event simulation is employed in order to evaluate alternative ES strategies based on a total cost criterion, which incorporates inventory-related costs, as well as premium contract costs paid for emergency replenishment. Backorders’ clearance time and time-to-recovery are also employed as a design parameters.

The results document the significant impact of disruptions on expected total cost, and the beneficial role of ES in hedging against disruptions. To that end, the proposed methodology determines the optimal emergency contracted capacity for a given premium, or alternatively the maximum premium cost value that ensures the feasibility of the implemented ES strategy in the long-run, along with the associated cost and time savings, and reduction of the unsatisfied demand.

The fundamental objective is to provide a decision-making support methodology for deciding on whether to implement an ES strategy or not in humanitarian SCs, and the level of the optimal contracted reserved capacity. The results could be of great value to aid providers, policy-makers, and regulators.

This paper aims to examine the current strategic landscape of UK “bricks and clicks” retailers. The main focus of this work is to consider how e‐commerce may provide competitive advantage via an insight into the current strategies employed by UK retailers.

The paper uses both secondary and primary data analysis to explore its research questions. The paper begins with an overview of the e‐strategy literature and then goes on to examine the key areas of e‐value creation for bricks and clicks companies. Next an analysis of the results of a survey of the UK's top 500 retailers tests the existing literature and provides new evidence of emerging e‐strategies.

The data analysis in this research reveals significant gaps between theory and practice and leads to the development of a new model of business “e‐value‐added”.

It is difficult to generalise the findings from this survey, given the small number of respondents. Further in‐depth qualitative research is needed to enable us to understand better the organisational issues around e‐commerce development and implementation.

It is suggested that, in order to exploit the internet to its full potential, legacy retailers need to analyse a variety of situational antecedents in order to identify e‐value creation opportunities. In addition, they must consider whether integration or separation with bricks and clicks operations will deliver the best solution in each value‐adding interface.

This research offers a new insight into current e‐tail strategies for bricks and clicks businesses, and as such is likely to be of interest to academics and practitioners alike.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the fit between intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management (KM) strategy and its impacts on firm performance.

Based on the fit view, the authors posit that firms can enhance performance by aligning the structure of their IC with KM strategy, as reducing the extent to which their actual IC profile deviate from the “ideal” profile when implementing certain type of KM strategy. Using survey data collected from 328 high technology firms in China, the authors tested the research model.

The more fit a firm’s IC is to its KM strategic type, the better operational and financial performance it can achieve.

The sample of high technology firms in China might limit the generalization of the findings. Nonetheless, this study is based on and extends prior research, which provides a deepened understanding of the role of IC-KM strategy fit in organizational settings.

The paper suggests that firms should adjust their IC according to KM strategy they employ. According to the findings, managers can selectively develop IC to achieve performance goals under certain type of KM strategy.

As one of the first studies to investigate the relationship among IC, KM strategy and firm performance in a holistic way, it indicates that the IC-KM strategy fit can be a novel explanation for performance variances through the alignment of knowledge-based capability and strategy.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the article in context.

Dot.com heaven was followed by dot.com hell in the 1990s as overvalued internet stocks flew high then crashed to earth. Confidence among the investor community has returned as solid business models have been proven over time, and profitability demonstrated. However, confidence is a fragile thing as the recent troubles of Google, still something of a darling among online stocks, have demonstrated. Yet e‐business is changing the rules for all business. Whether corporations choose to participate or not, they are directly challenged by competitors who have grasped the online advantage.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the decision process of enterprise software acquisition. The research aims to focus on identifying significant influences on enterprise software acquisition decisions.

As a research model and theoretical background, the organizational buying model (OBB) is proposed for the acquisition of enterprise systems. Influences on enterprise software acquisition decision processes were found by an empirical study carried out from a practitioner's perspective. The study collected data via a mail survey administered to information systems (IS) professionals involved in the acquisition of enterprise software (ES). The survey questionnaire was developed based on a previous research project and a literature review. Organizational buying behavior (OBB) models in the literature served as the basis for the influences included in the survey instrument. Factor analysis was carried out on the survey data to identify the most significant factors/influences.

The following five factors emerged as significant influences on the acquisition decision process of enterprise software: ES strategy and performance; BPR and adaptability; management commitment and user buy‐in; single vendor integrated solution; and consultants, team‐location, and vendor's financing. These factors are discussed and managerial implications are extracted. Conclusions are derived from the study findings and guidelines for further research are suggested.

The present study provides a starting point for further research in understanding a more comprehensive list of influences on enterprise software acquisition. A bigger sample from more industries is required to examine whether the significance of the influences remains stable.

Using OBB models has proven to be useful for organizations in making effective decisions on enterprise software acquisition.

As e‐business strategies have received growing attention from entrepreneurs, executives, investors and industry, information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) strategic planning has progressively come to be considered a critical method for developing a successful e‐strategy. However, despite the growing number of theoretical frameworks for IS/IT strategic planning, practical implementation faces several problems. Most importantly, numerous IS/IT strategic planning frameworks do not seem to realize that IS‐related problems are not merely technological, but are also caused by neglecting the interrelationship between IS/IT and organizational context. This study aims to identify and explore the key organizational mechanisms related to IS/IT strategic planning, and thus improve planning effectiveness. The proposed mechanisms provide a valuable reference for business managers or strategic planners who are initiating or conducting IS/IT strategic planning exercises in the digital era, and for researchers interested in information systems management.

Large investments in information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) have increased the need for effective IS/IT strategic planning (ISSP). As e‐business strategies have received growing attention from industrial managers, IS/IT strategic planning is now considered critical in developing a successful e‐strategy. However, despite the extensive literature on ISSP, the determinants of the quality of the ISSP process have seldom been examined. This study investigates the effects of organizational factors on the quality of the ISSP process. Data were collected using a questionnaire sent to the IS directors of 827 large companies in Taiwan and 239 usable responses were received. Survey results indicate that organizational context‐related factors influence the quality of the ISSP process. This study also discusses implications for IS practice and directions for future research.

This chapter from a brief review of the relevant literature on the energy markets points out the changes in the relationships between energy companies and customers through the Web. The objective is to highlight the changes of the energy markets thanks to the web demonstrating that it is able to ensure the raising of the switching rates and hence the competition, goal of the liberalization of public services. To this end, the authors will use secondary data from Accenture researches about the perceptions of customers and energy companies around the relations established via the web, and the CUAC for the switching mode performed in the State of Victoria in Australia.

The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of a low‐P/E strategy relative to that of two alternative value strategies, one based on the PEG ratio and another on the PERG ratio (a magnitude introduced in this article).

The data used consists of a sample of 100 US companies between January 1975 and September 2002. Portfolios are formed on the basis of different valuation ratios, and their performance is compared in order to determine the best‐performing strategy.

Portfolios sorted by PERG ratios outperform, on a risk‐adjusted basis, those sorted by both P/E ratios and PEG ratios. This outperformance occurs regardless of whether portfolios are not rebalanced, rebalanced every ten years, or rebalanced every five years.

The sample of stocks is not large. The results could be validated by using a larger sample of US stocks and a longer time period, as well as by using a sample of stocks from several international markets.

The PERG ratio proposed in this article improves on the PEG ratio, adjusting the latter by risk. That, plus the fact that PERG‐based strategies outperform on a risk‐adjusted basis strategies based on both P/Es and PEGs, should make it an attractive tool to add to the arsenal of valuation tools used by analysts.

A new valuation tool is proposed, called the PERG ratio, that adjusts P/E ratios by both growth and risk (or, similarly, PEG ratios by risk).