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This research examines how to enhance financial performance (FP) through the interplay between information technology and their suppliers in the supply chain. On this, the research objective is to assess the role of integration with suppliers (IWS) and integration by suppliers (IBS) in the interface between integrated information technology (IIT) and FP in the supply chain.

A theoretical model was designed, and hypotheses were tested with structural equation modelling and qualitative data from a survey of 205 multi-industry companies from Egypt.

The findings indicate that IIT has a positive significant relationship with financial performance, in this case, partially mediated jointly by IWS and IBS.

This study contributes to the literature by establishing a measurement approach for the proposed duality of supplier integration. A crucial implication of this duality is the requirement of IWS and IBS to enhance the effect of IIT on FP in supply chain partnerships and the fact revealed in our research that IWS precedes IBS in supply chains.

This study explores a seller’s perspective in business relationships to validate whether the findings reported in previous studies based on buyer business relationships apply to seller business relationships. The purpose of this study is to test whether satisfaction functions as a connector between positive antecedents (trust and commitment) and negative postcedents (opportunism and conflict) in a business-to-business (B2B) relationship, based on a seller perspective.

A descriptive research design was applied and data was collected from Norwegian companies from the database of LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator. Respondents (Sales or Marketing Managers/Directors or Key Account Managers) were asked to identify one main business customer with whom they had interacted in the past year. A total of 213 responses could be used for data analysis. In addition, the measurement and structural models were assessed.

Trust was established as a positive alter ego of opportunism and opportunism as a negative alter ego of trust. The commitment was also determined to be a positive alter ego of conflict, with conflict being a negative alter ego of commitment. Furthermore, it was proven that alter egos are not opposites, but facets of antecedents and postcedents in relation to a connector, satisfaction.

The tested model endorses the hypothesised relationships between trust, commitment, satisfaction, opportunism and conflict in Norwegian B2B relationships. Satisfaction is linked to its two antecedents and its outcomes and the hypothesised relationship between opportunism and conflict is also endorsed from a seller’s perspective in B2B relationships.

The findings can assist the B2B industry to understand how trust and commitment foster satisfaction, how satisfaction influences opportunism and conflict, and how opportunism relates to conflict in a seller-business relationship.

No previous study has focussed on relationship marketing in B2B relationships from a seller’s perspective to establish whether satisfaction functions as a connector between trust and commitment and opportunism and conflict.

Seen from the seller's point of view, this study examines economic and non-economic satisfaction as distinct conceptual variables, and tests how the constructs relate to each other and to the business transactional cost variables of formalisation, specific investments and dependence.

Data was collected from 213 key informants from Norwegian companies involved in business-to-business marketing. Structural equation modelling was used to test the posited hypotheses.

The findings show that sellers' economic satisfaction exerts a positive influence on non-economic satisfaction and on formalisation, while its posited influence on specific investments was not found to be significant. Formalisation was, however, not significantly influenced by seller non-economic satisfaction. Specific investment was positively influenced by seller non-economic satisfaction. The influence of formalisation on specific investments and dependence was significant. Specific investments were also found to be positively influenced by dependence.

The study reveals the importance of assessing both economic and non-economic satisfaction in trying to understand sellers' behaviour in business-to-business markets.

The findings show the need for managers to ensure economic satisfaction, as its affects non-economic satisfaction.

This study contributes to a better understanding of satisfaction in business-to-business exchange relationships and its relationship with transactional cost constructs based on a seller's perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to test perceived price and service quality as mediators between price fairness and perceived value in service encounters between micro-enterprises and their banks.

The study is based on a self-administered and internet-based questionnaire conducted in the banking industry. The sample consists of 381 micro-enterprises in South Africa that employ one or two staff members.

The findings of this paper provide evidence for both theory and practice that perceived price and service quality influence the relationship between business banking customers’ perception of price fairness and the value of the service offered.

The measurement and structural properties reported are satisfactory. This paper confirms the hypothesized relationships in the tested research model, and rejects a tested rival model. Limitations are reported, and suggestions for further research are provided.

This paper offers banking executives guidance in managing the pricing structure of their services, and highlights the value of offering greater transparency with regards to service charges and interest rates.

This paper contributes to insights into the mediating effects of perceived price and service quality between price fairness and perceived value in business relationships between micro-enterprises and their banks.

Pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs) need a well-operating and faultless logistics system to successfully store and distribute their medicines. Hospitals, health institutes, and pharmacies must maintain extra stock to respond requirements of the patients. Nevertheless, there is an inverse correlation between the level of medicine stock and logistics service level. The high stock level held by health institutions indicates that we have not sufficiently excellent logistics systems presently. As such, selecting appropriate logistics service providers (drug distributors) is crucial and strategic for PSCs. However, this is difficult for decision-makers, as highly complex situations and conflicting criteria influence such evaluation processes. So, a robust, applicable, and strong methodological frame is required to solve these decision-making problems.

To achieve this challenging issue, the authors develop and apply an integrated entropy-WASPAS methodology with Fermatean fuzzy sets for the first time in the literature. The evaluation process takes place in two stages, as in traditional multi-criteria problems. In the first stage, the importance levels of the criteria are determined by the FF-entropy method. Afterwards, the FF-WASPAS approach ranks the alternatives.

The feasibility of the proposed model is also supported by a case study where six companies are evaluated comprehensively regarding ten criteria. Herewith, total warehouse capacity, number of refrigerated vehicles, and personnel are the top three criteria that significantly influence the evaluation of pharmaceutical distribution and warehousing companies. Further, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis proves the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

The proposed multi-attribute decision model quantitatively aids managers in selecting logistics service providers considering imprecisions in the multi-criteria decision-making process.

A new model has been developed to present a sound mathematical model for selecting logistics service providers consisting of Fermatean fuzzy entropy and WASPAS methods. The paper's main contribution is presenting a comprehensive and more robust model for the ex ante evaluation and ranking of providers.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the “scientific identity” of the “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing by examining the methodological approaches and the geographical affiliations of authors published in selected journals.

A sample of “top” research journals in marketing is selected on the basis of expert opinion and journal ranking lists. The selection includes the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR), Journal of Marketing (JM), Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Journal of Retailing (JR), Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS); and Marketing Science (MS).

The “scientific identities” of JCR, JM, JMR, JR, JAMS and MS are revealed as being built on quantitative research designs and the North American paradigm of research values. In fact, all journals are US‐based. None was found to be based on a mix of empirical research designs. The selected research journals were found to be narrowly focused, and the lack of variety of “scientific identities” among the journals studied here is discomfiting for the ongoing scientific knowledge building and theory generation in marketing.

Further studies of the “scientific identity” of individual research journals are desirable in other sub‐disciplines of marketing. A series of questions have been raised that the authors argue are worthy of further attention and debate in the world‐wide research community.

Researchers will benefit from insights into the “scientific identities” of the “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing. In particular, researchers can note the particular feature of dogmatic narrowness of research designs that are present in all of these journals.

The study delivers insights into the publishing requirements of “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing. It provides some challenging and discomfiting findings.

The aim is to describe the “empirical characteristics” of the “top” journals in mainstream marketing by assessing selected journals with respect to: the proportion of “empirical” versus “non‐empirical” contributions; the proportion of national versus international research data; the geographical origin of research data; and the geographical affiliations of the authors whose articles are published.

A sample of “top” scholarly journals in mainstream marketing is selected on the basis of expert opinion and journal ranking lists. The evaluation considers all available articles at the time of data collection (a total of 1,463) published in these journals over a seven‐year period from 2000 to 2006.

A large proportion of all contributions in the selected journals were “empirical” in nature. Although this finding is not unexpected in scholarly journals, it is apparent that the journals evaluated also provide opportunities for non‐empirical contributions. Other “empirical characteristics” were found to be skewed.

This evaluation is limited to the “empirical characteristics” of “top” journals in mainstream marketing.

The study provides valuable insights into the nature of academic publishing in the area of top journals of mainstream marketing.

Scholars will benefit from insights into the “empirical characteristics” of the “top” journals in mainstream marketing. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of individual journals. Further studies of the “empirical characteristics” of individual research journals are required in other sub‐disciplines of marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the “empirical characteristics” of the “top” journals in services marketing by assessing selected journals with respect to: the proportion of “empirical” versus “non‐empirical” contributions; the proportion of national versus international research data; the geographical origin of research data; and the geographical affiliations of the authors whose articles are published.

A sample of “top” journals in services marketing is selected on the basis of expert opinion. The selection includes the International Journal of Service Industry Management (IJSIM), the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM), the Journal of Service Research (JSR), Managing Service Quality (MSQ), and the Service Industries Journal (SIJ). The study considers all contributions (a total of 1,189) published in these journals over a six‐year period from 2000 to 2005, with particular emphasis on the “empirical” studies (a subtotal of 870).

The authors contend that there is in part a troublesome and challenging “ethnocentricity” in some of the examined journals.

This is the first assessment of the “empirical characteristics” of “top” journals in services marketing.

The study provides valuable insights into the nature of academic publishing in the area of services marketing.

Scholars will benefit from insights into the “empirical characteristics” of the “top” journals in services marketing. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of individual journals. Further studies of the “empirical characteristics” of individual research journals are required in other sub‐disciplines of marketing.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the detrimental consequences of participating in stokvels among women entrepreneurs within the South African township economy.

The research used the Gioia methodology, involving the implementation of a qualitative inquiry with an inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews served as the primary method for data collection. The study had a sample comprising 20 women entrepreneurs located in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Narratives on the detrimental consequences of participating in stokvels among women entrepreneurs within the South African township economy included fraudsters, misunderstanding and dishonesty among stokvel partners, year-end robbery and theft, stokvels being dominated by men, operating outside of formal regulatory frameworks, exclusion and limited funding.

Sample size challenges feature as a notable limitation, including the research being conducted in only one province of South Africa. Caution should be exercised when seeking to generalize the findings in other contexts.

While there is an array of literature on the impact of stokvels on entrepreneurship, there are deficiencies in studies that have looked at the detrimental consequences of stokvels on women entrepreneurs. As a result, the goal of this research is to add to the present corpus of African entrepreneurship literature, specifically in the context of South Africa.