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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how luxury Italian fashion companies manage the replenishment process, and how they leverage supply chain (SC) to be able to match supply and demand of fashion products.

Literature review was the first step performed; then, a case study research has been conducted in order to have a comprehensive view of the real context of luxury Italian fashion companies concerning merchandise planning and replenishment processes. After the sample was individuated, a questionnaire has guided the interviews and then data have been collected. Analysing data has concerned a primary case analysis and then cross-case patterns have been searched. Finally, several variables coherent to the aim of the study have been pinpointed and a framework has been designed.

The paper provides a characterization of the luxury Italian fashion industry concerning merchandise planning constraints and the replenishment processes. To guarantee the flexibility required to match supply and demand when there is a high percentage of seasonal products in the collection, companies leverage on both downstream and upstream SC alignment.

The enhancement of performance within the fashion SC is a topic not too much examined in depth, in particular referring to the luxury fashion companies and to the Italian context. Aligning upstream and downstream activities, information sharing between vendor and retailer and securing strategic alliances with the suppliers constitute important steps to reach flexibility and reactivity and to be in step with the market needs. The paper provides valuable insights to companies that are trying to decrease their lost sales and to increase their sell-out and customer service through a review of their SC processes.

Despite menswear is gaining a significant relevance in terms of retail sales, it represents a neglected topic within the academic literature. Therefore, this paper aims at providing a better understanding of the formal menswear market by developing a tailor-made classification model for the identification of retailers' clusters and at discovering the critical success factors (CSFs).

This research looked at most formal high-end menswear retailers in Italy adopting a methodology based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process and multiple case studies. Thirty interviews were conducted with experts, managers and shopkeepers from case studies.

The study develops for the first time a classification framework of formal high-end menswear retailers and a matching matrix to jointly analyse retailers' clusters and customer profiles in Italy. The results identify the CSFs pursued by menswear retailers and highlight the existence of four clusters of retailers (Differentiated Fashion Firms; Formal Menswear Leaders; Tailoring Firms and Luxury Brands) and seven customer profiles (Habitual Professionals, Special Events, Young People, Occasional Professionals, Foreigners, VIPs and Fashionistas).

The formal high-end menswear represents one of the most traditional Italian heritage markets while being almost ignored in the academic literature. Thus, the value of this research lays in deepening our understanding of this market from the retailers' perspective, by providing for the first time a taxonomy of its players and contributing to identifying the CSFs and the main customer profiles.

This study aims to examine the influence of paradoxical leadership (PLSH) on the extra-role service behavior of frontline employees. It analyzes not only direct but also indirect influence through mechanisms that improve the learning (self-improvement) and communication (voice) capabilities of hospitality employees.

Data were gathered through structured questionnaires administered to a sample of frontline employees from Spanish hotels. A structural equations model was used to evaluate the theoretical model proposed.

The results show both a direct positive effect of PLSH on extra-role service and a mediating effect of employees’ improvement-oriented behaviors on this relationship. These results support the idea that employees under paradoxical leaders seek both self-improvement and organizational improvement through their voice to provide guests with excellent service.

The findings extend understanding of PLSH’s effects on the hospitality industry through its impact on extra-role service, an essential element of hotel success.

This study addresses the lack of research on hospitality leadership by analyzing the effects of PLSH on employees’ communication and learning behaviors, as well as on their extra-role service. The authors argue that some behaviors that help hotels compete (e.g. extra-role service) can have paradoxical implications for employees.