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This article aims to explore the influence of values concerning food consumption and the effect of physical activity habit moderation on these.

The consumption value theory was used as a base, and a survey with 292 participants was analysed by means of factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The findings are presented at three levels. The first is the clustering of food consumption habits in different dimensions: healthy, unhealthy and hybrid. The second is the relationship between values and food consumption. In detail: (1) emotional value is the only significant measurement for the consumption of the three food dimensions; (2) social value is a significant measurement for healthy food consumption; (3) conditional value is significant for the consumption of hybrid and unhealthy foods; (4) epistemic value has significance in the consumption of hybrid foods; (5) functional value is denied for all dimensions. The third concerns the relationship between value perceptions and food consumption moderated by physical activity in: (1) social value of healthy foods; (2) functional value of hybrid foods; and (3) emotional and epistemic values of unhealthy foods.

This paper adds to the literature on consumption values and raises new insights into value and habits regarding food consumption, such as physical activity involved in the consumption context.

Purpose – Sets out to argue that training and adjustment strategies based on immersion in a foreign culture, in order to reduce expatriate culture shock, can be improved by training that addresses how to use related ethnic networks within the host country. Design/methodology/approach – A framework used for the examination of the cultural adjustment process of long‐term migrants is used to draw implications for the adjustment process of expatriates. The components of analysis include the U‐curve, social learning theory, and oral deprivation. How long‐term arrivals overcome their culture shock is extended to a discussion of expatriates, their problems, and the need for further areas of training. Findings – Significant similarities in the adjustment problems of the two groups point to similar processes in operation and the potential to apply similar solutions to ease the expatriate adjustment process. Research limitation/implications – The study draws from findings in one discipline area and argues by analogy to the field of international human resource management. Implications of this extension include a widening of expatriate training to include greater awareness of host country ethnic networks and how they can be a useful adjustment resource. Practical implications – Expatriate worker failure is common and costly. While there is considerable emphasis on the technical competency of expatriates, social competency is critical but often neglected. Measures to reduce such social failure that focus on reducing the culture shock encountered, need to be examined carefully. This paper has suggested one approach drawing from an analogous situation. Originality/value – The paper links specific elements of the marketing literature dealing with arrivals from a different culture with the expatriate adjustment problem of international human resource management.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the lean production (LP) practices applied in healthcare supply chain and the existing barriers related to their implementation.

To achieve that, a scoping review was carried out in order to consolidate the main practices and barriers, and also to evidence research gaps and directions according to different theoretical lenses.

The findings show that there is a consensus on the potential of LP practices implementation in healthcare supply chain, but most studies still report such implementation restricted to specific unit or value stream within a hospital.

Healthcare organizations are under constant pressure to reduce costs and wastes, while improving services and patient safety. Further, its supply chain usually presents great opportunities for improvement, both in terms of cost reduction and quality of care increase. In this sense, the adaptation of LP practices and principles has been widely accepted in healthcare. However, studies show that most implementations fall far short from their goals because they are done in a fragmented way, and not from a system-wide perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of Industry 4.0 technologies on the relationship between lean production (LP) and operational performance improvement within Brazil, a developing economy context.

One representative from each of the 147 studied manufacturing companies filled in a survey on three internally related lean practice bundles and two Industry 4.0 technology bundles, with safety, delivery, quality, productivity and inventory as performance indicators. As this study was grounded on the contingency theory, multivariate data analyses were performed, controlling for four contingencies.

Industry 4.0 moderates the effect of LP practices on operational performance improvement, but in different directions. Process-related technologies negatively moderate the effect of low setup practices on performance, whereas product/service-related technologies positively moderate the effect of flow practices on performance.

With the advent of Industry 4.0, companies have been channelling their efforts to achieve superior performance by advancing levels of automation and interconnectivity. Eventually, widespread and proven manufacturing approaches, like LP, will integrate such technologies which may, in turn, impair or favour operational performance. Contrary to previous studies, the contingencies appeared to have a less extensive effect. The authors point to various options for further study across different socio-economic contexts. This study evidenced that purely technological adoption will not lead to distinguished results. LP practices help in the installation of organisational habits and mindsets that favour systemic process improvements, supporting the design and control of manufacturers’ operations management towards the fourth industrial revolution era.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through a comparative analysis, the applicability of lean manufacturing practices, such as value stream mapping (VSM), for productivity improvement in recycling centres (RCs) aided by multi-criteria decision analysis.

The study is carried out in five RCs that sort the municipal solid waste of Porto Alegre, one of the main cities in Brazil. Since all of the centres present their labour composed by poor communities’ members, cultural and social characteristics may represent an incremental challenge for lean implementation. Further, these centres are organised in cooperatives, in which decisions are taken through a participatory way and all their members are entitled to vote, undermining and retarding the decision-making process.

The integration of a multi-criteria decision-making tool to the lean practices enables the prioritisation of improvements, complementing the final stage of VSM. In particular, this contribution becomes especially important in cooperatives managed by community, where decisions are often complex and time-consuming. Finally, despite the increasing pressure for better performance of RCs, the existent mindset is still far from the private sector, where lean practices were conceived. Further, the findings suggest that, despite processes similarities, it is not feasible to declare the existence of a one-best practice to such scenario.

In theoretical terms, the authors demonstrate through a multi-case study the adequacy of analytic hierarchy process as a decision analysis tool complementary to the VSM, enabling a broader perspective about this subject. Concerning the practical contribution, the comprehension of the adaptation needs for lean practices implementation within the production context of solid waste RCs provides a framework with guidelines for this sector, when incorporating lean activities. Lean practitioners and eventual municipal authorities involved in improving productivity of community-managed RCs might benefit from this framework, since they will be able to emphasise the development of recommended and already tested lean practices that tend to improve their operational performance.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how the association between leadership styles (task or relation orientation) and lean manufacturing (LM) implementation changes due to two contextual variables, team size and the leader’s age.

The authors carried out a survey with 225 leaders from different Brazilian companies that are implementing LM. Research constructs were validated through rigorous procedures using confirmatory factor analysis. Hypotheses were tested using ordinary linear least squares regression.

The results suggest that larger teams and more senior managers were negatively associated with LM implementation. Task-orientation style makes leaders more likely to achieve higher levels of LM than relation-orientation style leaders. Finally, the influence of relation-oriented leaders on LM implementation is contingent upon the size of the team.

Regarding study’s limitations, sample size and respondents’ location restrict results to this contextual condition, indicating that increasing the sample would help provide wider and more generalizable results. It is also worth noting that results are based on respondents’ (leaders) perspective. Hence, future studies may collect data from multiple perspectives, such as leaders and their followers, in order to compare results so as to verify the convergence or divergence among different respondents.

The results suggest that leaders should have different behaviors according to the context in which they are inserted. Therefore, such behavioral prescriptions are useful for managers since they are pressured to achieve high operational performance in short time periods and with few resources. Further, companies undergoing lean implementation may also be able to stimulate proper leadership behaviors and promote development programs accordingly, which is extremely relevant since behavioral changes usually take time.

The evolutionary process for achieving a successful lean enterprise requires different leadership styles according to the context in which leaders are inserted. This research provides arguments to help better understand the recommended leadership behaviors for lean implementation, complementing existing roadmaps by considering the proper leadership style as a contingency issue during lean implementation. Moreover, identifying the effect of contextual variables helps specify the contexts in which lean practices are more likely to be implemented.

While previous operations management literature acknowledges the positive influence of Lean and Industry (I4.0) on performance, recent studies examining the synergy between these two factors have produced inconsistent and contradictory results. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effect of Lean and I4.0 synergy on firm performance.

This study utilised a meta-analysis approach, examining 23 empirical studies exploring multiple effects of the Lean and I4.0 synergy on firm performance. Multiple subgroup analyses were conducted to assess the contradictory outcomes and identify in what conditions such synergy may achieve performance.

The results affirm the prevailing positivist perspective among most scholars regarding the positive influence of the Lean and I4.0 synergy on firm performance. However, the overall effect size derived from the studies indicates a weak relationship, suggesting that this synergy alone is not the sole determinant factor of firm performance. In addition, the subgroup analyses reveal the presence of contingent conditions that may affect the performance outcomes when integrating Lean and I4.0, as most effects exhibit a weak relationship.

This study represents the first meta-analysis investigating the relationship between the Lean and I4.0 synergy on firm performance. By shedding light on the contradictory effects often depicted in the operations management literature, this study provides a critical reflection for researchers who tend to adopt an overly optimistic view of such synergy.

The aim of this study reported in this paper was to explore the application of operational excellence methodologies in a global context.

A qualitative interview approach was used to understand the current state, benefits, challenges, success factors, tools and techniques of operational excellence methodology implementation with relevance to logistics companies worldwide. About 16 interviews were undertaken with practitioners working in leading companies and with leading academics in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Australia.

The findings show that operational excellence methodologies including Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and Agile can apply in logistics firms to improve operations and productivity and save costs. Top management support and involvement play an important role in the success of operational excellence projects in the logistics service.

The findings will be of interest to top and middle managers and logistics practitioners, with a dual aim of improving logistics performance and saving costs.

The present study has been one of the first global study attempts to explore the implementation of operational excellence methodologies in the logistics sectors.

This paper investigates the impact of brand interactivity within social media on consumer–brand engagement and its related outcomes, including consumers' intention of co-creating brand value and future repurchase of the same brand.

The theoretical framework is tested for a durable technology product, a smartphone. Data was collected in Brazil from 408 users utilizing a self-administered online survey. Data analysis uses partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Entertainment interactivity, cognitive information-transfer interaction and cognitive up-to-date information interactivity are the key elements directly influencing consumer–brand engagement, enhancing consumers' intention to co-create brand value and to repurchase the brand. Importantly, the impact of interactivity ease of use and customization interactivity on consumer–brand engagement and its related outcomes is non-significant. This is inconsistent with previous studies on consumer–brand engagement.

The research contributes to the literature by providing an understanding of how to use brand interactivity elements on social-media platforms to strengthen consumer–brand engagement for durable technology products, such as smartphones in Brazil. However, this study is cross-sectional in nature and focus is solely on smartphones in Brazil. Future research might consider a longitudinal design and include comparisons between countries with diverse cultures as well as other industries and product types to enhance the generalizability of the findings.

Marketers may heighten consumer–brand engagement by using content that is entertaining, current and trendy. Incorporating positive referrals on social-media platforms encourages consumers to co-create brand value and to repurchase the same brand in the future.

Examination of the role of social-media marketing in the marketing literature largely overlooks the impact of elements of brand interactivity within social media on consumer–brand engagement. This article contributes to social-media marketing and consumer–brand engagement research by empirically testing a theoretical model, confirming that specific elements of brand interactivity within social media – including entertainment interactivity, cognitive information-transfer interaction and cognitive up-to-date information interactivity – are critical drivers in the process of strengthening consumer–brand engagement in Brazil.

The working hypothesis, on which this paper is built, is that it is advantageous to look at protocols of robot rehabilitation in the general context of human-robot interaction in haptic dyads. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method to detect and evaluate an index of active participation (AC index), underlying the performance of robot-assisted movements. This is important for avoiding the slacking phenomenon that affects robot therapy.

The evaluation of the AC index is based on a novel technique of assistance which does not use constant or elastic forces but trains of small force impulses, with amplitude adapted to the level of impairment and a frequency of 2 Hz, which is suggested by recent results in the field of intermittent motor control. A preliminary feasibility test of the proposed method was carried out during a haptic reaching task in the absence of visual feedback, for a group of five stroke patients and an equal group of healthy subjects.

The AC index appears to be stable and sensitive to training in both populations of subjects.

The main original element of this study is the proposal of the new AC index of voluntary control associated with the new method of pulsed haptic interaction.