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Management literature describes the “revolution” in business performance measurement which encourages the use of “soft” employee‐related measures, such as employee satisfaction, morale and commitment. Cultural issues have been identified as common stumbling blocks to progress in organizational change programmes, such as total quality management; hence, the use of measures in monitoring or inducing cultural change has great potential. Describes the results of a postal survey of the Times Top 500 companies carried out in early 1995, designed to probe issues such as the degree of use of these measures and associated benefits. The results, derived from 45 companies, reveal a significant gap between management theory and practice in this area. Few companies report innovative use of “soft” measures in the determination of business strategy, i.e. the “balanced scorecard” approach, which is attributed to the lack of evidence of “hard” (financial) benefits from companies successfully involved in this practice.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model which structures and links different types of efficient consumer response (ECR) measures; it does so by considering the use of both quantitative or “hard” and qualitative or “soft” measures in ECR, emphasizing the importance and causal role of “soft” measures throughout the ECR process.

This paper reviews the ECR and performance measurement literature and proposes a model that explains linkages from intra‐organizational, inter‐organizational and industry prerequisites through ECR activities to ECR outcomes; and highlights the role of performance, behavioural, attitude and capability measures. Two extant studies from Austria and Denmark are examined in the context of the model to exemplify some of its features.

Similarities regarding issues of inter‐organizational and intra‐organizational prerequisites were found, but the two studies also demonstrated variety in the use of measures in ECR research.

The proposed model is presented for primarily future investigation; thus there is no empirical study in this paper other than a comparison of the two extant studies to support some constructs and variables. However, the model represents a structure that can guide future research on more specific ECR elements.

The model makes a practical contribution by providing a structure from which measurement or scorecard systems can be established.

The model makes a theoretical contribution by providing an overall structure to link different areas of ECR research such as barriers for ECR implementation, and specific ECR concepts, activities, and their outcomes.

Notes that benchmarking is an under‐utilised tool in the field of innovation. Examines consumer brands in the UK cosmetics and toiletries sector and attempts to use both soft and hard metrics in terms of benchmarking measurement. Considers various types of benchmarking approach and also the nature of both “hard” and “soft” measurement. Focuses on numerous factors relating to brands, using data from the cosmetics and toiletries sector. Concludes by underlining the need for organizations to pay attention to both quantitative and qualitative dimensions if benchmarking is to be effective.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and synthesize approaches to studying Lean transformation to further develop a comprehensive approach that integrates organizational culture analysis and performance measurement systems from a systems perspective.

This paper is conceptual in nature and based on a review of the literature in the areas of measuring Lean transformation and studying organizational culture. Three questions guide this conceptual analysis: “What approaches have been used to examine Lean transformation in business and public sector organizations?”; “Is there evidence of a focus on organizational culture in the measurement practices in Lean transformation and, if so, how?”; and “What can we learn from organizational cultural theorists about developing a more comprehensive framework to study Lean transformation?”. The analysis was conducted in two phases: In Phase 1, a database search was conducted using the key words Lean transformation, studying Lean, studying Lean transformation, studying organizational culture in Lean and measuring Lean, from which eight papers were selected. In Phase 2, the authors reviewed two models for studying organizational culture.

Findings indicated that the dominant approach to study and measure Lean transformation is based on the performance measurement model. Based on this approach, there was little evidence of a focus on organizational culture, and few integrated the human dimensions with the tools and practices. The authors also found evidence of a greater awareness of the need to develop a balanced performance measurement system that reflects both the subjective soft measures and the objective hard measures. Among the approaches studied, two models did reflect integration between hard and soft measures: Dahlgaard et al.’s (2011) 4Ps and Najem et al. ’s (2012) assessment model for studying organizational culture in Lean. Both of these methods provide a strong framework from which to further enhance the study of Lean transformation by incorporating elements from Bantz’s (1993) organizational communication culture method and Martin’s (1992) Matrix concept.

This paper furthers the academic dialogue on measuring Lean transformation through its unique analysis of studying organizational culture.

The purpose of this paper is to validate an empirically derived measure for assessing perceived service quality in the business‐to‐business (b2b) context. In doing so, the SERVQUAL scale is evaluated against the alternative measure.

A questionnaire was mailed to 1,285 companies from different industries. Respondents were identified by approaching companies from four service industries, namely consultants offering middle and senior management training and recruitment services, banks offering corporate banking, software development and maintenance houses and freight shipping providers in Athens, Greece.

SERVQUAL appears to suffer from significant methodological problems when applied to b2b services. This comes hardly as a surprise since the instrument has been developed using consumer markets as a frame of reference.

For practitioners, the major implication is that the developed instrument allows them to make the most out of their efforts to monitor the perceived quality of their services since it is more relevant to the b2b context and it has greater predictive power than SERVQUAL.

The findings of this study may stimulate future research towards various directions. For instance, INDSERV must be examined in other national contexts before being widely adopted, can be used for assessing the impact of increased levels of perceived service quality on various performance indicators or it can be directed towards tackling some of the limitations of this study such as testing the instrument in different types of services, along the lines that various classification schemes have identified.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the hard and soft measures of service quality and visitors' satisfaction, which ultimately contribute to visitor loyalty to the destination, specifically in the context of the Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) in Sibu, Sarawak (Malaysia).

The study uses a quantitative research approach with 427 valid responses from domestic and international tourists of BCF and employs the cognitive-affective-conative theory to examine how the festival impacts visitor loyalty.

The findings indicate that both hard and soft measures significantly contribute to the service quality and visitor satisfaction at the BCF. Additionally, service quality and visitor satisfaction were found to positively influence destination loyalty, while the relationship between legibility and visitor satisfaction was not significant.

The findings encourage the ministry and event organisers to adopt a destination event strategy that positions Sibu as an attractive event destination capable of attracting domestic and international tourists.

The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on event tourism and destination loyalty by applying the cognitive-affective-conative theory. This study marks the first of its kind, analysing both the tangible (hard) and intangible (soft) measures of service quality and their impact on visitor satisfaction, ultimately influencing visitor loyalty to the destination, particularly in the context of the BCF in Sibu, Sarawak.

Concerns the definition and measurement of performance in logistics research. A review of the literature reveals a variety of constraints which make it difficult to draw broad inferences from the literature about the relationship between a given logistics strategy and performance. Discusses low logistics performance has been and could be conceptualized, operationally defined, measured and utilized. The limitations of alternative research designs and performance measures are revealed. Recommendations are made to improve the quality of future research.

The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive approach to studying organizational culture using “soft measures” to facilitate sustainable quality development in organizations. The purpose is also to present, discuss and compare the results from a survey designed to measure a company’s value base.

A number of different methods were used to collect soft data to study and measure organizational culture and at the same time influence the culture and the leadership within three organizations. One method, the survey, was used on two different occasions to obtain an overview of the culture within an organization and to investigate if the activities had influenced the culture and the leadership.

The application of soft measures used by leaders to study and develop organizational culture resulted in statistically significant positive changes in organizational work culture, according to a pre-post survey after a short period of one year.

The approach can be used by leaders in different types of organizations as the challenge of changing the organizational culture through the leadership seems to be a common challenge regardless of line of business.

The study shows the benefits of using a comprehensive approach to assess an organization’s culture based on qualitative measures and analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore ways to enhance water use efficiency at construction sites according to project stakeholders’ perceptions.

A questionnaire survey was developed based on drivers, barriers and potential water use efficiency measures identified through a literature review. It was administered among professionals working in the construction industry who have more than ten years of work experience.

The study highlighted cost of water and sources of water as main drivers that promote water use efficiency on sites. Lack of priority for water management among host of other managerial functions was identified as the main barrier. In order to conserve water, respondents favoured “soft” measures such as changes in workers’ behaviour and managerial policies and planning for water savings, as opposed to “hard” measures which were primarily technology based.

The major implications of the study are related to how behaviour of the workers could be changed to accommodate water use efficiency in their everyday activities. Water saving measures such as leak detection, auditing and sub-metering were favoured by respondents referring to policies and planning, as well as implementing a water action plan when a project begins.

This study makes a contribution to the body of knowledge on the subject of water sustainability at construction projects. This is an understudied area. In addition, the findings will enhance the understanding of construction companies on water use efficiency and should serve as a platform to develop improved and appropriate techniques.

This paper aims to study whether international niche market leaders (INMLs) gained their leading position as early mover or diligent follower, and assess whether they leveraged hard or soft forms of technological, supply pre-emption and customer lock-in advantage mechanisms.

Empirical material stems from qualitative and quantitative data on a sample of 20 niche companies from the Basque Country (Spain) that operate in business to business markets.

The sample predominantly followed an early entrant strategy and applied soft measures to reach niche market leadership.

Findings imply that early entering fosters conquering leadership in niche markets, that pioneer advantage is easier to sustain in niches than in mainstream markets, and that soft measures are more effective in niche markets than in larger markets. A limitation to our findings is that they follow from explorative research on a sample of firms from a reduced geographic setting.

Hidden champions and INMLs can be important sources of technological progress and economic value for the localities that host them. Therefore, despite their traditional low profile and the fact that they are not always the largest firms around, policymakers may want to pay more attention to this type of companies.

Tot he best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to research entry timing and its outcome for market leadership with regard to niche players or hidden champions-type of firms. It introduces an original taxonomy to operationalize and distinguish between hard and soft measures to leverage advantage mechanisms related to market entry timing.