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Global communication cannot be understood without taking international relations into account, since both are so dynamically intertwined that it is impossible to explore international information flow without looking at the political realities. In this article, content and translation in Chinese library and information science literature in different political circumstances (1890‐1949; 1949‐1962; 1963‐1976; 1977‐1989) were used to examine the changing behaviour in trans‐ border information flow. It was found that transborder information flow is dynamic and the direction of flow is heavily influenced by the political realities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of construction procurement within the supply chain management framework and develop a model for information flow. This paper adheres to the supply chain perspective and integration as theoretical point of departure, typically the role that information plays in a complex network such as construction procurement. The co‐ordination within partners and the integration across partners are critical in effective project management. Sharing information is a key component for tight integration to optimize the chain‐wide performance. It helps produce highest quality, low cost and minimum time to service. The tender offer from the procurer or invitation from a supplier triggers the requirement process. In response to the requirements there has to be an opposite flow of information, termed the fulfilment flow in the model described. The requirement information from a procurer is broken down to the project requirements for various partners in the project. Once the supply chain is identified in the postcontracting phase, information regarding specific tasks, materials, and so on, are communicated to the project partners. Information must be managed to bring in value. The quality of information received, the timeliness of the manner it is received and the costeffectiveness in obtaining the information determine the efficiency of a project partner. Another classification considered is that of the changing role of the partner with regard to information handling, i.e., the project partner as a recipient, decision‐maker and communicator of information. All these factors jointly contribute to increasing efficiency in construction procurement. This framework needs to be explored in future research to define subsequent steps in construction supply chain management, as the challenge is to adapt a totally integrated supply chain.

This paper aims to examine how information sharing affects cash flow performance through the competitive capabilities of low cost or product quality.

In total, 159 survey responses were collected from Norwegian manufacturing firms in 2018. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data collected.

The low-cost competitive capability was found to positively mediate the effect of information sharing on cash flow performance. However, product quality competitive capability did not have a significant mediating effect between information sharing and cash flow performance. Rather, customer satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between product quality, capability and cash flow performance. The empirical results not only support how the competitive capabilities can be developed through information sharing but also illustrate that the competitive capabilities affect cash flow performance through different mediating routes.

While information sharing and competitive capabilities have been studied previously with regard to financial performance, less emphasis has been placed on how customer satisfaction might explain the mediated relationship between product quality, competitive capability and financial performance. In addition, financial performance is measured by the proxy of cash flow. The use of cash flow as a performance measure leads to a more forward-looking financial performance measure. This is especially appropriate for non-listed firms.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationships between the different dimensions of supply chain integration (SCI). First, the sequence in which these dimensions should be implemented and some possible mediating effects are investigated. Then, relationships are examined more closely to observe whether they present more complex non-linear forms than those usually analysed.

Required information was gathered from a sample of 477 Spanish industrial companies (23.4 per cent response rate). PLS structural equation modelling was applied to capture non-linear relationships between SCI dimensions.

The results indicate that internal integration leads to external integration and that within external integration, information flow integration provides the basis for financial flow integration and physical flow integration. Thus, the results suggest the existence of a logical sequence to achieve SCI. In addition, clearly different non-linear relationships are observed between the analysed variables.

It seems that a sufficient minimum value has to be reached for internal integration to have a positive effect on external information and financial integration. In addition, a higher degree of information integration appears to facilitate financial and physical integration, although a medium degree of information integration results in a lower degree of financial integration. Therefore, managers should not expect that efforts made to increase one integration dimension will always produce the same effect on the other dimensions.

An empirical contribution is made to knowledge of the logical SCI sequence. This contribution is not only important for academia, but also for managers seeking to improve supply chain performance through integration.

The main streams of the supply chain are defined as material, information and financial flow. There have been many studies and practical cases regarding the flow of material and information including information sharing. However, financial flow related studies have not been widely examined relatively, compared with their importance.

The information sharing is recognized as the method that can reduce the Bullwhip effect in supply chain management. The author intends to analyze the impact of financial information sharing on the results of the supply chain.

In the point of supply chain risk management view, the author examined the impact of financial flow among the various factors that can impede the stability of the supply chain.

In this study, the author embodied the simulation regarding the impact of financial information flow on supply chain performance and stability based on the system dynamics methodology and analyzed the performance.

Assuming the supply chain, composed of supplying company, manufacturing company and sales company , the author embodied the simulation model and assumed that working capital and cash information sharing were achieved. The author embodied the model to affect the settlement conditions according to the results of financial information sharing.

The purpose of the paper is to show that order flows determine exchange rate dynamics because they carry information about nonfundamental factors besides macroeconomic fundamentals.

To understand the role of nonfundamental factors in driving order flows, this study uses two approaches. Initially, Evans and Rime (2016) VAR framework is followed to study the incremental information transmitted by order flow compared to macroeconomic variables. Then, the study uses the settings in which Rime et al. (2010) conduct their empirical work, which gives the researcher more latitude in specifying the identity of the factors that drive order flows.

The findings evidence that order flows explain the dynamics of the TND/USD exchange rate. The results highlight that order flows convey information about technical strategies, the currency systematic factors and political risk. This study also documents the presence of a Ramadan effect in exchange rates and order flows.

This study makes four contributions to the literature. First, it complements the literature on the FX microstructure of emerging markets. The study investigates the information content carried by order flows, while the previous literature has focused solely on examining the explanatory power of order flows to explain exchange rates in emerging countries. The second contribution is that the study demonstrates formally that order flows determine exchange rates because they transmit information about nonfundamental factors. Third, this study is the first to examine whether order flows convey information about technical analysis. Four, the study relates order flow to nontraditional factors that are relevant to the Tunisian FX market.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.

The purpose of this paper is to identify different information flow strategies to enhance integration in strategic alliances and studies these strategies with respect to contextual factors and the impact on performance.

The paper examines empirical data gathered from 56 manufacturing companies, describing 112 supply chain relationships. An empirical taxonomy is created based on cluster analysis.

Based on a parsimonious description of inter‐firm information flows in the literature and this paper's empirical findings, three types of alliances are identified: Silent; Communicative; and IT intensive. While Silent alliances have the poorest overall performance, substantial similarities are found between Communicative and IT intensive alliances. In particular, the analysis suggests that IT intensive alliances, albeit performing better on operational capabilities, are not performing better on relationship satisfaction compared to Communicative alliances. Additional analyses indicate that partners of an IT intensive alliance are substantially more interdependent and larger in size.

This research presents a taxonomy of information flow strategies in a supply chain context. This research is not describing causality, since the data are not longitudinal in nature.

Managers need to selectively invest in IT according to an overall supply chain integration strategy, which also takes softer, less technological forms of integration into consideration.

This research provides insight into inter‐firm information flows from a contingency perspective, recognizing heterogeneity of firms and supply chain practices.

Information flow analysis is a necessary step to determine the information security for a given system. In this paper, we introduce an object oriented role‐based access control model (ORBAC) and illustrate that the confinement problem may occur on the ORBAC based system. In order to deal with the problem, a technique called information flow analysis is proposed. Moreover, under the principle of mandatory access control (MAC) security policy, a role set assignment method is developed and proved to solve the confinement problem on ORBAC.

The purpose of this paper is to study how companies can select a supply chain planning (SCP) mechanism to improve the balance between material flow and information flow.

The methodology of the paper is an inductive case study approach. Coordination theory is used as a background for the paper. Based on a literature survey, determinants of the selection of a SCP approach are defined. Cases of SCP are used to validate the framework presented.

The paper suggests that specific supply chain characteristics need to be balanced by selecting a coordination mechanism that uses information optimally to support the material flow. Flexible material flow needs frequent updates of the plan based on accurate information. If frequent information sharing and planning practices are used to support inflexible material flow, the result may be volatility in plans, and planning resources are wasted. If a flexible material flow is supported by inadequate information, waste may be produced in the material flow, in the form of excess inventories or capacity.

The paper presents a framework for finding the balance between information flows and material flows and for applying a coordination mechanism.

Companies can use the framework to analyse the management of their material flow and their use of information. In future research the framework could be developed to give more support for situations with different levels and sources of uncertainty.

The framework provides a new perspective on the discussion how information should be used to improve supply chain performance.