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Compares the intended operations strategy of 112 manufacturing plants in the metal‐working industries with the realized strategy, as measured by investments designed to improve both the manfucturing structure and infrastructure. Data were collected via a mail survey administered to 202 plants in 1994, and re‐administered to 112 of the same plants in 1996. Examines how the emphasis placed on four key competitive priorities (cost, flexibility, delivery and quality) is associated with investment a company makes to support these objectives. The data indicate that companies support their key competitive priorities both through investments in structural improvement and through investments in infrastructural improvement. Two findings contradict the established literature. First, investments in design‐based advanced manufacturing technologies are not associated with a strategic emphasis on any of the four competitive priorities. Second, plants which emphasized flexibiltiy as a key component of their operations strategy did not invest in either structural or infrastructural improvements to support this objective.

Over the last year, the introduction of effective quality systems and the achievement of high quality products represented fundamental competitive incentives for the adoption of total quality management practices. Unfortunately, many empirical studies demonstrate that most of the quality based programmes introduced within small firms did not improve their competitive position and profitability. The reason for such a failure is threefold: ambiguity of quality dimension, lack of suitable decisional tools and distinctive features characterising small firms. Hence, the objective of this paper is to provide small firms’ managers with a decisional tool (derived from the Fuzzy Sets Theory) aimed at supporting the evaluation process and at selecting the most suitable investments within different competitive contexts.

In the present scenario of e‐globalization, small scale industries (SSIs) are considered engine for economic growth all over the world. After markets globalization, SSIs are facing many pressures and constraints to sustain their competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to examine various issues in context of Indian SSIs such as nature of pressures and constraints, competitive priorities, competencies development, areas of investment, and their relationship with performance.

For collecting data, a questionnaire‐based survey was conducted. In total, 75 valid responses were received. Statistical analysis of data acquired from survey is done by reliability test, t‐test, and correlation analysis.

Cost reduction, quality improvement, and delivery in time have emerged as major challenges for SSIs. Market research, welfare of employees, and research and development are found as major areas for investment. Use of information technology, training of employees, and research and development has significant relationship with performance.

Organizations should develop their strategies after analysing business environment and SSIs should utilize their resources judiciously. However, it is felt that this study can be further explored by considering other aspects of strategy development such as human resource, vendor development, organization culture, etc.

Findings and issues of the paper will be highly useful for SSIs in framing their strategies, and academia for further research in the context of changing market scenario.

In globalized market, organizations of all sizes are having huge opportunities for growth. However, due to various resource constraints, it has become challenging for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of growing economies to survive in this global competition. Effective supply chain management (SCM) can be a major driving factor for success of Indian SMEs in dynamic world economy. SMEs face many operational challenges while implementing effective SCM. The purpose of this paper is to study different strategic issues for successful implementation of SCM in Indian SMEs.

A survey has been conducted in Indian SMEs of different sectors. Major constructs of survey instrument are motivations, hindrances, investment priorities, supply chain practices and performance. In total, 1,500 Indian SMEs have been approached for collecting response through survey instrument. 257 complete responses were finalized. Statistical analysis of data acquired from survey is performed by using SPSS software.

It is observed that managing customers, organization resources, and inventory are main SCM practices. Major investment areas are systems for developing quick response and quality management. Currently, human resource and knowledge management have been found to be less priority areas for SMEs. The major focus of Indian SMEs is on cost and lead time reduction by having effective SCM.

Novelty of this study is that strategic issues for effective SCM in context to Indian SMEs have been analyzed. The findings of the study will help Indian SMEs in doing strategic planning for being competitive in the global market.

There is a stream of literature highlighting the enormous growth potential of emerging markets. This literature forms the basis for strategic investment decisions made by multinational corporations (MNCs). Seeking to question the findings of this literature, this paper aims to undertake a comparison of the BRIC countries with that of Germany as a representative mature market to put into perspective the short to medium‐term market potential of BRIC markets.

An analysis of the geographical investment priorities of 25 DAX multinationals operating in the real economy and a statistical comparison of market size and growth between BRIC countries and Germany are undertaken.

While the majority of the DAX companies examined focused their strategic investment priorities on emerging markets, the short‐ to mid‐term revenue potential of the BRIC countries – currently the most important emerging markets – are expected to be lower in absolute terms than those for mature markets such as Germany. This holds true on several levels of granularity, such as GPD per capita, size and growth of high‐income market segments.

The considerable “hype” surrounding focusing investment on emerging markets needs closer scrutiny. Further research is required to subject the reasons behind the strategic investments of MNCs in BRIC countries to more detailed analysis. This encompasses, for example, a closer consideration of the extent to which messages from the company reports might not reflect true strategic priorities but rather represent a means of public relations or tactical ploys. Next, the impact of real long‐term expectations and potential bandwagon effects require further study. Finally, a comprehensive theoretical model placing emerging market growth into a broader perspective has yet to be developed.

Decision makers in business, government and NGOs should not be misled by the “hype” surrounding emerging markets. In many industries, BRIC countries do and will provide smaller markets when compared to mature markets like Germany.

Direct comparison of market growth in the BRIC countries and that in Germany reveals greater short‐ to medium‐term absolute growth potential in Germany, a fact often ignored by current literature on international growth strategies and not reflected in the growth priorities published by German DAX companies.

This study aims to demonstrate how banks can align their CSR investment to community needs and citizen preferences. A grounded theory inductive approach is applied to deliver a community-centred process that banks can apply to inform CSR investment decisions.

This study employed a sequential mixed-method research design to identify areas of need from the perspective of community leaders and members through depth interviews. Following thematic analysis, citizen preferences for eight priority areas were elicited using best-worst scaling (BWS).

Clear investment preferences emerged with citizens preferring six community investment causes, namely, (1) infrastructure, (2) crisis and prevention support, (3) community groups, (4) youth facilities and activities, (5) initiatives that support the local environment, and (6) physical activity promotion. The forming of community advisory committees emerged as one approach that banks could apply to ensure long-term citizen-centred CSR investment decisions.

This study is limited to one community and one community bank and a small convenience, cross-sectional data sample.

Community-oriented financial institutions should centre investment decisions on community need and citizen preferences ensuring investments made deliver the greatest societal benefit and community support for the banks is garnered.

This paper provides important contributions to improve the effectiveness of CSR initiatives, providing an inductive, methodological approach that financial institutions can follow to better align their CSR investment to community needs and preferences.

Bond investing requires decision-making on multiple levels. Some criteria are qualitative, some are quantitative, and there may be conflicting objectives such as avoidance of credit risk versus need for income. Since managers of endowment funds must allocate their assets based on numerous dimensions, a multi-criteria decision model can help to evaluate competing criteria. We describe the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which allows investors to integrate multiple decision criteria, and apply the model to the sector allocation problem faced by managers of endowment portfolios. The AHP gives rise to a flexible model for bond investors for a range of economic scenarios, risk profiles, and time horizons.

The purpose of this study is to analyse different aspects of competitiveness relating to the Indian auto component sector, set within a globalised economy with its attendant pressures and constraints. It examines the strategies adopted for quality improvement, cost reduction, investment and competency development. It also aims to establish the relationship between strategies and the different dimensions of competitiveness.

A questionnaire was used to collect the research data: 75 valid responses were received. Statistical analysis of data acquired from the survey was carried out by a reliability test, t‐test and correlation analysis.

A growth‐supportive environment, raising funds from the market and a shortage of technical manpower are major constraining factors whereas cost, quality, and delivery time are the main pressures on the auto component sector. The auto component sector is flexible in developing strategies and those strategies relating to cost, quality; investment and competency development are significantly correlated with competitiveness.

This study could be further extended by considering other aspects of strategy development, such as human resource, vendor development, organization culture, etc.

Organisations should make the necessary investment to develop new competencies, and should address cost reduction and quality improvement. They should also benchmark themselves against industry standards to sustain competitiveness.

This study will help organizations in shaping competitive strategies and in deciding dimensions of performance measurement.

It was not until the late 1960s that housing attracted much attention from academic social scientists. Since that time the literature has expanded widely and diversified, establishing housing with a specialised status in economics, sociology, politics, and in related subjects. As we would expect, the new literature covers a technical, statistical, theoretical, ideological, and historical range. Housing studies have not been conceived and interpreted in a monolithic way, with generally accepted concepts and principles, or with uniformly fixed and precise methodological approaches. Instead, some studies have been derived selectively from diverse bases in conventional theories in economics or sociology, or politics. Others have their origins in less conventional social theory, including neo‐Marxist theory which has had a wider intellectual following in the modern democracies since the mid‐1970s. With all this diversity, and in a context where ideological positions compete, housing studies have consequently left in their wake some significant controversies and some gaps in evaluative perspective. In short, the new housing intellectuals have written from personal commitments to particular cognitive, theoretical, ideological, and national positions and experiences. This present piece of writing takes up the two main themes which have emerged in the recent literature. These themes are first, questions relating to building and developing housing theory, and, second, the issue of how we are to conceptualise housing and relate it to policy studies. We shall be arguing that the two themes are closely related: in order to create a useful housing theory we must have awareness and understanding of housing practice and the nature of housing.

Individual investors are experiencing serious sentiment shifts that influence their financial activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic while socially responsible investment (SRI) has garnered attention worldwide. This study aims to explore how individual investors’ sentiments and investment choices altered in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We surveyed 1,219 individual investors in Japan, the USA and Germany using an online questionnaire and performed a cross-sectional analysis using logit and ordered logit regressions.

This study found that individual investor sentiment affects SRI after COVID-19, but not necessarily in the same manner. Return-focused aspects negatively affect their SRI, while relationship-oriented social issues positively affect it. In addition, the relationship differs by nation. Japanese investors anticipate shorter term SRI returns than the US and German investors. Only Japanese investors’ SRI decisions were impacted by the relationship-oriented social factors including the environment, diversity and employee rights and welfare.

This study emphasizes the need for precise motivation characterization when evaluating the same issue. The author also identified the variance and characteristics among countries, which differ from previous research.

An academically credible image of the relationship will enable business managers to find appealing strategies. This study also suggests country-specific investor relations strategies.

This study differentiates return- and relationship-oriented social motivations for SRI into 14 components, thus clarifying the relationship mechanism between the COVID-19 pandemic and individual investors’ SRI behavior. Moreover, no study has compared individual investor sentiment and investment behavior affected by the pandemic in the three countries.