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Examines Just‐in‐Time (JIT) from its evolution as a Japanese concept through to a review of its philosophy and implementation. Cites several techniques of implementation. Includes a review of the early work of various researchers and practitioners. Concludes that JIT is a very effective manufacturing philosophy which is universal in nature encompassing all aspects of manufacturing. Suggests a few deficiencies in current literature.

Just‐in‐time manufacturing is one of the most important management developments of the last decade and a half. Articles on the subject have virtually flooded the business periodical literature. Yet despite the proliferation of this literature, there are indications that the fundamental implications of this concept as an effective competitive strategy have not been fully grasped by U.S. manufacturers. This article attempts to integrate the manufacturing strategy of just‐in‐time with an important element of the firm's marketing strategy—the price element of the marketing mix. Given the competitive pressures on many U.S. firms, price becomes an increasingly important competitive weapon. Only when the benefits deriving from just‐in‐time show up in a firm's marketing strategy will U.S. firms demonstrate an ability to translate an effective manufacturing strategy into a significant competitive edge.

In international business (IB), the discussion of COVID-19-related global value chain (GVC) models driving resilience has taken momentum since May 2020. The purpose of this study is to uncover insights that the pandemic provided as a unique research opportunity, holistically, revealing the significant role of non-lead firms in GVC outcomes and resilience. This allows to extend theory as the authors critically identify impact criteria and assess interdependence and valence, thus progressing the traditional (pre-pandemic) IB view of GVC governance and orchestration.

This study opts for an integrative review to help create a much-needed extension of IB theory by means of a critical perspective on GVC theory. The authors examine the extant body of IB literature as the relevant stock of collective IB knowledge prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, uncovering contributions – with a focus on the role of non-lead firms in orchestration and resilience – that allows to clarify what was not evident pre-pandemic. With this, the authors move the theory from its efficiency focus to a better recognition of the interdependencies of power and profit outcomes stemming from asymmetries of interrelationships. By design, the authors focus on the unique research period of the pandemic and orchestration complexities along the development of configurational arguments beyond simple correlations (Fiss, 2011), revealing key dependencies as key themes. The authors highlight further research avenues following Snyder (2019) that are called upon to strengthen that understanding and that helps extend theory.

This research provides a critical perspective on the application of the traditional IB views for GVC governance (designed for efficiency, cost and proximity to markets with pre-dominance for just in time), which has shifted during the pandemic to accommodate for adaptation and adjustment to resilience and just in case considerations. The holistic review reveals not only the key country- and multinational enterprise (MNE)-dependencies with residual impact determining the balance between just-in-time and just-in-case. Also, the authors advance the understanding of the (un)balance of the traditional GVC – focused on just-in-case rather than just-in-time through a lead and non-lead GVC participation and power lens yet rarely observed. The authors find that governance should not be construed as “management” such that it resolves into decisions undertaken in lead firms for execution in subordinate GVC participants. Autonomy allows to subsidiary units by MNE lead firms and/or exercised by (mainly, innovative) non-subsidiary GVC participant firms, is uncovered as a key driver in this. Greater delegation capacity appears to help provide resilience to loss in profit, with a recognition that there may be a dynamic trade-off between power and profit. In addition, the authors are able to identify correlations with innovation, demand elasticity, digital uptake, investment and other, that the authors trust will set the scene for additional research deepening and extending the findings.

Integrative literature reviews include a problem formulation (i.e. that is limited to published topics around an emerging theme) and are hence very focused in nature and approach. This applies to this paper. Data analysis in this method is not typically using statistical methods in contrast to meta-analyses. Also, the authors limit the sample to a relatively short time period with 33 publications analysed, purposefully focusing on the most prompt and “acute” insights into GVCs during the pandemic.

The traditional GVC governance model is designed for efficiency, cost and proximity to markets with pre-dominance for just in time. The authors reveal dependencies that are instrumental to better understand lead and non-lead interaction and relative autonomy, with a focus on residual impact determining the balance between just-in-time and just-in-case that, if in the sought equilibrium and agile, can allow alignment with context and this resilience. This paper specifically provides practical insights and visualization that highlights stages/“ripple” effects and their impact and the questions to ask as stakeholders look for GVC resilience. This includes, int.al., firms and their role as strategic agents, prompting participants through the learnings from exogenous shock to realign their strategies, redistributed manufacturing of production across subsidiary and non-subsidiary non-lead firms, greater competition and hence power for suppliers leveraging resilience and innovation, greater understanding of localization and regionalization of production of essential supplies, interaction with governments, and of investment impacts abroad especially to secure GVC participation.

The insights provided through this extension of theory with its literature review reveal the importance of aligning IB research into GVCs to factors that became visible through alternative or unusual settings, as they have the power to reveal the limitations of traditional views. In this case, a mainly efficiency-led, just-in-time focused GVC governance model is reviewed through the literature that emanated during the pandemic, with a critical perspective, which helped uncover and underline the complexities and evolution of GVC governance, providing fundamental support to solutioning the continuing global supply chain challenges that started as a result of the pandemic and are yet again accelerated by the Ukraine and Middle Eastern wars and its impact with, int.al., concerns over possible severe global food, labour/migration and resources crises. IB holds a social responsibility to help identify critical challenges from the disciplinary perspective and help advance resilience for social benefit.

This paper supports the original IB theory development by extending GVC theory into the lead – non-lead dynamics that may, under certain conditions, provide a “Resilience wall” for GVCs. The value created through insights stemming from a unique period of time for GVC is significant. It allows us thus also to pave the way to an emerging and critical research adaption looking into equilibrium, nuancing demand elasticity, better understanding trade and investment impacts along GVCs and more. By examining views on the sources of pandemic risks in a possibly unique setting, the authors offer added value from extant IB research insights by combining them, revealing the importance for GVCs to investigate not only key dependencies between the exogenous shock, i.e. context, and the impacts assessed through this literature but to further use their inherent value to create a framework for further conceptualization and extension of the traditional IB view on GVC governance. This work illustrates the urgency and importance for IB to take a timely and possibly more critical approach to the investigation of governance models that have, to date, shown some significant limitations.

The information age, where ICT is an essential tool for harnessing and disseminating information, has brought with it a number of very attractive innovations for libraries, such as the provision of information in electronic form, and the gradual move away from the just‐in‐case model, to the just‐in‐time service model, adopted by many libraries in the developed world. Many libraries in developing countries are still pondering the implications of going down the just‐in‐time route. Discusses the advantages and disadvantages for academic and research libraries, considers the experience of libraries in developed countries that have adopted the just‐in‐time model (using electronic resources) for services and draws lessons that academic and research libraries in developing countries can learn from.

Teaching students basic differences among various production systems, such as the American JIC (Just‐in‐case) system, the Japanese JIT (Just‐in‐time) system and the latest OPT (Optimised‐Production‐Technology) system, is not a simple task. Students can be taught basic principles, but whether they truly understand and appreciate what makes one technique superior to another is questionable. After considerable experience in teaching JIC, JIT and OPT, and because of the above concerns, this author has designed a human simulation, called the Production Walk Games. Through these production walks, students not only learn, but also experience, three production methods. The production techniques are briefly discussed and how they are simulated for the students through their production walk games is explained. Two sets of results of these walks are presented and briefly analysed.

Noting moves towards just‐in‐time production methods in the UK passenger vehicle industry, the impact of such moves at the retail and distribution end of the supply chain is considered. Based on interviews with a number of vehicle retailers selling cars manufactured both in the UK and overseas, it appears as if little progress towards true just‐in‐time (as practised by Toyota in Japan) is occurring.

This issue contains abstract under the following headings: Logistics & Distribution Strategy; Supply Chain Management; IT in Logistics & Distribution; Just‐in‐Time Management; and Accounting for Logistics.

Successful manufacturing applications of the Just‐in‐time (JIT) management philosophy have been well documented in the literature. Utilisation of JIT techniques within manufacturing offers the potential for significant operational improvements beyond inventory reduction. JIT‐related improvements include increases in quality, improved employee productivity, decreases in stockouts, and reductions in customer response time. Relatively little research has focused on the transferability of JIT concepts to other functional areas. The article explores the application of JIT concepts to a specific logistics function – transportation. Although review of the literature suggests that JIT systems significantly impact on the transportation function, no methodology was identified for incorporating the just‐in‐time philosophy within a transportation firm in a totally integrated manner. Therefore, two models are proposed illustrating the authors′ conceptualisation of the phased development and implementation of JIT.

This article examines the impact of introducing computer technology in just‐in‐time (JIT) systems. Literature review has generally supported the notion that introducing computers within JIT production systems may enhance productivity. Also, the productivity of a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) system may be enhanced by integrating it with the just‐in‐time (JIT) production system. This integrated production system is called the computer integrated just‐in‐time (CIJIT) production system. This empirical study provides strong evidence that integration of CIM and JIT can significantly improve a firm′s productivity and competitiveness.

A management system which has been used in Japan's Toyota Motor Company for many years is described. The system is applicable to the assembled goods industry and is widely used in such circumstances in that country. It extends well beyond production and inventory control and incorporates a number of features of a decidedly Japanese nature. Dominant among these is just‐in‐time production which is examined at some length. Also described is Kanban, and several of its elements, which is an essential aspect of just‐in‐time production.