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This study examines the extent to which retailer's country of origin and product assortment influence retailer operating practices. Although conventional wisdom suggests practices are likely to vary by country, universal aspects of the retailing task may lead to similarities in retailing practices for a given product, regardless of national setting. To empirically investigate whether country or product is the dominant influence in determining retailer behavior, data on retailer activities in India and Africa is examined.

This research aims to establish the role of the purchasing function’s strategic alignment in the relationship between well-established practices and performance in that function. It is argued that the strategic alignment of purchasing may have effects (direct, mediating and moderating effects) on the purchasing function’s operating performance.

The hypotheses derived from key studies about strategic and advanced purchasing practices are tested with data from 156 industrial companies using structural equation modelling methodology.

The results suggest that the effect of strategic alignment on the role of purchasing consists of mediated effects on purchasing performance through implementation of certain advanced practices. It was also concluded that strategic alignment – as well as the implementation of these advanced purchasing practices – fosters the implementation of differentiation strategies based on quality, dependability and flexibility rather than on the implementation of cost leadership strategies.

Although it is a common practice in operations management research, the use of perceptual measures obtained from a single informant constitutes a noteworthy limitation. Future research should make an effort to combine different sources of information and to identify and use more objective indicators.

Top managers should take into account the need to involve the purchasing function in the firm’s strategic planning process.

The results not only confirm findings from previous literature as to the purchasing function’s strategic relevance but also help clarify the mechanisms that make this integration important.

Despite the proven benefits of high‐performing spare parts logistics, recommendations on how to organize spare parts logistics in China are rather rare. The absence of spare parts logistics concepts for China is surprising, since the spare part business is the profit pool of the capital goods industry: spare parts create about 17 percent of the industry's total revenue. The margins involved in this spare parts revenue are, on average, 25 percent compared to 2‐3 percent of the capital goods. This paper aims to offer recommendations to increase spare parts logistics performance.

The authors conducted an extensive benchmarking project with a variety of firms (focus group and single case study) in order to gain a better understanding of spare parts logistics in China. By reviewing the first benchmarking findings with a single company that struggled to achieve sufficient spare parts logistics performance, additional insight was gained into how spare parts logistics should be organized in China.

The paper attempts to provide a better understanding of the necessary changes for improving logistics performance in the Chinese market. It analyzes the necessary changes to achieve a cutting‐edge logistics solution, and shows how companies can implement the solution.

Research limitations come from the qualitative nature of the research.

Managers can use the results obtained in this study to challenge their current logistics practices and develop a project procedure on how to initiate logistics projects that lead to cutting‐edge logistics performance.

Rather than concentrating on performance benchmarks of the supply chain of spare parts or specific aspects of spare parts management, the paper develops the setting up of a cutting‐edge logistics solution for China and Asia. The cutting‐edge solution is based on two main pillars: companies should try to develop logistics solutions for Asia that consider existing Asian and Chinese constraints instead of taking the logistics practices used in mature markets and trying to adapt them to the Chinese market, and the development of the logistics solution should be in intensive collaboration with the logistics providers.

The purpose of this study is to identify sustainability practices and to propose a framework for evaluating the sustainability index of logistics service providers (LSPs).

Sustainable practices followed by LSPs are identified through literature review and analysis of a case study. Thirteen such sustainable practices are identified. Thereafter, with expert inputs, nine sustainable practices are shortlisted and considered for the evaluation of the sustainability index in the proposed framework. Graph Theory Matrix Approach has been applied to evaluate the sustainability index of an LSP.

Major practices identified for evaluating sustainability index include the use of recyclable packaging, use of renewable energy sources, green procurement, reduction in carbon emissions, use of CNG/electric vehicles, rainwater harvesting and so on. The sustainability index of an LSP is evaluated by using the proposed framework.

LSPs can benchmark their sustainability index with respect to the best in the industry. Based on it, LSPs can also identify potential areas for improvement.

Novelty of the study lies in the proposed framework for evaluation of sustainability index which can be used to develop strategies for green logistics. LSPs can also improve their performance in terms of sustainability measures by adopting green logistics.

The aim of this study is to investigate and examine the impact of strategic purchasing practices (SPP) on strategic-fit (SF) by analyzing the influence of SPP on purchasing involvement in business strategy formulation with path-goal theory leadership styles as moderators.

Using survey data from 320 respondents representing 64 manufacturing firms in the Middle East, the authors measure SPP, purchasing involvement, leadership styles and SF of the purchasing function with business strategy.

Building on the path-goal approach to leadership, results suggest that participative, supportive and achievement-oriented leadership (AOL) styles are pure moderators, while directive leadership style (DLS) is a quasi-moderator in boosting the relationship between SPP and strategic purchasing involvement (SPI).

Limitations of the sampling methodology and sample size restricts the scope for generalizing the hypotheses. Further, data were collected only from manufacturing companies. The paper provides managerial implications on purchasing involvement in business strategy formulation and the different roles of leadership styles.

This is the first scholarly work to examine the different leadership styles as a moderator that affects the strategic involvement and status of strategic purchasing.

Residential projects frequently suffer from low-risk management (RM) implementation and, consequently, are more likely to fail to meet performance objectives. With RM becoming an essential requirement, the purpose of this study is to investigate RM implementation in terms of status, risk analysis techniques, barriers and impact of RM on residential projects across the USA.

Data were collected from 105 general contractors who had completed 3,265 residential projects in the past five years. Data collection was through a US national survey sent out through emails between August and November 2019 to residential general contractor firms. The firms were randomly selected from national organizations, such as the National Association of Home Builders, Associated General Contractors of America and Associated Builders and Contractors.

The analysis indicated that RM implementation is still extremely low at 22.27%. However, there was an increase in RM implementation as the cost and duration of projects increased. Direct judgment is the most used technique. Also, the one-sample t-test indicated that the barriers have a significant impact on RM implementation. Multinomial logistic regression results indicated that the impact of lack of management support, lack of money or budget, the complexity of analytical tools and lack of time to perform analysis predict the impact on the overall performance of construction projects. Overall, the results provide empirical evidence, which can influence management’s decision-making regarding RM and improve implementation in residential projects.

There is a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of barriers to RM implementation on the performance of construction projects. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by bridging this gap through a robust analysis of data collected from real residential projects.

Attributes of leadership in logistics management today are reviewed and likely characteristics of leading logistical organisations of the future are suggested. Leading firms will continue to rely on sophisticated solutions and development of unique competences to gain differential advantage. The essence of these sophisticated solutions will be information.

Reports on recent research on “leading edge” firms, which shows that logistics plays an important role in a firm′s competitiveness. Details the evolution of advanced logistics management, analyses the essence of logistical leadership and outlines likely characteristics of the leading logistics organizations of tomorrow. Suggests that leading firms use logistical competence strategically to realize competitive advantage. Sophisticated solutions are required and information has come to play a vital role in this regard.

The paper attempts to determine whether decision‐makers in the manufacturing and retailing industry really wish to implement cooperative logistical relationships in the long term.

In order to answer the question, the authors have resorted to studying decision‐makers' private speech and to trying to discover the real meaning of their declarations. An original content analysis technique is implemented, which makes identifying hindrances to collaborative practices in the logistics channel possible.

From the main results, it can be concluded that logistical relationships still tend to lead to vertical competition. This finding is surprising when confronted with the development of academic literature on the so‐called foreseeable evolution of food marketing channels.

The research relies on a reduced sample of 17 managers of major French manufacturing and retailing firms. Moreover, the data are generated by face‐to‐face interviews, which may introduce a biased view linked to the willingness to give a positive image of the firm.

The main results underline that the generalization of collaborative practices in the logistics channel is not always present in the frame of mind of decision‐makers as it appears through their private speech. From this point of view, the research can help in conducting negotiations, as well as in training future decision‐makers in business schools.

The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of the retail marketing, merchandising, and logistical practices in the Japanese grocery supermarket sector. Most of the literature in English has focused on the structure of the sector with little detailed research on the Japanese consumer and the corporate response to retail change. This paper highlights the case of Summit Inc., which has established a niche position in the Japanese grocery market through its operational excellence.