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The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that managers have to take into consideration when they implement the strategic information systems planning (SISP) process to develop information systems (IS) in the logistics sector.

Data were collected using questionnaires to IS executives in Greek small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the logistics sector. Factor analysis is performed on the detailed items of the SISP process constructs.

The results of this paper indicate that IS executives do not focus on defining goals, which will be used to improve the operations of the supply chain for the IS development. Both IS executives and managers from the logistics department of each organization should participate in the process of information technology (IT) strategy formulation and implementation. Executives from the logistics department of each organization should be aware of implementing environmental and organizational analysis with greater meticulousness, to identify IT opportunities and apply IT strategy with greater agility rather than now.

A strategic planning process for IS development in the logistics sector is required to achieve the consistently IS planning objectives. This is an important challenge for executives in SMEs who do not concentrate on implementing a strategic planning process for IS development.

This paper examines the factors that influence the strategic development of IS in the logistics sector and improve the effectiveness of decision-making regarding the supply chain’s operation.

The objective of this research is to analyze the extent to which street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) have exercised discretion (low, medium and high) and the contributing factors involved (i.e. the influence of personal, work environment and demographic factors on the exercise of discretion).

The mixed-methods research uses the embedded design approach. Data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic through a survey of 2,867 Official Certifier of Title Deeds (Pejabat Pembuat Akta Tanah/PPAT) as SLBs spread across fifty regencies/cities in ten provinces in Indonesia.

This field study found a significant and positive correlation between SLBs' economic motive and the client's knowledge of land issues with the exercise of discretion. In addition, the study found a significant correlation between the age and gender of SLBs and their practice of discretion.

This study provides insights into that new policies should not further complicate the system but reduce face-to-face interactions between SLBs and their clients by allowing digital technology.

The novelty of this research is the paradox of SLB service during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from the paradoxes identified in earlier studies. SLBs commonly cope with service paradox by limiting their services or focusing solely on the most profitable clientele. However, this study shows that some SLBs actively reach out to clients using a “friendly” service model.

University strategic planning for information systems and management was investigated for four Indonesian higher educational institutions. A combination of the case study approach and a survey of a small sample of academic staff who have used the systems, was undertaken. Staff perceptions of the service from information systems are described, and related to their perceptions of planning for these systems. A number of evaluations of specific information sources and delivery are given in detail. Policy document analysis showed little information systems planning as part of the university strategic planning. Some observations are made about the influence of strategic information system planning upon successful use of a university’s information systems.

Entrepreneurship, Strategic Marketing, Innovation, New Product Development (NPD).

This case is suitable to be used in advanced undergraduate and MBA/MSc.

This case illustrates the challenges related to designing and launching an innovative product in the market. It revolves around the issues pertaining to smart organic fertilizer's (SOF) pre- and post-launch experiences. Haji Sani Kimi, a Senior Research Officer of the Strategic Research Centre at MARDI, had developed a zeolite-based organic fertilizer which he believed to be the first of its kind in Malaysia. He had taken five years to complete his research in developing SOF. Seeing its potential benefits for the land and farmers, the then Director General of MARDI asked Sani to speed up the process of technology transfer to be the first to launch the product in the market. In 2005, MARDI established a five-year agreement with Hicotech Sendirian Berhad to license its intellectual property rights (IPR). Adnan, a successful automobile business entrepreneur, ventured into the organic fertilizer business, as this product was in high demand and extensively used by paddy farmers in Malaysia and was subsidized by the government. However, Hicotech failed to get government contract to supply organic fertilizer under the government subsidy program. As such, it had to compete in the open market which was dominated by already-established Chinese entrepreneurs. At the beginning, SOF was doing well in the market, but, during 2007, Hicotech experienced great financial loss due to its mismanagement of collecting payment from its customers. Hicotech tried to work in partnership with ABH Mega Sendirian Berhad to overcome its financial difficulties. However, due to some disagreements, the collaboration was terminated within a short period of time. From 2005 to the end of 2009, Hicotech was not able to pay any royalties to MARDI and the license of Hicotech was to expire in February 2010. Haji Sani was trying to get a solution to revive SOF in the market. Moreover, he was confused whether to renew the license of SOF IPR with Hicotech or to search for another company.

Using this case, students can learn how a small- and/or medium-scale companies can strategize their new product launch. Based on the given industry scenario, students can realize the potential challenges that are related to launching a new product. Furthermore, this case demonstrates that producing a high-quality product is not enough to succeed in the market; the right strategy also plays an important role in making it successful. Last, it can be also learned that proper managerial control and financial support are two important factors that contributes in any business success. Overall, strategic marketing/management students will learn the importance of adopting proper strategy, while the students who are undertaking the new product development course benefit by seeing the practical situation of a new product launch, its rise and its fall.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This study's main objective is to examine the effect of learning from entrepreneurial failure on performance, with a type of failure as a moderator variable. Interactions between internal and external causes of failure and learning from entrepreneurial failure are also investigated, as well as entrepreneurs' aspects (i.e. age, experience and education) and organisational contextual factors (i.e. size, sector and location).

This study employed a hypothetico-deductive approach through a survey of 250 purposively sampled entrepreneurs who had suffered business failures. The survey data were subjected to regression analysis and moderated regression using WarpPLS software and an independent sample t test for an in-depth analysis.

The results indicated that learning from entrepreneurial failure positively affected business performance, an effect moderated by the type of failure, particularly with large failures. Only perceived internal causes of failure exerted a positive effect on learning from entrepreneurial failure; the external causes did not. The effect of failure on business performance was stronger on entrepreneurs who were older and experienced, had non-university educations and operated small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) outside Java–Bali islands.

This study's findings provide empirical evidence that supports the experiential learning theory and attribution theory in explaining the interaction between learning and failure, its cause, its consequences and its magnitude as perceived by entrepreneurs of SMEs in Indonesia, where the rate of failure is relatively high. The authors’ study also emphasises the roles of the entrepreneur and organisational contextual factors, which matter in learning to improve performance.

The hybrid convenience store, a convenient shopping as well as dining environment, is an innovative concept in both the convenience store sector and the food service industry in Taiwan. As Taiwan has taken the lead in the development of the convenience store sector, this phenomenon deserves further investigation so as to assist convenience store operators and restaurateurs in Taiwan in formulating strategies to cope with this trend. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the facilitators of the hybrid convenience store concept accepted by consumers within the framework of Rogers' diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory.

The data in the form of self‐completion survey are collected in MRT stations in Taipei. In total of 289 questionnaires are collected and used for data analysis.

It is found that the higher the levels of “compatibility”, “observability” and “trialability” are, the higher the likelihood that potential consumers will dine in hybrid convenience stores. It is also found that lower levels of “complexity” also increase the likelihood that potential consumers will dine in hybrid convenience stores. However, the findings do not support “relative advantage” as a facilitator.

The research findings reveal that consumers in urban areas of Taiwan have gradually accepted the innovative concept of dining in hybrid convenience stores. According to the findings, a number of strategies might be applied in order to facilitate the adoption of the dining concept in hybrid convenience stores by potential consumers in Taiwan. For example, the dining process of fast food restaurants can be possible to emulate; having meals on a trial basis can be applied; TV commercials and word of mouth marketing strategies can also be employed.

This paper extends/validates the DOI theory in the Taiwanese convenience store sector and as a consequence, this paper serves as a basic building block in the formulation of pertinent marketing strategies geared toward sustaining and/or increasing consumer patronage in hybrid convenience stores.

This paper attempts to examine which theory is best at explaining the geographic concentration in Java, an island in which most of the Indonesia’s large and medium manufacturing industries have located overwhelmingly. Our previous studies on Java have found that there was a stable – albeit increasing trend – and persistent geographic concentration in Java over the period 1976‐1995. Yet some critical questions exist: Why geographic concentration in Java persisted during this period? To what extent relevant theories and empirical literature can be used as an explicit test of competing theories on agglomeration forces? In answering those questions, we compare the three major grand theories of geographic concentration: Neo‐Classical Theory (NCT), New Trade Theory (NTT) and New Economic Geography (NEG). Using the regional specialization index as a measure of geographic concentration of manufacturing industry and pooling data over the period 1991‐002, our econometric analysis integrates the perspectives of industry, region (space) and time. We further explore the nature and dynamics of agglomeration forces underpinning the industrial agglomeration in Java by testing some key variables. Our econometric results rejected the NCT hypotheses and showed that the NTT and NEG can better explain the phenomena. It’s apparent that manufacturing firms in Java seek to locate in more populous and densely populated areas in order to enjoy both localization economies and urbanization economies, as shown by the significance of scale economies and income per capita. The former is associated with the size of a particular industry, while the latter reflects the size of a market in a particular urban area. More importantly, the results suggest that there is a synergy between thickness of market and agglomeration forces. The interplay of agglomeration economies is intensified by the imperfect competition of Java’s market structure. We find that Java’s market structure may restrict competition so that firms tend to concentrate geographically. Instead of providing some important recommendations for local and central governments and practical implications for investors and manufacturing firms, this paper gives empirical evidence with respect to path dependency hypothesis. The finding supports the NEG’s belief that history matters: older firms tend to enhance regional specialization.

Library quality assurance systems are collaborative governances that facilitate the presentation of data on international accreditation of departments, which contains data on services, human resources, library facilities and infrastructure. This research analyzes the supporting and inhibiting factors and the advantages of the library quality assurance system in supporting international accreditation of departments at Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Surakarta, Indonesia using Talcott Persons' theory of structural functionalism.

Primary data in exploratory research and action research obtained from the Quality Assurance Team at the university level under the Educational Quality Assurance and Development Institute (LPPMP), the Quality Assurance Unit (UPM) at the faculty level and the Quality Control Group (GKM) at the department, librarian and academic community levels. Supporting informants are international assessor practitioners. Data validation using source triangulation, namely information obtained through different sources, and method triangulation through different methods. Data obtained from library studies, observations, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), documentation and interviews with staff, library leaders, lecturers from departments that have and will carry out international accreditation and UNS students and analyzed interactive analysis models, namely data reduction, data presentation and concluding.

The research results show that the UNS Library quality assurance system facilitates higher education organizations, such as bachelor's, master's and doctoral departments at UNS; search and presentation of international accreditation data. Supporting factors include the availability of digital library systems, online catalogs (UNSLA), e-journal and e-book databases, library websites and library data links for accreditation; facilities and infrastructure consist of indoor-outdoor study rooms; library social media; Self Access Terminal room; facilities for international students; involvement of librarians in international internships/conferences, librarians who have had competency tests and certification; librarians pursuing doctoral degree and support for student interns in system development. Inhibiting factors include the unavailability of programmers and dependence on UNS Information and Communication of Technology Unit. The benefits of the department quality assurance system include accelerating and improving the organization's quality and presentation of international accreditation data for departments at UNS.

This type of qualitative research with an exploratory approach takes library study data, observations and in-depth interviews with library staff and quality assurance of departments. The informants were selected using purposive sampling, which was adjusted to the needs and interests of the research. It also uses the action research method, a collaboration between the quality assurance unit, librarians and academics. Action research is a form of collective self-reflection that involves a series of daily activities, which include the processes of research, diagnosis, planning, implementation, monitoring and establishing the necessary relationships between evaluation and self-development. The research object is something that will be subject to conclusions resulting from something that will be discussed in the research. The object of this research is the quality assurance of the UNS Library. Primary data was obtained from the Quality Assurance Team at the university level under the LPPMP, the Quality Assurance Unit (UPM) at the faculty level and the Quality Control Group (GKM) at the department, librarian and academic community levels. Supporting informants are international assessor practitioners. Data will be collected using observation, in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and documentation. To ensure the validity of the data, source triangulation is used, namely, information obtained through different sources, as well as method triangulation through different methods, for example, interviews with observation or FGD. Data analysis using an interactive analysis model, namely data reduction, data presentation and concluding. This research was conducted at the UNS Library, with the research object being all departments at Sebelas Maret University, which have and will undergo international accreditation.

This paper aims to provide a bibliometric meta-analysis of the already substantial and growing literature on international franchising. Franchising is a model for businesses to achieve scale with limited resources. International franchising is a mode of entry that allows firms to develop new markets with relatively little risk but also little control.

Using a systematic approach, the paper identifies all articles in the ISI Web of Science from 1970 to 2018 that includes the term international franchising (in the title, the abstract or keywords) and finds 131 articles. This paper used HistCite software to analyze the bibliometric data.

Four major research clusters in the international franchising literature are identified. In addition, this study shows a change in research patterns regarding topics, theories and methodologies from the 1970s through 2018. The paper presents the most influential articles, authors and journals.

From the analyzes, this study develops a conceptual framework of international franchising and suggest avenues for future research.