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States that there is compelling evidence that the Japanese retail distribution system is changing. This study uses census data for ten years (1985 to 1994) to understand past changes in the structure of the retail distribution system. To understand the likely changes to the distribution system in the future, data were collected from 136 Japanese manufacturers and retailers. Results suggest significant future changes in the number of retailers, specialty stores, general merchandise stores, discount stores, and non‐store retailing.

Practitioners often are confused by theories that offer ambiguous prescriptions for designing the institutional forms or governance structures in which business activities are conducted. Unclear prescriptions for organizing tasks within the main governance alternatives leave key design decisions unguided: which tasks to perform in‐house (hierarchy), which to contract to outside agencies (market), and which to perform jointly by economic units within and outside the firm (hybrid)? A popular current theory ‐ transaction cost analysis ‐ suggests that governance structures should be aligned to tasks in a “mainly transaction cost economizing way.” Argues that the importance of transaction costs is overstated, and that observed patterns of firms’ governance structures suggest that firms also account for other theoretical issues ‐ production costs and strategic considerations ‐ in determining efficient boundaries. Begins by illustrating that transaction costs are not always primary. Then discusses the factors that impact production costs and transaction costs, and reviews certain strategic considerations that impact the choice of governance structure for a task. Offers practitioners guidance in choosing governance structures through a contingency analysis that examines the interaction of production costs, transaction costs, and strategic considerations. Illustrates normative implications for designing governance structures through corporate examples that are driven by both cost and strategy considerations.

Many business‐to‐business buyers are building closer relationships with fewer sellers. When faced with the choice of which sellers to partner with, buyers often develop such close relationships with sellers who have made transaction‐specific investments (TSIs). TSIs are assets (both tangible and intangible) that have very little value outside a particular relationship. Sellers thinking of making these TSIs need to be able to assess the buyer′s probable response to such investments to help determine whether such investments would be advisable for the seller. Develops and tests a model of buyer‐seller relationships to assess the impact of a TSI on buyer′s perceptions of the benefits to the seller′s TSI. Using previous literature and managerial evidence, the model hypothesizes two paths within the TSI Benefits Model which represent the benefits that the buyer perceives to be outcomes of the TSI. Identifying the one benefit path that the buyer values more will allow the seller to stress those corresponding benefits that lead to the development of a closer relationship with the buyer.

Seeks to provide a historical case study of the founding and development of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing from the perspective of the two editors of the journal covering the first 20 years of publication.

The editors report on their experiences of establishing and nurturing the journal over a 20‐year period. Individual experiences are reported along with specific historical events and specific journal contents.

The paper provides information about the history of the journal and its founding, indicating the difficulties and managerial skills necessary to accomplish such a task. The paper also recognizes the 20‐year growth and contribution of the journal and those who contributed to it.

The viewpoints of the editors are anecdotal and recall events as far back as 20 years. They summarize the events of a 20‐year period in the article, relying on memory and information from archival files.

The paper provides one description of the founding and development of a leading journal in the field of business and industrial marketing. A list is presented summarizing Special Issues and significant milestones of the journal. The paper is a must‐read for anyone contemplating starting a new journal.

This article presents the only complete history of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.

Examines the recent research on advertising in mainland China over the 1979‐1998 period. Suggests that findings show a sustained effort in academic research/publications on advertising in China is in the early stage of its development and whilst many areas have been researched, there are many more yet to be touched. Concludes that the research is seldom based on established theoretical or conceptual framework and the research methods and types of analysis used have not been very advanced when compared to general advertising research.

This paper aims at developing a conceptual framework to identify the main features of supply chain innovation and to analyse the role of dynamic capabilities in implementing such innovations in the context of the fashion-luxury industry.

The paper follows an exploratory approach based on one in-depth case study. The theoretical framework, developed through the literature review, is applied to a Italian fashion-luxury company, thus exploring its applicability in a real context and obtaining evidence in the area of supply chain innovation.

The paper offers insights on supply chain innovation, by investigating an area under-explored in the existing literature. The paper provides a conceptual framework oriented to analyse the main features of supply chain innovation for fashion-luxury companies, by investigating the main determinants of innovation.

The proposed model provides initial insights into the topic of supply chain innovation in fashion-luxury companies. To date, the analysis is predominantly qualitative and therefore replication is needed to generalise the results.

The paper identifies three different perspectives of supply chain innovation and the relationships between supply chain innovation and other types of innovations, which are hopefully useful for managers that are willing to introduce innovation inside fashion-luxury companies.

The paper addresses a new topic, underexplored in the supply chain management literature, by considering a peculiar area of investigation, the fashion-luxury. Moreover, the paper investigates the topic of supply chain innovation through the support of empirical data.