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The purpose of this paper is to identify the radio frequency identification (RFID) strategic value attributes (RFIDSVAs) mechanism selections preferences and also integration of RFID tags with technology coordination tools (IRTWTCTs) alternatives ranking performance decisions in supply chain management (SCM). RFID-enabled techno-economic feasibility decisions are enhancing the SC visibility in apparel supply chains (ASCs). The RFIDSVAs mechanism selections have performed significant agility to strategic competitive advantages, namely, inventory visibility, multi-tags ownership transfer within trusted third party, etc.

Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and FAHP-fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) approaches have been used to evaluate the quantitative assessment of RFIDSVA mechanisms selection decision based on weight priority orders and IRTWTCTs alternatives selection in ASC networks. The comparison of FAHP and FAHP-FTOPSIS approaches to evaluate the integrated framework develop in RFIDSVAs mechanisms and IRTWTCTs alternatives selection decisions in Indian multi-tier ASC networks.

The result found that the FAHP-FTOPSIS approaches have used to prioritizing the RFIDSVA mechanism selection weights and also identify the IRTWTCTs alternatives ranking preferences order in apparel SCM. The comparison between the FAHP and FAHP-FTOPSIS approach to quantitative assessments from RFIDSVA mechanisms and IRTWTCTs alternatives selection decisions, which enable them SC agility potential across multi-tier visibility in ASC networks. ASC stakeholders can be benefited by techno-economic feasibility decisions, RFID-enabled shop floor activities, multi-tags ownerships transfer in SCs and knowledge-based cryptography tags/items separation in SCs.

The research work has considered only five RFIDSVA mechanisms and also three integration of RFIDTWTCTs alternatives in multi-tier ASC. The strategic competitive advantages are achieved by RFID-enabled break-even tags price decisions and also techno-economic feasibility decision by contractual design multi-tier SC stakeholder’s involvements.

The pilot project study explores that the quantitative assessment decision has based on RFID-enable techno-economic feasibility in ASCs. Stakeholders can be benefited by inventory control of the financial losses, reducing the inventory inaccuracies and multi-tags ownership transfer within trusted third-party traceability in ASC networks.

This study explores the RFID-enabled apparel SC process and activities visibility (natural fibre’s fibre producer, fibre dyeing producer, yarn spinning producer, knitting and finishing producer).

Although previous research has reached an agreement that finding appropriate alliance partners and reducing selection uncertainty are important for achieving high alliance performance, it has not explored (1) how organizations reduce selection uncertainty, (2) what mechanism enables organizations to do so, and, more generally, (3) how organizations form alliances. This research examined these research questions by conducting fieldwork at 20 biopharmaceutical organizations in the Untied States. I identified three mechanisms for reducing selection uncertainty, including the (1) relational, (2) internal, and (3) contextual mechanisms. One of the findings implies that alliances do not always emerge out of embedded ties, and that there exist variations in organizational usage and reliance on ties and personal rapport in constructing interorganizational networks.

Accreditation to the ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems Standard has proven to be a persistent and growing phenomenon in services and manufacturing, yet to date little attempt has been made to explore how performance results in cross‐sectional research may be attributed to different causation mechanisms and how their influences may alter over time. This paper aims to fill this gap.

The paper defines four possible causation mechanisms before searching and analysing the empirical literature on quality management system certification to ISO 9001 and business performance for evidence of their causal influence.

From the analyses, it is found that the benefit that can safely be attributed to the treatment‐effect of ISO 9001 accreditation is lower waste; while the benefits of lower costs and better quality are less likely unless motives for adoption are developmental rather than externally driven. From an analysis of longitudinal studies a strong selection‐mechanism is found where more profitable firms have a greater propensity to adopt than less profitable firms. From the finding propositions are developed to show how the influence of these mechanisms change over time.

The existence of the selection‐mechanism has profound implications for interpreting business performance achievements because the benefits that are attributed to the treatment‐effect from adopting quality management system standards are likely to be greatly inflated by the influence of the selection‐mechanism. The author suggests that richer theory is needed that can incorporate bi‐directional influences and new research is needed to explore the underlying causes of the selection effect.

The paper is believed to be the first to systematically explore attribution of performance in the ISO 9001 literature. Its findings provide new insights into the complexities of attribution of performance in studies of new practices and systems.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically study transfer mechanisms of technological knowledge, and to explore the interplay among the factors that influence the choice of a mechanism.

This paper reports on a qualitative case study designed to explore the reasons underlying the selection of intra-organizational knowledge transfer mechanisms. This research was carried out as an exploratory case study, which allowed one to observe the phenomenon in a natural setting.

The results of the present study indicate the interplay between the factors, and link the factors in a sequence that help decide a mechanism. A decision to select a mechanism depends upon several variables; some of them override others, others are interlinked, and sometimes there is a causal link.

It is based on a sample of employees that may not be representative of the broader population. Since the samples were drawn only from a MNC, the results may not be generalised. The case study method which was employed in this research does not permit the generalisation of the results.

The knowledge transfer literature has discussed the mechanisms used to transfer technological knowledge, but has failed to adequately address the rationale behind the selection of an appropriate knowledge transfer mechanism. The extant literature has isolatedly identified factors that impact on the choice of knowledge transfer mechanism. These issues are not effectively addressed in prior research. The findings are summarized diagrammatically in the form of a decision tree which provides a conceptualization of the decision processes involved in the selection of the medium for knowledge transfer.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model that portrays how contextual factors and behavioural cooperation mechanisms influence the effect of trade associations on the export performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a Latin American emerging economy.

The author draws on multiple streams of literature including: co-location, networks, cooperation and export performance to suggest a series of solid theoretical insights to the literature on SMEs’ export performance, networks and co-location in the Latin American context.

Contextual factors and behavioural cooperation mechanisms influence the effect of trade associations on export performance determining the final sign of such effect. Trust plays a role within all proposed mechanisms, but is not as fundamental as previously characterised in studies on the export performance of SMEs. Cooperation might exist, prevail, and exert a positive impact on SMEs’ export performance even in the absence of trust.

This paper contributes to the literature on SMEs’ export performance, networks and co-location in the Latin American context by presenting a theoretical model that enfolds co-location, networks, trade associations and cooperation effects on SMEs’ export performance under the same foundation. It creates the categories of “contextual factors” and “behavioural cooperation mechanisms” to differentiate the elements that weight on the relationship between firms and trade associations, thus facilitating or hindering export performance. It guides policy makers and company managers on where to focus when incentivizing conduct towards a more productive export performance in Latin America and other emerging economies.

Este artículo presenta un modelo teórico que describe cómo factores de contexto y mecanismos de cooperación conductuales impactan el efecto de las asociaciones de negocios en el desempeño exportador de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES) en el contexto de los países emergentes de América Latina.

Los autores se basan en diversas líneas de investigación de la literatura, incluyendo: Co-locación, Redes, Cooperación y Desempeño Exportador para sugerir una serie de conclusiones teóricas referentes a la relación entre las PYMES y las asociaciones de negocios.

Los factores contextuales y los mecanismos de cooperación conductuales influyen en el efecto de las asociaciones de negocios en el desempeño de las exportaciones de las PYMES, determinando el signo final de dicho efecto. La confianza desempeña un papel dentro de todos los mecanismos conductuales propuestos, pero no tan fundamental como se caracterizó previamente en los estudios sobre el desempeño exportador de PYMES. La cooperación podría existir, prevalecer y ejercer un impacto positivo en el desempeño de las exportaciones de las PYMES, incluso en ausencia de confianza.

Este artículo contribuye a la literatura enfocada en PYMES, redes, co-locación y desempeño exportador, mediante la introducción de un modelo teórico que incluye en una plataforma única los conceptos de co-localización, redes, asociaciones de negocios y efectos de la cooperación en el desempeño de las exportaciones de las PYMES. En adición, crea las categorías de “factores contextuales” y “mecanismos de cooperación conductual” para diferenciar los elementos que influyen en la relación entre las empresas y las asociaciones de negocios, facilitando u obstaculizando así el desempeño de las exportaciones de PYMES en América Latina y otras economías emergentes.

The role of inter-organizational knowledge mechanisms (IOKMs) in learning networks is increasing so that the competition of business networks in providing innovations is highly dependent on the effective selection and application of these mechanisms. This study aims to argue that recognizing the classification of IOKMs and understanding their impact on networking capability (NC) makes the selection of mechanisms more effective.

With a systematic review of literature, a comprehensive list of IOKMs, their main characteristics and NCs have been extracted. The authors have used a focus group for data gathering and a hybrid multi-layer decision-making approach for data analysis. Finally, the impact of IOKMs on NC was determined.

By implementing a multi-layer decision-making approach, four categories of IOKMs including person-to-person, co-creation, team-oriented and informational are illustrated and their effects of NC are determined. Therefore, the findings of this research provide latecomer firms (LCFs) managers with a clear framework for selecting IOKMs.

The literature review shows that the number of knowledge mechanisms, especially their inter-organizational types, is increasing. It has made it difficult for LCFs managers to select effective and efficient mechanisms. Most of these mechanisms are listed, and few studies have classified them. Besides, research shows that fewer studies have investigated how IOKMs relate to NC. Furthermore, most studies on IOKMs have been conducted in the context of leading firms and LCFs have been neglected.

The purpose of this study is to show that social relations in a corporate governance platform between members of supervisory boards and between members of supervisory and executive board tiers can serve as an alternative viewpoint for understanding mechanisms of social selection in corporate governance networks. The study shows that through the lenses of social network analysis, it is possible to identify and understand how the process of corporate governance member selection unfolds within companies and how that selection process may have been potentially influenced by the cross-board relations, such as interlocking directorships.

To estimate network parameters and attribute effects of network tie emergence, this study has used exponential random graph models (ERGMs) on corporate governance data of Danish publicly listed companies. Econometric models are applied to estimate parameter statistics which serve further to explain tendencies of tie emergence.

The results of this study reveal that the process of selection of both supervisory boards and executive directors is interdependent. Also, the study showed that board members are more likely to select popular supervisory board members and top managers who have their expertise gained through multiple companies affiliated with multiple industries. However, these conditions for CEO selection apply only to the extent to which they have their experience gained from multiple companies but not multiple industries.

On one hand, this study demonstrates that being a dynamic practitioner who is exposed to diverse corporate environments by being affiliated with different companies belonging to different industries generally increases practitioners visibility in the corporate governance network, and therefore their attractiveness to boards of directors. On the other hand, the results show that the research on board assemblage, nowadays, should be rather observed through the methodology of social network analysis as the method gives an opportunity to understand structures through relations, from which the executive tier should not be exempted as well.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a mechanism for partner selection via adapting relative weights of criteria according to the priority of motivations for establishing strategic alliance.

The analytic network process (ANP) approach derived from the idea of the Markov chain is employed to deal with this dynamic situation and to establish a partner selection mechanism. With this approach, the priority of motivations and the relative importance of criteria are determined simultaneously.

Although choosing an appropriate partner is an important variable influencing success of alliance, attempts to identify a universal list of criteria and their corresponding relative importance which enterprises should employ when seeking a proper partner would be futile since the objectives of forging alliances vary depending on specific motivations. Based on this iterative review approach proposed in this paper, a proper weight setting for these criteria is available and will comply with the original motivation for establishing the strategic alliance. This is essential for selecting an appropriate partner for establishing an alliance that matches the original motivation.

The limitation of this research is the neglect of the possible inner dependence among criteria and sub‐criteria, although that can be coped with by choosing them properly.

The content of motivations and criteria as well as their priority and weightings may vary with different kinds of alliances or situations. The partner evaluation and selection mechanism proposed in this paper can meet different situations by adapting the relative weights of criteria and attributes according to the relationship between the criteria and motivations for every particular situation, thus enabling decision‐makers to think more comprehensively before conducting a selection process. If the priority of the motivations obtained from the mechanism is consistent with that set initially, the relative weights of these criteria can then be employed to evaluate the candidate partners in the selection mechanism. If it is not, the decision maker should reconsider the weighting process or measure again the relative weights for the criteria before conducting the evaluation and selection processes to avoid selecting an inappropriate partner that runs contrary to the original motivations.

The emphasis is on the interdependence between motivations and criteria for partner selection. This paper systematically deals with the interdependence of these two factors. Based on this iterative review approach proposed in this paper, a proper weight setting for these criteria is available and will comply with the original motivation for establishing the strategic alliance.