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This research explores how firms manage the complex technologies standardization in action groups. It considers the strategic issues that technology producers face when involving lead users in architecture design. Drawing on the multi-mode standardization literature, this study addresses two dilemmas regarding value creation and appropriation by technology producers within coalitions. The first dilemma is how to create value by developing solutions in compliance with industry standards. The second one is how to appropriate value while ensuring the technology sharing with action groups. The answers to these two dilemmas contribute to filling the research gap on value creation and appropriation in multi-mode standardization.

The research focuses on technology producers participating in action groups where lead users play a crucial role. We conducted a qualitative analysis based on the standardization experience of a Japanese company specializing in smart robotics. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews with key actors. Action groups are defined operationally as a set of stakeholders including competitors of the technology producers, component suppliers, end users, services providers, research centers and academia. The case study is suitable for highlighting specific aspects of the standardization process during its manifestation. It reveals how firms create and appropriate value, providing details about its standardization strategy.

Our findings show that smart robotics standardization is drivn by collaborative models, where the two dilemmas of value creation and appropriation are evident. Firstly, the case revealed that standardization is lead users oriented. Secondly, lead users’ involvement is crucial to customize technologies. Thirdly, the firm’s position is to share a part of the value with the members. The IPR policy is a matter of interest within action groups, since the collaboration is based on open innovation models to share patents and licenses related knowledge.

This research has some limitations attributable to the limited generalizability of the results due to the qualitative analysis. In addition, this study considers the perspective of technology producers, but should also take into account the perspective of both collective actions itself and the lead users. Findings have some implications in the strategy negotiation. Participating in action groups is not enough to ensure a competitive advantage. Involving lead users is of strategic importance to acquire a competitive advantage. Lead users contribute to the producers’ technology design, helping firms to differentiate solutions from the industry standard and create value from customized technologies.

This study helps practitioners understand the competitive side of collective actions, clarifying the value capture and appropriability in standardization. The research provides insights to policymakers and standard development organizations committees when they are called to harmonize standards considering the fallouts on the sector’s competitiveness. Findings suggest appropriate property rights policies to manage the issues related to the value appropriability and technology sharing, recognizing action groups members for their contribution in value creation.

This study shows how firms deal within action groups with the two dilemmas of variety versus technology conformity and property rights versus technology sharing. It fills the research gap in collective actions, emphasizing the perspective of the individual firm in the group rather than the coalition strategy itself. This topic highlights the crucial role of lead users within action groups in managing the two dilemmas, offering a new perspective for understanding critical issues of multi-mode standardization. Reflecting on mechanisms and tools to manage the two dilemmas allows firms to protect their competitive advantage in coalitions.

This article aims to investigate collaborative procurement as a sourcing strategy amongst competing small enterprises in an effort to reduce their material supply costs through increased efficiencies, bargaining power and economies of scale.

A case study approach is applied to a network of breweries that are regionally clustered. Interview data from producers, suppliers and industry experts is inductively interpreted to understand the viability, organisational impact and benefits/limitations of joint procurement activities.

The craft brewing industry follows a market place strategy of differentiation to achieve competitive advantage. This has supply chain implications that promote raw material diversity, which is in conflict with standardisation – a necessary factor for collective buying. Competition impacts information sharing and governance mechanism, while the structural factors of size asymmetry along and across the supply chain influence returns. These issues impact the potential economic benefits of collaborative procurement.

The research propositions have been developed in a specific industry but are generalisable to other companies with a differentiation strategy, especially in the consumer packaged goods sector.

Enabling conditions and constraints are captured in a framework and capability matrix, which can be used by practitioners to assess industry and product feasibility for collaborative procurement.

Previous studies of collaborative procurement have been in the public sector amongst large organisations. This work focusses on coopetition in the context of small businesses to identify the viability and cost-benefit of this strategy.

Resource orchestration theory proposes that firms need resources, capabilities, and horizontal and vertical alignment to achieve high performance. Thus, we investigate which combinations of horizontal fit of resources (commitment-based HR systems for managers and nonmanagers) and capabilities (HR flexibility) together with vertical fit with business strategy (innovation versus cost leadership strategies) relate to superior performance.

Our study is based on a sample of 113 Spanish firms from which we collected data on commitment-based HR systems for managers and nonmanagers, HR flexibility, business strategy and performance. We employ a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze which configurations lead to firm performance.

The empirical analysis shows that both HR practices and policies (commitment-based HR systems) and HR capabilities (HR flexibility) need to be aligned for high performance. The path for performance is comprised of a combination of commitment-based HR systems for staff and HR flexibility and by the absence of an innovation strategy or commitment-based HR systems for managers, HR flexibility, and a cost leadership strategy. We also find four paths where performance relies on efficiently combining an innovation and cost leadership business strategy.

Our findings make three key contributions to the literature. First, we help elucidate multicausal relationships inside the black box of the “HR–performance” relationship for firm performance. Second, we study the vertical fit with business strategy by considering innovation and cost leadership strategies. Third, we analyze multicausal pathways, thus uncovering different combinations of resources and capabilities for performance.

This research proposes to organise and distil this massive amount of data, making it easier to understand. Using data mining, machine learning techniques and visual approaches, researchers and managers can extract valuable insights (on guests' preferences) and convert them into strategic thinking based on exploration and predictive analysis. Consequently, this research aims to assist hotel managers in making informed decisions, thus improving the overall guest experience and increasing competitiveness.

This research employs natural language processing techniques, data visualisation proposals and machine learning methodologies to analyse unstructured guest service experience content. In particular, this research (1) applies data mining to evaluate the role and significance of critical terms and semantic structures in hotel assessments; (2) identifies salient tokens to depict guests' narratives based on term frequency and the information quantity they convey; and (3) tackles the challenge of managing extensive document repositories through automated identification of latent topics in reviews by using machine learning methods for semantic grouping and pattern visualisation.

This study’s findings (1) aim to identify critical features and topics that guests highlight during their hotel stays, (2) visually explore the relationships between these features and differences among diverse types of travellers through online hotel reviews and (3) determine predictive power. Their implications are crucial for the hospitality domain, as they provide real-time insights into guests' perceptions and business performance and are essential for making informed decisions and staying competitive.

This research seeks to minimise the cognitive processing costs of the enormous amount of content published by the user through a better organisation of hotel service reviews and their visualisation. Likewise, this research aims to propose a methodology and method available to tourism organisations to obtain truly useable knowledge in the design of the hotel offer and its value propositions.

Variations of human-versus-structure and within-humans at the organizational and the project level are critical in shaping the internal arrangement for effectiveness of project-based organization’s (PBOs) governance. Recent discourse presents governmentality at the organizational level and leadership at the project level as human agency of governance, whereas governance structures to be their counterpart. However, project-level mechanisms of governmentality that can help to understand possible variations among these governance dimensions remained veiled. This study uses institutional theory to explore these internal arrangements accommodated by variations of PBOs governance dimensions at the project level.

The study followed Eisenhardt protocols of multiple case study design using an abductive research approach. Considering the heterogeneity of governance as a phenomenon in literature, boundary conditions were established before theorizing the model of the study to avoid ambiguities and define the research scope. Five PBOs were chosen using theoretical sampling, yielding 70 interviews. Data were analyzed by constant comparison with theory, using replication logic and cross-case analysis.

Findings revealed that project managers perform a buffer function for governmentality at the project level. Identified mechanisms of governmentality at the project level included two downward mechanisms, i.e. communication and informal interactions of governors, and two upward mechanisms of adaptation and reciprocity by project managers and project team members. Cross-analysis for variations among PBOs’ governance at the project level revealed seven arrangements showcasing synergies or contrasts.

The study adds to organizational project management literature by advancing the significance of congruence between humans and structures in project governance. Furthermore, the synchronization of the project manager’s leadership style with the governmentality approach and governance structure of PBOs is of crucial importance at the project level. Findings suggest the same by showcasing synergetic versus contrasting internal arrangements accommodated in varying PBOs governance dimensions. Implications highlight that synergies among PBOs governance dimensions and project manager’s styles can minimize conflicts and inconsistencies in governance implementation, whereas contrasts might trigger them.

This study aims to show how market orientation (MO), brand (BR) and business strategy (cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy), which play mediating and moderating roles, respectively, can increase competitive advantage (CA). With a focus on brand, market orientation, cost leadership strategy (CS) and differentiation strategy (DS), as well as an analysis of variance control on varying business sizes per business seniority, the current study made a theoretical contribution.

An empirical study was created using a quantitative methodological technique. The surveyed data were collected from 379 managers or owners who participated in a face-to-face survey at different food processing companies in Vietnam. To test the hypotheses, the gathered information was examined utilizing multigroup analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The brand was found to have the greatest positive impact on competitive advantage, followed by a business strategy that positively influenced competitive advantage, and, finally, business strategies that significantly moderated the third strong positive impact between market orientation and competitive advantage. Market orientation has the fourth strong positive impact on competitive advantage, whereas brand has the lowest positive impact on market orientation.

This is the first investigation, according to the authors’ knowledge, into the role of market orientation as a mediator in the relationship between brand and competitive advantage in addition to the regulatory role of business strategy at two strategic levels: cost leadership and strategic focus as well as the difference between competitive advantage and market orientation in the Vietnamese food sector.

Given the contradictory findings of standardization/adaptation of marketing strategy in explaining export performance in the extant research, this study aims to examine the contingent effects of managerial ties and born global orientation in the standardized advertising-export performance conceptualization.

The study used two-respondent method in the survey research by a sample of 155 exporting firms operating in the industrial marketing based in Australia and New Zealand and applied hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses.

The findings demonstrate that standardized advertising has a significant effect on export performance and this relationship is positively moderated by business ties. Such effect is particularly enhanced for born global firms (than nonborn global firms). However, political ties negatively influence the impact of standardized advertising on performance and such effect is stronger for born global firms.

A broader perspective of contingent variables should be included to examine the underlying relationship between standardized advertising and export performance in capturing the dynamism in international marketing contexts, such as institutional frameworks or sociocultural environments in host countries.

Standardized advertising is critical for born global firms’ export performance as it can increase efficiency and speed up internationalization processes. Such positive impact of standardized advertising on export performance is further enhanced if born global firms allocate resources to develop strong business ties with host country partners instead of building political ties with host country governments, because smooth business networking can facilitate standardized advertising on industrial marketing, yet justifiable political relations require intricate negotiations that often prolong internationalization progress.

This study incorporates managerial ties and born global orientation as contingent factors in fixing the theoretic interlock between standardization advertising strategy and export firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that information systems (IS) artifacts (IS for automation and IS for analytics) and process standardization play in enhancing different dimensions of supply chain agility (SCA) (sensing, comprehending and responding).

Data collected through the survey approach was used to examine the research model. The results were analyzed based on regression analysis. Various tests were conducted to validate the results of the mediation hypotheses.

The results show that IS for analytics has a significant association with all dimensions of SCA and mediates the relationship between IS for automation and SCA’s sensing and comprehending dimensions. In addition, process standardization directly and uniquely influences the comprehending and responding dimensions of SCA.

The assessment of the relationship between different IS features in the context of SCA enhancement contributes to theory development in the area of IS-enabled supply chains. Furthermore, investing in both process and IS-related initiatives offers unique value in the context of supply chains. The data collection approach limited us to a cross-sectional analysis, whereas longitudinal data could have offered deeper insights.

IS artifacts and process-based initiatives can be leveraged for organizational capability enhancement. Organizations that are vigilant, analysis driven and take quick actions, invest in IS-based tools that support analytics. The highest impact of these tools is visible in the enhancement of the comprehending dimension of SCA.

Prior research does not explicitly examine the interplay among the different IS artifacts. Furthermore, process-centric initiatives can also be used in conjunction with or as an alternative to IS-based initiatives. The originality of this work stems from jointly evaluating the role of IS artifacts and process standardization in making the supply chain more agile.

Avoided emissions refer to greenhouse gas emission reductions that are a result of using a product or are emission removals due to a decision or an action. Although there is no uniform standard for calculating avoided emissions, market actors have started referring to avoided emissions as “Scope 4” emissions. By default, making a claim about Scope 4 emissions gives an appearance that this Scope of emissions is a natural extension of the existing and accepted Scope-based emissions accounting framework. The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of this assumed legitimacy.

Via a desktop review and interviews, we analyse extant Scope 4 company reporting, associated accounting methodologies and the practical implications of Scope 4 claims.

Upon examination of Scope 4 emissions and their relationship with Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions, we highlight a dynamic and interdependent relationship between quantification, commensuration and standardization in emissions accounting. We find that extant Scope 4 assessments do not fit the established framework for Scope-based emissions accounting. In line with literature on the territorializing nature of accounting, we call for caution about Scope 4 claims that are a distraction from the critical work of reducing absolute emissions.

We examine the implications of assumed alignment and borrowed legitimacy of Scope 4 with Scope-based accounting because Scope 4 is not an actual Scope, but a claim to a Scope. This is as an act of accounting territorialization.