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This study aims to show how cost savings can be achieved through optimizing the scheduling of e-commerce enablements. The University of California is one of the largest, most prestigious public education and research systems in the world, yet diminished state support is driving the search for system-wide cost savings.

This study documents the preparation for and rollout of an e-procurement system across a subset of campuses. A math programing tool was developed for prioritizing the gradual rollout to generate the greatest expected savings subject to resource constraints.

The authors conclude by summarizing the results of the rollout, discussing lessons learned and their benefit to decision-makers at other public institutions.

The pilot program comprising three campuses has been predicted to yield $1.2m in savings over a one-year period; additional sensitivity analysis with respect to savings, project timelines and other rollout decisions illustrate the robustness of these findings.

The purpose of this paper is to identify econometrically the determinants of wine consumption of US consumers.

In empirically identifying driving forces of wine consumption, we used 122 survey responses from Northern California consumers.

The study found that even knowledgeable or frequent consumers of wine purchase across all price points. Further, a significant positive correlation exists between knowledge and volume of wine consumed. All three regression techniques applied in this paper indicate that knowledge remains the most important determinant in wine consumption.

The results emphasize the need for US wineries to better educate and connect with consumers by developing compatible positioning strategies and marketing programs that are as informative as they are appealing.

As one of the few studies of the US wine market employing econometric analysis, this paper offers a fresh perspective on the consumption behavior of wine drinkers in the USA.

This article compares the state of the French and Californian wine industries from a business perspective, through a broad survey of recent academic and popular press articles. Although these two wine regions may seem disparate, commonalities (including potential business opportunities and threats) make the comparison relevant. Facets of supply and demand are analyzed, and respective production and distribution regulations are summarized. Several predictions for the future are presented, with suggestions on how to best leverage these trends. Demands will rise as the economic downturn abates and overall non‐cyclic market expansion continues. Segmentation will play an even more important role in how suppliers target their offerings, as will changes within distribution and wine retailing. Regional shares of the domestic and export markets will shift as globalization of the sector, including international mergers and partnerships, continues. In conclusion, suppliers from both regions can take advantage of current conditions and future trends to produce and market wines in a business‐savvy manner.

The growing presence of foods that are labelled “locally/ecologically produced” leads to the question of how many consumers consider the impact of their food purchases. Do they value local/ecologically-produced food sufficiently to drive their purchasing behaviour, even if such foods are more costly? Can consumer segments be identified and, if so, what are their characteristics? This paper aims to focus on these questions.

In an exploratory study, the authors surveyed over 400 students from a public university in California asking them to select between apples based on a combination of price, origin and presence/absence of an ecological indicator. The authors collected information on their shopping attitudes, their affinity for international trade and demographic identifiers.

Evidence is found for three consumer segments: the deep green, the price conscious and switchers. The latter are the most prevalent category across demographic and attitudinal indicators, but with increased age, employment/shopping responsibilities, the preponderance of switchers diminishes and more deep green consumers appear. Deep green consumers tend to be both more information and variety seeking than the price conscious ones.

By identifying demographic and other characteristics that are likely to qualify consumers as belonging to a specific segment, marketers of local and ecologically produced foods can better target and influence appropriate consumers.

This paper has the purpose of introducing the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Wine Business Research after the re‐launch from the International Journal of Wine Marketing including rationale, scope, goals, and objectives.

The paper provides a rationale for a journal such as IJWBR. It starts by outlining the global wine business as a complex and fruitful field to study, describes some streams of research, and identifies issues for future studies as potential further contributions to this journal.

There is a critical need for an outlet that provides an overview on current issues and topics in the wine business, promotes high quality research on all aspects related to managing wine and related businesses, and is accessible to both academics and the global wine trade.

This paper is essential for current and prospective readers of the journal and those who consider submitting to IJWBR.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in supply chains, particularly in those that function in highly competitive industries. The purpose of this paper is to understand more deeply the role sustainability plays within supply chains based on a qualitative study conducted in the New Zealand wine industry.

This research followed a grounded theory methodology which used in‐depth interviews with managers from wineries, retailers, and restaurants; observations of operations; and interpretation of field documents/artifacts.

The findings show that managers within the New Zealand wine supply chains are trying to find ways to leverage sustainability‐related competencies for competitive advantage in what is now a highly competitive industry. Within this context, the emergent theme of searching for advantage through sustainability involves: pursuing and leveraging sustainability; telling a story that involves sustainability; managing supply chain relationships around sustainability; and experimenting with sustainability initiatives.

The research is limited to the context and participants of the study. As a qualitative inquiry, findings are exploratory. The research implications, however, involve deeper studies into how wine industry firms in other nations and regions of the world are treating sustainability and searching for competitive advantages. Further validation of the models that emerge can be accomplished through future research, which would draw on aggregate data.

The approach and context within which sustainability is explored is unique. By seeking deep insights from managers on the cutting edge of sustainability initiatives, we are able to get close to strategic thinking and explore the impact on distribution relationships.

The purpose this paper is to profile individual-level perspectives on sustainability and supply chain partnering, introduces the concept of sustainable supply chain orientation (SSCO), and suggests pathways between executive profiles toward SSCO.

The research relies on inductive, theory-building grounded theory and phenomenological data collection and interpretations in the wine industry. In-depth interviews were conducted over five years with 112 senior managers from 88 organizations in the global wine industry representing nine wine regions in four countries.

Ten profiles were developed depicting executives’ perspectives on embracing sustainability, the extent to which motivations for various forms of sustainability and partnering compete, and being self-or supply chain partner focussed. A SSCO depicts a leader who embraces sustainability, sees alignment in motivations and is supply chain partner focussed.

The paper contributes to the sustainable supply chain management and general business orientation discourses by introducing the concept of SSCO and profiling executives’ perspectives that may help to define pathways toward SSCO. It may be limited by its inductive method and the industry context. Limitations suggest future research in discovering additional profiles and pathways as well as validating them.

Findings reveal the importance of understanding what sustainability means to business executives of firms in hyper-competitive markets with global supply chains. Managers will recognize that there are many possible routes toward SSCO, each one revealing potentially unique differentiation opportunities while also providing clues to competitors’ strategies.

This work introduces the concept of SSCO and contributes a classification scheme consisting of detailed business executive profile descriptions and specific pathways toward SSCO followed by those executives.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the degree to which wine consumers in South Australia have different liking for white wine styles, and to relate reported liking to wine knowledge and demographic differences.

A group of 150 regular white wine drinking consumers from the Adelaide metropolitan area responded to a wine habits and attitudes questionnaire. Consumers were segmented based on self‐reported liking of white wine styles, with three distinct segments identified.

Sauvignon Blanc wine likers were mainly younger females with low wine knowledge who reported not drinking Chardonnay wines. Conversely, “Riesling wine likers” were generally older with higher wine knowledge. These consumers were interested in the region, vintage and alcohol level when purchasing white wine. The final group (40 percent of the total sample) had a lower liking for Riesling wines, but liked all types relatively highly, had low to moderate wine knowledge and took more note of expert opinion than the other clusters.

The findings of this study can be extrapolated to the South Australian population, however, the sample size may restrict the generalisation of the results to the broader Australian population.

The results of this study provide initial insights into the behaviour of white wine consumers and highlight the importance of wine knowledge in differentiating consumer liking. Some strategies for influencing consumers' preference are suggested.