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This paper has the objective of demonstrating a more structured and useful method for evaluating functionality of enterprise software packages such as supply chain management information systems (SCM IS). Existing taxonomies have limited utility for software selection and analysis due to the variation and overlap in functionality found in modern enterprise systems.

A qualitative analysis of over 1,800 pages of SCM IS documentation and independent analyst reports is used to identify relevant SCM IS functional attributes in the seven most widespread SCM IS packages. Pattern matching and coding of constructs is used to iteratively build a hierarchical taxonomy of SCM IS functionality.

The taxonomy developed describes 83 major functional attributes that form five top‐level categories: primary supply chain processes, data management, decision support, relationship management, and performance improvement. The codes representing supply chain processes agree with the widely used Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) process model, although the terminology was not used consistently in vendor and analyst documents.

The approach described enables richer classification schemes to be built that will better distinguish between the wide‐ranging functionality found in modern enterprise information systems.

Selection and analysis of SCM IS is difficult due to the functional overlaps in different systems. The approach described enables a more structured, detailed, and useful analysis of an organization's current or proposed information systems.

This paper contributes a novel approach for conceptualizing and analyzing complex information systems using hierarchical rather than traditional flat taxonomies.

Collaboration is a recent trend in supply chain management (SCM) that focuses on joint planning, coordination, and process integration between suppliers, customers, and other partners in a supply chain. Its competitive benefits include cost reductions and increased return on assets, and increased reliability and responsiveness to market needs. Recent advances in inter‐enterprise software and communication technologies, along with a growing use of strategic partnering and outsourcing relationships, has resulted in a confusing assortment of alternative information systems approaches for supporting collaborative SCM. This paper analyzes the alternatives and presents a framework for understanding the expected costs and benefits of each type of system. These costs include not only the total cost of ownership of the system, but also the partnership opportunity cost – the cost of being tied to a partner due to system inflexibility. The benefits of collaborative SCM include process, inventory, and product cost reductions as well as increased cycle times, service levels, and market intelligence.

Explores how the traditional nuclear family of mother, father and 2 children is being replaced by “beanpole“ families of cohabitating couples with one child, and extending to four rather than three generations; parents have children at a later age and seek to recreate their own childhood by imitating the styles of their children. Discusses the accompanying end of childhood, as children, like adults, appear to have more disposable income but less time to use it; they also have increasing brand awareness, and are increasingly media‐savvy, materialistic and sophisticated in their tastes; the effect is the rise of the “kidult“. Assesses the implications for marketers of these changes.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Recently several authors have concentrated their efforts in developing models to determine the economic lot size for multi‐stage systems. This is due to the fact that an increasing number of organisations are implementing material requirements planning systems. Numerous models have been developed and tested on problems with finite and rolling horizons and with deterministic time varying demand patterns.

A comprehensive review of the literature for the problem of lot‐size scheduling (serial and assembly) considering the uncapacitated problem and complicated capacitated assembly manufacturing structure. Analyses the different solution techniques and findings for each product set.

Critical theory has rarely articulated an agenda for social change linking theory to practice. This paper provides several examples of “critical theory in practice” and focuses specifically on Fay’s Critical Social Science (CSS) model. The methods of conflict transformation are then applied to CSS in order to accomplish two goals. First, political conflicts resulting from decision making can be used to transform both individuals and systems. Second, CSS more adequately accounts for some of the non-rational aspects of human nature, such as our resistance to change, thus improving its catalytic validity as a critical social theory. Together, the processes of CSS and conflict transformation provide a framework for enhancing the potential for citizen governance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ideals and activities of the nineteenth century Welsh industrialist and reformer Robert Owen (1771‐1858), and how they informed modern human resource development (HRD) concepts and practices and provided evidence of Owen as a HRD pioneer.

Historiography provided a method to understand how historical figures, and the context in which they lived and worked, inform contemporary research and practice.

Contextual factors of economics, politics and societal demands and the influences of Owen's early life, his immersion within the British factory system and the creation of the New Lanark mill village, Owen's great work experiment, revealed a strong impact on his thinking and actions. Thematic findings included: managing people and profit, education and training, pioneering workplace innovations, and the failure of the New Harmony, Indiana community. Themes provided unique historical evidence that education and development of workers, and the creation of humane work and community environments are linked across time and contexts to modern concepts of human resource development and thus supported Owen as a HRD pioneer.

Understanding the ideals and workplace experiments and contextual influences on a historical figure such as Robert Owen illustrate how modern concepts of workforce training and education, diversity, equality and justice and social responsibility originated and the importance of contexts on their development and success.

Contexts of economics, politics and societal demands greatly influence organizations and the creation of humane workplaces that nurture human potential.

The study brings history and historiography as a research method to the forefront of HRD research and practice. The study provides the beginnings of a collective historical memory that can contribute to HRD defining itself and establishing its identity as a discipline.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study that investigates the historical roots of quantitative paradigm hegemony over the qualitative paradigm in marketing using a critical lens. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate thoughtful reflections among marketing scholars so that the dialog among paradigms expands, the stale paradigmatic debates disappear, and the marketing discipline evolves and contributes to the actual functioning of markets and the welfare of society.

This study is conducted in the light of foucauldian genealogy through the analysis of historical materials that Foucault called discourses, a set of languages, systems of thinking and governality techniques that determine how individuals or organizations come to be disciplined. In this paper, the concept of discourse mainly refers to visible rituals and practices by which marketing researchers have been psychologically and behaviorally shaped to reproduce and perpetuate a hypothetical-deductive mainstream within their discipline.

This paper intends to stimulate a dialog among marketing scholars about expanding paradigms so that stale debates disappear, and marketing disciplines proves their scientific status by better contributing to the functioning of markets and the welfare of society. As an evolving social science, marketing requires new theory, new concepts and new research methods.

The intellectual contribution of this paper lies in its intention to alert marketing researchers about the danger we are exposing our discipline to by promoting imperialist traditions and standardization of thinking.