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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how small manufacturing firms develop and manage relationships with global suppliers and distributors. In so doing the authors aim to contribute to knowledge about SMEs and supply chain management (SCM).

The authors conducted 12 in-depth case studies of SME final assemblers of machinery in the French farm equipment sector.

The most effective form of global supply chain governance used by successful SMEs is informal networks involving managers in similar complementary firms, which serve to concatenate links with foreign suppliers and distributors.

The principal limitation of this research is that it is specific to one sector and therefore questions of transferability are raised.

The important implication for managers in manufacturing SMEs is that links with other complementary local firms in the same sector need to be developed, leveraged and valued.

The originality of this case research is that the authors draw on inter-organisational boundaries, power asymmetries and network governance to develop a conceptual framework for the study of SMEs and global supply chains. By focusing on the perceptions of boundary-spanning managers, the authors show how, in circumstances of demand uncertainty, soft network governance is an effective strategic choice.

To access new markets and improve sourcing practices small to medium sized manufacturing companies (SMEs) increasingly seek suppliers and customers in distant countries. Yet these new relationships with global partners often pose problems of an agency nature. The purpose of this paper is to directly address these challenges through the proposal of an information and communication technology (ICT)-based framework.

There has been very little research into how lead SMEs manage their global supply chains and the challenges they face. This paper uses a case study investigation to analyze how four French SMEs – final assemblers of machinery in the farming and agri-business sector – manage their international supply chains.

It was observed that the relationships and interactions between the SMEs and their immediate upstream and downstream partners were dominated by the agency problem and fell into six distinct categories (termed “barriers” to effective supply integration), namely; asymmetries, contractual design, supplier dependence, product specifications, supply chain complexity and performance monitoring.

The contribution of this paper is that a conceptual frame work was developed in which ICT solutions are offered to help address the barriers to supply chain integration, thus reducing the overall risk exposure due to externalities and problems of agency.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of unpaced reliable production lines that are unbalanced in terms of their mean operation times, coefficients of variation and buffer capacities.

Simulations were carried out for five‐ and eight‐station lines with various buffer capacities and degrees of means imbalance. Throughput, idle time and average buffer level performance indicators were generated and statistically analysed.

The results show that an inverted bowl allocation of mean service times, combined with a bowl configuration for coefficients of variation and a decreasing order of buffer sizes results in higher throughput and lower idle times than a balanced line counterpart. In addition, considerable reductions in average inventory levels were consistently obtained when utilizing a configuration of progressively faster stations, coupled with a bowl‐shaped pattern for coefficients of variation and an ascending buffer size order.

The results for these specific experiments imply that resources expended on trying to achieve a balanced line could be better used by seizing upon possible enhanced performance via controlled mean time, variability and buffer imbalance. Results are valid for only the line type and parameter values used (simulation results are specific and not general).

Guidelines are provided on design strategies for allocating labour and capital unevenly in unpaced lines for better performance in terms of increased throughput or lowered idle time or average buffer levels.

This paper might be viewed as one of the first simulation investigations into the performance of unpaced production lines with three sources of imbalance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore post-Bolian reflexive theatre-based learning (TBL) theory and practice, in conjunction with meta-language and learning from experiences to address the gaps and silos between top-level macro strategy planning and operational micro-management on-going challenges in a contemporary new public management (NPM) major organizational change context.

An investigation was carried out over three months at a major French utility in a praxis-related action research context (PRAR). TBL formats, i.e. “improvisational wrestling” and “improvisational cabaret”, were adapted and put into practice.

A reflective process in which participants developed an enhanced sense of ownership and interest in the targeted organizational structure was developed. It allowed for collectively created contextual in-house knowledge, innovative practices and tools that supported the change initiative.

The main limitation of this research is that it is case-based, restricting the generalizability of its findings. Future research could examine the general validity of improvisational TBL forms and the way they can contribute to the creation of participatory innovation oriented corporate cultures. Also, an interesting research question would be to investigate how organizations, once having undertaken NPM initiatives, can continue nurturing a collaborative practice-based organizational culture over the long-haul, showing a clear need for longitudinal studies.

The present initiative and case study was deemed as successful by all stakeholders, and the programme of engaged change management sustainable and self-reinforcing.

This study extends the knowledge of the role of arts in enhancing organizational reflection. To the best of the knowledge, the TBL formats employed have never been used previously in PRAR. The paper builds links between organizational management, knowledge creation and micro-level organizational innovation. It fills a research gap concerning the content and the practices enabling innovation processes. Last but not the least, this study builds an actionable and replicable (yet not generalizable) framework based on reflexive theatre techniques as a novel learning approach in knowledge production in public sector enterprises undergoing a major organizational change.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of unpaced unreliable production lines that are deliberately unbalanced in terms of their coefficients of variation (CVs).

A series of simulation experiments were carried out for five and eight station lines with mean buffer space set at one, two, four and six units. CVs were allocated in 12 different configurations for each of these lines.

The results show that the best unbalanced CV patterns in terms of throughput rates or idle times as compared to a balanced line counterpart are those where the steadiest stations are concentrated near the centre of the line. On the other hand, either concentrating the steadier operators towards the centre or close to the end of the line gives best average buffer level results.

The results provide guidelines for production line managers when designing unpaced unbalanced lines depending on their performance aims.

The investigation of the effects of unbalancing CVs in unreliable lines has not previously been studied and can provide insights into how best to place workstations with differing variability along the line.

The purpose of this paper is to take a reflexive look at the cultural experiences of a group of overseas students studying at a business school in the North East of England. The paper uses Baudrillard's work on simulacra and simulation to challenge notions of second culture contact.

Using primary (i.e. interviews with 14 students and four staff) and secondary sources the paper investigates second culture contact truths associated with English higher education for a group of overseas students. To capture the richness of individual cultural experiences for these students and staff a qualitative approach in gathering empirical data is adopted.

First, it seems the mainstream literature that posits cultures as definable, distinct and measurable entities that can be acquired does not capture the complexity of cultural experiences as revealed by the individuals involved in this study. Second, the findings surface questions about the validity of what educators and students take for granted or perceive as “real” in regards to what it means to “be an English student” and the processes of “becoming an English student”. Third, the findings raise provocative questions about the process, content and context of curriculum to those responsible for developing and marketing international programmes.

Education as an international business means strategists, marketers and educators alike need to look closer at the way international programmes are developed, marketed and delivered both for viability and ethical reasons.

Engagement with Baudrillard's work on simulacra and simulation is a playful attempt to see higher education as third‐order simulacra. As an alternative lens in challenging second culture contact it offers interesting and novel insights.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a detail review of the social selling literature and to offer future research needs. Social selling has gained the attention of sales researchers. Rather than merely a new tool, social selling redefines the traditional sales process. However, the literature is spread across topics of social media and sales, social customer relationship management, salesforce automation and social selling, and does not provide an agreed-upon definition or tested construct for implementation.

The paper presents a comprehensive literature review of social selling and all related terminology.

The authors propose a social selling framework that includes personal branding, information exchange, networking and social listening to define and outline the construct while suggesting the antecedents and outcomes to guide future research. Findings from a literature review include outlining key theories used in social selling research.

This review offers a conceptual framework of social selling, including both antecedents and outcomes, to inform future research and guide academics and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how popular culture in general and movies in particular both reflected and shaped public attitudes to newly emerging corporate giants in the 1950s; to demonstrate how that view was itself shaped by political context and prevailing American ideology.

The paper rests on a content analysis of 11 corporate films released in the USA between 1954 and 1960.

Studying corporate movies during the 1950s lends an appreciation of the salience of understanding the political/cultural context of business history. The movies also reflected Cold War realities: the constraints imposed by an anti‐communist blacklist, and the belief – hope, perhaps – that capitalist corporations would stand as a bulwark against the alien ideology of Communism.

The films studied are all US‐made. Studying films from later decades might also lend additional perspective.

The paper demonstrates the value of considering political context and ideology in understanding business history.

From 1953 to 1961, the South Korean economy grew slowly; the average per capita GNP growth was a mere percent, amounting to less than $100 in 1961. Few people, therefore, look for the sources of later dynamism in this period. As Kyung Cho Chung (1956:225) wrote in the mid‐1950s: “[South Korea] faces grave economic difficulties. The limitations imposed by the Japanese have been succeeded by the division of the country, the general destruction incurred by the Korean War, and the attendant dislocation of the population, which has further disorganized the economy” (see also McCune 1956:191–192). T.R. Fehrenbach (1963:37), in his widely read book on the Korean War, prognosticated: “By themselves, the two halves [of Korea] might possibly build a viable economy by the year 2000, certainly not sooner.”

The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate executives of companies are using blogging as a new communications channel.

The paper presents an overview of the blogging phenomenon, placing it in context of the larger growth of Web 2.0 and user‐generated content. The paper provides the reader with a primer on blogs and how they can be used effectively by executives, as well as looking at the importance of monitoring the blogosphere for what is being said by and about a company.

Over 50 corporate CEOs were found who are presently engaged in blogging. The research also identifies companies where employees have been fired for blogging and presents best practices in blogging and blog policies.

The principal limitation of the research is that as blogging is a rapidly growing and evolving area, the present results on executive blogging are accurate only for the moment. The implications of this research are that it provides the foundation for surveying not only the status of blogging by managers but also an agenda for blogging research, which might examine blogging behaviours, develop blog metrics and look toward the return on investment of blogging.

The paper reveals the benefits of managerial blogging for both the company and the individual. It also examines issues concerned with human resources, financial disclosure and policy development that have arisen because of the rise of blogging within companies.

The paper represents a timely review of a rapidly evolving social network and its associated communications technology, providing both management practitioners and academicians with insights into managing in a new age.