The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of performance measures utilised by the maintenance function in todays business organisations. In the process, the increasing variety and significance of these measures are addressed from operational and strategic perspectives. A survey-based research method was utilised to gather the research data. Several statistical procedures were utilised to analyse the data. The findings of this study point to the multifaceted nature of the maintenance measures and measurement. Multiple categories of maintenance measures were identified. These categories varied from the machine-specific, to measures impacting organisational performance. The relative lack of emphasis placed on the environment and strategic facets of maintenance is noted. The findings of this study have direct implications to organisations, which are attempting to measure the effectiveness of their maintenance efforts. The need to align the maintenance performance efforts with the organisational strategic direction is emphasised. In this context, the integration of the maintenance performance information systems with the overall organisational performance management information system might facilitate the needed alignment. This study utilises 120 maintenance measures. As such, it represents a comprehensive view of the maintenance effort.

This study segments grocery shoppers seeking to maximize shopping value and minimize the investment of time, money, and effort. The literature lacks investigations of grocery shoppers based on shopping activities; therefore, this study aims to fill the gap. Data were obtained from 751 respondents who recently made a smart grocery shopping purchase. The cluster analysis to segment grocery shoppers yielded three types: spontaneous smart shoppers, apathetic smart shoppers, and involved smart shoppers. The segments differ across generational cohorts, consumer characteristics, postpurchase evaluations, and shopping values. Conclusions can assist marketers in tailoring their strategies for each segment.

Using a cross-sectional sample of 94 medium to large-sized manufacturing organisations in Iran, this study utilised cluster, regression, and gap analyses to study the relationships among extent of use, predictive value, and information availability for 63 performance measures. Based on the results, it appears that the studied Iranian manufacturing organisations do not overemphasise financial measures at the expense of other important performance measures related to the competitive, strategic environment, operational efficiency, and the human resource development. The Iranian executives appear to overlook the innovation aspects of organisational performance. The implications of this research are highlighted in relation to the findings and the conclusions. The conceptual framework in Figure 1 is offered for future research, which deals with performance management and its interaction with the economic and cultural facets.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of person-job (P-J) fit on the impact of organizational resources (training and service technology), and a personal resource (customer orientation) on frontline bank employees’ job performance and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach – A large-scale survey of 530 frontline employees of a national bank in New Zealand serves as the study setting. Findings – Among others, results show that P-J fit fully mediates the impact of training on turnover intentions and job performance. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow causal inferences. Therefore, future studies should adopt longitudinal designs. Practical implications – Management should be careful in planning and providing organizational resources to frontline employees to enhance their perception of P-J fit. Also investing in the recruitment and selection of customer-oriented frontline employees would be a prudent course of action. Originality/value – Empirical research in the banking services literature pertaining to the mediating role of P-J fit is scarce. There is also a lack of research regarding the interaction between personal and organizational resources resulting in complementary or supplementary effects on frontline employees’ fit perceptions. This study fills in the void in both areas.

The resource-based view (RBV) of competitive strategy emphasises the importance of unique firm resources and associated capabilities to the formulation of competitive strategy. This cross-sectional study seeks to determine whether or not the pattern of usage of competitive methods related to marketing, information technology and flexibility in the Portuguese service sector aligns with the resource-based view. Fifteen service-related competitive methods are identified. Surveyed firms were asked to indicate the degree of relevance of these competitive methods to their competitive strategy. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling indicates that these methods represent four underlying strategy dimensions that reflect some of the dynamic capabilities suggested by the resource-based view. In addition, cluster analysis revealed that each of the responding firms could be classified into one of three capability orientations. Some implications of these findings for strategy development in the Portuguese service sector are discussed. Limitations of the study and areas for future research are also presented.

Utilising internship evaluation forms of students from different majors, who were attending two universities in the USA, and Portugal, this research sought to assess relevant abilities, skills, and attitudes impacting the job performance of these students during their internships. Based on the evaluations analysed, it appears that executives of business organisations tended to value other non-technical aspects of performance, rather than merely the technical aspects. The implications and recommendations of this research to business education, and the business community are presented in the form of two conceptual frameworks. The frameworks are designed to promote win-win relationships, which enhance the employability of business graduates. The proposed frameworks stress the consistency, and the systematic approach to the business-like educational model.

The changing and highly competitive job market is putting pressure on both the private and public sectors to maintain and prepare an educated and well-trained human resource. In this context, a well-integrated educational and training strategy must be formulated and implemented, jointly, by the public and private sectors. This study presents the effort of Portugal in this direction. It emphasises a process orientation to achieve the goal of upgrading the educational skills of Portuguese employees, part of whom are entrepreneurs. For the purpose of this study cluster analysis, regression analysis and the important performance analysis were used. Based on the findings, the implications of the cooperation between the public and private sectors are discussed and a conceptual framework to aid policymakers, decision makers, and future researchers is offered. The benchmarking implications of this process are underscored.

There is a rising global concern that centers on creating an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable world for current and future generations. This rising sustainability consciousness is built on higher-level value systems that support the sacredness of people and nature. These values promote environmental and social responsibility as avenues to fair profits, and they are currently penetrating the global business environment. Because of their coevolutionary relationships with the business environment, business organizations are now faced with the need to craft efficient and effective triple bottom line strategies that allows them to earn profits in sustainable ways. Because sustainability is complex, multifaceted concept with deep spiritual roots, building triple bottom line strategies requires that organizations develop intangible spiritual capabilities (i.e. spiritual intelligence and spiritual capital) that are valuable, rare, holistic, socially complex, and causally ambiguous, making them difficult to imitate.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is twofold. First, the relevant literature is reviewed briefly to provide a strategic context of the different views on strategy development. In the process, the linkages between the e-commerce view of strategy and previous views are explored. As such, the perspectives of different schools of thought on strategy are briefly highlighted. Second, the different dimensions of the e-commerce strategy and their impact on organizational performance are investigated. Design/methodology/approach – Asurvey integrating different theoretical views of value creation was developed and sent to Portuguese e-commerce firms to assess the underlying dimensions of their strategies through factorial analysis. Then, a clustering analysis was performed to determine strategic groups to compare corporate performance. Findings – Three e-commerce dimensions were identified: marketing, innovation and efficiency. Results of data analysis suggest that differentiation factors have impact on corporate performance in the context of virtual markets. Research limitations/implications – Although the Portuguese specific nature of the study could be seen as a limitation of the generalization of the findings, in the authors’ view, it is not truly a limitation because Portuguese executives face the same challenges that other countries counterparts, due to the universal application of e-commerce. Moreover, the use of a Portuguese sample validates findings from other cultural settings, contributing toward a unified theory and testing its applicability. In this way, it is an opportunity rather then a limitation. Practical implications – The research identifies what is strategic and highlights the competitive methods that enhance differentiation in virtual markets, which could be useful as a framework for strategic formulation. Moreover, it provides a theoretical rational for investments in intangible assets. Originality/value – The development of a survey to assess e-commerce strategies and the identification of the e-commerce strategic dimensions are the main contributions of this research, which highlights the importance of differentiation factors in virtual markets.

The literature emphasises the need to integrate innovation initiatives under the umbrella of the total quality management (TQM) philosophy. Such integration is instrumental towards achieving and sustaining a superior organisational performance. Using a sample of 229 Portuguese manufacturing organisations, factor and regression analyses procedures were used to assess the impact on organisational performance of innovation for small and large organisations in the Portuguese TQM business context. The results of this study point to the significance of the size of the organisation, and product and process innovations for organisational performance. Organisational innovation was not found to have a significant impact on organisational performance. These results might be attributed to specific ownership, which is associated with process and product innovation. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that small organisations might want to consider directing their innovation investments towards management aspects such as processes and products. In this context, top-down organisational innovation might take more time and effort.