In this paper, we expand upon recent research by Frohlich and Westbrook [J. Operations Manage. 19 (2) (2001) 185] that characterizes the influence of supply chain integration on performance. Introducing supply chain integration intensity as a proxy variable for Frohlich and Westbrook’s [J. Operations Manage. 19 (2) (2001) 185] ‘outward‐facing supply chain strategy’, we investigate the ways that manufacturing‐based competitive capabilities mediate the relationship between supply chain integration and business performance. While previous research suggests that supply chain integration is directly related to superior business performance, the mediating role of manufacturing capabilities has not been explored. Using hierarchical regression analysis, we develop and test a theory‐based model using a sample of consumer products manufacturers. Contrary to Frohlich and Westbrook’s [J. Operations Manage. 19 (2) (2001) 185] assertions regarding the applicability of the ‘outward‐facing strategy’ to the consumer goods sector, our results provide empirical evidence that supply chain integration intensity leads directly to improved business performance, thus corroborating the conventional wisdom concerning the increasing importance of supply chain integration in the consumer products sector. In addition, this study uncovers empirical evidence for the mediating role of manufacturing‐based competitive capabilities in supply chain management. These results support the growing call for a broader, more generalized view of manufacturing strategy.

This study replicates and extends Ferdows and De Meyers' observed ‘sand cone’ model of cumulative competitive capabilities by means of Roth's related competitive progression theory (CPT). Using path analysis, we model and test the relationships among the generic competitive capability constructs of conformance quality, delivery reliability, volume flexibility, and low cost as predicted by CPT. Our results, drawn from a sample of high‐tech manufacturers, provide further evidence that on average, these four capabilities are acquired both cumulatively and in that sequence. We also find that each generic capability increases operational know‐how and reduces non‐value‐added directly and/or indirectly through the enhancement of successive capabilities in the progression, which in turn improves profitability. The paper contributes a theoretical rationale for the observed sand cone effect, describes how the competitive progression acts to influence accelerated organizational learning over an innovation cycle, and offers evidence that combinative capabilities have strategic value for high‐tech manufacturers.

Manufacturers are increasingly utilizing Internet‐based tools to more readily conduct collaborative activities with key business customers. While the emerging conventional wisdom suggests that the greater the extent to which manufacturers engage in Internet‐enabled commerce with downstream business customers the better the performance, we espouse an alternative view. Consistent with the relational view of competitive advantage and contingency theory, we develop a model and a series of hypotheses that specify how various product and market characteristics may influence the nature of the expected positive relationship between e‐collaboration and performance.To test the model, we collected data from 50 manufacturers using a Web‐based survey. Our partial least squares (PLS) analysis results do indeed support the notion that e‐collaboration is related to better operational and business performance. However, we go on to show that the strength of the relationship between e‐collaboration and operational performance diminishes as the level of environmental munificence increases. Notably, we found no such moderating effect with respect to the level of product complexity or market variability. Our findings contribute to the operations strategy literature on supply chain relationships in the e‐business arena and offer managers a framework for understanding the conditions under which investments in e‐collaboration may be more appropriate and therefore more beneficial.

Managers have long been challenged by an abundance of internal and external demands and uncertainties in their operating environments. Anecdotal evidence and a growing number of research studies have advocated process flexibility and product innovation as organization-level operating capabilities critical for responding to such demands and uncertainties, and have highlighted the need for more efficient and effective management of the firm's knowledge-based resources. Leveraging arguments from the resource-based and knowledge-based views of the firm, we introduce a second-order latent construct called operational intellectual capital, which represents the organization's operating know-how embedded in a system of complementary (i.e., covarying) knowledge-based resources. We argue that operational intellectual capital influences organization-level operating capabilities such as process flexibility and product innovation, which, in turn, influence business performance. We empirically examine these relationships using structural equation modeling on a cross-section of U.S. manufacturing survey data. Statistical results from the estimation of a coalignment model and comparisons with several other models support our operational intellectual capacity conceptualization and its impact on operating capabilities and business performance, respectively. Our research thus suggests the importance of possessing and leveraging a system of complementary knowledge-based operating resources, and addresses the need for the reformulation of operations strategy theory in terms of the emergent knowledge-based view of the firm.operations strategy, operational intellectual capital, operating capabilities, business performance, structural equation modeling

This article compares the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction in the United Kingdom and the United States and considers the moderating effect of systematic customer feedback and complaint processes. Propositions are developed concerning country differences based on British conservatism. Hypotheses were tested using data from the International Service Study. The results support the conservatism hypothesis, empirically demonstrating that customer reaction to good service is similar, but U.K. and U.S. customers tend to respond differently to poor service encounters based on cultural norms. The authors propose that customer feedback is an often-overlooked factor in explaining the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Much valuable customer feedback may be unrealized in Britain, thus losing the opportunity to improve service design and delivery and creating a vicious cycle. Without intervention, British service firms will continue to deliver levels of service lower than would be acceptable in the United States.