Collaborative practices between firms and their suppliers are becoming increasing important in the light of short product life cycles, intense global competition, the need for sustainability, and the ever-increasing demands of customers. Although supplier relationship management (SRM) and its purported benefits have been widely studied in the literature, most of the studies have focused on examining its direct relationship with firm performance. Interestingly, there is scare research on the applicability and effectiveness of such relationships in less developed countries. Thus, we use data collected from firms in Ghana, a less developed country, and apply rigorous, robust, and consistent analytical procedures to examine moderated-mediation relationships between SRM, operational flexibility, ownership structure, and firm performance (FP). We demonstrate that operational flexibility capability mediates the supplier relationship management-firm performance link. Additionally, our moderated mediated analyses show that SRM's influence on firm performance is stronger for locally-owned firms (domestic) than foreign owned firms, indicating that domestic firms stand to gain more from investments in SRM than firms with foreign ownership. This finding is particularly interesting and vital given that locally owned firms might not have the needed resources to invest in SRM practices and thus, the need for these firms to comprehend the benefits and advantages of SRM.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a healthcare framework of service quality, perceived value, and satisfaction in Ghana. More specifically, this study investigates the role and effect of service quality on patient satisfaction and perceived value in Ghana’s healthcare delivery. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through surveys administered to 113 healthcare patients in Ghana. partial least square-structural equation modeling analysis was used to empirically test the research model. Findings Results show healthcare quality significantly influences satisfaction and perceived value of healthcare delivery. Additionally, perceived value’s impact on satisfaction and behavioral intention shows that increasing perceived benefits while reducing perceived costs leads to repeat behavior and paves the way for retention strategy for healthcare management. Research limitations/implications This study yields a series of limitations in its results and conclusions. These limitations and future research are discussed in Section 7 of the study. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by examining the effects of healthcare service quality on patient satisfaction and perceived value, determining the effect of healthcare service quality on patients’ behavioral intention, and testing the proposed framework in Ghana, a fast growing and economically liberalized emerging country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Purpose -The importance of and viability of the college student cohort for credit card firms and banks are well documented and so are the challenges facing marketers interested in this target market. The first purpose of this paper is to examine college students' motivation for consuming credit cards and the usefulness of the latter to them. The second purpose relies on marketing scholars' advice by replicating and then validating an extant scale that measures college students' decision criteria for credit cards. Specifically, the paper attempts to answer two questions: what is the compelling reason for a college student to want to own and use a credit card? In addition, how important is the credit card to the college student? Design/methodology/approach -The authors adopted the classical multi-step scale development procedure, which demands that thorough attention is paid to every step of the process. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the reliability and validity of the results. Findings -This study has replicated and validated an extant scale measuring college students' consumption of credit cards. The findings confirm four key factors: "customer service;" "incentives;" "need for credit;" and "buying power." In addition, 66 per cent of the respondents claim that credit cards provide a sense of security for them. Furthermore, while 49 per cent of the sample uses their cards up to three purchases monthly, 51 per cent use their cards more than four times in a month. Moreover, 25 per cent of the respondents regularly use their cards (i.e. more than seven purchases or more per month).Research limitations/implications -The cross-sectional research basis and convenience samples are weaknesses of this study, as they pose generalizability questions. Although the study is consistent with the literature and directions from academic and practitioner experts, the authors acknowledge the lack of (true experimental) control over the identified factors. Practical implications -Credit card marketers and bank managers may assess the dimensions in this study and adapt them as the basis for marketing and positioning strategies, marketing communication tactics, and brand management, particularly within the college student and the youth target markets. This can lead to the basis upon which credit card policies, i.e. college students' compulsive buying habits, college students' credit card debt, and banks' marketing activities may be proposed. Originality/value -The paper proposes a rigorously validated scale that reflects both psychometric and parsimonious measures dealing with college students' consumption of credit cards. In view of the scarce stream of empirical studies dealing with college students' consumption of credit cards, this paper comes at an opportune time as scholars continue to debate and research about college students' credit card debt and credit card firms' ethical practices on college campuses. Moreover, the paper supports the importance of generalizability of findings and replicatio...