This study focuses on finding the trend of efficiency in the healthcare industry in recent years. We applied stochastic frontier analysis and data envelopment analysis methods to capture the efficiency of 1,471 hospitals and found a sign of the Baumol effect, which is detected by the decreasing trend of hospital efficiency with increasing trend of labor costs. Furthermore, we compared the results of both approaches (stochastic frontier and data envelope analyses) in capturing efficiency scores and suggest the U‐shaped curve of the size effect may indicate the practice of “cream skimming” by some small hospitals.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to determine the performance impact for small, local retailers by the means of category management (CM) practice and implementation. The authors utilized survey methodology to investigate both the immediate and cumulative impact of CM on several regional retailers.
Design/methodology/approach
– The results suggest CM practices have a positive impact on the performance of small, local retailers. category captain (CC) and minor supplier (MS) performances are also positively related to CM execution. CM practices, however, do not have a direct significant influence on MS performance, but rather have a cumulative impact through CC and CM performances.
Practical implications
– Small retailers should implement CM principles informally to match with their specific limited resources and management structures. Additionally, results from this study also suggest that local retailers may benefit from leveraging suppliers through tighter relationships encompassed within CM.
Originality/value
– This research is the first to empirically test the immediate and cumulative impacts of CM practices on small, local retailers, and to determine their implications. Cumulatively, small retailers have a large impact on developed economies with a particularly large impact on employment, therefore major retail initiatives such as CM merit scholarly attention.
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