Inventories play an important role in business cycles. Inventory build-ups add momentum to the economy during expansions, while inventory liquidations sap economic strength during recessions. In addition, because inventory fluctuations are notoriously difficult to predict, they present considerable uncertainty in assessing the economic outlook. The role of inventories in shaping the current out...

Increasing global competition and advances in Internet technologies have led organizations to consider e-business strategies. However, evolving e-business strategies have been identified as a critical issue faced by corporate planners. The relevance and the use of IS (Information Systems) strategy planning practices in the context of e-business have been argued among researchers. In this paper,...

Business Training and Female Enterprise Start-Up, Growth, and Dynamics: Experimental Evidence from Sri Lanka We conduct a randomized experiment in Sri Lanka to measure the impact of the most commonly used business training course in developing countries, the Start-and-Improve Your Business (SIYB) program. In contrast to existing business training evaluations which are restricted to microfinance...

In this paper we hypothesize that community of practices are valuable to Business Schools and Universities because they contribute to the knowledge management cycle for organisational learning. Drawing upon our experience at the e-Business Management Section of Scuola Superiore ISUFIUniversity of Lecce (Italy), we‘ll present a process-oriented model of a Virtual Community of Practices (VCoPs), ...

The last decade has marked a radical change in the business of sustainability, say environmental activists and industrialists alike. On the wane are "greenwashing" campaigns in which corporations promote dubious environmental accomplishments to draw attention away from environmentally damaging practices. On the rise are corporate investments in sustainability programs, new types of environmenta...

he F/A-18 Program Office is large and complex. Many pressures and initiatives have compelled the office to institute new management techniques and practices. The prime contractors for the F/A-18—General Electric Aircraft Engines and McDonnell Douglas Aerospace—have also modified their practices to meet today’s changing business environment. This article suggests some new ways of doing business ...