The effects of total quality management and organisational learning on business performance: evidence from Taiwanese insurance industries

[[abstract]]This research is focused on the Taiwanese insurance industry to explore the relationship among total quality management (TQM), organisational learning (OL) and business performance of insurance companies. In this study, the questionnaires are analysed and the t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple regression models are used to verify the research framework and hypotheses. The results show significant difference of gender, position, educational level and industry on TQM, OL and business performance recognition, but there is no significant difference in seniority. Using multiple regression analysis and the mediating test, the principal findings of this study are shown as follows: (1) TQM has significant and positive effects on OL, (2) Both TQM and OL have significant and positive effects on business performance, (3) OL fosters business performance and plays a mediating role between TQM and business performance, and (4) The non-life and the life insurance industries, which carry out TQM, OL and business performance, are significantly different. The results show practical implications for the insurance industry in Taiwan.[[notice]]補正完畢[[incitationindex]]SSCI[[booktype]]紙

Supply Chain Intelligence

This chapter provides on overall picture of business intelligence (BI) and supply chain analytics (SCA) as a means to support supply chain management (SCM) and decision-making. Based on the literature review, we clarify the needs of BI and performance measurement in the SCM sphere, and discuss its potential to enhance decision-making in strategic, tactical and operational levels. We also make a closer look in to SCA in different areas and functions of SCM. Our findings indicate that the main challenge for harnessing the full potential of SCA is the lack of holistic and integrated BI approaches that originates from the fact that each functional area is using its own IT applications without necessary integration in to the company’s overall BI system. Following this examination, we construct a holistic framework that illustrates how an integrated, managerially planned BI system can be developed. Finally, we discuss the main competency requirements, as well as the challenges still prohibiting the great majority of firms from building smart and comprehensive BI systems for SCM.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Green process innovation: Where we are and where we are going

Environmental pollution has worsened in the past few decades, and increasing pressure is being put on firms by different regulatory bodies, customer groups, NGOs and other media outlets to adopt green process innovations (GPcIs), which include clean technologies and end-of-pipe solutions. Although considerable studies have been published on GPcI, the literature is disjointed, and as such, a comprehensive understanding of the issues, challenges and gaps is lacking. A systematic literature review (SLR) involving 80 relevant studies was conducted to extract seven themes: strategic response, organisational learning, institutional pressures, structural issues, outcomes, barriers and methodological choices. The review thus highlights the various gaps in the GPcI literature and illuminates the pathways for future research by proposing a series of potential research questions. This study is of vital importance to business strategy as it provides a comprehensive framework to help firms understand the various contours of GPcI. Likewise, policymakers can use the findings of this study to fill in the loopholes in the existing regulations that firms are exploiting to circumvent taxes and other penalties by locating their operations to emerging economies with less stringent environmental regulations.publishedVersio

How can collaboration between social enterprise and impact investment help mainstream sustainable development goals?

After the global economic meltdown, 2008-2009, impact investment (II) emerged as a mechanism that embeds blended value propositions (social, environmental and economic) to provide the capital needs of social enterprise (SE). Many see collaboration as the life blood of entrepreneurship, and likely to enhance partnerships between SE and II in mainstreaming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), because their activities centre on sustainable entrepreneurship, which aligns with the SDGs: in particular, the 17th SDG hinges on ‘partnerships for the attainment’ of goals 1-16. However, there is scepticism about the sustainability of the relationship between SE and II and this highlights the challenges for managing sustainable organisations. This paper focuses on the untapped knowledge of ‘collaborative entrepreneurship’ to explore how the pursuit of competing logics of social welfare and commercial value by SE and II can be managed to mainstream SDGs, despite potential ethical tension. Through qualitative document analysis, the paper explains how collaborative entrepreneurship can be applied to resolving tendencies for unsustainable relationships between SE and II organisations. It extends the collaborative entrepreneurship literature with insight from the paradoxical leadership mindset of ‘both/and’.Keywords: Social enterprise, impact investment, collaboration, mission drift, competing logics, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs