Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine lean manufacturing (LM) practices and to quantify their impact on business performance (BP), with particular emphasis on the mediating role of operational performance (OP) in deriving the BP benefits commonly linked with LM. It also seeks to identify those lean practices most appropriate for application. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data on LM practices were collected using a structured survey questionnaire. The sampling frame was Jordanian companies registered and listed by the Amman Chamber of Commerce. In total, 500 questionnaires were distributed among 300 companies and a total of 249 completed questionnaires were eligible for statistical processing, a response rate of 49.8 percent. Invalid questionnaires were eliminated, leaving 228 usable. The theoretical relations were tested by structural equation modeling. Findings Although the results of the statistical analysis indicate a positive and significant impact of implementing LM practices on both OP and BP, they also show that the various LM practices did not receive equal recognition among the organizations surveyed. The most commonly adopted lean principles were found to be total preventive maintenance, statistical process control and housekeeping 5S. Research limitations/implications Other lean practices have not been considered as a dimension in this study. However, it opens new avenues of investigation relevant to lean practices. Practical implications The most significant implication of the study is that managers in manufacturing firms should place more emphasis on LM practices when developing strategies for leveraging performance. The study shows that the LM approach contributes to BP when LM practices are simultaneously implemented. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the new context in which it was conducted. The study adds value by investigating the implementation of LM practices which have been transferred from developed to developing countries and by empirically examining their impact on key performance indicators within the Jordanian manufacturing sector.

Purpose The potential for the adoption of a knowledge management system (KMS) is becoming a crucial matter in small and medium enterprises (SMEs); however, there is a scarcity of studies related to KMS adoption in SMEs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to advance further our understanding of the factors that influence the KMS adoption process among SMEs. Design/methodology/approach The collected sample size was 247 respondents. For statistical analysis, Smart partial least square (PLS) (a structural model-based tool) was used to build, run and validate the process model. PLS regression techniques were used to analyze the latent constructs. Smart PLS exhibits both the measurement model and the structural model. Findings The results indicate that knowledge management capabilities, knowledge sharing, organizational learning capabilities and IT capabilities are the significant factors which influence KMS adoption. This study also identifies some unexpected results. Research limitations/implications The number of responses obtained from the survey was rather small. However, a larger number of responses would probably have resulted in a more accurate finding. Additionally, this study should be verified via a larger sample to increase its generalization. Practical implications The result of this study will provide SMEs with valuable guidelines to better understand what factors should be considered as highly important and thus providing decision makers and managers with valuable insights to increase the adoption level of KMSs. Originality/value The study addresses the research gap by developing and empirically validating a research model of KMS adoption from a different perspective that incorporates critical issues which have never been simultaneously examined.

This study seeks to investigate the association between organizational culture and employees' commitment in the Jordanian hotel sector. The data that were gathered from 248 hotel employees, were about the respondents' organizational culture and its impact on the employees' commitment. Data were collected using the Organizational Culture Index (Wallach, 1983) [Wallach, E. J. (1983). Individuals and organizations: The cultural match.

This study aims to introduce new insights regarding factors influencing employees’ level of training motivation through investigating the impact of job satisfaction dimensions (pay, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, promotion, supervision, co-workers, operating conditions, nature of work and communication) on training motivation.Data were collected from 342 participants from six Jordanian ministries. The multiple regression technique was utilized to examine the predictive power of job satisfaction dimensions on training motivation. At the next stage, three sequential MR analysis rounds were conducted, each time using a different construct of training motivation (valence, instrumentality and expectancy) as a dependent variable.The results indicate that the dimensions of job satisfaction explain a low but significant variance of the overall training motivation model. Furthermore, it was found that only three dimensions of job satisfaction (nature of work, supervision and co-workers) respectively had a positive and significant impact on training motivation, while contingent rewards had a significant but negative impact.Regarding training motivation constructs, results indicate that the nature of work and supervision were the elements that have an impact on all constructs of training motivation. Finally, it was found that co-workers and contingent rewards had a significant impact on the training motivation constructs of expectancy (confidence in ability to learn) and valence (the perceived value of training outcomes), but no impact on instrumentality (rewards associated with learning).

The degree of rigidity in the process of IS evaluation and the dependence on a specific method tends to vary among banks, depending on a combination of many factors. This research focuses on I.S. pre-evaluation as socio-technical process. Central to this is the notion of Request for proposals RFP (Business case) and the analytical toolkit of Actor Network Theory (Latour 1987). Specifically this study attempts to highlight on the level of formality/informality played in the evaluation process by the threads of 'rigidity issues' that manifested themselves on the journey throughout the ex ante I.S. business cases in the bank. The study contributes to the existing literature in IS evaluation research by drawing using this case study to infer how pre-evaluation practices are being affected by the developing country context of Jordan. Among the several findings drawn from this research, the informal use of intuition was accommodated within the formal process of IS evaluation demonstrated to be the most prominent. The study highlights the importance of informal evaluation that of "gut feeling" and experience of executives which plays a significant role in the IS evaluation process.