For managers, innovation is vital, but paradoxical, requiring flexibility and empowerment, as well as control and efficiency. Increasingly, studies stress organizational culture as a key to managing innovation. Yet innovation-supportive culture remains an intricate and amorphous phenomenon. In response, we explore how organizational values -a foundational building block of culture -impact a particular process innovation, the implementation of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT). To unpack this scarcely studied construct, we examine three-dimensions of organizational values: value profiles, value congruence and valuepractice interactions. #

a b s t r a c tEmpirical research in Supply Chain Management is increasingly interested in complex models involving mediation effects. We support these endeavors by directing attention to the practices for the theorizing of, the testing for, and the drawing of conclusions about mediation effects. Our paper synthesizes diverse literature in other disciplines to provide an accessible tutorial as to the mathematical foundation of mediation effects and the various methods available to test for these effects. We also provide guidance to SCM scholars in the form of eight recommendations aimed at improving the theorizing of, the testing for, and the drawing of conclusions about mediation effects. Recommendations pertaining to how mediation effects are hypothesized and stated and how to select among methods to test for mediation effects are novel contributions for and beyond the Supply Chain Management discipline. (M. Rungtusanatham), miller 5350@fisher.osu.edu (J.W. Miller), boyer 9@fisher.osu.edu (K.K. Boyer). 1 Tel.: +1 614 292 0680. 2 Tel.: +1 614 292 4605.respond to disciplinary calls for more and better theories about SCM phenomena (Carter, 2011;Schroeder, 2008), provided that these endeavors are properly executed. This provision, however, may not be perfectly accurate as it relates to SCM research involving mediation processes. In Appendix A, we summarize the design and discuss the results of an exemplary (i.e., not exhaustive) review of 81 SCM articles involving mediation processes that were published, between 2008-2011, in the Journal of Business Logistics, the Journal of Operations Management, and the Journal of Supply Chain Management. Our review highlights three shortcomings with respect to how SCM research has been theorizing, empirically testing, and concluding for mediation effects. One shortcoming is that we rarely hypothesize mediation effects even when our conceptual models, described pictorially or in prose, depict mediation processes. A second shortcoming is that we often draw erroneous conclusions about mediation effects based on statistical results stemming from applying problematic methods or, more critically, on ad hoc interpretations of statistical results. A third shortcoming is that when our conceptual models incorporate multiple (e.g., three) mediation effects, we sometimes draw erroneous conclusions about all three mediation effects by relying on an omnibus test only.These three shortcomings, we believe, reflect an incomplete exposure by SCM scholars to recent developments regarding the theorizing and testing of mediation processes. Many SCM scholars are undoubtedly familiar with what mediation is and how to test for mediation effects via such familiar methods as the Baron and Kenny (1986) Method, the James et al. ) Method, or the Sobel Test (Sobel, 1982. They are, however, likely to be less conversant about other methods (e.g., Bootstrapping, Monte Carlo 0272-6963/$ -see front matter

Product returns present one of the biggest operational challenges in the world of Internet retailing due to the sheer volume and cost of processing returns. But returns also represent an often-missed opportunity to manage customer relationships and build customer loyalty to the retailer. Based upon data from a survey of 464 customers of five different Internet retailers, this article explores how firms' returns management systems affect loyalty intentions. We draw upon extant literature in the fields of Internet retailing, service quality, supply chain management, and customer satisfaction/loyalty to develop a model and a set of hypotheses relating ten latent variables in the service returns offering area. Our resulting structural equation model provides evidence of the impact of the returns management system upon customer loyalty intentions. The model also identifies effects on loyalty intentions arising from customers' satisfaction with, and perceptions of, the value of the returns service offered. These findings will help inform managers' choices regarding investment in the returns management system as an element of service quality improvement and a potential means of improved profitability. In addition, this study's empirical exploration and testing of a returns management model in the Internet retailing environment is a contribution to the currently underrepresented body of academic literature linking marketing and supply chain management in the context of end consumers.

The Internet’s influence in creating e‐services has been revolutionary for providers and their customers. Unfortunately, there has been a wide gap between inspiring applications of the Internet that help increase service customization while maintaining or even improving delivery efficiency, and downright flops in which companies that have made bold promises have failed to deliver on even a portion of their pledges. This paper provides an examination of e‐services utilizing three approaches in order to provide guidance on how to fly rather than flop. First, we develop a model of the e‐service customer retention. Second, we offer a case study of Sothebys.com to illustrate how a well‐known, but not typically technologically adventurous, company can utilize e‐services to expand its offerings and streamline its services. Finally, we offer a profiling technique for analyzing the benefits and challenges of e‐services for particular industries.