Purpose This paper aims to empirically investigate the triadic relationship between internal integration, internal flexibility and external flexibility. Design/methodology/approach This research hypothesized the mediation effect of internal flexibility on the relationship between internal integration and external flexibility. Survey data were collected and analyzed using simple and mediation regression analysis to test the study hypotheses. Findings The research finding reveals that machine, labor and material handling flexibilities; being as internal flexibility dimensions mediate the relationship between internal integration and volume and mix flexibilities; being as external flexibility dimensions. The results provided insufficient evidence on the mediating effect of routing flexibility on the relationship between internal integration and both volume and mix flexibilities. Research limitations/implications This research presents a new perspective for research studies to understand the factors that affect manufacturing flexibility. However, the nature of the surveyed sample and using of a single informant might limit the generalizability of the research findings. Practical implications This study provides useful insights for firms wishing to enhance their competitiveness through improving their flexibility. The companies should be aware of the importance of developing a suitable platform for coordinating inter-departmental activities to enhance its internal competencies, which, in turn, improve its customer-facing capabilities and boosts its competitiveness. Originality/value This paper contributes to knowledge by proposing and empirically testing the mediating effect of internal flexibility on the relationship between internal integration and external flexibility.

Purpose This paper aims to empirically investigate how structural barriers affect the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices implementation and organizational performance in service industries. Design/methodology/approach This research hypothesized the moderation effect of structural barriers on the relationship between TQM practices implementation and organizational performance. A questionnaire was adopted to collect data form 153 Egyptian service companies. Moderated regression analysis was used to test the study hypothesis. Findings The empirical analysis suggests that structural barriers partially moderate the relationship between TQM practices implementation and organizational performance. The analysis reveals that the effect of Quality Improvement, Process Improvement, External and Internal Relations and Employee Development – being as TQM dimensions – on performance is moderated by structural barriers. While the results provided insufficient evidence on the moderating effect of structural barriers on the relationship between both Performance Management – being as a TQM dimension – and performance. Research limitations/implications This research presents a new perspective for researches to understand the TQM–Performance relationship in the light of the contingency theory. However, the adopted sampling technique and the small sample size might limit the generalizability of the research findings. Practical implications This study provides useful insights for service organizations about the necessity of developing suitable structural platform for supporting their TQM efforts to boost their performance which, in turn, improves their competitiveness. Originality/value This research proposed and empirically validated how structural barriers play a significant role as moderators to the relationship between TQM implementation and organizational performance within service organizations context.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to promote and analytically verify an advanced assessment design to evaluate service quality (SQ) especially in postgraduate higher education. Design/methodology/approach This research adopts a quantitative approach through a survey method. A structured questionnaire was designed as a means for collecting data. Data were collected from 182 postgraduate students in an Egyptian higher education university. Data were examined by exploratory factor analysis to pinpoint the main irregularities explained by the extracted factors. Then, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to filter the ratios and empirically test the assessment efficiency of the developed model. Findings The final model consists of 33 items loaded into eight dimensions for measuring performance-based SQ of the postgraduate higher education. The results are satisfactory in terms of unidimensionality, trustworthiness, and validity tests. Research limitations/implications Although the empirical results are significant, a comparative study can identify relative strengths and weaknesses of this model. Practical implications For improving postgraduate higher education institutions’ quality, this paper highlights some dimensions and attributes that should be considered. Originality/value The literature proposes that there is an opportunity to handle SQ from the point of view of postgraduate students covering different contexts to further build a more comprehensive structure specifically for postgraduate higher education SQ. This paper deals with this research gap with analytical confirmation within the context of postgraduate programs in an Egyptian university.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the contingent effect of supply chain strategies on supply chain integration (SCI)-performance relationship in manufacturing organizations.Design/methodology/approachThis research hypothesized the moderation effect of agile, responsive, risk-hedging and efficient strategies on the relationship between SCI and operational performance (OP). Survey data were collected from a sample of 112 Egyptian manufacturing firms and analyzed using moderated regression analyses to test the study hypotheses.FindingsThe results provide supporting evidence that the four strategies moderate the relationship between internal integration (II) and OP. The results also indicated that agile strategy moderates the relationship between customer and supplier integration and OP. Besides, the results indicated that responsive strategy moderates the effect of customer integration (CI) on OP. Finally, the results did not provide sufficient evidence regarding the moderating effect of risk-hedging strategy on supplier integration (SI)-performance relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe nature of the surveyed sample and the use of a single informant might limit the ability to generalize the research findings outside the research context.Practical implicationsThe research results provide managers of manufacturing organizations with the roadmap to maximize the benefits from their integrative efforts through emphasizing the appropriate supply chain strategy (SCS) with respect to the market demand/supply conditions.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to knowledge by empirically validating the contingent effect of SCS on the relationship between SCI and OP.