a b s t r a c tFacing uncertain environments, firms have strived to achieve greater supply chain collaboration to leverage the resources and knowledge of their suppliers and customers. The objective of the study is to uncover the nature of supply chain collaboration and explore its impact on firm performance based on a paradigm of collaborative advantage. Reliable and valid instruments of these constructs were developed through rigorous empirical analysis. Data were collected through a Web survey of U.S. manufacturing firms in various industries. The statistical methods used include confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (i.e., LISREL). The results indicate that supply chain collaboration improves collaborative advantage and indeed has a bottom-line influence on firm performance, and collaborative advantage is an intermediate variable that enables supply chain partners to achieve synergies and create superior performance. A further analysis of the moderation effect of firm size reveals that collaborative advantage completely mediates the relationship between supply chain collaboration and firm performance for small firms while it partially mediates the relationship for medium and large firms.

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Purpose -To identify what constitutes web site quality or what makes a web site effective. Design/methodology/approach -This article examines and integrates four sets of factors that capture e-commerce web site quality using an IS success model: system quality, information quality, service quality, and attractiveness. A questionnaire survey was conducted to verify the measures of web site quality. Based on TAM, a framework is also developed relating web site quality to customers' beliefs (perceived usefulness and ease of use), attitudes (preferences for the site), and intentions (to revisit the site). Findings -A set of instruments of web site quality has been developed and empirically validated by factor analysis.Research limitations/implications -The research is based on a sample of students browsing several book web sites and they may not sense the web site quality across different B2C commercial web sites such as music, computer, travel, clothes and flowers. Data in these domains should be collected in any future research to examine further the measures developed here. Practical implications -Guidelines for web interface design are proposed. Originality/value -This paper fulfils the identification of web site quality and the development and validation of its measures and offers a framework and practical guidelines for e-commerce managers and web designers.

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In recent years, many researchers have attempted to determine the mechanisms of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) brings financial benefits to a firm. However, many chief financial officers (CFOs) throughout the world are uncertain about the strategic value of CSR, and no consensus has been reached on defining how CSR creates value. Drawing on signaling theory, we explore the effects of the multidimensional construct of CSR on organizational performance by examining the relationships among CSR, corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, and organizational attractiveness from the perspectives of both customers as well as job seekers. Consistent with the European Commission's view, CSR is defined as having three components: CSR for employees, CSR for customers, and CSR for social public welfare. Data are collected through an online survey of a convenient sample of 500 individuals from different organizations in China. Results indicate that corporate reputation plays a mediating role in the relationship between CSR and customer satisfaction and that between CSR and organizational attractiveness. Further, the impact mechanisms of the three components of CSR are different. For CSR for employees, both cognitive and affective reputation work as mediators, with the former playing a bigger mediating role than the latter. For CSR for customers, only cognitive reputation works as a mediator, whereas for CSR for social public welfare, only affective reputation works as a mediator. This study's findings show that the abovementioned relationships are more complex than previous studies have revealed. These insights provide guidelines for firms to better adjust their CSR strategies to improve customer satisfaction and organizational attractiveness.