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Flexibility in a manufacturing fi rm is a strategic choice that advances the fi rm's superior performance. This is especially true in the emerging supply chain, which makes the fi rm's environment particularly turbulent. This paper examines the critical relationships between a manufacturing fi rm's human capital, the fi rm's fl exibility, suppliers' fl exibility, and the fi rm's competitive advantages. Based on questionnaire responses from 201 senior supply chain management professionals in several manufacturing industries, this study establishes direct links between a manufacturing fi rm's human capital and the fi rm's superior fl exibility, and between a manufacturing fi rm's fl exibility and its competitive advantages. In addition, this research fi nds that the fi rm's fl exibility mediates the relationship between the fi rm's human capital and its competitive advantages, as does the connection between the suppliers' fl exibility and the fi rm's competitive advantages.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic service (e-service) allows a company to decrease transaction costs, expedite delivery time, and serve more customers. Flexibility lets e-service providers improve their service without costly and time-consuming infrastructure overhauls to cope with the changing business environment. Little work has been done to associate flexibility with e-service. This paper aims to provide a conceptual taxonomy of e-service flexibility in line with the online purchase in a customer activity cycle (CAC), as well as a theoretical model to investigate the relationships among a company's internal flexibility, e-service flexibility, customer readiness and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach -Based on an extensive review of e-service and flexibility literature, the paper develops a taxonomy of B2C e-service flexibility in a CAC framework and a conceptual model to show the influence e-service flexibility exerts on firm performance and the factors that support e-service flexibility.Findings -This research identifies the important e-service flexibility in each CAC stage, discusses the influence of e-service flexibility on firm performance and an organization's internal flexibility supporting e-service flexibility, and argues that customer readiness has an important influence on firm performance as well.Research limitations/implications -The conceptual model of e-service flexibility and propositions need further empirical validation. Practical implications -This paper should help managers identify the critical e-service flexibility that satisfies their customers and the core internal flexibility that supports flexible e-service. It should help managers consider customer limitations when developing e-service flexibility. Originality/value -This research sets some theoretical and research foundation for future empirical studies. First, the research provides a conceptual definition of e-service flexibility in line with the CAC. Based on the definition, measurements of e-service flexibility in each stage of CAC could be developed and the e-service flexibility construct could be validated. Second, the conceptual model outlines the relationships betwee...