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Purpose: This paper offers a retrospective on the launch and first volumes of this journal. It describes the history of a unique period in our discipline when founding fathers in the US and UK collaborated with industry and each other to create a new field. Design/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed founding editor Professor Martin Christopher and coeditor in Chief Professor Doug Lambert, conducted a bibliometric review of the first volumes of the journal and informed the analysis by approaches taken in other retrospectives published in the journal. The authors also feature historical artifacts from the journal. Findings: The editorial focus during the early days of the journal demonstrate how the roots of the field are in cost modeling and technical work but quickly moved toward customer orientation and managerial focus. The editorial approach during the early days of the journal was on innovative research and publishing, scholarship engaged with industry, a focus on relevance and industry impact as well as leveraging research in education. Originality/value: There have been retrospectives on the journals most recent volumes but what the authors aim to do is to reflect upon the launch and the first volumes of the journal. The authors expand and further detail the timeline of the development of the logistics field. In the process, the authors identify several historical roots for topics of greater focus in logistics and supply chain management in later years. The authors also find that many of the essential approaches and lessons learned in the period leading up to the launch and shortly after the launch of the journal do not only capture the early development of the discipline it also offers an approach and model for scholarship worthy of consideration still today. On top of that, several of the lessons learned in that period hold high relevance still today and they imply part of the path forward for the discipline and the journal, the authors develop questions for future research and research and editorial strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the introduction of a new experience-based learning process in the learning and teaching of human resource development (HRD) within a professionally accredited curriculum in a UK University. Design/methodology/approach - An action enquiry approach is taken, and qualitative data gathered over a full academic year from tutors and students are analysed to examine how those involved made sense of and learned about HRD. Findings - Influences on the experience of an innovative HRD pedagogy are identified as: assessment processes and expectations; relationships and behaviours within the learning and teaching process; the experienced emotions of those involved; and the extent to which students feel clarity about what is expected. Research limitations/implications - The qualitative nature of the data and the focus on one particular UK institutional taught module limits the generalisability; in particular, the experience of full-time students or those involved in courses that focus exclusively on HRD outside of UK are not incorporated. Practical implications - Attention to assessment processes is an essential pre-requisite to any pedagogic innovation, as is effective and transparent team-working by tutors and careful thought about tutor behaviours in settings where experienced emotions and relationships directly affect the innovative process. Originality/value - The inherent tension between the constructivist and exploratory HRD curriculum and the requirement for "performative clarity" in HRD pedagogy is explored. Experienced emotions and relationships are shown to mediate a student-centred and critically reflexive HRD pedagogy, something that is currently insufficiently recognised in much of the literature. The authors acknowledge with thanks the support of a research honorarium awarded by the University Forum for HRD (UFHRD) and the HEA Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance (BMAF) subject centre associated with the project discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to undertake a content analysis of extant definitions of "innovation" as a basis for proposing an integrative definition of organizational "innovation". Design/methodology/approach - A literature review was used to generate a representative pool of definitions of organizational innovation, including definitions from the different disciplinary literatures of economics, innovation and entrepreneurship, business and management, and technology, science and engineering. A content analysis of these definitions was conducted in order to surface the key attributes mentioned in the definitions, and to profile the descriptors used in relation to each attribute. Findings,- The key attributes in the paper present in definitions were identified as: nature of innovation; type of innovation; stages of innovation, social context; means of innovation; and aim of innovation. These attributes are defined, descriptors assigned to them, and both a diagrammatic definition and a textual definition of organizational innovation are proposed. Originality/value - As a concept that is owned and discussed by many business disciplines, "innovation" has many different definitions that align with the dominant paradigm of the respective disciplines. Building on these diverse definitions, this paper proposes a general and integrative definition of organizational "innovation" that encompasses the different perspectives on, and aspects of, innovation, and captures its essence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Neither retail formats nor business models are static entities. Retailers develop new formats, manage existing formats and discard formats over time, as a consequence of many contributory factors in the retail environment. The paper provides a brief summary of our existing understanding of the retail innovation process and of the longer term retail format lifecycle, before placing this alongside recent UK research into the contemporary practice of format innovation. It explores four features of recent format change in the UK that provide the basis for distinctive business models. Design/methodology/approach - Analysis is derived from interviews with retail practitioners and supported by quantitative evidence from government statistical sources. Findings - The paper concludes that whilst existing models of retail format change can risk oversimplifying and formalising what are often experimental, incremental and often accidental processes, they can complement our understanding of longer term trends in UK retail formats. Practical implications - The evolution of retail formats, together with the retail business models of which they are an expression, has been a continuing source of interest amongst stakeholders ranging from consumers, developers and investors. Findings demonstrate that innovation is seen as providing an important source of diversity and renewal for urban and suburban spaces. Originality/value - The paper is of interest to practitioners and students of retail management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The role of environmental regulations in inducing innovation and improving performance has been studied in the literature. However, there have been no studies in the UK using statistical data. This paper aims to study the links among regulations, innovation and performance in the UK using sector level data. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used structural equation modelling to study the links among the three variables simultaneously. Findings – The analysis indicates that environmental regulations in the UK are significant in improving economic performance of the industrial sectors. They also find that, in the short run, environmental regulations negatively influence innovation, and innovation negatively influences economic performance in these sectors. Practical implications – The results have implications both for policy makers and firms in the UK industrial sector. For policy makers, environmental regulations have generally improved economic performance. For firms, the study shows that sufficient planning in meeting government’s environment standards can help improve their economic performance. Originality/value – This is the first study in the UK to explore simultaneously the links among the three variables: environmental regulations, innovation, and performance, using secondary sector level data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – An oral history to examine the evolution of the empowered consumer and brand consciousness from 1918 to 1965 as a critical analysis of mass consumer culture in Britain. Design/methodology/approach – The authors trace the changing experience of consumer empowerment and importantly show oral testimony (oral history) as a method able to reveal the complexities of this experience. Findings – Women locate increased choice and responsibility within changing marketing and retailing systems (including self-service, branding and the media). The authors show how increased choice and responsibility was often experienced (at least initially) as challenging or confusing. Originality/value – The study identifies that empowerment is a complex or paradoxical process. It provides empirical support for a growing number of claims that have challenged the linear benefit assumptions given to increased choice arising from classic economic theory and outline a model of the paradox of the evolution of the empowered consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]