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Leaders in the wood pallet industry have faced numerous trends over the past few decades that have challenged their ability to maintain success without adopting new business models and innovations. Past literature would predict that industry managers who instill entrepreneurial processes such as innovation, risk-taking, and proactiveness into their operations should be better equipped to identify, positively react to, and take advantage of changing environmental conditions. Firms that emphasize such processes are described as being strategically orientated toward entrepreneurship. The objective of this study was to determine whether pallet manufacturing firms that exhibit entrepreneurial processes are more successful than those that do not. As an example of how an entrepreneurial orientation might influence business operations, this study also analyzed revenue-generating methods of managing wood waste. Data for the study were collected from executives of North American pallet manufacturers. Findings suggest pallet firms that continually work to improve their products and services, frequently make decisions that involve risk, and proactively seek out new opportunities have higher performance than firms that do not. Furthermore, manufacturing firms that monetize waste products exhibit greater proclivity for entrepreneurial processes than firms that pay to dispose of or give away wood waste. Results are discussed and potential implications for managers in the industry are provided., The wood pallet manufacturing industry is not often characterized as being one of rapid change and continuous innovation. It would be imprudent, however, to assume the industry has long been [...]

In the past two decades alone the forest products industry has suffered in the face of what many observers would consider a series of self-imposed disasters. Many of these have [...]

The impact of employees' ethnic and gender diversity as well as age on the team performance in a wood products company in the United States is discussed.

Abstract The Habitat for Humanity (HFH) ReStore system is composed of hundreds of retail stores that sell a wide variety of building materials. New and used building materials are donated [...]

Abstract This paper reports results from a study of the financial components and relative advantages of two alternative pallet load systems: rental and purchased pallets. Through personal on-site and telephone [...]

Abstract Individual employee performance has been shown to play an important role in the overall performance of organizations. One of the factors influencing production employee performance appears to be the [...]

Abstract Most segments of the wood manufacturing industry place a great deal of emphasis on production in order to meet daily or weekly productivity quotas. Unfortunately, conflicts often exist between [...]

Abstract Many wood manufacturers currently utilize teams, yet optimizing performance continues to be a key challenge to team utilization. This research sought to extend our knowledge of team performance by [...]

Abstract Wood manufacturers would benefit from an increased understanding of how production supervisors affect the performance and attitudes of their subordinates. This research used leader-member exchange theory to examine the [...]

The wood products industry has historically been considered to be one of the most dangerous for manufacturing employees. Workers are exposed to hazards ranging from falling trees to debarkers to [...]

Abstract Production employees are an important component of the wood product industry's workforce, and yet little research has been conducted to provide a glimpse of what will make them more [...]

Abstract Reduced profitability and changes in workforce characteristics currently characterize the U.S. hardwood lumber industry. Because a producer's employees have a great impact on organizational outcomes, both academics and managers [...]

Paul N. Smith (*) Judd H. Michael (*) ABSTRACT As competition intensifies in the $127 billion homecenter industry (1998 data), homecenter retailers are implementing electronic commerce technologies in order to [...]

The role of supervisors' leadership on the behavior and occupational safety of subordinates in manufacturing industries is discussed.

JUDD H. MICHAEL [*] ABSTRACT New employees will have beliefs regarding the reciprocal obligations between themselves and their employer. These beliefs can take the form of a psychological contract between [...]