Effects of inter-organizational compatibility on supply chain capabilities: Exploring the mediating role of inter-organizational information systems (IOIS) integration

Growing globalization and environmental uncertainty have increased the challenges managers face in delivering services or products to the customer. Integration of information systems across partnering organizations has become the backbone of supply chain management, as amalgamation facilitates the sharing of information required to enhance organizational flexibility and responsiveness while minimizing risk and inventory costs. Using data from the Australian retailing sectors, this study investigates the mediating role of inter-organizational information system (IOIS) integration on the relationships between inter-organizational compatibility and supply chain capabilities. The results indicate that inter-organizational compatibility of technical, strategic, and cultural inter-organizational dimensions facilitate IOIS integration and supply chain capabilities. To maximize benefits for all chain members, IOIS integration needs to be embedded in the strategies and goals of partnering organizations. Business-to-business and industrial marketing managers need to be aware that IOIS integration processes require support of top managers of the partnering organizations and should be embedded in the organizations' strategic goals.     

Supplier adaptation: A qualitative investigation of customer and supplier perspectives

Differing views and goals in the buyer–supplier dyad can create underlying tension in supply chain relationships. Although research recognizes that adaptation is often expected from both customers and suppliers in exchange relationships, researchers have not adequately explored the long-range relational implications of customer adaptation requests. This research uses data from two qualitative focus groups to examine the interaction of customers and suppliers surrounding adaptation, as prior research has not yet considered how the customer's response to adaptation may change if they are aware of how the supplier actually perceives and evaluates specific adaptation requests. The first focus group included 20 active participants representing both customer and supplier perspectives, while the second focus group included five participants to provide a more in-depth examination of issues that emerged in the first focus group. Results suggest that customers' and suppliers' adaptation expectations differ; each has difficulty recognizing adaptation conflict because of perceived benefits and biases surrounding adaptation. Results suggest several adaptation conflict management behaviors are utilized to minimize its negative impacts on supply chain relationships, including blameshifting, justifying and negotiating techniques. Results suggest that trust can create blind spots in relationships, potentially causing customers and their suppliers to have difficulty recognizing conflict until it deteriorates relationships' foundational trust.     

Lead time reduction through ICT application in the footwear industry: A case study

This paper analyses some relevant supply chain management issues for Italian firms operating in the footwear industry. The analysis is carried out on representative firms, located in a specialized regional district with a high density of shoe manufacturing companies. Companies were experiencing substantial problems in the management of supplier relationships, as well as in the commercial/distributive channel. Specifically, synchronization issues in the logistics pipeline were weakening firms’ lead time performances.The case study presented strives to highlight the critical points in the set up of the supply chain management programme, as well as the main results obtained. The case study also shows that the adoption of tailored Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools has the potential to save significant lead time in supplier/buyer relationships. From the case study, generalities can be drawn and transferred to the footwear industry.     

Information sharing and profit allotment based on supply chain cooperation

To maximize customer value created by a supply chain system as a whole, one of the key issues in supply chain management is how to have profit and benefit properly shared between partners in an effective manner of the supply chain integration. In this regard, information sharing between partners plays a rather important role in business process and management integration of the supply chain. The paper focuses on analyzing the value created from information sharing by decreasing inventory level and on investigating the collaborative mechanism of providing incentive to retailer by upstream partner via sharing profit gained information sharing in the context of three-echelon supply chain system. The issue of dealing with the interest conflict between the supply chain as a whole and individual partners is addressed based on information sharing analysis by means of cooperative game approach, a graphic model with three-dimensions is developed to depict the possible cooperative solutions of profit allotment between partners, and a problem solving method addressing how the profit allotment between partners can effectively motivate the partners to be cooperative with each other is presented as well.     

Shared rewards and goal interdependence for psychological safety among departments in China

Psychological safety has been shown to facilitate learning from experience that can help organizations adapt to the changing marketplace. Shared rewards and cooperative, but not competitive and independent, goals may help department members feel supported and able to discuss open-mindedly their experiences, including mistakes, and learn from them. One hundred and twenty five CEOs and 436 executives from 125 companies in China completed measures of psychological safety, goal interdependence, and shared rewards. The results of two structural equation analyses suggest that shared rewards can convince departments that their goals are cooperative and that this conclusion in turn leads to psychological safety. These results were interpreted as suggesting that shared rewards and cooperative goals are important foundations for organizational psychological safety in China and perhaps other countries as well.     

Power to all our friends? Living with imbalance in supplier-retailer relationships

This study investigates the issue of power in business-to-business relationships and constitutes an appraisal of the theory relating to issues of supply chain relationships, in which the received view from the Relationship Marketing (RM) literature with its emphasis on trust, dyadic symmetry and mutuality is questioned. It is contended, alternatively that other types of relationships, for example, those based on selfishness are equally relevant, and that power imbalanced business relationships are just as important to the understanding of business exchange. Specific reference is made to power relationships in vertical food supply channels in the UK, where the majority of control lies in the hands of large multiple retailers. The paper cites case material drawn from studies into the relationships between UK based fresh food supplier organizations and their principal customers, the leading UK food retailers, and determines specific outcomes with regard to issues of power, mutuality and the nature of power-dependent relationships.     

Logistics and supply chain management in luxury fashion retail: Empirical investigation of Italian firms

The Italian industry of fashion goods is a business worth 67.6€ billion in 2006 (Il Sole 24ore, January 10, 2007), of which about 26€ billion is due to the luxury segment. Marketing gurus state that “consumers everywhere at every income level want more luxury” [Danziger, P.N., 2005. Let them Eat the Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses as well as the Classes. Dearborn Trade Publishing, Chicago]: therefore, companies should move brands towards a higher positioning and add more valuable features to products and services, but this cannot be obtained only by means of marketing efforts. Which is the role of operations and supply chain management in luxury fashion companies’ success? This paper presents the results of the exploratory stage of a research project ongoing at Politecnico di Milano and dealing with supply chain management in the luxury fashion industry. In total, 12 Italian luxury fashion retailers have been studied in order to describe the main features of operations and supply chain strategies in the luxury fashion segment and to identify their role with respect to the relevant critical success factors.     

Factors influencing shippers to use multiple country consolidation services in international distribution centers

Multiple country consolidation (MCC) combines cargos from different countries into same destinations by implementing logistics services including assembling, simple processes, packing, and labeling to increase cargos’ added value. Facing such an opportunity in global supply chain, international distribution centers (IDCs) need to examine internal resources and their external environment to create more competitive advantages. From the shippers’ perspective, this study uses structural equation modeling to examine the causal effect relationship of key factors affecting the use of MCC provided in IDCs. Results show logistics cost advantage, logistics operation efficiency, and logistics information technology service could positively influence the shippers to use MCC provided in IDCs. Several managerial implications were included and could be useful for the decision makers of IDCs and the government.     

Shifts in buyer-seller relationships: A retrospective on

One of the most highly cited papers in the Industrial Marketing Management journal was published 17 years ago, and proposed a strong linkage in the elements of buyer-seller trust, asset specificity, contracts, and supply chain performance. In this paper, explore the question of “what has changed”? We note that the emergence of 1) real-time analytic technologies, 2) new governance models that span multiple parties across organizations in a supply chain network, and 3) new digital innovation requiring partnering with new entities are required to produce end to end analytical capabilities. We offer three new propositions that provide some insights towards future research areas, and we also note that although interpersonal buyer-seller relationships will remain important, digital transformation is changing the nature of how these will unfold. Our propositions provide insights on how the role of technology and other shifts in the supply chain ecosystem is shifting the role of buyers and sellers in the industrial landscape. I offer these insights in the hope that they may provide a basis for future researchers to engage in research in the field of emerging industrial buyer-seller relationships, and devote this paper to the memory of Christian.     

Strategic Internet application trends in supply chain management

The Internet is evolving as a powerful force in the new marketplace where the nexus of competition has changed from individual firms to efficient supply chain networks both between firms and within industries. This study explores Internet adoption patterns and operational applications in US supply chain networks. The data reveal that the integration of the Internet into supply chain management applications has increased and has moved away from indiscriminate application of novel Internet technologies towards becoming a focused endeavor with precise expectations and measurable goals. Specifically, the study finds that Internet usage within supply chains is maturing as evidenced by enhanced and increased productivity, reduced costs and increased profit for participating firms.     

Developing relationships in strategic alliances: Commitment to quality and cooperative interdependence

Organizations are using strategic alliances to develop competitive advantages in quality, innovation, and cost. To capture the potential synergies of these alliances requires that the partners develop long-term relationships. This study develops a model of strategic alliance relationship development based on the theory of cooperative and competitive goal interdependence. Thirty pairs of supplier and customer organizations in Xian, China participated in a survey where the supplier indicated the commitment and goal interdependence and the customer rated the relationship's long-term orientation. Results suggest that the commitment by both supplier and customer organizations to quality develop cooperative interdependence, which leads to effective strategic partnerships.     

Cross-border e-commerce firms as supply chain integrators: The management of three flows

Cross-border e-commerce is becoming increasingly popular around the world. With the development of technology, competition has gradually shifted from commodity-based attributes, such as cost and quality, to a supply chain's service capacity for e-commerce. Within this context, the present paper delineates how cross-border e-commerce firms can generate supply chain service capabilities that yield improvements in supply chain relationship quality to e-tailors and other platform users. Insights are derived through data collected via a multiple case study approach based on four Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises (OSell, Zongteng, BizArk and Linca); data were collected from 41 semi-structured interviews, field visits and secondary data. Relying on the service-dominant logic as the theoretical foundation, we identify three supply chain resources (flows related to information, logistics and finance) and their interplay as being critical for the development of supply chain service capabilities, which in turn lead to an improvement in the quality of supply chain relationships (assessed by the dimensions of trust improvement/commitment, risk mitigation, and customer satisfaction). The results offer important insights into how to best manage supply chain resources in relation to the three flows by cross-border e-commerce firms in order to foster relationship quality, an attribute that has become so critical today for competitive differentiation.     

The impact of buyer–supplier relationships on supplier innovativeness: An empirical study in cross-border supply networks

Drawing on organizational learning and the relational view of the firm, this study seeks to understand the factors that drive supplier innovativeness in the context of cross-border supply relationships. To address this research objective, a survey included 189 parts and components manufacturers (suppliers) in Turkey; hierarchical regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. The findings demonstrate that interfirm knowledge sharing routines, relation-specific investments, and governance mechanisms may promote supplier innovativeness by expanding the supplier's knowledge resources and encouraging it to invest in innovative activities. In addition, this research emphasizes differentiating effects of the supplier's tier position for the impacts of buyer assistance and cooperative tie. As such, this study contributes to the purchasing and supply management literature by empirically showing how buyer–supplier relationships, particularly in cross-border supply networks, affect supplier innovativeness.     

Cooperative goals and team agreeableness composition for constructive controversy in China

Studies have shown that constructive controversy, which is the open-minded discussion of diverse views, contributes to team effectiveness. However, there are few studies on the conditions that facilitate constructive controversy. This study explores the antecedents of constructive controversy from both team interdependence (cooperative goals) and team personality composition perspectives. Sixty customer service teams from a call center of a large mobile communication service provider in China participated in the study. Results further document that cooperative goals predict to constructive controversy. Agreeableness diversity was also found to be an antecedent of constructive controversy, and this effect was moderated by team agreeableness level: The higher the team average agreeableness, the stronger the positive association between agreeableness diversity and constructive controversy. Results were interpreted as suggesting that both cooperative goals and team agreeableness composition can develop constructive controversy in work teams in China and possibly in other cultures.     

Organizational values and procedures as antecedents for goal interdependence and collaborative effectiveness

Organizational values of people and respect and interdependent structures of team procedures and task interdependence may help departments believe their goals are cooperative and thereby coordinate effectively. CEOs in China completed measures of their organization’s values and interdependent structures and their Vice-Presidents completed measures of the department’s goal interdependence (cooperative, competitive, and independent) and collaborative effectiveness. Structural equation analysis suggested that values and interdependent structures promote cooperative, but not competitive or independent, goals that in turn results in collaborative effectiveness. These results, coupled with previous research, were interpreted as suggesting that people and respect values, team procedures, task interdependence, and cooperative goals are complementary foundations for synergy in China and perhaps other countries as well.

Assessing performance of utilizing organizational modularity to manage supply chains: Evidence in the US manufacturing sector

Recent competition and customization have motivated manufacturers to institute modular organizations to manage supply chains. Proclaimed as a paradigm shift, organizational modularity manifests agility and flexibility to diversify product offerings, utilize production capacity, and allocate network capital and assets. Whereas studies have conceptualized the impacts of modular organizations, large-scale research that examines modularity's impacts on performance are lacking. The study assesses the impacts of organizational modularity in the US manufacturing sector. A set of hypotheses proposes that higher level of modularity is associated with higher efficiency and profitability. I found modularity to negatively affect product specialization and positively impact capacity utilization, ROI and ROA. The findings help to determine the robustness of utilizing the modularity for complex supply chain coordination.     

Reducing food waste and food insecurity in the UK: The architecture of surplus food distribution supply chain in addressing the sustainable development goals (Goal 2 and Goal 12.3) at a city level

The paradox that tonnes of food is wasted while people go hungry has raised concern from national and international authorities. In developed countries, reducing these problems has focused on surplus food distribution as a ‘win-win’ solution contributing to sustainable development goals. While the existing literature acknowledges the role of third-sector organisations, research on the supply chain of surplus food distribution and the coordination among actors is limited. This research explores actors and organisations in the value chain of surplus food distribution at the city level. Based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation, our findings highlight the need for a coordinated effort between actors as an essential arrangement to capture the value of surplus food. Despite the close cooperation, hierarchical power relationships exist between organisations in the supply chain. We unpack challenges in the surplus food supply chain, such as lack of a legislative framework for food donations and organisational sustainability issues that have forced third-sector organisations to work independently to reduce the uncertainties of food quality and quantity. We shed light on the practical implications by highlighting how multiple stakeholders could improve the efficiency of surplus food distribution.     

Agility index in the supply chain

To achieve a competitive edge in the rapidly changing business environment, companies must align with suppliers and customers to streamline operations, as well as working together to achieve a level of agility beyond individual companies. Consequently, agile supply chains are the dominant competitive vehicles. Embracing agile supply chain requires asking some important questions, namely: what exactly is agility and how can it be measured? Moreover, how can agility be effectively achieved and enhanced? Due to the ambiguity of agility assessment, most measures are described subjectively using linguistic terms. Thus, this study develops a fuzzy agility index (FAI) based on agility providers using fuzzy logic. The FAI comprises attribute’ ratings and corresponding weights, and is aggregated by a fuzzy weighted average. To illustrate the efficacy of the method, this study also evaluates the supply chain agility of a Taiwanese company. This evaluation demonstrates that the method can provide analysts with more informative and reliable information for decision.     

Impact of demand uncertainty on supply chain cooperation of single-period products

Cooperation is an approach of improving competitive advantages of a supply chain. A two-echelon supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer for a single-period product is studied, and retail-market demand uncertainty is described by coefficient of variation. We develop a cooperation mechanism to address the cooperation and its implementation between the manufacturer and the retailer, two market situations are considered: (i) the wholesale price and the order quantity are decision variables, (ii) the wholesale and the retail prices as well as the order quantity are decision variables. In both market situations, our research shows that: (1) the cooperation mechanism can improve the overall channel profits and the supply chain members’ allocated profits, (2) the described cooperation is conditional on retail-market demand uncertainty: it can be implemented if, and only if, the fluctuation of retail-market demand is relatively small and coefficient of variation of retail-market demand does not exceed an upper bound. Impacts of retail-market demand uncertainty on wholesale price, order quantity and/or retail price have also been investigated through analytical and numerical analyses. Although our research is based on the assumption that the manufacturer dominates the supply chain in the non-cooperative situation, which is not the case for most retailer-driven supply chains, this research is still significant on providing guidelines for practitioners in current China mid-level car market that is similar to situations described in the paper.     

Capacity decisions and supply price games under flexibility of backward integration

A key issue in supply chain design for manufacturing firms is how to make a trade-off between strategies of vertical integration and outsourcing. A two-echelon supply chain model with one supplier and one manufacturer is set up to study this issue. The manufacturer makes decisions on two types of capacities, one is core capacity that cannot be outsourced, the other is non-core capacity on which the manufacturer implements a strategy that includes three options—complete, partial or no outsourcing. Such a strategy is referred to as “flexibility of backward integration”. Optimal capacity decisions of the manufacturer are given and the supplier's pricing strategies are discussed. Managerial implications of partial outsourcing are investigated. The impact of the flexibility of backward integration is presented and finally, supply chain coordination is analyzed.