THE ROLE OF LOGISTICS IN MARKET ORIENTATION

In today's increasingly competitive environment, survival depends on two key aspects of being market‐oriented ‐ understanding the external environment and executing decisions based on that understanding. Logistics personnel are uniquely positioned to play a key role in creating and maintaining a market‐oriented organization as they are progressively gaining more responsibilities in integrating cross‐functional processes and implementing supply chain strategies. This paper explores how logisticians participate in market orientation behaviors and how a market‐oriented logistics function impacts logistics and business performance. Based on a qualitative field research study involving in‐depth interviews with seventeen logistics personnel that draws and builds upon the logistics, market orientation, knowledge management, organizational behavior, information processing, and strategic management literatures, a theoretical model of logistics market orientation and its effect on logistics and business performance is developed and propositions are presented. Findings highlight logistics' central role in generating, disseminating, reaching a shared interpretation of, and responding to market intelligence.     

A Path to a Public–Private Partnership: Commercial Logistics Concepts Applied to Disaster Response

This paper initiates an exploratory investigation with the aim of providing a better understanding of the applicability of several commercial logistics processes to humanitarian logistics. The paper begins with background information, including humanitarian logistics literature and then summarizes current government agencies' and nongovernmental organizations' policies. Stakeholder theory is used to explore the motivations of commercial organizations to participate in humanitarian logistics operations. Next, the adequacy of emergency management policy is evaluated and four commercial logistics frameworks are analyzed for application to immediate disaster response. The analysis includes ratings of the frameworks and open‐ended comments from a sample of logistics experts. Findings provide guidance to the implementation of commercial logistics processes to disaster response efforts.     

LOGISTICS INNOVATION: A CUSTOMER VALUE‐ORIENTED SOCIAL PROCESS

This paper reports on a qualitative, grounded theory research project conducted in the United States, Sweden, and The United Kingdom designed to explore logistics innovation as perceived by leaders of logistics service provider firms and logistics business functions within product focused firms. Analysis of 33 depth interviews conducted within seven organizations revealed activities that reflect multiple aspects of being innovative, including: (1) setting a stage for innovation; (2) identifying clues to shifts in what customers value; (3) negotiating, clarifying, and reflecting upon insights; and (4) managing inter‐organizational learning.     

Logistics Information System Evaluation: Assessing External Technology Integration and Supporting Organizational Learning

Firms often outsource the development and acquisition of logistics information systems (LIS) needed to improve logistics processes. Managers tasked with such outsourcing decisions often struggle to understand and balance the external technology's impact on existing logistics processes, individual stakeholders, firm strategies, and the financial and operational performance of the firm. Unfortunately, research is limited on (1) methods for evaluating the performance capabilities of systems from external sources prior to full implementation, and (2) the impact of external technology integration (ETI) on organizational behavior and learning related to a firm's logistics processes. Through the lens of organizational learning (OL) theory, this research uses a case study approach to examine the transportation division of a major U.S.‐based fuel retailer to gain insights on the management control of ETI efforts. The study builds theory to fill important literature gaps then develops a conceptual framework and supporting propositions to inform future research on logistics ETI. The findings highlight important OL implications for firms involved in ETI efforts and also provide a practically relevant management control tool that can be used by logistics practitioners.     

Organizational ethics education and training: a review of best practices and their application

Insuring that ethical action remains a vibrant aspect of an organization's climate and culture is an ongoing challenge for those responsible for training and development. To better understand what best practices are being utilized today, eight organizations in the Silicon Valley region of the United States were studied. Findings suggest that ethics training is particularly intensive when an employee is first hired, when rules, regulations and corporate values are shared during the indoctrination period. Training continues, but is often limited to online activities. Face‐to‐face interaction, necessary for learning and development, is usually reserved for specialized functions and senior level managers. Most firms emphasize a compliance‐based approach, with little attention directed toward developing moral competencies over time. In addition, assessment tools to measure ethical competencies are rarely used as performance criteria. Findings from this study reveal specific trends, which can inform, guide and improve practitioners' efforts to further develop ethical decision‐making and action within their organizations.     

物流专业“学习型”双师培养的探讨

高职院校如何培养出高技能复合型人才,高素质的"双师型"教师队伍是关键。建立一支数量适当、结构合理、业务精良的物流师资队伍是培养适用型物流人才的重要保障,培养一支能力不断更新,树立终身学习观念,永保鲜活力量的"学习型"双师则是办好物流专业的关键,也是高职物流教育可持续发展的关键所在。本文就物流专业"学习型"双师的培养进行了粗浅的探讨。     

EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING IN THIRD‐PARTY LOGISTICS

Logistics service providers operate in an intense competitive environment that requires continuous improvement in logistics service quality and firm performance. Key organizational resources may contribute toward the improvement in performance of logistics service providers. This paper investigates the effect of organizational learning within logistics service providers on client relationship orientation, logistics service quality and firm performance. The study proposes and examines an original concept in logistics research that contributes to theory in the area, provides the opportunity for further research and addresses how organizational resources can contribute to performance in logistics.     

LOGISTICS PERFORMANCE: EFFICIENCY,EFFECTIVENESS, AND DIFFERENTIATION

This research examines the nature of logistics performance and the contribution of logistics to the firm by empirically investigating the impact of logistics performance on organizational performance. Logistics performance is tested as a second‐order formative construct comprised of three dimensions: logistics efficiency; logistics effectiveness; and logistics differentiation. Results indicate that logistics performance positively impacts organizational performance. Theoretical and empirical support is also provided for measuring logistics performance as a second‐order formative construct, indicating that efficiency, effectiveness, and differentiation are not necessarily trade‐offs, but rather are complementary. Importantly, perceptual measures for organizational performance collected from managerial respondents were strongly correlated with secondary financial data for participating organizations obtained from Compustat, lending empirical credence to the logistics performance–organizational performance relationship.     

Parent control mechanisms,knowledge attributes,knowledge acquisition and performance of IJVs in Taiwan service industries

The study explores parent companies' use of control mechanisms in their international joint venture (IJV), IJV knowledge acquisition and IJVs' performance. Traditionally, control mechanisms are criticized for potentially limiting autonomous learning. However, we propose that knowledge-oriented control mechanisms used by the parent company on its subsidiaries could facilitate knowledge acquisition and learning. This study takes samples from 104 Sino-foreign joint ventures in service industries in Taiwan. The results of the study indicate that in IJV, parent companies require a ‘personnel training’ control mechanism as a guide for gaining codified knowledge from foreign partners. MNCs should apply ‘culture’ and ‘performance’ control mechanisms to gain non-codified knowledge. In turn, the tacit knowledge of IJV results in a better economic, competency-based performance, while explicit knowledge more significantly influences the synthetic performance.     

Coping With Dependence: A Logistics Strategy Based on Interorganizational Learning for Managing Buyer–Supplier Relations

The rise of outsourcing has heightened interest in the role of logistics managers in coping with dependence in buyer–supplier relations. Buying firm dependence on a supplier potentially reduces supplier performance to expectations because the buying firm cannot leverage power to capture value in the relationship. Drawing from interorganizational learning theory, we advance a logistics strategy that consists of supplier cost analysis and supplier integration as a means to create value and thereby mitigate the negative effects of dependence. By facilitating the acquisition and use of knowledge, supplier cost analysis and supplier integration enable buying firms to identify improvement opportunities while engaging in collaborative supplier relations. Using survey responses from 222 buying firms, we find that while buyer dependence decreases the buyer's perceived supplier performance, supplier integration suppresses these negative effects. Furthermore, we show that supplier cost analysis is a valuable knowledge acquisition tool that logistics managers can use to enable supplier integration as a relational form of governance. As such, we provide new insights into interorganizational learning theory and suggest to logistics managers the important role supplier cost analysis plays in managing buyer–supplier relationships.     

适应物流职业教育特点，构建创新型课堂教学模式

适应物流职业教育特点,构建创新型的课堂教学模式,培养出创新型的物流人才已成为物流产业发展的关键。因此,创立有利于学生主体精神、创新能力健康发展的宽松和谐的自主创新型课堂教学模式,势在必行。本文从传统课堂教学模式存在的问题入手,从教与学两个方面对创新型课堂模式进行初步探讨。     

Sponsorship leveraged packaging: An exploratory study in FMCG

The concept of 'internal marketing' has received considerable coverage in the literature, but even its most ardent supporters have noted problems in translating the concept into reality. This paper discusses the findings of an exploratory case study carried out within 35 UK high street retail banks. Internal marketing is an initiative adopted by the organizations studied in order to nourish a marketing orientation.The implementation approach shapes the nature and form of the internal marketing communications that organizations adopt. Even though UK retail banks intend to implement internal marketing effectively, in reality the current implementation approach appears to be counter-productive to the achievement of the core aims of the initiative. The core finding from this exploratory research suggests that there are substantial barriers to the successful implementation of internal marketing within the banks studied, barriers such as the focus on short-term sales goals, the lack of a formal and 'holistic' implementation approach and the creation of 'personnel discrimination' and negative internal competition.     

THE EMPOWERMENT OF FRONTLINE SERVICE STAFF IN 3PL COMPANIES

Research on third‐party logistics (3PL) service providers has focused more on managing customer relationships than on managing the frontline personnel who interact with customers on a daily basis. Thus, even though the overall need for 3PL's to be market‐oriented is well‐recognized, relatively little is known about how 3PL companies support and develop frontline service staff to provide better service. This study draws on 3PL company site managers' responses to a postal survey that examines the influences of internal communication, customer service training and managerial coaching for customer contact employees on the relationship between market orientation and frontline service recovery empowerment.     

Antecedents and Performance Implications of a Sales Department's Learning and Entrepreneurial Orientation in SMEs

Existing research on entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has concentrated on the organizational level but neglected the analysis of more fine‐grained effects of EO in organizations. This study applies the concept of EO to the departmental level and investigates the sales department's entrepreneurial orientation (SDEO) and salespeople's learning orientation (SLO) and these orientations' impact on sales performance. Using a survey of 268 small and medium‐sized enterprises, the authors find that SDEO is a key performance lever, whereas SLO only indirectly fosters sales performance through driving SDEO. Furthermore, informal controls and technological turbulence are found to be important drivers of SDEO and SLO.     

The mediating role of communication satisfaction in relational demography – a study in Macao,SAR context

Challenges in the global market and sensitive cross-Straits relations negatively influence Taiwanese industries. Continuous learning is the way to respond to the challenges posed by the rise of China in the world economy. Learning is the process by which knowledge is refreshed. A learning organization is a more competitive organization. Many researchers have discussed the relationship between organizational learning and business performance, but few of them have explored the issue in practice. This article provides a more thorough assessment of the link between organizational learning and organizational performance for industry comparisons. It also aims to determine the status of Taiwan's industries with regard to organizational learning. The findings of the study demonstrate that applying organizational learning influences corporate performance; however, only high-tech and financial firms have consistently applied the organizational learning concept throughout their organizations. Our investigation may offer new insights into organizational learning, and enable leaders and scholars alike to develop strategies to enhance competitiveness.     

中国企业的学习型组织文化:基于人口统计变量、企业属性、工作满意度和组织绩效的实证分析

By using a Western concept—the instrument called dimensions of learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ), and the data collected from 919 employees in nine companies located in Guangdong Province, China, the present empirical study explores the culture of learning organizations in Chinese business settings. Findings suggest that the DLOQ is applicable to the context of China as well, and those demographic variables, such as age and educational level, together with the types of ownership of Chinese companies, such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately-owned enterprises (POEs), suggest differences in the culture of learning organizations. Results also indicate that the learning organization culture of a firm has strongly positive impact on employees’ job satisfaction and perceived organizational performance. Two implications should be noted. First, as employees in middle age and with college education show the strongest sense of improving the learning culture, it can be inferred that demographic characters and groups may influence the organization’s learning culture differently. Second, as POEs have a better learning atmosphere than SOEs, it can be inferred that POEs have a stronger competitiveness than SOEs in terms of learning ability and organizational performance. To indigenize the Western construct and instrument of learning organizations, the present study, as an exploratory research, gives substantial knowledge on the subject and seeks to fill the gap in the literature, despite the limitations of cultural nuances and a narrowly-concentrated sample.     

How host organizations prepare for and learn from expatriate assignments

This article reveals what goes on inside host organizations prior to and during expatriate assignments. On the basis of analyzing organizational documents and conducting 43 interviews with host country nationals (HCNs) and expatriates in 30 Vietnamese organizations that host external foreign assignments, we provide a detailed account of HCNs' experiences and unearth sophisticated preparation and management activities designed to maximize these organizations' learning. We depict what we call “a host organization lifecycle” and extract five lessons: (a) host organizations prepare carefully in advance to learn as much as possible from expatriates; (b) HCNs experience quite dramatic adjustments and burdens during expatriates' placements; (c) mutual trust between expatriates and HCNs is a prerequisite for HCNs' learning; (d) most of HCNs' learning occurs informally via interactions with expatriates or observing how they work; (e) host organization managers actively manage HCN–expatriate relationships. Our findings outline a “wish list” of practices that expatriate‐using organizations could consider deploying for expatriate assignments that focus on the benefit of the host organization' development.     

Optimal Stimulation Level

The effectiveness of the selection process used by organizations to recruit new sales personnel is depcndent on know- ing what qualities to look for in a recruit. One popular approach in screening sales personnel has been the use of personality tests. This article proposes, in addition, the concept of Optimal Stimulation Level as a discriminating variable in the seleclion process. Accord- ing to this view, recruits characterized as high sensation seekers are thought of as having a higher probability of success in sales perfor- mance than low sensation seekcrs. An empirical study which dealt with sales personnel from four major real estate agencies was con- ducted to ascertain correlations between levels of sensation seeking and sales performance. Evidcnce from the study confirms that OSL correlates positively with sales performance. Based on these results, the concept of Optimal Stimulation Level provides a useful discrimi- nating tool in the selection of sales personnel. Variations in the level of sensation seeking can easily be measured through a number of available standardized inventories such as the Zuckerman's General Sensation Seeking Scale (GSSS).     

The Personal Development Plan Practice Questionnaire: the development and validation of an instrument to assess the employee's perception of personal development plan practice

Confronted with the speed of technological advancements and increasing global competition, organizations have come to realize that their employees' continuous learning drives business success. A popular tool to support and enhance continuous learning is the personal development plan (PDP). Despite its popularity, empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the PDP is scarce. To date, most of the research on the practice of the PDP is conducted within educational (students) and health (general practitioners) settings and not within business environments. Moreover, research methodology is restricted to qualitative methods and survey research is rare. For that reason, we developed and validated a questionnaire to assess PDP practice. To develop the questionnaire, we relied on literature on portfolio assessment in the educational context and the workplace (health and education); to validate it, we collected data in three independent organizations. To assess the factor structure of the questionnaire, exploratory principal component factor analyses with direct oblimin rotation were conducted on data sets from two organizations. Factor reliability was computed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The principal component analysis resulted in a 35‐item questionnaire containing five factors each with high internal validity. Cronbach's alphas ranged between 0.63 and 0.91. Next, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on an independent sample of 287 employees, working in a third organization. The results from this analysis were used to further refine the instrument. The present instrument provides a reliable and valid measure of the employee's perception of the PDP practice in the workplace, consisting of four scales and 19 items.