What drives managers to insource production? Evidence from a behavioural experiment

Insourcing to countermand previous outsourcing decisions is becoming a widespread practice among firms. While the underlying performance drivers for firms (e.g., lead times, responsiveness, or security of supply) are well understood, the behavioural aspects underlying managerial decision-making processes regarding insourcing remain overlooked in empirical research. We study the effects of managers' attitudes toward insourcing, their perceived behavioural control (PBC) over the respective insourcing decision, and the effect of mimetic pressure on insourcing decision intentions and behaviour, while grounding our model in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). We test hypotheses with data gathered in a vignette-based experiment among 145 managers and apply stepwise regression analysis to find support for the positive effects of attitude and mimetic pressure on intentions to insource. Our results found no support for the effect of managers’ PBC. We find moderation effects among the internal drivers (attitude and PBC) and between internal and external drivers (attitude and mimetic pressure) on insourcing behaviour. With these findings, we provide evidence of a unique boundary condition to the TPB in the insourcing context by explaining supply chain design choices with neo-classical and behavioural theory. We emphasize important behavioural aspects in insourcing decision-making and caution supply managers in this regard.     

Linking sustainable business models and supply chains — Toward an integrated value creation framework

Extant literature on sustainable business models highlights that value creation stems from resources exchanged in relationships between a focal firm and its stakeholders. In this context, the literature has, so far, focused on direct relationships. However, despite the acknowledged relevance of sustainability issues in supply chains, this relational view of the focal company and its direct stakeholders has not been extended toward value creation for and with indirect stakeholders, such as stakeholders of suppliers. Addressing this gap, this conceptual article integrates a relational view of sustainable supply chain management into the management of sustainable business models. It extends the scope of sustainable business models from relationships between the focal firm and its direct stakeholders to indirect relationships with stakeholders of suppliers. A framework is developed that supports analysis and management of value-creating relationships between the focal firm, suppliers, and stakeholders of suppliers. By extending the conceptualization of sustainable business models to consider relationship chains beyond direct relationships, this article proposes that a focal firm has to actively manage interactions both with suppliers and with suppliers' stakeholders.     

Dynamic decision and coordination in a low-carbon supply chain considering the retailer's social preference

We establish dynamic game models in a low-carbon supply chain consisting of a single manufacturer and a single retailer with social preference. This study investigates the complex dynamic characteristics of pricing decision and carbon abatement strategy in the supply chain and focuses on the impact of the retailer's social preference on pricing decision, carbon emission abatement strategy, profits, supply chain coordination, and complexity of dynamic models. We find that adjustment parameters of pricing and carbon emission abatement should be maintained in a certain range; otherwise, the system will be unstable and even chaotic through period double bifurcation or wave shape chaos. A higher social preference of the retailer is always beneficial to carbon abatement and the manufacturer and helps maintain the stability of the supply chain system. However, the impact on the long-term profitability of the supply chain is related to the state of the system. Compared with the setting of a centralized decision, the optimal carbon abatement strategy and supply chain profit in a decentralized decision are always less than those in a centralized setting, regardless of whether the retailer has social preference. Therefore, a side-payment self-executing contract is designed to coordinate the supply chain and achieve Pareto improvement. The coordination mechanism proposed in this study not only leads to Pareto improvement but also increases the stability of the supply chain system. Finally, this study enlightens management in operating a low-carbon supply chain.     

Green multi-tier supply chain management: An enabler investigation

Stakeholder pressure, from actors including regulators, consumers and non-governmental organizations, has made organizations more responsible for poor environmental performance of their direct and sub-suppliers. Thus, green multi-tier supplier management (GMSM) has become an emergent topic. Yet it is still unclear how to enable GMSM practices effectively, i.e. how to enable sub-suppliers' environmental performance improvement. To help address the gap in the literature, this paper aims to identify enablers for sub-suppliers' environmental performance improvement, and it further applies a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL)-based case study method to evaluate inter-relationships among these enablers and improve the focal company's GMSM practices, by using action research (AR) method principles. The data analysis and discussion with a follow-up evaluation after two years provided insights for the successful implementation of GMSM. The results show that top managers’ support from the organizations is a prominent and necessary foundational enabler. An interesting observation is that close proximity of supply chain members is regarded as a very prominent enabler. Evaluation and feedback on these enablers two years later found that the enabler mapping was beneficial, allowing them to address the most influential enablers, and thus the GMSM practices of the focal company has been highly improved. This paper concludes with directions for further research.     

土地供给管制与城市住房用地供给错配 ——基于2009—2015年中国城市面板数据的分析

研究目的：分析政府土地供给管制行为对城市住房用地供给错配的影响。研究方法：从土地供应中地方动机、中央规制与市场力量相互动的政治经济学角度进行理论分析，并基于2009—2015年105个重点城市的面板数据进行实证检验。研究结果：（1）城市商住用地供应受地方财政赤字压力的影响，在具备高房价支撑基础的城市，地方采取“饥饿式”供地策略实现其土地财政目标，反之，则通过扩大土地供应量来实现增收目标。（2）在地方差异化供地策略的实施下，偏向中西部和中小城市的新增建设用地配额正向影响城市商住用地出让规模，未考虑城市异质性的住房用地供应调控政策在地方遭遇机会主义执行。研究结论：土地供应错配根源于财政激励下地方政府基于不同市场条件的差异化供地策略的运用；中央地区偏向的土地配额管理和“一刀切”的土地供应调控亦带来住房用地供给错配的意外之果。     

A SWOT analysis of China's air cargo sector in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

This paper discusses the situation of China's air cargo sector facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the expectation that it can go out of recession more easily than China's air passenger sector, this paper analyzes four aspects that are favorable and unfavorable for its further development: (1) strengths (China's sustainable economic basis and proliferating cargo suppliers), (2) weaknesses (insufficient cargo capacity and less business internationalization), (3) opportunities (top authority support, rising e-commerce demand, and new technological momentum), and (4) challenges (uncertain trade environment and increasing profitability pressure). Then this paper suggests strategies for China's air cargo suppliers to adapt to the pandemic.     

The end of the flat tax experiment in Slovakia: An evaluation using behavioural microsimulation in a dynamic macroeconomic framework

The paper introduces a new way of linking microsimulation models with dynamic general equilibrium frameworks to obtain an evaluation of the impact of detailed tax and benefit measures on the aggregate economy. In the approach presented in this paper, income heterogeneity interacts with the macro-economy via aggregated individual labour supply decisions which influence, and are influenced by, the dynamic evolution of the real wage rate. The method involves a reduced-form representation of the information flow between the macroeconomic and microeconomic blocks. The practical usefulness of the approach is demonstrated by evaluating actual and hypothetical tax reforms that involve abandoning the flat tax system in Slovakia. A hypothetical move to a highly progressive tax structure is shown to generate some employment gains but is associated with a drop in aggregate income and tax revenue.     

Cross‐Functional Integration: Concept Clarification and Scale Development

The centrality of cross‐functional integration (CFI) to supply chain theory and practice has long been recognized. Yet researchers continue to struggle with consistently defining or measuring the CFI construct, thus limiting the utility of CFI research. This research develops (1) a comprehensive definition of CFI that synthesizes previous supply chain research and (2) a valid set of scale items that measure the conceptual domain outlined by this definition. The goal is to build a common foundation for extending knowledge on CFI's antecedents and consequences, and ultimately to improve scholars’ ability to guide a broader practitioner community still struggling to achieve integration in their organizations.     

基于供给侧结构性改革的我国农产品供需及收益现状分析

［目的］在我国实施农业供给侧结构改革的大背景下，分析我国主要农产品玉米、大豆、水稻供需及成本收益现状，以把握农业供给侧结构性改革的成效及存在问题，为推进农业供给侧结构性改革及实现农业供需平衡、保证农民受益具有重要意义。［方法］将影响农业经济增长的因素分为市场需求与市场供给两部分，而市场需求包括国内需求和国外需求，市场供给则只指国内供给。分别采集我国玉米、大豆、水稻这3种典型农产品的国内市场需求、国外市场需求和国内市场供给3部分数据，并将市场需求与市场供给数据进行对比，由此分析我国农业供给侧农产品供需现状及存在的问题，指出我国农业供给侧结构性改革发展方向。［结果］（1）我国农产品仍面临着供需不平衡、农民成本收益率低、农产品价格高导致国际市场竞争力低等问题，农业供给侧结构性改革是国家的重大战略，我国通过降低农作物播种面积来降低产能最终实现农产品供需平衡效果微乎其微； （2）我国的农产品产能是相对过剩，并非绝对过剩； （3）我国农产品市场供给一端的要素没有得到有效调节，使农产品生产成本过高，是导致农产品缺少市场竞争力的主要因素。［结论］积极拓宽农产品国外销售市场来增加农产品需求渠道，调节农产品国内市场供给要素，降低农产品生产成本，提高农产品生产质量，增加我国农产品竞争力，是我国通过农业供给侧结构性改革实现农产品供需平衡的必然之路。