Impact factor as a metric to assess journals where OM research is published

This paper investigates impact factor as a metric for ranking the quality of journal outlets for operations management (OM) research. We review all prior studies that assessed journal outlets for OM research and compare all previous OM journal quality rankings to rankings based on impact factors. We find that rankings based on impact factors that use data from different time periods are highly correlated and provide similar rankings of journals using either two-year or five-year assessment periods, either with or without self-citations. However, some individual journals have large rank changes using different impact factor specifications. We also find that OM journal rankings based on impact factors are only moderately correlated with journal quality rankings previously determined using other methods, and the agreement among these other methods in ranking the quality of OM journals is relatively modest. Thus, impact factor rankings alone are not a replacement for the assessment methods used in previous studies, but rather they evaluate OM journals from another perspective.     

A History of Australian Corporate Bonds

We compile a new unit‐record data set of Australian corporate bond issuance, which sheds light on developments in the bond market since the early twentieth century. Reflecting the evolution of the economy, privatisations, and changes in the regulatory landscape the following trends are noteworthy: (i) issuance today is largely by private entities whereas government‐owned corporations dominated historically; (ii) the issuer base has shifted away from non‐financial corporations towards banks, with corporations now raising a large share of funds offshore; and (iii) the investor base has shifted away from direct holdings by households towards holdings through superannuation/managed funds and holdings by non‐residents.     

Encouraging sustainable entrepreneurship in climate-threatened communities: a Samoan case study

South Pacific island states are at the forefront of climatic changes that have precipitated severe environmental events. These small countries also face economic and social challenges that require entrepreneurial solutions. We develop a model of how external factors and chance events impact on sustainable opportunity recognition and exploitation in this context. We assess the efficacy of this model in an in-depth study of Women in Business Development Incorporated, a non-governmental organization that helps women and families in Samoa to establish sustainable enterprises. Our findings make a significant contribution to the emerging literature on entrepreneurship, sustainability and resilience in at-risk communities by showing how key organizational capabilities are necessary for coping with exogenous shocks in this context. The findings have important implications for research, policy and practice.     

How ecopreneurs’ green values affect their international engagement in supply chain management

Ecopreneurs are emerging as a new type of entrepreneur who are worthy of much greater consideration than has been given to date. The aim of this paper was to explore how a group of 14 New Zealand ecopreneurs engage with supply chain management issues of an international nature—namely importing, manufacturing and exporting. A case study method was used to collect data from face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the ecopreneurs and a wide range of secondary data such as industry reports, the company’s web sites and items from the media. On the supply side, ecopreneurs considered environmental and social costs of procuring from other countries. However, they had little power to influence supplier practices. Ecopreneurs also wanted to manufacture locally regardless of cost. Likewise, on the demand side, ecopreneurs assessed the environmental costs of exporting and were more in favour of selling locally due to their green values. The study found that various dilemmas of an environmental and social nature emerge as being important in the decisions and practices that ecopreneurs undertake with respect to managing their supply chain internationally. These dilemmas facing New Zealand ecopreneurs may offer a glimpse into future realities for other countries and businesses. We believe that these ecopreneurs are leading the way to a new frontier where environmental issues are likely to become increasingly unavoidable and should be considered in supply chain management. This exploratory research raises a number of important questions that require further research in order to more fully understand their implications for ecopreneurs.