Purchasing involvement in technologically uncertain new product development projects: Challenges and implications

This paper explores an emerging field of research within purchasing that concerns the changing role of purchasing when companies embark on technologically uncertain NPD projects. Where existing research has examined the role of purchasing in facilitating early supplier involvement in new product development, little research has been done to date on how purchasing's role might change when facing technologically uncertain NPD that require new capabilities and new technology. Based on an in-depth case study of a technologically uncertain NPD project in the passenger ship rescue equipment industry, the paper sheds light on how supplier involvement in NPD projects with a high degree of technological uncertainty impacts on a company's sourcing strategies and the challenges this poses for purchasing.Based on the case study findings, we propose a) that early purchasing involvement in technologically uncertain NPD projects requires a mature purchasing organization that possesses competences to interact effectively with R&D and b) that involving a new supplier from a different industry in NPD projects characterized by technological uncertainty requires a leap of faith from both innovating firm and supplier. The paper contributes to research in early supplier involvement in new product development, in particular the thin branch within this body of literature that now focuses on early purchasing involvement.     

Trading off learning and performance: Exploration and exploitation at work

Employees are increasingly given control over how they learn, and their choices for training are diverse and varied, yet employees must balance competing demands. On one hand, they are expected to be increasingly efficient in their current job duties – on the other hand, they are expected to develop new skills and competencies that enable them to adapt and respond to changing job demands. Drawing from the organizational learning literature, we propose a model of worker and work characteristics that inform choices between two mindsets related to learning at work. The first mindset is exploration, or the pursuit of learning outside one’s current knowledge domain; the second mindset is exploitation, the refinement/deepening of one’s existing knowledge stock focusing on the task at hand. We further propose that these strategic choices, or trade-offs, influence employee learning and performance in unique ways, with different implications for both routine and adaptive performance. Finally, we incorporate the notions of feedback loops and risk assessments that influence ongoing decisions between exploration and exploitation mindsets. Recommendations for future research and extensions of the theoretical model are also proposed.     

上海城乡一体化发展的问题、关系与路径分析

本文认为,在上海城乡一体化进程中,我们要处理好市中心人口郊外迁移的问题、处理好农村土地顺利流转问题、加快郊区的基础设施建设以及降低通勤费用,学习西方以及国内其他城市的经验,以农民为建设的主体,进行各方面机制以及体制的创新,优化上海中心城市以及郊区的产业空间布局,按照“1966”大力发展新城、新市镇以及重点村.     

Non-coercive influence: Scale development and validation based on resource and relational paradigms

To overcome competition in an increasingly network dependent market, retailers are required to influence upstream channel partners while sustaining relationships. However, the contemporary supply chain literature has not sufficiently leveraged the resource and relational paradigms to examine influence. Grounded on resource dependency theory and commitment-trust theory paradigms, this study describes conceptualization and operationalization of a 12-item scale for measuring non-coercive influence on upstream channel partners in retail supply chain management (R-SCM) context. The study is based on responses from 547 retail professionals in India obtained over four successive surveys. Psychometric properties were assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The proposed scale demonstrates construct validity. Invariance-testing carried out over 4-levels of increasingly demanding equivalence confirmed cross-validation. Nomological validity of the scale was tested by evaluating association with suppliers’ intention to cooperate. The results indicate existence of three dimensions of non-coercive influence: collaborative intent, market intelligence dissemination, and operational support. Retailers can use the scale to assess their personnel's non-coercive influence behavior over suppliers.     

Organizational career management practices and objective career success: A systematic review and framework

The theorization of the relationship between organizational investments in career development and individual success remains underdeveloped, and empirical tests of this relationship, which have been dispersed among several disciplinary areas, have produced inconsistent results. Addressing these issues, the purpose of this article is to propose a theoretical framework that illustrates why and how organizational career management practices translate into career success and under what circumstances the relationship is effective. Using a systematic review of empirical studies on career management practices and objective success, we identify three theoretical mechanisms - developmental, informational, and relational - and two groups of contingency factors that explain this relationship. Our framework advances the extant literature on organizational career management and provides suggestions to companies for designing effective career management systems.     

Human Resource Management and the ability,motivation and opportunity to continue working: A review of quantitative studies

Organisations are challenged to retain older workers, however knowledge on how this should be done is scattered. The aim of this paper is to integrate knowledge on the actions organisations can take to facilitate the extension of working lives by identifying and examining the effectiveness of Human Resource Management activities directed at the extension of working lives. To this end a systematic review was conducted, which identified 110 peer-reviewed and unpublished empirical articles concerning the influence of job demands, job resources and Human Resource practices on the ability, motivation and opportunity to work(ing). The results indicate that offering job resources has a positive effect on the ability, motivation and opportunity to continue working. Furthermore, work ability was found to be most negatively related with job demands whereas employability was most positively related with developmental practices. The paper concludes by suggesting directions for future research and practical implications to encourage evidence-based practice.     

The impact of oil prices and the financial market on cost efficiency in the insurance and Takaful sectors: Evidence from a stochastic frontier analysis

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) insurance industry, including conventional insurance and Takaful, has witnessed remarkable growth during the last decade. However, the economies of this region rely on oil as the primary stream of revenue and lack development in financial markets. This could affect the insurance industry. For this reason, this paper examines the impact of oil prices and the financial market on the cost efficiency of the insurance and Takaful sectors in GCC countries using a stochastic frontier cost function with data from 2009–2016. The results show that the relationship between oil prices and efficiency changes from positive to negative when the prices increase, whereas the relationship between the financial market and efficiency is negative. No clear evidence of the impact of oil prices on efficiency arises from the differences between conventional insurance and Takaful. However, there are differences regarding the financial market, with a negative impact on conventional insurance and a positive one on the Takaful business. The results of this study have implications for regulators and management. The Takaful industry is rapidly growing compared to conventional insurance in the GCC and, therefore, the financial market may have added benefits for the GCC region. However, caution is required in relation to the impact of the financial market on conventional insurance. Furthermore, management may require the development of strategies to deal with the nature of GCC economies to avoid shocks to oil prices.     

Structures,strategizing, and contested territories: A structuration perspective on strategy development in employer branding

This study examines strategy development in employer branding based on structuration theory, focusing on the interplay between employer branding structures and the (inter)actions of employer branding strategists. To analyse this interplay, this paper draws upon a series of strategy meetings in an employer branding project of a multinational construction company. This study adds to the current debate on employer branding by advancing the understanding of the structural embeddedness of strategizing in employer branding. Furthermore, the study proposes that strategy development shifts employer branding engagements into contested territory due to various and contradictory structures strategists need to deal with.     

地质公园教学资源开发利用可行性研究——以河北涞源白石山国家地质公园为例

河北涞源白石山国家地质公园拥有大量的教学资源,涉及地学类、环境类、农林类、生态学类、旅游类等多个二级类学科。园区丰富的教学资源、便利的交通条件、高效的接待能力使教学资源开发利用具有较强的可行性。     

Assessment of the sustainable development of rural minority settlements based on multidimensional data and geographical detector method: A case study in Dehong,China

In a developing country, paying attention to the sustainable development of rural areas is conducive to the development of the entire country. Ethnic minority areas are an important part of China's economic and social development. Owing to a lack of relevant statistical data, most previous studies in this area have focused on the sustainable development of rural areas or the development of ethnic minorities, but have not studied the sustainable development of rural ethnic minorities. The development of rural ethnic minorities is worthy of attention. In this study, we took Dehong as the study area. First used toponyms to accurately identify the rural minority areas and then calculated a grid of settlement density. Second, we considered the digital number (DN) value of the visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS) as a measure of the development of the region and digital elevation model (DEM), net primary productivity (NPP), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and gross domestic product (GDP) data as the indicators of terrain, climate, ecological, and economic factors, respectively. Finally, linear regression and the geographical detector method were used to determine the weight of the factors for constructing a sustainable development index (SDI) to quantitatively analyze the sustainable development and influencing factors of each minority nationality. The factors evaluated using linear regression and the geographical detector method were ranked as follows: NDVI > elevation > GDP > slope > NPP > settlement density. The results demonstrate that of the five main ethnic minorities in Dehong, Dai and Jingpo have higher SDI, followed by Achang, Lisu and De'ang. In addition, we provide some suggestions for ethnic minorities in Dehong.