Backshoring manufacturing: Notes on an important but under-researched theme

This note discusses the phenomenon of backshoring manufacturing relying on empirical results based on a large-scale Danish questionnaire-survey. The note argues for further research on antecedents, motivators, and barriers of the use of globalisation strategies. It further argues for using automation in order to maintain production jobs. Lastly, the note demand more research on how ambidexterity as a dynamic capability serves as a predecessor to cope with the dynamics of globalisation strategies and supply chain design.     

Analysis of interactions among core,transaction and relationship-specific investments: The case of offshoring

Through the use of core, transactional and relational specificity constructs, the paper studies how the emphasis of clients’ who move business processes offshore, changes over time to represent complex relationships between investments in core, transaction and relationship-specific assets. The complex combination of these investments helps clients attain evolving objectives in offshoring alliances. Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) has been used to establish changing emphases of the specific elements in offshoring alliances.     

Outsourcing and strategic alliances for product development: a case of Banta Digital Group

Banta Digital Group (BDG) is a pre media company needing to fill a void in the market it serves. This need could be met by an application that consisted of software and database development. A problem arose due to two conditions. First, the company was late getting to the market with this product. Second, the company did not have dedicated resources to work on this project. BDG needed to adopt a solution that comprised of outsourcing and strategic alliances to fill this market need. The study reports how the company selected and managed strategic alliances through the creation of a virtual team. It also reviews details of the new business operating system instituted to foster an environment for further product and process innovation. Finally, the proposed approach used in this unique type of product development is described, which is also applicable in many business situations.     

Offshoring knowledge and service work: A conceptual model and research agenda

This paper presents two complementary conceptual models that help shed light on the complexities of offshoring service and knowledge work. In developing the model, we draw upon existing literature in the realm of service operations and delivery and build on insights from allied areas such as management and practice. The models offer a simple yet powerful way to conceptualize offshoring of knowledge and service work and to identify the inherent challenges that such strategies entail. The evolutionary model of offshoring parallels well-established work in the manufacturing literature to present a sequential view of building organizational competence in offshoring. The implications of the conceptual models have been discussed in a range of propositions that can be viewed as foundations for new inquiry in this research stream.     

Global sourcing and quality recalls: An empirical study of outsourcing-supplier concentration-product recalls linkages

This study investigates how supply chain sourcing strategies are associated with product quality recalls. In particular, the research examines how make-or-buy decisions (i.e., outsourcing), the use of foreign suppliers (i.e., offshore outsourcing), the relocation of production to offshore markets (i.e., offshoring), and decisions to consolidate supply bases (i.e., the use of few vs. myriad suppliers) are related to product recalls. Product recalls are serious quality failures in supply chains with significant, negative impacts on firm performance. Product recalls are frequently connected to the globalization of supply chains. Globalization has, at times, promoted inconsistency in quality control and standards, leading to quality problems and failures. Data across multiple industries, with widely reported recalls, have been collected and analyzed using regression techniques. Our findings indicate that offshore outsourcing has a greater impact on recalls than offshoring without outsourcing; outsourcing domestically has the least influence. Outsourcing to a smaller supplier base may lead to fewer recalls at low levels of outsourcing. However, it may exacerbate the impact of outsourcing on recalls at high levels of outsourcing.     

Institutionalizing technoscience: Post-genomic technologies and the case of systems biology

Somewhat counter-intuitively, new drug development productivity has fallen at major pharmaceutical companies during the period of swift growth in scientific know-how during the last two decades. After substantial hype, genomics has been complemented by post-genomic technologies serving as the new hope for the future in terms of producing new therapies. Such post-genomic technologies, including systems biology and other biocomputational and bioinformatics approaches, are embedded in institutional logics both drawing on shared or idiosyncratic enactments of historical conditions and expectations for the future. This paper reports on a study based on interviews with scientists at a major pharmaceutical company, three biotechnology firms, and two academic research universities, suggesting that technoscientific approaches and frameworks are embedded in rhetoric advancing institutional logics constituting the organizing principles that shape the behavior of the actors in a field. Such rhetoric consists of narratives combining accounts of practices and their merits and shortcomings, beliefs, professional ideologies, and historical accomplishments.     

Analysis of the effect of risk management practices on the performance of new product development programs

Risk management is receiving much attention, as it is seen as a method to improve cost, schedule, and technical performance of new product development programs. However, there is a lack of empirical research that investigates the effective integration of specific risk management practices proposed by various standards with new product development programs and their association with various dimensions of risk management success. Based on a survey of 291 product development programs, this paper investigates the association of risk management practices with five categories of product development program performance: (A) Quality Decision Making; (B) High Program Stability; (C) Open, problem solving organization; (D) Overall new product development project success; and (E) overall product success. The results show that six categories of risk management practices are most effective: (1) Develop risk management skills and resources; (2) Tailor risk management to and integrate it with new product development; (3) Quantify impacts of risks on your main objectives; (4) Support all critical decisions with risk management results; (5) Monitor and review your risks, risk mitigation actions, and risk management process; and (6) Create transparency regarding new product development risks. The data shows that the risk management practices are directly associated with outcome measures in the first three categories (improved decision making, program stability and problem solving). There is also evidence that the risk management practices indirectly associate with the remaining two categories of outcome measures (project and product success). Additional research is needed to describe the exact mechanisms through which risk management practices influence NPD program success.     

酒店行业发展环境及酒店产品设计策略探讨

文章分析了酒店行业发展形势,剖析了当前酒店行业发展的弊端和劣势,在总结酒店行业发展前景的基础上,提出了酒店产品设计的策略。     

代工企业产品开发能力的提升:社会资本、组织间学习与组织内学习

面对日益增强的全球竞争,代工企业必须不断地进行产品开发能力的提升才能满足国外顾客企业快速变化的需求.为实现这一目的,代工企业需要向国外顾客企业学习.然而,现有研究很少实证探讨这一问题.因此,基于组织学习视角,本文实证探讨了国际代工关系中的社会资本、组织间学习、组织内学习与代工企业产品开发能力之间的关系.通过珠三角143家代工企业的数据收集,研究结果显示代工企业同国外顾客企业之间社会资本显著正向影响双方的组织间学习,组织间学习显著正向影响组织内学习和产品开发能力,组织内学习显著正向影响产品开发能力.