Supplier relationship-specific investments and the role of safeguards for supplier innovation sharing

The vast majority of the supplier innovation literature has focused on how buying firms can effectively “pull” innovations from their suppliers. Yet, we know remarkably little about the factors that contribute to a supplier voluntarily “pushing” innovations to its customers. The present study addresses this research gap in the context of industrial buyer–supplier relationships and with a specific focus on relationship-specific investments. Drawing on theory from the relationship-marketing literature and on transaction cost theory, we devise and test a proposed theoretical model that links the level of a supplier's relationship-specific investments to its sharing of innovative ideas regarding products and processes with customers. The model also considers the role of contract length, relationship age, and buyer–supplier cooperation as possible safeguards. The empirical results suggest that a supplier's relationship-specific investments encourage a supplier to suggest ideas of process innovations but to refrain from suggestions about product innovations. The latter effect, however, can be attenuated by appropriate formal and informal safeguards.     

Evaluation of supplier capability and performance: A method for supply base reduction

Development of partnership with suppliers is widely recognised today as a potent tool for supply chain improvement. To develop an effective partnership, it is necessary to have a small supply base and an effort to reduce the supply base to a manageable level. Despite its overwhelming importance, models of supply base reduction are rare. Supplier sorting methods, used for pre-selection of suppliers and sometimes seen as methods for supply base reduction, have limitations ranging from (1) requirement of an exhaustive database of historical information (case-based reasoning), (2) inability to predefine the number of elements in a cluster (cluster analysis) and (3) inability to identify suppliers who are both highly capable as well as high performers (data envelopment analysis). In the present work, we develop a systematic framework for carrying out the supply base reduction process. The study assumes two important dimensions of suppliers—performance and capability. Performance of a supplier represents short-term effects on the achievement of supply chain objectives while supplier capability indicates long-term effects. Many of the performance and capability factors are imprecise in nature. In order to account for the imprecision involved in numerous subjective characteristics of suppliers, we use fuzzy set approach to measure the imprecision of these factors and rank a potential list of suppliers against their performance and capability. We then display their ranks in a ‘capability–performance matrix’ that helps a decision maker arrange the suppliers in decreasing order of preference. The desired numbers of suppliers are finally selected on the basis of this ordered list. The suggested framework will be of immense help to the practising managers in reducing the supply base—a prerequisite for building a strong supplier partnership and developing an effective supply chain.     

Organizational interfaces and innovation: The challenge of integrating supplier knowledge in LEGO systems

Suppliers have become increasingly important as partners in firms' innovation efforts. Reaping potential collaboration benefits is complex due to challenges in combining internal and external knowledge. The paper explores how various types of organizational interfaces between buyer and supplier create both opportunities and problems for their joint actions. The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of attempts to develop an innovative packaging solution for the toy manufacturer LEGO systems. The study shows that buying firms need to carefully analyse what form of organizational interface access to prioritize since each type offers its specific possibilities and drawbacks. Furthermore, the feasibility of organizational interfaces may change over time due to mutual organizational learning.     

人力资本当期价值计量理论与方法创新

通过研究，提出了人力资本当期价值计量理论与方法，试图解决长期未能解决的人力资本价值计量难题，实现了人力资本价值计量的重大创新。     

A novel hybrid multi-criteria method for supplier selection among SMEs on the basis of innovation ability

Today, small and large business houses operate collaboratively for the efficiency in the functioning of supply chains. Larger organisations mostly depend on small companies to supply majority of its components and thus they need to be careful while selecting their suppliers. Small organisations performing innovatively and supplying technologically upgraded as well as quality products at a cheaper rate can be a boon for the larger enterprise. This study develops a model for evaluating and selecting small firms as suppliers on the basis of their innovativeness. Best–Worst multi-criteria method is used to rank criteria of innovativeness and also to calculate their weights on the basis of expert opinion. Fuzzy TOPSIS methodology is used to rank the suppliers with respect to these criteria and finally select the best supplier among the available alternatives. A real-world application is illustrated by taking a case of auto component manufacturer and its seven suppliers, 5 main criteria and 23 sub-criteria are taken up for the study.

Abbreviations: AHP: analytical hierarchal process; ANP: analytical network process; DEMATEL: decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory; EMS: environment management system; ELECTRE: ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (elimination and choice expressing reality); FPIS: fuzzy positive ideal solution; FNIS: fuzzy negative ideal solution; ISM: interpretative structural modelling; PROMTHEE: preference ranking organisation method for enrichment evaluation; SME: small and medium enterprises; TOPSIS: technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution; QFD: quality function deployment; VIKOR: VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje; SP1; SP2; SP3; SP4; SP5; SP6; SP7: Various suppliers used as alternatives     

A contingent theory of supplier management initiatives: Effects of competitive intensity and product life cycle

Direct investments in supplier development and close relationship building are the two major collaborative supplier management strategies for developing and accessing superior supplier capability. The impact of these two strategies, however, has not been uniform across firms, calling for a deeper examination of their relative effectiveness. Utilizing multiple theoretical frameworks, this study examines the relevance and effectiveness of the two collaborative strategies across the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle (PLC). Specifically, the study analyzes the influence of competitive intensity as an antecedent to supplier development and relational initiatives, and the role of product life cycle as a moderator of the inter-relationships among competitive intensity, supplier development, relational initiatives, and supplier capability. Based on primary survey data, and discussion with practicing managers, the study finds that the individual and integrative effectiveness of supplier development investments (SDI) and relational orientation (RO) can be influenced differently by competitive intensity and PLC stage. In particular, RO can have a foundational role in motivating SDI for superior supplier capability, as also in safeguarding against supplier opportunism in the standardized product market context of the maturity stage. The managerial and theoretical implications of varied emphasis on the two collaborative supplier management strategies across the PLC stages are discussed.     

客户化供应链下顾客生命周期价值计量研究

在客户化供应链中,顾客资产对企业的生存和发展发挥着至关重要的作用,而目前缺乏对顾客生命周期价值计量的有效探讨。为此,基于客户化供应链的研究背景,在综合现有研究顾客生命周期价值不同成果的基础上获得了顾客生命周期价值计量模型,并针对该模型的不足提出了修正方案,从而获得最终的顾客生命周期价值计量模型,为提高供应链企业顾客资产管理水平,促进供应链企业顾客资产的增值提供计量依据。     

Uncovering the supplier selection knowledge structure: A systematic citation network analysis from 1991 to 2017

Because of the critical role supplier selection plays in organizational success, both practitioners and academics have expressed a strong interest in the subject area generating an extensive body of research. The volume and breadth of publications in this area makes it difficult to understand the knowledge structure of the field and the academic work that has influenced the evolution of the domain.This mixed-method study systematically reviews 246 papers that investigated supplier selection issues and were published between 1991 and 2017. We initially examined the statistics of papers by unveiling influential journals, affiliations and articles. Second, we utilized co-citation network analysis, an objective procedure to extract clusters of what has been researched in supplier selection literature. The study analytically retrieves six major knowledge clusters: 1) conceptual foundation of the field; 2) modeling of the procurement environment; 3) handling group-decision making and unprecise input data; 4) computational research; 5) green/sustainable research and 6) risk-based supplier selection. Finally, we conducted main path analysis to get an overview of the evolution of knowledge in the supplier selection field by uncovering its major paths and key articles.     

Understanding supplier structural embeddedness: A social network perspective

Despite a significant amount of attention, the potential of supplier structural embeddedness (i.e., the value of the structural position in an extended network) to improve the performance of a buying firm remains poorly understood. This study drew on the social network theory to empirically examine a conceptual framework specifying a relationship between the efforts of a buying firm to understand supplier structural configuration and operational and financial performance. This study also examines how the comprehension of structural embeddedness is transformed into performance for a buying firm through relational embeddedness (i.e., the strength of a dyadic relationship). Survey data collected from companies in the U.S. were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicate that the understanding of the structural dimension does help to enhance operational performance of a buying firm, but it does not lead to better financial performance. Empirical evidence shows that a buying firm does improve the quality of a dyadic relationship between the buying firm and a supplier by understanding how the supplier is connected to other firms and what positional values are produced. Further, relational embeddedness is found to mediate the influence of the enhanced understanding of the structural configuration on operational performance.     

京津冀区域创新网络建设的理论基础与现状分析

随着京津冀一体化上升为重大国家战略,京津冀三地协同发展的步伐不断加快。实践表明京津冀一体化发展的根本出路在于三地协同创新,共同建设完善的跨区域创新网络。本文旨在构建跨区域创新网络的理论体系,并以此体系来分析京津冀区域创新网络的建设现状与制约因素。     

Impact of eBusiness technologies on operational performance: The role of production information integration in the supply chain

While the information technology (IT) literature is mixed regarding the direct benefits of eBusiness technologies on performance, the impact of such technologies on supply chain practices remains largely an unexplored area of research. We hypothesize that while there may be no direct benefit of eBusiness technologies on performance, these technologies might support customer integration and supplier integration in the supply chain, which in turn might impact operating performance.To examine our hypotheses, we collected data from respondents who focused their responses to a single major product the process that manufactures it, a significant customer, and an important supplier. Our analyses showed that there was no direct benefit of eBusiness technologies on performance; however these technologies supported customer integration and supplier integration. Further, supplier integration was found to positively impact cost, quality, flexibility, and delivery performance; however there was no relationship between customer integration and performance. Consequently, there is a relationship between eBusiness technologies and supplier integration that leads to better performance. Further, there is an interactive effect between customer integration and supplier integration that supports the notion that firms that have both forms of integration, supported by eBusiness technologies, significantly outperform the others.     

Performance evaluation of China's high-tech innovation process: Analysis based on the innovation value chain

The Chinese high-tech industry has developed greatly since the beginning of China's “National High-tech R&D (863) Program” and “China Torch Program”. This paper introduces a conceptual model extended from the innovation value chain model to simultaneously estimate the R&D and commercialization efficiencies for the high-tech industries of 29 provincial-level regions in China. To match reality, a network DEA incorporating both shared inputs and additional intermediate inputs is constructed to open the “black box” view of decision making units used in single-stage DEA. This study is the first attempt to link the R&D and commercialization with a solid theoretical foundation and feasible mathematical methods. The empirical findings show that most of the 29 regions have low efficiency in the commercialization sub-process compared to the R&D sub-process, although there are regional differences in China's high-tech industry. Pearson correlation shows that the R&D sub-process is not closely correlated to the commercialization sub-process in terms of efficiency. Our analysis can provide information for the formulation of policies to achieve high innovation efficiency.     

Public procurement for innovation through supplier firms' sustainability lens: A systematic review and research agenda

Public sector purchasing processes are gaining increasing prominence as a demand-side innovation tool for addressing national sustainability challenges. Accordingly, there has been growing research attention to this topic. Prior studies suggest three key rationales that underlie the use of public sector procurement to drive innovation: (i) the buyer–user rationale (for creating new needs); (ii) the market/system failure rationale (for improving suppliers' capacity to innovate); and (iii) the public services rationale (for improving public services). However, operational activities at the upstream supply chain affecting the sustainable innovation capacities of supplier firms appear to be under-researched in the public procurement for innovation (PPI) scholarship, despite knowledge about innovation capacity being critical to successfully implementing PPI. This paper adopts a systematic literature review approach to synthesise existing fragmented literature on sustainability-oriented PPI, focusing on supplier perspectives. Findings from a synthesis of 41 relevant articles suggest, among others conditions, that a procurement framework that maintains a good balance of competition and innovation, builds buyer–supplier relationship and urges strong supply networks, maintains a stable political commitment, offers security for niche markets with effective innovation risk management culture would enhance suppliers' sustainability capacity and propensity to innovate. This paper contributes to the PPI literature and the literature on determinants of sustainable innovation systems from supplier firms' sustainability lens.     

Understanding the adoption of socially responsible supplier development practices using institutional theory: Dairy supply chains in India

Supplier development (SD) initiatives play an important role in building buyer-supplier capacities to deal with social and economic performance. The aim of this paper is to explain the motivations behind the adoption of similar SD strategies to address sustainability (particularly social issues) occurring in local supply chains of a developing country. We compare the economic and social variants of institutional theory to investigate whether efficiency or legitimacy seeking drives the adoption (and copying) of SD practices. Twelve case studies involving private and cooperative dairies were conducted in India via semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that both private and cooperative dairies adopt similar SD practices to build supplier capabilities and improve social and economic performance of buyers and suppliers. Private dairies imitate SD practices of the cooperatives to survive the competition; i.e., economic performance is the main reason behind their isomorphism. Cooperatives, on the other hand, take up SD practices more for legitimacy and even philanthropic reasons; though also partly note the long-term economic benefits from developing the supplier community. These findings can be used both by practitioners and researchers to gain valuable insights into the reasons driving organisational isomorphism in social sustainability practices from a developing country perspective, something rarely done so far in the literature.     

Strategic interdependence, governance effectiveness and supplier performance: A dyadic case study investigation and theory development

Inter-organizational exchange governance approaches are often characterized as two broad types: relational and transactional. However, in fast changing business contexts, the contextual contingencies do not present ideal conditions for practicing purely relational or transactional approach. Understanding the dynamic of key contextual factors and their effects on a firm's resource capabilities and inter-organizational power structure is crucial for identifying the appropriate governance structure over time. In this paper we explore the exchanges between an OEM and five of its strategic suppliers that operate in high-end, short product life cycle motorbike industry, to understand the key contextual factors and the relationships among business context, governance structure, and exchange practices in a dyadic context. It is observed that firms deviate from the conventional choices of either transactional or relational governance to a combination of contractual and relational aspects to make the governance structure effective. Based on case studies, a theoretical framework is proposed to explain the rationale, feasibility and effectiveness of combining contractual and relational aspects in different contexts. The framework suggests that the degree of strategic interdependence between the trading partners fundamentally drives the effectiveness of governance structure and exchange practices.     

The micro-processes of supplier satisfaction: A longitudinal multiple case study

Supplier satisfaction has often been argued to be an important determinant for supplier performance in the buyer-supplier relationship. The micro-processes of how supplier satisfaction develops and how it relates to supplier performance, however, are not well understood. By means of a longitudinal multiple case study design of 18 buyer-supplier relationships, this paper provides insights into the micro-processes of how supplier satisfaction develops. Our findings provide several new insights. First, we observed how supplier satisfaction levels showed little change even though the buyer's behavior did not align with the supplier's expectations, thereby nuancing current conceptualizations of supplier satisfaction being a function of expected and realized relational value. Second, we show how intra organizational dynamics at the supplier influence the relationship between supplier satisfaction and supplier performance. Third, our findings give insights into the complex interplay between the relational and economic antecedents of supplier satisfaction.     

The influence of supply network structure on firm innovation

In this study, we examine the structural characteristics of supply networks and investigate the relationship between a firm's supply network accessibility and interconnectedness and its innovation output. We also examine potential moderating effects of absorptive capacity and supply network partner innovativeness on innovation output. We hypothesize that firms will experience greater innovation output from (1) higher levels of supply network accessibility and supply network interconnectedness, (2) the interaction between the levels of these two structural characteristics, (3) the moderating role of absorptive capacity on supply network accessibility and the moderating role of supply network partner innovativeness on supply network interconnectedness. Supply network partner relationships are drawn in the context of the electronics industry using data from multiple sources. We use social network analysis to create measures for each supply network structural characteristic. Using regression techniques to test the relationship between these structural characteristics and firm innovation for a sample of 390 firms, our findings suggest that supply network accessibility has a significant association with a firm's innovation output. The results also indicate that interconnected supply networks strengthen the association between supply network accessibility and innovation output. Moreover, the influence of the two structural characteristics on innovation output can be enhanced by a firm's absorptive capacity and level of supply network partner innovativeness. By addressing the need for deeper structural analysis, this study contributes to supply chain research by accounting for the embedded nature of ties in supply networks, and showing how these structural characteristics influence the knowledge and information flows residing within a firm's supply network.     

基于需求拉动的战略性新兴产业创新价值网络分析

战略性新兴产业的培育和发展是我国建立现代产业体系的核心内容和关键环节,加快战略性新兴产业的发展必须有效发挥市场需求对产业的拉动作用.本文在对战略性新兴产业内涵进行分析的基础上,研判战略性新兴产业成长与发展的显著特征,从价值组织形态演进的视角解析在市场需求拉动背景下战略性新兴产业的创新价值链,进而需求拉动的构建新兴产业创新价值网络,提出基于市场需求导向的价值创造活动对于战略性新兴产业的发展与提升具有重要的作用,为激励需求的制度创新提供可借鉴的思路.