Firm size, web site content, and financial performance in the transportation industry

The transportation industry has been revolutionized by the World Wide Web with the Internet rapidly emerging as the optimal medium for the exchange of information between shippers and carriers throughout the supply chain. Despite this, many motor carrier firms may still not be placing enough emphasis on the Internet. Recent empirical research studies suggest that Internet utilization in the supply chain is significantly influenced by firm size. This study analyzes the informational and interactive content of the Top 100 U.S. motor carrier firms' web sites to examine the relationship between firm size and Internet utilization. In addition, as there is little research that assesses the payoff in terms of benefits for firms that place more emphasis on the Internet for commercial activity, secondary financial data are used to evaluate the association between Internet utilization and firm financial performance in the transportation industry.     

Electronic marketplaces and supply chain relationships

Electronic marketplaces and supply chain management (SCM) are two notions, which have attracted much attention among both academicians and practitioners during the last 5 years. However, the discussion of the relationship between the two notions has been limited and fragmented. In this paper, we will present a critical summary of the discussion of Internet-driven electronic marketplaces (IEMPs) based on an extensive literature review. Then, we will discuss the interrelation between IEMP and SCM from a procurement portfolio perspective. Our proposition is that different types of buyer-supplier relationships require different types of IEMPs. We propose a relationship/IEMP-grid that should help to identify the right selection strategy for IEMP in various procurement situations. Finally, we present proposals for future research within this area.     

Cognitive barriers to collaborative innovation generation in supply chain relationships

This research investigates the cognitive barriers to the generation of collaborative innovations among supply chain members. The results of our case study show how different perceptions of relationships between supply chain members can hinder the generation of collaborative innovations despite a shared managerial cognitive basis regarding the potential benefits of collaboration, Thus, we argue that the generation of collaborative innovations is largely dependent on the nature of multiple (not dyadic) supply chain relationships and managers' perceptions about the potential of these relationships. Our results provide important implications to supply chain relationships and their role in the generation of collaborative innovations.     

回收质量不确定下的废旧电子产品三级逆向供应链定价模型研究

本文针对废旧电子产品回收质量的不确定性,研究了由制造商、零售商和回收中心构成的废旧电子产品三级逆向供应链系统的定价模型。通过设定回收废旧电子产品的质量类别来分析回收质量的不确定性,构建了合作情况与非合作情况下的逆向供应链定价与利润模型,并利用逆向归纳法求解,得出了合作与非合作情况下的三级逆向供应链成员的最优定价策略以及相应的利润。通过比较合作与非合作情况下的最优价格及逆向供应链系统利润,发现合作情况下三级逆向供应链系统的总利润更高,同时可分解再制造的废旧电子产品与可维修再制造的废旧电子产品回收价格也更高。通过Matlab仿真分析,研究发现：随着废旧电子产品中可分解再制造废旧电子产品比例的增加,在合作和非合作两种情况下,可分解再制造废旧电子产品的回收价格和三级逆向供应链系统的总利润均减少,而可维修再制造废旧电子产品的回收价格增加。     

供应链上制造商与供应商关系的影响因素探讨——基于以制造商为核心的视角

当今社会的市场竞争已经转变为供应链之间的竞争,供应链上节点企业之间关系的好坏已经对供应链竞争力的强弱产生重要影响。制造商与供应商的关系是供应链成员关系的重要组成部分,文章对其关系的类型进行了划分,并在此基础上分析了其关系好坏的取决于合作中的供给产品、技术能力和人为因素等多方面的作用,明确了在每一方面又存在多种影响因素,且不同影响因素的作用存在着差异,这些诸多因素的综合作用决定了供应链上制造商与供应商的关系,最终决定了供应链运行的好坏。     

Intermediaries in power-laden retail supply chains: An opportunity to improve buyer–supplier relationships and collaboration

Despite the benefits of buyer and seller collaboration and hence relationships extolled in extensive studies, issues of relationship power inhibit implementation of collaborative and relational approaches, particularly in some parts of the retail sector. Further, most research regards buyer–supplier collaboration and relations as dyadic or focal relationships, or perhaps in a network context, and typically investigates buyer–supplier collaboration and relations from a power-dependency perspective; and within vertical supply integration. Little attention has been given to the potential role of supply chain intermediaries, such as logistics service providers, in objectively and independently determining and managing the course of buyer–supplier collaboration and relations in a business-to-business context. This article appraises the potential role of buyer–supplier collaboration and relations and their relevant opportunities in the power-laden, contentious environment of the retail grocery sector. With an interdisciplinary approach, drawn from supply management, relationship management, and logistics and supply chain management, this article emphasises the importance of horizontal collaboration using fourth-party logistics structures as horizontal intermediary conduits, who act independently between retailers and suppliers to facilitate collaborative and relational activity.     

基于Shapley 值法修正的中小企业供应链协同创新收益分配研究

中小企业作为中国最具创新活力的群体，能根据自身特点积极参与供应链的协同创新，同时其收益分配问题也受到人们关注。本研究从Shapley 值法出发综合考虑中小企业供应链协同创新收益分配等影响因素--创新资源贡献率、创新执行度、风险因素和创新补贴，建立修正Shapley 值模型并提出模型参数确定方法，最后再结合算例研究验证模型，由此得到的收益分配方案给中小企业收益分配实践提供了理论依据。     

An autonomous multi-agent approach to supply chain event management

Organizations have made a significant effort to implement software for planning and scheduling, but disruptive event management is still a problem to be solved. Since a disruptive event can affect the overall performance of the supply chain, SCEM (Supply Chain Event Management) systems presenting different automation levels such as monitoring, alarm and decision support have been proposed. However, the management of disruptive events, taking into account the distributed nature of the supply chain, the members' autonomy and the ability to exert corrective control actions, has been identified as a problem that requires further research. This work presents an agent-based approach for the SCEM problem, which can perform autonomous corrective control actions to minimize the effect of deviations in the plan that is currently being executed. These control actions consist of a distribution of the variation between supply chain members, using the plan's slack in a collaborative way. An innovative feature of this approach is its focus on resources, which are affected by disruptive events in a direct way. Based on this approach, a SCEM system is designed as a net of control points defined on resources connected through supply process orders. Two novel aspects are the distributed collaborative inter-organizational architecture of the SCEM system and a Double Contract Net Protocol. This protocol allows a set of resource:representing agents to interact through an agent, representing a supply process order as a mediator. An application to a case study of the Multi-Agent SCEM system implemented with JADE is provided.     

A review of the extensions of a modified EOQ model for imperfect quality items

Imperfect items in the raw material and production stages of a supply chain directly impact the coordination of the product flow within a supply chain. In response to this concern, production and inventory lot sizing models, which incorporate imperfect items into their formulation have become an important and growing area of research. The contribution of Salameh and Jaber (2000) is one of the fundamental models on lot sizing when procured items are of imperfect quality. Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable amount of interest in the EOQ model for imperfect items that was set forth in Salameh and Jaber (2000). Several researchers have published adaptations and extensions of this original model that address supply chain coordination, quality improvement and yield management, and the impact of human error on production and inventory systems. In this paper, we summarize the current body of research that has extended the Salameh and Jaber (2000) EOQ model for imperfect items. Some possible future research directions are identified at the end of the paper.     

Knowledge acquisition in supply chain partnerships: The role of power

Knowledge is recognised as an important source of competitive advantage and hence there has been increasing academic and practitioner interest in understanding and isolating the factors that contribute to effective knowledge transfer between supply chain actors. The literature identifies power as a salient contributor to the effective operation of a supply chain partnership. However, there is a paucity of empirical research examining how power among actors influences knowledge acquisition and in turn the performance of supply chain partners. The aim of this research is to address this gap by examining the relationship between power, knowledge acquisition and supply chain performance among the supply chain partners of a focal Chinese steel manufacturer. A structured survey was used to collect the necessary data. Two conceptually independent variables – ‘availability of alternatives’ and ‘restraint in the use of power’ – were used to assess actual and realised power, respectively. Controlling for contingencies, we found that the flow of knowledge increased when supply chain actors had limited alternatives and when the more powerful actor exercised restraint in the use of power. Moreover, we found a positive relationship between knowledge acquisition and supply chain performance. This paper enriches the literature by empirically extending our understanding of how power affects knowledge acquisition and performance.     

产业链整合对建筑工业化协同创新绩效的影响研究

市场竞争日趋激烈，创新过程日益复杂，协同创新成为主流的创新范式。而我国建筑工业化正处于创新驱动发展不足的初级阶段，如何通过产业链整合实现建筑工业化的协同创新，进而提高创新绩效是值得研究的问题。本文从产业链整合着手，探讨建筑工业化的技术链整合、产品链整合、创新协同性、创新绩效之间的相互影响关系。首先根据理论分析提出假设，然后运用26家代表性企业的278份问卷作为样本数据进行验证。实证分析表明：产业链整合对创新协同性、创新绩效均有正向显著作用；技术链整合在产品链与创新协同性之间、创新协同性在产业链整合与创新绩效之间起完全中介作用；政策在产品链整合与创新协同性之间起正向调节作用，而在技术链整合与创新协同性之间的调节作用却不显著。研究结论对于建筑工业化政策制定、产业链完善、企业管理等方面具有重要意义，同时展望了需要进一步关注的方向。     

Supplier and customer exchange in international industrial markets: An integrative perspective

A significant body of knowledge pertaining to the management and organization of international distribution channels has evolved over the last three decades. More recent foci have been on relational forms of exchange and models that accommodate efficient exchange management within the context of supply chain systems. This review provides a framework for furthering knowledge along important dimensions that have received limited attention and offers a series of propositions for future scholarly work in the area. Key themes pursued in this study include (1) the impact of the international dimension of exchange; (2) the distinction between upstream and downstream forms of exchange; and (3) the influence of electronic commerce on the future of international exchange. We conclude this review by highlighting research challenges facing scholars.     

Internet impacts on supply chain management

The traditional way of managing supply chains has changed dramatically over the last 5 years. Face-to-face management, manual tracking systems, paper-dominated order processing systems, and wired communication links were the primary management tools available to logistics managers. Today, they are obsolete. The article provides an overview of some of the new tools and trends discussed in this issue, including website structure, e-purchasing, electronic marketplaces, building vendor relationships, and the use of the Internet in managing supply chains in China.     

Factors influencing strategic alliance outcomes in a manufacturing supply chain: Role of alliance motives,interdependence, asset specificity and relational capital

Integration of various theories is essential to completely understand and explain strategic alliances in a supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework by integrating the features of transaction cost theory, resource-based theory, contingency theory, social exchange theory, and Kelley's personal relationship theory and test the framework through empirical research. The present study addresses the impact of strategic alliance motives, environment, asset specificity, perception of opportunistic behavior, interdependence between supply chain partners, and relational capital on strategic alliance outcomes. Besides, the study has also tested the role of relational capital as a central mediating construct. A sample of 2156 companies representing different industries in manufacturing in Malaysia was selected for the distribution of questionnaire. We tested the structural model using structural equation modeling (SEM). Based on the results, we conclude the following significant relationships: (1) strategic alliance motives and perception of opportunistic behavior on interdependence and relational capital, (2) interdependence on relational capital, (3) environment on strategic alliance motives, (4) relational capital on strategic alliance outcomes, and (4) the mediating role of relational capital. The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on strategic alliances and can help managers identify factors that influence the success of strategic alliances and provide a proper direction to develop robust and effective collaborative relationships between supply chain partners.     

In Chains? An Empirical Study of Antecedents of Supplier Product Development Activity in the Automotive Industry*

In the literature on interorganizational collaboration in product development, considerable attention is given to supplier role classifications. Such classifications often link to a supplier's position in the overall supply chain, but the claim that this position has a substantial impact on its product development activities has seldom been empirically validated. The results from the present survey among Swedish automotive suppliers demonstrate that supplier product development activity is significantly affected by the position of the supplier in the supply chain and the supplier's strategic focus on innovation. While the latter has a stronger impact on product development activities, there is also an interaction effect implying that the effects of a supplier's innovation strategy are contingent on its supply chain position. Contrary to expectations, customer development commitment does not have any significant direct effect on supplier product development activities. Instead, this relation is fully mediated by supplier innovation strategy. These findings imply that, in contrast to conventional wisdom, product development activities are not strictly organized in “chains.” Although supply chains can be useful metaphors for understanding the distribution of regular production activities between firms, they arguably apply less to the distribution of product development activities.     

Enhancing the business-to-business supply chain: Insights from partitioning the supply-side

A market orientation has long been established as the key to success in supply chain management. A central concept of this orientation is market segmentation. The concept of market segmentation, however, has primarily been focused on the demand side of the supply chain; its potential application on the supply side has not thoroughly been addressed. This paper extends the purview of the concept behind segmentation by presenting the concept of “supply-side partitioning” to refer to the management of heterogeneities on the supplier side of the supply chain. Further, the concept of “transvectional alignment” is proposed for the purpose of simultaneously aligning market segments with appropriate suppliers at all levels of the supply chain by identifying, evaluating, and selecting supply groups that satisfy the demand function(s) of each segment. This paper discusses supply-side partitioning, includes a model for the supply chain utilizing transvectional alignment, and offers implications for the application of supply-side partitioning in the business-to-business marketspace.     

The role of e-marketplaces in supply chain management

Electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces) have a profound influence on the way in which organizations manage their supply chains. Proponents of the e-marketplace concept suggest that web-based trading systems, such as World Wide Retail Exchange (WWRE) and GlobalNetXchange (GNX), would enable companies to more efficiently buy, sell, and manage their supply chain processes on a global scale. This study investigates the extent to which e-business tools of the e-marketplace are used by channel members in the retail sector for business-to-business supply chain management (SCM). The study is based on a survey involving food service companies, retailers, and wholesalers in the UK. It is shown that the e-marketplace supply chain applications enable the majority of companies to automate transaction-based activities and procurement-related processes rather than strategic supply chain activities. The results also indicate that full participation in e-marketplaces requires companies to integrate their internal and external supply chain activities and share strategic information.     

How buyers' expected benefits, perceived risks, and e-business readiness influence their e-marketplace usage

The main objective of this study was to investigate how buyers' usage of electronic marketplaces was influenced by their perceived risks and expected benefits associated with such markets. A large scale survey involving 359 professional buyers was performed. Results indicated that buyers' perceived risks and expected benefits had an influence on their usage extent of electronic marketplaces. In addition, buyers' e-business readiness moderated the relationship between expected benefits and usage of electronic marketplaces. Managerial and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.     

Adoption of digital sales force automation tools in supply chain: Customers' acceptance of sales configurators

Digitalization changes both buying processes and sales processes and, consequently, the dynamics and division of work between buyers and suppliers in the supply chain. This has major implications for industrial marketing and supply chain management. In this study, we analyze the impact of sales configurators, which are used to create valid configurations of market offerings that fulfill customer requirements. The usefulness of sales configurators can be investigated from both the sellers' and buyers' perspectives. In this research, we focus on the latter, and we specifically investigate the antecedents of customers' acceptance of sales configurators in a supply chain. In our analysis, we concentrate on system-level antecedents, which have been neglected by the existing literature. Our research yields better knowledge of how digital sales technologies can be used by customers for improved effectiveness and perceived value. The results demonstrate that ease of use and system adaptability contribute strongly to the perceived effectiveness, and eventually to the perceived usefulness, of sales configurators. Yet, surprisingly, perceived enjoyment is identified as having the most significant effect on perceived usefulness.     

Performance-based strategic resource allocation in supply networks

One driving force behind continued logistics planning research is firms’ need to maintain competitive performance and efficient resource allocation. Operations research has been instrumental in advancing logistics planning research particularly in the petroleum industry. The impact and potential of incorporating performance imperatives however, have been largely unaddressed while the problem's general complexity has grown. This paper focuses on performance planning through resource allocation in supply networks by developing a profit-maximizing network model for distribution planning, and explicitly incorporating order performance criteria for distribution centers and delivery vehicles. The approach has been tested on forty realistic-sized problems, and tradeoff models provide insight and guidelines for assessing the interaction among expected profits, customer service, and operational efficiency for resource acquisition and redistribution. Managerial implications are also provided.