Unlocking the business outsourcing process model

Outsourcing has emerged as a prevalent business practice that is having a transformational impact on how many organizations manage their global supply chains. Despite this prominence, anecdotal reports from multiple reputable organizations suggest that many businesses fail to realize the benefits anticipated from their outsourcing initiatives. Motivated by these observations, this study investigates those management practices during the outsourcing process that are key drivers of outsourcing performance. Specifically, detailed data from 198 sourcing executives and managers responsible for outsourcing initiatives are used to investigate the influence that strategic evaluation, contractual completeness, and relationship management practices have on achieving projected outsourcing results. The results offer strong empirical evidence that outsourcing performance is significantly influenced by extensive strategic evaluation and proactive relationship management practices. Moreover, the impact strategic evaluation has on outsourcing performance is not direct, but rather is partially mediated by the relationship between the parties. Finally, the results show that contractual completeness does not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful outsourcing efforts, and can be considered qualifying activity.     

Customer-facing supply chain practices—The impact of demand and distribution management on supply chain success

Traditionally, distribution has been viewed as the key (physical) link between a company's internal supply chain activities and its customers. More recently, demand management has emerged as a new dimension at the customer interface. Although it has become increasing popular in industry, it has not yet been analyzed in depth with respect to its impact on supply chain performance. Both distribution management and demand management entail customer-facing processes and practices and that are interrelated and (may) jointly determine supply chain performance. In this paper we seek to extend the stream of research in supply chain management by systematically investigating the impact of customer-facing supply chain practices on supply chain performance. Specifically, the paper examines the relative impact of relevant practices associated with demand and distribution management. To this end, we collected data from 116 multi-national companies based in Europe and analyzed it using structural equation modeling techniques. Our results suggest that (i) high demand management performance has a substantial positive impact on the overall supply chain performance, (ii) this effect is stronger than that of distribution management performance, and (iii) there is no evidence that demand management might be an enabler for effective distribution management. Among the individual practices that constitute demand and distribution management, adherence to the demand and distribution management processes and demand segmentation emerged as the strongest performance levers. Based upon additional in-depth interviews conducted with selected companies from our sample, we shed light on some of the most important findings that emerged from our survey analysis.     

Corporate Ecological Responsiveness: Antecedent Effects of Institutional Pressure and Top Management Commitment and Their Impact on Organizational Performance

Institutional theory argues that conformity to institutional pressure enhances the survival probability of organizations. Two key limitations of institutional theory have been proposed in recent literature: one, that it ignores the role of top management, and two, that it focuses only on survival as a benefit to the exclusion of more strategic benefits such as growth and profitability. In this research, we build a conceptual model that addresses both of these limitations in the context of institutional pressure on organizations to behave more responsibly vis‐à‐vis the natural environment. Results from a survey of 199 manufacturing firms show that the relationship between institutional pressure and corporate responsiveness to the pressure (i.e. corporate environmental responsiveness) is enhanced when top management commitment to the environment is high. Moreover, results show that organizational conformity to institutional pressure enhances the strategic benefits that organizations receive. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

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.     

Strategic supply management,quality initiatives,and organizational performance

Researchers in supply chain management have found over the past two decades that supply management should be not merely a purchasing function but a strategic tool for supply chain integration. Supply management, the cornerstone of the integration of industrial supply chains, has evolved as a key research area. Based on quantitative and qualitative investigations of 225 electronics manufacturing firms, we examine the organizational impacts of strategic supply management (SSM) and the contexts of company size, process type, ISO 9000 certification, and quality management (QM) implementation that facilitate such an endeavor. We reveal that SSM is essentially a quality management initiative that requires bilateral efforts for continuous improvement and thus is not associated with the basic requirements of ISO 9000. We find that SSM improves on-time shipments, reduces operational costs, and leads to customer satisfaction and improved business performance. Developed based on contemporary premises in supply chain and QM, this research refines our understanding of the relationships among quality initiatives, SSM, and organizational performance.     

Pattern of information technology use: The impact on buyer–suppler coordination and performance

The use of information technologies between supply chain organizations has been shown to promote organizational coordination and have a positive impact on performance. Drawing from organizational theories of learning, we build on this research by proposing a model that relates the pattern of supplier use of IT to specific types of supply chain coordination activities and a comprehensive set of organizational benefits. Specifically, we evaluate how two patterns of IT use by suppliers (exploitation and exploration) relate to two specific types of coordination activities with their buyers (operational and strategic coordination), which in turn are posited to promote specific organizational benefits. Using data from 241 first-tier OEM suppliers in the computer industry, our findings show that each pattern of IT use directly promotes a specific type of coordination activity. Although both types of coordination activities are needed to achieve both strategic and operational benefits, we find each coordination activity to be uniquely promoted by a specific pattern of IT use. IT use for exploitation is found to be an antecedent to operational coordination; IT use for exploration is found to be an antecedent to strategic coordination. No crossover between pattern of use and coordination activities is found. Our findings show that to achieve a complete set of benefits, suppliers must ultimately use IT for both exploration and exploitation. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism of how the pattern of IT use can result in a comprehensive set of organizational benefits for supplier firms.     

Development and validation of a measurement instrument for studying supply chain management practices

It is widely argued that competition is no longer between organizations, but among supply chains. Effective supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially valuable way of securing competitive advantage and improving organizational performance. This research conceptualizes, develops, and validates six dimensions of SCM practices (strategic supplier partnership, customer relationship, information sharing, information quality, internal lean practices, and postponement). Data for the study were collected from 196 organizations and the measurement scales were tested and validated using structural equation modeling. It is hoped that this study will provide a parsimonious measurement instrument to assess the performance of the overall supply chain.     

戴尔供应链管理模式推进企业管理研究

首先概述了戴尔供应链管理模式的基本内涵及其特征,接着重点分析了目前我国企业供应链管理中存在的主要问题,即对供应链管理的理解和思考缺乏战略高度和机制保证,供应链管理中对于市场需求变化的响应速度缓慢,企业上下游供应链成员之间战略合伙伙伴机制尚未得到有效建立健全以及供应链范围内的客观关系管理质量和水平低下等,最后综合上述分析和相关供应链理论提出了基于戴尔供应链管理模式的我国企业管理若干解决方案。     

The impact of supply chain agility on business performance in a high level customization environment

To improve business performance in rapidly changing environments, supply chain agility can be a crucial requisite to address responsiveness issues, especially in environments with high levels of customization. This paper examines the effect of supply chain agility on customer service, differentiation, and business performance. A survey research methodology was employed using a sample of 156 manufacturing firms that provide high levels of customization. In particular, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to evaluate the proposed model. The results suggest that supply chain agility influences customer service and differentiation positively. However, it does not affect business performance directly; instead, better business performance can be achieved and mediated through improved customer service and differentiation. In particular, differentiation through customer service is the most effective way to improve business performance, and supply chain agility can help to achieve high-level customer service. The paper advises managers on details of how to fulfil their business performance ambitions better through suggested key agile supply chain management activities.     

面向组织客户的客户价值评价体系设计

客户根据其是否具有组织特性而分为个人客户和组织客户,组织客户对于一个企业的重要性和战略意义越来越不容忽视。而目前关于客户价值评价方法的研究没有明确其对象,由于个人客户与组织客户在许多方面存在较大差异,因此本文将针对组织客户提出客户价值评价方法,将在前人研究的基础上从直接价值和间接价值两个角度给出组织客户价值评价体系,并通过专家访谈修正该体系,主要从组织自身和其所在网络两个角度进行分析,丰富和完善组织客户间接价值评价维度。     

Building manufacturing flexibility with strategic suppliers and contingent effect of product dynamism on customer satisfaction

A critical capability sought by an increasing number of firms is manufacturing flexibility, because it allows to effectively respond to dynamic markets. Grounded upon a supply chain perspective, this paper aims to assess antecedents of manufacturing flexibility that stem from the upstream relationships with strategic suppliers. Additionally, it is one of the first to analyze the contingent effect of product dynamism on the impact of manufacturing flexibility on downstream customer satisfaction. We apply structural equation modeling to a sample of 155 companies in order to analyze our hypotheses. Results strongly indicate that buyer-supplier collaboration facilitates inter-organizational learning that in turn allows organizations to develop manufacturing flexibility and increase customer satisfaction. Approaching manufacturing flexibility from a broader supply chain view thus pays off. Moreover, we apply multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to explore the contingent effect of product dynamism on the relationship between manufacturing flexibility and customer satisfaction. Results suggest a stronger impact of manufacturing flexibility on performance in the context of higher product dynamism in companies’ customer markets, confirming the importance of a contingency view to flexibility.     

基于供应链管理的物流快速反应系统研究

首先从理论角度对物流快速反应进行深入详尽的分析,分别从构建供应链、实施供应链一体化管理、进行时间压缩管理、实施供应链战略伙伴关系管理、提供优质客户服务等五个方面综合提出了基于供应链管理的物流快速反应的实现方法,以有效提高物流快速反应能力,协助实现物流快速反应。以一套详尽的理论体系来有效协助降低配送成本、运输成本、仓储和库存成本,提高顾客服务水平,保证单据准确率、及时送货率、个性化服务种类,实现物流快速反应。     

A contingency-configurational view of purchasing operations: The mediating role between supplier relationship and firm performance

The literature has considered purchasing and supply management activities from a strategic perspective, but the tactical role of purchasing operations has yet to be explored. Purchasing operations represent the internal modus operandi for transactions with suppliers, comprising three main activities – purchasing transactions, purchasing document management, and purchasing assessment – and supportive activities like purchasing knowledge management. Following the contingency theory, we hypothesize that these internal activities mediate between external supplier relationship management and firm performance (financial, customer and delivery performance). Complementarily, we adopt the configurational theory to hypothesize that this link between external and internal activities can be combined to increase firm performance. To test this contingency-configurational view of purchasing operations, we conducted a quantitative survey with 234 companies. The regression results of the contingency analysis show that purchasing operations activities have a full mediation role in most relationships between supplier relationship management and firm performance, while knowledge management positively moderates the association between purchasing assessment and customer performance. Moreover, the cluster analysis for the configurational analysis shows that supplier relationship management and purchasing operations follow maturity levels of joint implementation of internal and external activities. Our findings shed light on the purchasing operations by defining the activities representing this concept and showing their role in supply management. We also contribute to practice by proposing an integrative system that helps managers organize the firm's purchasing and supply management activities.     

Integrating strategic cost management with a 3DCE environment: Strategies,practices, and benefits

The overall objective of this exploratory research was to examine the possible competitive advantages when organizations integrate strategic cost management into the simultaneous design of products, processes, and supply chains. The concept of concomitantly designing products, processes and supply chains is referred to by Fine [1998. Clockspeed. Perseus Books, Reading, MA] as three-dimensional concurrent engineering (3DCE). While many organizations have adopted concurrent engineering to design new products, few have simultaneously considered cost issues related to designing the supply chain. Fewer still were found to integrate strategic cost management with 3DCE. Thus a case study approach was deemed necessary. Based on case studies of five firms, a framework of testable propositions was developed. The initial findings indicated there is a positive relationship between the customer's and supplier's extent of participation in new product development, supplier development practices, and the integration of strategic cost management practices with 3DCE. The integration of strategic cost management with 3DCE should result in a higher level of operational performance in terms of product performance, supply chain responsiveness, and conformance to quality. Integration should also result in lower product and process costs, faster time to market, and fewer product launch problems. The overall result is a higher level of company performance and competitiveness.     

Strategic human resource management and supply chain orientation

Most SHRM research has concentrated on single, focal organizations and on activities taking place within the firm. The purpose of this article is to lay a foundation for studying SHRM in the supply chain. We present a framework which identifies factors that influence whether adopting a supply chain orientation (SCO) is effective, and articulates the contingencies that shape SHRM practices needed to achieve and capitalize on SCO. We make several contributions to the strategic human resource management and supply chain literatures. First, we highlight this neglected area of research. Second, we expand the boundary conditions of strategic human resource management and HR systems from a primarily single firm, intra-organizational focus to one which includes both intra- and inter-organizational relationships. Third, we provide a framework for understanding the links between HR systems, SCO, and strategic outcomes. Fourth, we build upon previous theorizing in strategic human resource management and provide a framework for research in the supply chain context. And finally, we offer propositions for future research, along with a decision making model which has implications for both research and management practice.     

Establishing the use of cloud computing in supply chain management

Despite having various benefits associated with greater information flow in the supply chain, empirical cloud computing research is scarce in the supply chain management domain. This paper explores the managerial perceptions on the use of cloud computing in supply chain management. Specifically, this paper seeks to address: how cloud computing impacts information sharing among supply chain partners, the impact of trust in cloud information sharing and the impact of cloud computing on supply chain performance. Using a multi-method research design we present a combined semi-structured interviews of four different companies in the United States and a survey to analyze and empirically assess our results. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the results of this study. Our analysis provides empirical support based on managerial perceptions regarding cloud computing, information sharing and supply chain performance. The data provide evidence on the impact of cloud computing in enhancing information sharing. This information sharing through cloud computing appears to positively impact supply chain performance. This paper also provides support on the important role of inter-organizational trust in facilitating the use of cloud computing for information sharing purposes.     

An empirical examination of strategic sourcing dominant logic: Strategic sourcing centricity

Recently, much of the thought in strategic sourcing, i.e., dominant logic, has shifted away from the exchange of tangible goods and toward the exchange of intangibles, specialized skills and knowledge, and processes. This study refers to strategic sourcing dominant logic as strategic sourcing centricity (SSC) and describes it as a sourcing management′s mindset based on learning, performance, planning, and relational orientations and manifests itself in the implementation of SS to meet supply management objectives and satisfy stakeholder requirements. Building on insights on intangibility derived from resource-based theory (RBV), the study proposes and empirically tests strategic sourcing centricity (SSC). The authors test the operational measures of SSC dimensions and its impact on performance on a sample of 174 supply management executives. The results indicate strong support for the theorized framework. Managerial implications and future research agenda are provided.     

关系管理努力与顾客资产的关系研究——转型经济下对关系收益双重角色的实证考察

在当今的顾客中心时代,随着顾客角色从被动的购买者向共同生产者、价值的共同创造者和能力的共同开发者等多重角色的转变,许多企业试图以更广阔的人力资源管理视野来看待顾客,并在顾客关系管理方面付出了前所未有的努力,以便更有效地管理顾客资源和提升顾客资产的价值。本文将讨论企业在关系管理中的努力是如何驱动顾客资产价值的,以便使企业从目标顾客所扮演的多重角色中所获得的收益最大化。同时,本文还在文献分析的基础上,构建了基于关系收益视角的综合概念框架,探讨了关系收益的双重角色,并运用来自于中国移动通信的顾客数据构建了结构方程模型,最终检测了关系收益的间接和调节角色。     

Supply chain quality management practices and performance: An empirical study

This study proposed a conceptual framework to study the relationships among three dimensions of supply chain quality management (SCQM) – in-house quality management practices (internal QM), interaction for quality with suppliers on the upstream side of supply chain (upstream QM), and interaction for quality with customers on the downstream side of supply chain (downstream QM) – and their impact on two types of quality performance (conformance quality, and customer satisfaction). Survey data were collected from 238 plants in three industries across eight countries and structural equation modeling was used to test this framework. The results indicate a dominant role of the internal QM in SCQM which has a positive impact on the other SCQM dimensions and two types of quality performance. Downstream QM is found to mediate the relationship between internal QM and customer satisfaction, while there is a lack of direct impact of upstream QM on either type of quality performance.     

供应商管理库存对顾客服务水平影响的研究

在知识经济时代,传统的库存管理思想已经不能满足市场发展的需要,强调供应链整体合作是库存理论的进一步发展趋势。而供应商管理库存是未来供应链库存管理的一种重要模式,受到越来越多理论界的重视和研究。而库存管理思想对顾客服务水平有什么影响,却很少有人对此做出模型研究。本文基于提前期对此展开讨论,提出供应商管理库存能够提高补给周期供给水平(CSL)和产品供给率(Fr),降低供应链中总成本,保证整条链快速响应顾客需求,提高顾客服务水平。