Spectrum use and carrier costs: a critical trade-off

In making spectrum allocation and assignment decisions, national officials may wish to consider how these decisions will affect the costs experienced by licensees and the prices ultimately paid by customers. With low tier wireless systems as an illustration, this paper uses an engineering-economic model to describe the relationship between the amount of spectrum allocated and the per subscriber investment required of carriers/licensees. This relationship is explored under a variety of assumptions relating to service provision. The paper concludes with the public policy implications of the work and recommendations for policymakers and regulators involved with spectrum allocation. The analysis presented here seems particularly appropriate for extending service to unserved areas.     

Assessment of stock size to minimize cutting stock production costs

A method for assessing the optimal stock size for the expected order size for a single-period one-dimensional cutting stock problem is proposed. The stock size is optimal when the expected total costs of trim loss, warehousing, and non-fulfilment are minimum. The stock size is the sum of all bar lengths in the stock, and the order size is the sum of shorter bar lengths in various numbers of pieces. Using simulated test cases, a statistical estimation of optimal stock size is conducted, which in our case is approximately 50% above the expected order. The proposed method can help company choose the appropriate level of stock to minimize their total costs.     

The trade-off between trust and distrust in supply chain collaboration

Trust and distrust can play an important role in a healthy supply chain collaborative relationship, and both carry potential shortcomings. Little attention has been paid to understanding and explaining the development process of trust and distrust in supply chain collaborations, especially in an international context. Using the Transaction Cost Economics theory, this study begins by discussing expressions of trust and distrust within the context of a supply chain collaboration dyad. Then, we explore how trust and distrust interact at a network level. Using a novel, longitudinal, multi-case-study approach, this paper provides new empirical evidence of the complementary roles of trust and distrust in supply chain collaboration, exploring how these concepts work together across different stages of the relationship and in different contexts. This study distinguishes between ‘competence trust’ and ‘integrity trust’ concerning collaboration contracts which typically create distrust. Finally, this paper offers unique insights into the influence of culture on the interpretation and performance of trust and distrust in international supply chain collaboration, grounded in the context of the Chinese automotive industry.     

Understanding the trade-off between familiarity and newness in product innovation

Studying the trade-off between developing new products that exploit a focal firm's familiar current knowledge resources and developing new products that explore knowledge resources that are new to the firm, we show that new products perform better when the new products are neither too familiar nor new to the firm, in contrast to the findings reported in prior research indicating that both types of new products are positively related to new product performance. The results were consistent for the familiarity and newness of both technological and market knowledge. In addition, the study revealed that while focal firms' inter-organizational network ties involving their supplier firms attenuated the potential negative impacts of technological familiarity and newness, their inter-organizational network ties involving their buyer firms lessened the potential negative impacts of the familiarity and newness of market knowledge that their new products required.     

An optimal production run length in deteriorating production processes

This paper presents an EMQ model which determines an optimal production run length in a deteriorating production process. It is assumed that the process is subject to a random deterioration from an in-control state to an out-of-control state with an arbitrary distribution and, thus, produces some proportion of defective items. An optimal production run length and a minimum average cost are derived in three deteriorating processes: constant, linearly increasing, and exponentially increasing. Several different results from those of previous research are obtained and discussed. A numerical experiment is carried out to see the behavior of the proposed model depending on the cost and process parameters. Some interesting behaviors are observed.     

Governance and uncertainty: the trade-off between administrative control and commitment

This study elaborates upon the motives for initiating equity-based collaborations vs. acquisition of another firm already having a desired technology. We characterize both minority direct investments and joint ventures as options to defer either internal development or acquisition of a target firm. In domains where learning about growth opportunities dominates investment activity, this incremental mode of governance economizes on the cost of committing resources to a technology with an uncertain value. Using a sample of 402 transactions in the biotechnology industry, we find strong support for the theoretical model. The findings suggest that the cost of commitment in the face of technological uncertainty may offset the administrative benefits of hierarchical governance. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Managing international supply: The balance between total costs and customer service

Many trading companies have taken a global approach to their supply markets, sourcing from low-cost foreign countries in order to achieve cost reductions. There remains, however, a lack of evidence that sourcing internationally actually leads to improved economic performance. This can be explained by two key challenges in terms of how to achieve a balance between: (1) purchasing and logistics costs, and (2) customer service. The purpose of this paper is to examine the organisation and management of international supply from a total cost perspective, taking into account both purchasing and logistics costs, as well as customer service and agility. Previous research into a number of Norwegian companies that have sourced from China has identified four configurations for managing international supply. This paper utilises the supply management literature and an example of a Norwegian retail and wholesale company to analyse and discuss these configurations and their effects on total costs and customer service. The paper's theoretical contribution is the conceptualisation of a total cost perspective on international supply management and the discussion of such costs in relation to customer service. This contribution may, in turn, aid companies that source from foreign, low-cost countries.     

The co‐evolution of capabilities and transaction costs: explaining the institutional structure of production

This paper proposes that transaction costs and capabilities are fundamentally intertwined in the determination of vertical scope, and identifies the key mechanisms of their co‐evolution. Specifically, we argue that capability differences are a necessary condition for vertical specialization; and that transaction cost reductions only lead to specialization when capabilities along the value chain are heterogeneous. Furthermore, we argue that there are four evolutionary mechanisms that shape vertical scope over time. First, the selection process, itself driven by capability differences, dynamically shapes vertical scope; second, transaction costs are endogenously changed by firms that try to reshape the transactional environment to increase their profit and market share; third, changes in vertical scope affect the nature of the capability development process, i.e., the way in which firms improve their operations over time; and finally, the changes in the capability development process reshape the capability pool in the industry, changing the roster of qualified participants. These dynamics of capability and transaction cost co‐evolution are illustrated through two contrasting examples: the mortgage banking industry in the United States, which shows the shift from integrated to disintegrated production; and the Swiss watch‐manufacturing industry, which went from disintegration to integration. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust optimal policies of production and inventory with uncertain returns and demand

We consider an inventory and production planning problem with uncertain demand and returns, in which the product return process is integrated into the manufacturing process over a finite planning horizon. We first propose an inventory control model for the return and remanufacturing processes with consideration of the uncertainty of the demand and returns. Then a robust optimization approach is applied to deal with the uncertainty of the problem through formulating a robust linear programming model. Moreover, properties on the robust optimization model are studied, and an equivalent robust optimization model based on duality theory is obtained which allows the solutions to be derived more efficiently. Finally, we provide a set of numerical examples to verify the effectiveness of the approach and analyze the effects of the key parameters on the solutions.     

Managing the trade-off between relationships and value networks. Towards a value-based approach of customer relationship management in business-to-business markets

The management of buyer-seller relationships was an early antecedent to the development of customer relationship management (CRM) concepts. Currently, CRM concepts are being challenged by the rise of value networks. Value networks can and, often, do interfere with customer relationships and thereby call for a broader range of concepts to analyze and understand relationship management and the influence of value networks on relationships. This introductory article describes the nature of the problem between relationships and value networks, reviews the current state of research, and describes the contributions of the articles presented in this special issue on CRM in business-to-business markets.     

The role of obsolescence and inventory costs in providing commitment

This paper modifies the Cournot and Stackelberg models to allow the firms to sell less than they have produced and to store the unsold portion of their output as inventory. Even if one of the firms can choose its output before the other, if it is costless to carry unsold goods forward then the Cournot outcome emerges. We show, however, that costs of carrying the inventory forward endow the firms with a limited degree of commitment to sell what they have produced. This partially restores the first-mover advantage. If the firms choose their outputs simultaneously, the Cournot outcome emerges and has locally consistent conjectures.     

A revised EMQ/JIT production-run model: An examination of inventory and production costs

Production-runs are an important cost minimizing scheduling and production planning activity. Commonly used classic lot-sizing models (i.e., economic manufacturing quantity or EMQ models) do not reflect current just-in-time (JIT) lot-sizing cost realities. The purpose of this paper is to present a cost comparison of the classic EMQ model and a revised EMQ/JIT model to show efficacy of a more cost inclusive model.     

Viewpoint: The costs and benefits of deception in economic experiments

The historical justifications typically given for the prohibition against deception in economic experiments are less relevant for today’s experiments that are often conducted in non-lab settings with non-student subjects. I describe a variety of research questions that might be most adequately answered with some form of deception, and call for a more nuanced view of the issue that requires a consideration of the importance of the research question relative to the potential costs of deception. For example, in the case of new food products that have not yet been developed, does the sin of hypothetical bias outweigh the sin of deceiving subjects in a non-hypothetical experiment? It is important for journals or professions, which ban the use of deception, to actually define what practices fall under the ban.     

Cooperation and conflict between industrial sales and production

This study examines the potential for cooperation between the sales and production functions in the composite can and tube industry. The interfunctional communications perceptions, role-partner choices, and personal value attributions of incumbents in four key positions are examined. While perceptions, choices, and attributions are found to interact differently in different positions, the overall effect suggests a greater potential for conflict and dominance than for cooperation.     

An expert system for scheduling production in a multipurpose specialty chemicals plant

A prolog-based system that attempts to duplicate the human expert's approach to short-term scheduling of multipurpose facilities.     

The benefits and potential costs of a digital economy

Computerisation, or more generally, digitisation, of an economy has brought about substantial benefits. It has greatly increased productivity. It has significantly advanced both the pace and the scope of economic globalisation and international division of labour. However, digitisation can also enable, through the collection and assembly of individual-consumer-specific information, price discrimination by a seller of a product, which results in the consumer surplus of the buyer being appropriated. Moreover, the widespread use of email and other message application platforms operated by profit-making private enterprises also facilitates the collection and assembly of vast amounts of individual-consumer-specific private information without the explicit and specific consent of the individual consumer, information which can be used to his or her detriment. Possible remedial measures are proposed.     

天然气储运领域生态文明建设的思路和途径

为了加快推动天然气储运领域生态文明建设,在分析生态文明建设面临的形势和解析天然气储运生态文明概念、内涵的基础上,结合目前天然气储运产业实际情况,提出天然气储运领域生态文明建设总体思路:牢固树立生态文明意识,贯彻绿色发展理念;统筹规划部署,抓住关键、突出重点、解决难点;注重发挥企业自主性,理论和实践同步推进.提出了生态文明建设的五大途径:构建以绿色发展为核心理念的生态文明建设理论体系是推动生态文明建设实践走向深入的必由之路;天然气基础设施建设集约化是实施生态文明建设的根本途径;大力发展生态化天然气储运技术是推动生态文明建设的关键力量;深入实践完整性管理是生态文明建设的重要手段;整合HSE管理已有成果,服务生态文明建设.     

The relationship between innovation culture and innovation outcomes: exploring the effects of sustainability orientation and firm size

Being sustainability‐oriented has become a key strategy for many firms. Equally, innovation culture and innovation outcomes have long been recognized as important contributors to the growth of firms. However, the literature on sustainability and innovation provides limited understanding of the important relationship between sustainability orientation, innovation culture and innovation outcomes. Given that large firms and small firms differ in building and employing their strategic assets, firm size matters in understanding the relationship. Through the lens of resource‐based view, we develop a theoretical model embedding the four components and test it using data from a global survey: the 2012 Comparative Performance Assessment Study. Our research contributes to sustainability literature and innovation theory by providing an integrated framework to explicate the mechanism through which the innovation culture of the firm impacts on innovative performance through the sustainability orientation of the firm. The findings advance our understanding of the extent to which sustainable orientation can explain the relationship between innovation culture and innovation outcomes. Our evidence shows that the innovation culture of a firm facilitates the sustainability orientation of the firm and that the converse also applies. The research also contributes to our knowledge of the differences between large and small firms in leveraging their strategic assets in terms of innovation culture and sustainability orientation to facilitate superior innovation outcomes. Although firm size moderates the relationship between innovation culture and innovation outcomes, the research shows that this no longer holds when sustainability orientation is included in the relationship. A strong sustainability orientation can be a competitive advantage for firms in the R&D Management delivery of superior innovation outcomes.