Mobilising supplier resources by being an attractive customer: Relevance,status and future research directions

For buying companies, supplier resource mobilisation is an essential process in gaining and sustaining preferential access to supplier resources. This editorial provides insights into the processes of supplier resource mobilisation and introduces three empirical studies on supplier resource mobilisation. We first introduce the supplier resource mobilisation cycle. This cycle may serve as a roadmap for purchasing and supply management (PSM) practitioners seeking to improve access to supplier resources. In addition, this article informs PSM scholars about the status of the supplier resource mobilisation literature and proposes avenues for future research. The cycle includes six stages: (1) becoming an attractive customer, (2) segmenting suppliers, (3) generating supplier satisfaction, (4) becoming a preferred customer, (5) engaging in supplier-oriented actions, and (6) integrating supplier resources. Finally, we introduce the articles in this issue that each examine a different stage of the supplier resource mobilisation process.     

A Bibliometric View on the Use of Contingency Theory in Project Management Research

Contingency theory has influenced organization theory since the 1950s. Project management research has only recently started to consider context factors. In this area, applications of contingency theory still represent a fragmented field with a nonuniform use of terminology. Fully utilizing the contingency theory approach requires a systematic foundation. This article presents an overview of contingency theory in both permanent and temporary organizations. In a bibliometric study based on 1,622 articles from four academic project management journals, we identify dominating authors, prevalent keywords, and different focal areas in project contingency theory as well as the most researched project types.     

Interval Estimation of Treatment Effects In Randomized Trials: When do Confidence Intervals Have Nominal Coverage?

In the classical theory of randomized trials (RTs), the treatment effect is defined as a mean difference of potential outcomes. To achieve nominal coverage probability for confidence intervals (CIs) on treatment effects in RTs, certain assumptions are necessary. Specifically, one must either make assumptions about the joint distribution of potential outcomes or enroll subjects in the trial by random sampling of the target population on which the treatment effect is defined. In practice, no such sampling usually takes place and assumptions about the joint distribution of potential outcomes cannot be verified based on observed data. Furthermore, the most common of these assumptions, such as treatment‐unit additivity (TUA) or independence are biologically implausible in most RTs involving human subjects. Hence, it is not usually possible to construct CIs on treatment effects with nominal coverage probability. However, for any joint distribution of potential outcomes, the standard estimator of the variance of the difference of two independent sample means produces CIs with asymptotic coverage at least at the nominal level. This interpretation of CIs as conservative bounds may not always hold in conventional regression models applied to RT data.     

Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in Clustered Interorganizational Networks in Brazil

This article analyzes whether firm innovation is influenced by the transfer of knowledge among cluster firms. To test the hypotheses, we directly estimated the measurement and the structural model parameters where cooperation, workforce mobility, and institutions were defined as manifest indicators of the latent exogenous variable knowledge transfer, modeled as a second-order construct. Firm innovation was defined as a single item endogenous latent variable. We found knowledge transfer to be related to the way firms are managed vis-à-vis (a) the role of institutions as discussion arenas; (b) the adaptability of the workforce; and (c) the indirect cooperation among firms.     

Intertemporal analysis of employment decisions on agricultural holdings in Slovenia

The article attempts to quantify determinants influencing the dynamics of employment decisions on agricultural holdings in Slovenia and to test specific aspects of labor reallocation during the transition period by the application of an agricultural household model. Through the use of a 1991–2000 longitudinal data set for 22,055 farm households, quantitative analysis of intertemporal employment decisions by farm holders is carried out using probit techniques. The determinants tested relate to the personal characteristics of farm holders (gender, age, education level, and potential off‐farm income), household characteristics (size, structure), characteristics of the agricultural holding (economic size, labor intensity), and local labor market conditions. The model results generally confirm existing empirical evidence on asymmetrical and irreversible participation of holders on the labor market. Despite intensive restructuring of agriculture and profound changes in the nonfarm labor market in the analyzed period, labor supply of farm holders remains rigid. The mobility of labor supply is lower than expected, which can be attributed to the importance of structural problems constraining intersectoral mobility. Low labor mobility reduces the efficiency of labor allocation on agricultural holdings in Slovenia. Elements of this problem emerge on both supply (e.g., low level of educational and professional attainment of reference persons) and demand sides of the labor market (e.g., unfavorable local labor market conditions). A marked tendency toward maintaining the same employment status is more distinct in the case of holders employed on‐farm only.