Improving Distribution Service Performance Through Effective Production and Logistics Integration

Current empirical research on logistics' relationships with other departments has mostly neglected the interface with production. On the basis of data from 387 manufacturing companies, we answer a recent call for research and extend the literature by examining effective working relationships and achieved integration between the production and logistics functions regarding their performance impacts and their antecedents. With respect to the former, we take a resource‐based perspective, showing that integration achieved between the production and logistics functions drives distribution service performance by serving as a pivotal capability element in the resource–capability–value chain. Within this chain, effective working relationships constitute the underlying resources and prove to be a strong driver of achieved integration. With respect to antecedents, we employ the theory of cooperation and competition and identify positive goal interdependence to substantially improve working relationships between production and logistics. Furthermore, we find this effect to be amplified via formalized performance measurement systems.     

Can recipients of sales flyers be segmented?

This paper investigates the possibility of identifying clusters among consumers receiving sales flyers from retailers (supermarkets, etc.). First, flyers are defined and then consumers’ perception of flyers is analysed, based on a representative panel. According to the analysis, three clusters are identified. The clusters possess quite different characteristics – not just in relation to their perceptions and attitudes towards flyers, but also when looking at demographic characteristics.     

The asymmetry of judgemental confidence intervals in time series forecasting

In forecasting a time series, one may be asked to communicate the likely distribution of the future actual value, often expressed as a confidence interval. Whilst the accuracy (calibration) of these intervals has dominated most studies to date, this paper is concerned with other possible characteristics of the intervals. It reports a study in which the prevalence and determinants of the symmetry of judgemental confidence intervals in time series forecasting was examined. Most prior work has assumed that this interval is symmetrically placed around the forecast. However, this study shows that people generally estimate asymmetric confidence intervals where the forecast is not the midpoint of the estimated interval. Many of these intervals are grossly asymmetric. Results indicate that the placement of the forecast in relation to the last actual value of a time series is a major determinant of the direction and size of the asymmetry.     

Framing Work Through a Socio-technical Ensemble: The Case of Butler Co.

The paper argues for conceptualizing technology as a socio-technical ensemble which emerges from the socio-political context of the organization. This perspective is used to inform a case study carried out within a consumer goods company, where the focus is upon the configuration of work and technology associated with the job of sales representative. It is argued that the acquiescence and compliance of the sales representatives are to be understood primarily on the basis of senior management's effective deployment of its power resource through 'enacting the environment', the configuration and utilization of the ensemble, and its employment strategy. 'Closure' and 'stabilization' had occurred, and the ensemble was operating on a number of levels.     

General competitive equilibrium of the spatial economy : Two Teasers

The local indivisibility of space complicates general equilibrium analysis. Mazzoleni and Montesano (1984, p. 286), suggest that the usual reasoning of the non-spatial analyses of competitive equilibrium can be performed in the context of a commodity space that contains subsets of land. This space, however, lacks a linear structure, so it resists application of the usual reasoning. Two examples will show that Mazzoleni and Montesano's existence results are flawed.     

Failures to Deliver,Short Sale Constraints,and Stock Overvaluation

Studying a large sample of publicly available data on failures to deliver, we find that stocks reaching threshold levels of failures become significantly overvalued. Where short sale constraints are especially binding, we report extreme overpricing and subsequent reversals. These findings support the overvaluation hypothesis, although the mispricing is likely to be difficult to arbitrage because of extreme shorting costs. In addition, threshold stocks with low short interest become more overvalued than threshold stocks with high short interest. This suggests that the level of short interest reflects supply‐side effects when the examination conditions on the difficulty of borrowing shares.     

Masculinising domesticity: an investigation of men’s domestic foodwork

Abstract

This study examines how men configure their gendered identity in relation to a traditionally feminised domain. Hegemonic masculinity is said to structure men’s dominance over women. We use the lens of hegemonic masculinity along with social fields of cultural production to understand new allocations of status capital in relation to gendered identity work. Sweden, a country permeated by an ideology of egalitarianism and having a history of high economic and symbolic incentives for the domestic field, has seemingly legitimised the domestic consumption field in the search for higher status. By exploring the transforming meanings of masculinity when men enter a traditionally feminine consumption domain in this particular cultural context, we identify how feminised masculinities are shaped into hegemonic masculinity. This in turn suggests that the currently most honoured way of being a man includes forms of masculinities that incorporate egalitarian relationships between men and women.     

A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Endorsement of Ethical Leadership

The western-based leadership and ethics literatures were reviewed to identify the key characteristics that conceptually define what it means to be an ethical leader. Data from the Global Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (GLOBE) project were then used to analyze the degree to which four aspects of ethical leadership – Character/Integrity, Altruism, Collective Motivation, and Encouragement – were endorsed as important for effective leadership across cultures. First, using multi-group confirmatory factor analyses measurement equivalence of the ethical leadership scales was found, which provides indication that the four dimensions have similar meaning across cultures. Then, using analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests each of the four dimensions were found to be universally endorsed as important for effective leadership. However, cultures also varied significantly in the degree of endorsement for each dimension. In the increasingly global business environment, these findings have implications for organizations implementing ethics programs across cultures and preparing leaders for expatriate assignments. Christian J. Resick is Assistant Professor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Florida International University. His research is aimed at understanding how people interact with and influence various aspects of their work environments, including cultures, climates, leaders, and teammates along with the implications for various aspects of organizational behavior. A particular focus of Christian’s work examines ethical leadership and the critical linkages between leadership and organizational ethics. He received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University. Paul J. Hanges is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland and the head of the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program in the department. He is an affiliate of the Cognitive Psychology program and the R. H. Smith School of Business. Paul’s research focuses on three topics (a) social cognition, leadership, and cross-cultural issues; (b) personnel selection, test fairness, and racial/gender discrimination; and (c) research methodology. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Psychology and The Leadership Quarterly and is a fellow of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association. Marcus W. Dickson is Associate Professor of I/O Psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit. His research generally focuses on issues of leadership and culture (both organizational and societal), and the interaction of those constructs. He is a former Co-Principal Investigator of the GLOBE Project, and his work has appeared in Journal of Applied Psychology, Applied Psychology: An International Review, and The Leadership Quarterly, among others. Jacqueline K. Mitchelson is a doctoral candidate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Wayne State University. Her current research areas are leadership, organizational culture, individual differences and work-family conflict.