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.     

Dangers of commitment under rational expectations

Within a New Keynesian framework, interest rate rules that respond to public expectations lead to determinate and expectationally stable solutions for any level of commitment, as shown by Waters (Macroecon Dyn 13(4):421–449, 2009). That paper also demonstrates gains to commitment, under least square learning, though over-commitment can lead to some very poor outcomes for some parameter values. This paper shows an identical outcome under rational expectations. The optimal level of commitment is unchanged if there are observation errors in the policymaker’s knowledge of public expectations, which is not the case under learning. However, if there is sufficient policymaker uncertainty about the parameter values, partial commitment is best.     

Supply chain management for small business--how to avoid being part of the food chain

A supply chain is a series of customer and supplier relationships that extend throughout and beyond the company. It is an interwoven set of links that together form a chain supplying our customers in a seamless and integrated fashion delivering a high level of customer satisfaction. Supply chain management (SCM) integrates all activities so they are focused on customer satisfaction (both internally and externally). One of the things this article will attempt to accomplish is to provide a clear understanding of SCM's positive impact on customer service as well as on improving profitability, cash flow, product cycle times, and communication. Whether we go forward in the supply chain to the final end-user or backward in the supply chain to our supplier's suppliers, SCM will significantly improve our ability to serve our customers.     

Heavy tails versus long-range dependence in self-similar network traffic

Empirical studies of the traffic in computer networks suggest that network traffic exhibits self-similarity and long-range dependence. The ON/OFF model considered in this paper gives a simple 'physical explanation' for these observed phenomena. The superposition of a large number of ON/OFF sources, such as workstations in a computer lab, with strictly alternating and heavy-tailed ON- and OFF-periods, can produce a cumulative workload which converges, in a certain sense, to fractional Brownian motion. Fractional Brownian motion exhibits both self-similarity and long-range dependence. However, there are two sequential limits involved in this limiting procedure, and if they are reversed, the limiting process is stable Levy motion, which is self-similar but exhibits no long-range dependence. We study simulations limit regimes and provide conditions under which either fractional Brownian motion or stable Levy motion appears as limiting process.     

When Less is More: Distinguishing Between Entrepreneurial Choice and Performance

This paper uses NCDS data on individual characteristics to distinguish determinants of entrepreneurial choice, income and job generation. A new model of utility from self-employment shows that relaxing liquidity constraints could inhibit performance. Empirically, we find that a range of inheritance enhances the performance of the self-employed and increases self-employment; while higher education also increases self-employment income and job creation, but reduces the probability of self-employment. Combining these choice and performance effects, we find that education has a positive net effect on job creation, as does inheritance up to a certain threshold.     

Wissenstransfer in der Betriebswirtschaftslehre: Eine Untersuchung anhand ausgewählter akademischer Zeitschriften in Deutschland und Frankreich

Reviewing and analyzing new research outcomes are important prerequisites for scientific progress. If one interprets science as a universal pursuit of knowledge development, transparency and communication between national scientific systems are indispensable in order to realize international knowledge transfer and diffusion. This article examines on the basis of scientific journals in business administration in Germany and France how and to what extent such a transfer is currently taking place. The results show a high degree of isolation.