Supply chain integration and operational performance: The contingency effects of production systems

The boundary conditions of supply chain integration (SCI) have been widely studied in order to find out when SCI is applicable and effective. However, prior studies have mainly focused on external contextual factors, such as supply complexity, environmental uncertainty and country-level infrastructure. This study contributes to the SCI literature by examining the contingency effects of internal production systems on the relationship between supplier integration, customer integration and operational performance. Based on organizational information processing theory, we provide evidence to show that the impact of supplier and customer integration on operational performance varies across production systems, such as one-of-a-kind production, batch production and mass production systems. The empirical results also reveal how supplier and customer integration can be matched with different configurations of production systems in order to achieve the desired quality, flexibility, delivery or cost performance.     

Managing Swiss Hospitality: How cultural antecedents of innovation and customer-oriented value systems can influence performance in the hotel industry

Research into innovativeness and customer orientation in the service industry is burgeoning, yet our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of both activities in hospitality management remain unclear. To address this problem we investigate the link between corporate culture, indicators of innovativeness and business performance in the Swiss hotel industry, because the Swiss have a proclivity toward innovation as well as a long established record in hospitality management. Data were generated from 96 businesses in the hotel industry and the results were analysed using structural equation modeling. They suggest that cultural dimensions are positively associated with customer orientation, innovativeness, and company performance. The implications of the findings are discussed along with limitations and future research directions.     

An assessment of organic apparel,environmental beliefs and consumer preferences via fashion innovativeness

The topic of organic apparel has been widely discussed among academics and practitioners in recent years. While numerous studies have been done on the topic, few studies to date have assessed the topic of fashion innovativeness and its influence on attitudes towards organic apparel. In addition, an evaluation of consumer preferences for organic apparel from a conjoint analysis perspective has not been implemented. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to identify which organic apparel attributes are most important to high fashion innovativeness and low fashion innovativeness groups. Furthermore, the variables of environmental beliefs and attitudes towards purchasing organic apparel were assessed. An online survey was developed to measure the variables, including a full profile discrete choice design used to measure attribute preferences for t‐shirts. The data were analyzed using a multinomial logit model and desirability indices. The results indicated that the low fashion innovativeness group preferred organic and eco‐friendly apparel more than the high fashion innovativeness group. In addition, when examining high fashion innovativeness and low fashion innovativeness groups overall, the preferred t‐shirt was Dri‐Fit, Cotton Jersey Knit, Made In America, Eco‐Friendly and $25.00. However, when examining high fashion innovativeness and low fashion innovativeness groups separately for the preferred t‐shirt, differences appeared in Sustainable. The results suggest that high fashion innovativeness and low fashion innovativeness groups may desire different organic apparel attributes when considering organic apparel.     

Projective customer competence: Projecting future customer needs that drive innovation performance

Projective customer competence is the ability of a product development organization to both understand as well as shape the future needs of customers. To conceptualize this competence and establish its antecedents and performance implications, we draw upon the literature on inter-organizational relationships and innovation. Based on survey data from managers involved with business to business product development, validated with secondary financial data and in-depth interviews, we establish measurement properties for projective customer competence and demonstrate that this competence develops through customer relationships characterized by relational embeddedness, knowledge redundancy and interactivity. Projective customer competence is also shown to have positive implications for both innovativeness and financial performance. Surprisingly, relational embeddedness is shown to be the strongest predictor of projective customer competence, and, while knowledge redundancy helps build projective customer competence, it also has a negative impact on innovativeness.     

Indian textile suppliers' sustainability evaluation using the grey approach

Textile supply chains consist of multinational garment retailers (customers), garment manufacturers (suppliers), and ancillary suppliers (suppliers to manufacturers). This paper evaluates suppliers' within the Indian textile and clothing industry (both garment manufacturers and ancillary suppliers) using sustainability criteria. Examining a sample of sixty-three suppliers and six sustainability criteria (i.e. discrimination, abuse of human right, child labor, long working hours, unfair competition, and pollution), we categorize suppliers into the three categories of ‘good performer’, moderate performer’, and ‘performance not up to expectation’. Since all the criteria are potentially subjective, we have employed the grey approach for analysis. The results indicate that the criterion of long working hours is a critical one for both categories of suppliers; in the case of garment manufacturers, we found that pollution and unfair competition were the most important criteria. In addition, employing child labor was found to be a critical criterion in the case of ancillary suppliers.     

The impact of sourcing enterprise system use and work process interdependence on sourcing professionals’ job outcomes

We examine sourcing professionals’ work context to conceptualize how they use sourcing enterprise systems (SESs) and to understand when SES use results in positive/negative job outcomes. We differentiate between SES use for supplier selection and supplier governance, identify sourcing professionals’ work process interdependence as a moderator for the impacts of SES use on job satisfaction, and suggest job satisfaction mediates the impacts of SES use on job performance. We conducted a field study of sourcing professionals’ SES use at one of the largest consumer product companies in the United States, which has implemented an SES to innovate its sourcing professionals’ work processes. Based on our analysis of the survey and qualitative data we collected, we found the impacts of both types of SES use (1) to be negative on job satisfaction when work process interdependence was high, (2) to be positive on job satisfaction when work process interdependence was low, and (3) to be mediated by job satisfaction for job performance. We discuss the implications of our findings for the literature at the intersection of information systems and operations management as well as for the information technology enabled innovation of sourcing processes and, more generally, complex business processes.     

Computer-Mediated Customization Tendency (CMCT) and the Adaptive e-Service Experience

Adaptive customization systems are common in the delivery of e-service. However, consumers vary in their reaction to these systems. We introduce computer-mediated customization tendency (CMCT), a composite individual difference variable that reflects a consumer's personal preferences for designing and interacting with adaptive online environments to create valuable e-service experiences. To measure CMCT, we developed a formative index composed of need for control, technology innovativeness, and aesthetic appreciation. The results show CMCT influences adaptive online behavior and the perceived value of the adaptive e-service experience. In addition, customization-prone and customization-averse consumers differ in how they perceive the costs, benefits, and overall value of the experience.     

Online purchasing tickets for low cost carriers: An application of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model

This paper examines determinants of purchasing flights from low-cost carrier (LCC) websites. In doing so an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model is proposed building on earlier work by Venkatesh, Thong, and Xu (2012). The results, derived from a sample of 1096 Spanish consumers of LCC flights, indicate that key determinants of purchasing are trust, habit, cost saving, ease of use, performance and expended effort, hedonic motivation and social factors. Of these variables, online purchase intentions, habit and ease of use are the most important.