Search results

The objective of this paper is to further the understanding of netnography as a research method for supply chain academics. Netnography is a method for gathering and gaining insight from industry-specific online communities. We prescribe that viewing netnography through the lens of the supply chain will permit researchers to explore, discover, understand, describe or report concepts or phenomena that have previously been studied via survey research or quantitative modeling.

To introduce netnography to supply chain research, we propose a framework to guide how netnography can be adopted and used. Definitions and directions are provided, highlighting some of the practices within netnographic research.

Netnography provides the researcher with another avenue to pursue answers to research questions, either alone or in conjunction with the dominant methods of survey research and quantitative modeling. It provides another tool in the researchers’ toolbox to engage practitioners in the field.

The development of netnography as a research method is associated with Robert Kozinets. He developed the method to study online communities in consumer behavior. We justify why this method can be applied to supply chain research, how to collect data and provide research examples of its use. This technique has room to grow as a supply chain research method.

This study aims to understand how restaurant dependence and autonomy within the supply chain influence market responsiveness. An examination of influences related to improving market responsiveness was also conducted by investigating the moderating roles of information technology adoption and trust.

Hierarchical regression models were developed to test the hypothesized relationships. In particular, data were obtained from only independent restaurant owners and managers because of their ability to select and determine their own suppliers.

Results revealed that restaurant autonomy from suppliers has a more positive effect on market responsiveness than supplier dependence. The moderating test results revealed that information technology adoption significantly improved the relationships between restaurant dependence and market responsiveness, while exhibiting no significant moderating effect. Restaurant trust in suppliers significantly improved the positive effect of autonomy upon market responsiveness; however, it had no significant moderating effect on this link.

This study was conducted to identify what types of supplier relationships should be pursued to improve the independent restaurant’s ability to effectively respond to market conditions. The findings regarding the moderating effects of information technology adoption and trust provided clear evidence that buyer–supply relationship strategies should be developed in consideration of those distinguishable characteristics unique to the operations and environment of independent restaurants.

Findings can be applied to developing desirable relationships with suppliers characterized by restaurant dependence or autonomy and contribute to improving managerial actions for independent restaurants involving adopting information technology and building trust.

With ever‐increasing competitive pressures, growing numbers of firms use electronic procurement (e‐procurement) in an attempt to reduce costs and increase profitability. Academicians and practitioners alike agree that one of the most important benefits of e‐procurement is its ability to facilitate integration within the firm and across the supply chain. However, there is much to be discovered about the prevalence of actual implementation of e‐procurement. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the extent to which firms operating in diverse industries use nine different e‐procurement tools that differ in their ability to facilitate supply chain integration. The survey data were provided by a sample of 142 members of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). Factor analysis revealed that the group of nine e‐procurement tools could be categorized into two types: basic, single‐process tools and integrative tools. A t‐test of the mean differences between each type of e‐procurement tool revealed that firms used basic, single‐process tools to a greater extent than they used integrative forms of e‐procurement. To further explore firms’ use of e‐procurement, we attempted to ascertain whether the industry in which a firm operates impacts use. Logistic regression revealed that firm sector has an effect on the use of integrative eprocurement tools, with firms operating in the petroleum and the transportation equipment sectors being less likely to use them than their manufacturing counterparts. These findings are important, as previous research indicates that effective supply chain integration is associated with improvements in production planning, inventory management, distribution, and overall supply chain performance.

There is a lack of extensive research related to the immediate consequences of supply management ethical responsibility (SMER) and the moderating and/or mediating factors that strengthen or weaken its consequences. Although the underlying presumption is that companies no longer have the luxury of ignoring the importance of SMER, the lack of empirical research of SMER's impact on supply management performance (SMP) reflects the need for research that draws on and empirically tests established theories concerning the role of corporate ethics within the context of supply management (SM). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the impact of SMER and strategic supply management skills on SM perceived reputation and performance.

Structural equation modeling is employed to investigate the hypothesized relationships. A sample of 162 purchasing managers provided the data via survey.

Strategic supply management skills and perceived reputation have a positive direct impact on performance. SMER is not directly affected by skills and has an indirect impact on performance through its positive relationship with perceived reputation.

The findings suggest that SMER is limited in its ability to predict performance, but is a valuable component of building SM perceived reputation. Firms should not ignore SMER, as it may provide strategic marketing advantage as an order qualifier or limiting criterion.

This paper investigates the interplay among several important determinants of supply chain performance, including the greatly under‐studied ethics construct.

In the last decade there have been dramatic impacts on, and changes within, the field of purchasing/supply management. Given supply management's new strategic role, this research seeks to examine the key skills and knowledge necessary for firms to improve in order to maximize the purchasing function's contribution to the organization. The research also aims to identifies the major shifts in supply management that have occurred in the last decade.

A qualitative study was conducted with a series of focus group meetings with 54 executives across the USA in order to construct theoretical relationships with which to develop a grounded theory of supply management skills evolution in a changing business environment.

The implications from this research indicate that supply management professionals will assume a more strategic role in the future. The data indicate that there are strong trends underlying this movement. These include the need for building strategic relationships, focusing on total cost and strategic cost reduction, yet collaborating and integrating with suppliers. While in the past these efforts may have appeared to be contradictory, with proper strategic planning they can be complementary.

Supply managers of the future need to acquire strategic skills that add value and enable effective alignment with key business functions at a senior decision‐making level. Additional research is needed in the area to determine how best to recruit and train managers in these skills to move forward.

Analysis of the organisational structures utilised to conduct international purchasing activities was undertaken at 24 multinational corporations. The majority of the corporations studied had decentralised purchasing organisations and all had corporate purchasing staffs. Four basic approaches were found: (1) totally decentralised; (2) co‐ordinated; (3) totally centralised; and (4) separate international purchasing group. Within this overall framework there were several forms of staff assistance to assist operating units effectively accomplish their international purchasing goals. This assistance included foreign buying offices, trading companies and international staff specialists. There was also a common philosophy which indicated the necessity of worldwide sourcing.

A Just‐in‐Time system crosses functional lines and therefore requires support throughout the organisation. A survey of one‐hundred firms actively pursuing JIT implementation found relatively high commitment from top and middle level management. Lack of functional support, especially from engineering, finance, and marketing has been reported as barriers in JIT implementation. The non‐commitment of functional groups has been related to their failure to understand JIT. This study found the size of the firm, the type of productive system, and the type of business did not exhibit strong influence over management and functional group commitment levels for JIT implementation.

Purchasing practices of 11 Saudi Arabian corporations were analyzed and compared to a similar study of US‐based purchasing managers. Major findings revealed that training is not highly formalized, provided mainly by outside experts and relies on US‐based professional associations such as NAPM and APICS. In terms of coursework, respondents were most likely to take courses in the Basics of Purchasing and Negotiations. Additionally, professional certification through attaining "Certified Purchasing Manager" status was viewed as very desirable. Currently the majority of these purchasing managers were technically educated but expected that a business degree would become more important in the future. Knowledge about quality practices and price/cost issues were more important than electronic commerce. As a group the top trends they forecasted for their profession were comparable to those forecasted by US‐based purchasing managers.

Recently, focus in strategic sourcing (SS) has shifted from the exchange of tangible goods toward the exchange of intangibles, such as specialized skills, knowledge, and processes. The purpose of this paper is to aim to delineate the domain of, and operationally test, strategic sourcing orientation (SSO); a management philosophy directed at identifying and meeting the needs and goals of SS.

Using a mixed-methods research design and underpinned by a service dominant logic (SDL) inspired resource-based view (RBV), the authors first use the qualitative input of 41 top sourcing executives in four focus groups to derive four first-order “orientations” (learning, performance, planning, and relational-process) that were found to reflect SSO. Second, the authors propose a theoretically grounded operationalization of SSO derived from the qualitative data and extant literature. A sample of 174 top sourcing executives was used to test the proposed SSO and its impact on SS reputation, supplier management, and performance outcomes.

The results indicate strong support for the theorized SSO and its impact on SS reputation and supplier management, and, consequently, on performance outcomes.

While many firms encourage a culture to enable SS to realize enhanced performance, research has failed to provide a holistic account of this orientation. This study employs a mixed-methods research design to conceptualize and operationalize such orientation.

The concept and importance of supply chain management (SCM) has been introduced and described at length in the literature. Several mostly conceptual definitions of SCM were found. To classify these multiple definitions and extend SCM to include a process orientation a conceptual model of SCM evolution was developed. This research proposes that SCM is an evolving concept with individual firms at different stages in their adoption of the concept. In its most advanced form SCM is not a subset of logistics but is a broad strategy which cuts across business processes both within the firm and through the channels required to reach the customer and involves the firm's suppliers. Thus SCM as a concept is organization‐wide; not logistics‐specific. An exploratory study of purchasing professionals was performed and it was determined that their definitions of SCM focused on developing relations with suppliers including partnerships. SCM provided purchasers multiple benefits including improved supplier coordination. This improved coordination resulted in greater commitment to long‐term supplier relations, with a focus on reducing cost to the buying organization.