Business Commons^™

Do Firms Follow Through On Environmental Commitments? An Empirical Examination, Rick Hardcopf, Kevin Linderman, Rachna Shah

Management Faculty Publications

In response to ever-increasing pressure from stakeholders to reduce the impact of their operations and supply chain on the natural environment, firms frequently make public commitments to improve environmental performance. However, the commitments are difficult to validate and thus of unknown quality. Understanding whether and when the commitments are valid proxies for action is essential because they are used by environmentally conscious stakeholders to assess firm environmental performance in anticipation of buying from, investing in, working for, or selling to a firm. Results from examining 442 U.S. manufacturing firms show that firms generally follow through on such commitments. Larger firms …

Chapter 9: Building An Iron-Clad Supplier Diversity Program, Quinton L. Marks, Abeni El-Amin Ph.D.

Management Faculty Publications

There are critical issues identified with reconciling parity in supplier diversity initiatives. Supplier diversity programs (SDP) are an instrument utilized to facilitate the process. This endeavor analyzes the best techniques to develop diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) strategy to develop manufacturing suppliers. Moreover, quality control frameworks for developing supplier diversity programs in manufacturing necessitates strategic planning, which is necessary to support supplier diversity initiatives. For instance, questions that supplier diversity managers must ask include, Does the company have an existing minority supplier program? If so, what are its pros, cons, and evaluative measures? If not, why hasn’t there been …

Kalsun Inc: Sourcing In Asia, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

Karen Young, Purchasing Manager at Kalsun Inc., a producer and retailer of home office accessories, has to make a sourcing decision for one of the company’s best-selling items, an adjustable laptop stand. The coronavirus pandemic has led to more people working from home and thus significant demand growth, but also supply challenges. While Kalsun has a reliable Chinese supplier, potential changes in the supplier’s product strategy, increasing costs, and U.S. - Sino political tensions are motivating Karen to evaluate supply alternatives.

The Relocation Of Supply Chains From China And The Impact On The Chinese Economy, Shaomin Li

Management Faculty Publications

The U.S.-China trade war has had a huge impact on the supply chains in China, accelerating their relocation that had already begun due to rising taxes, costs of labor, and other input factors. The exodus reported in the past year is only the tip of the iceberg, as more serious effects will not become apparent immediately. A major effect of the relocation on China is job losses, which may reach as many as 5 million in the coming years. Given the unlikeliness of a quick end to the trade war and the reluctance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to …

Analysis Of Higher Educational Offerings In Operations Management, Heather Lutz, Laura M. Birou, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a large-scale benchmarking study of operations management (OM) courses in higher education. The goal of the research is to drive continuous improvement in the quality and value of the educational experience in academic institutions, and inform the training, development, and recruitment efforts of SCM professionals. A content analysis of a large sample of OM course syllabi was carried out to identify the content of both undergraduate and graduate courses, and the relative importance attached to individual topics. Gaps between topical coverage and what industry experts have identified as the important knowledge, skills and abilities …

An Examination Of Product Innovation And Buyer-Supply Relationships In Pakistani Firms, Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq Jajja, S.Haukat Ali Brah, Syed Zahoor Hassan, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to explore the interface between buyers and suppliers in the context of product innovation in an emerging economy. Specifically, it examines the strategic and tactical initiatives necessary to drive inter-organizational alignment and thus positive innovation outcomes. It also examines the impact of organizational characteristics on product innovation. Design/methodology/approach – Using survey data from 191 organizations in Pakistan, a structural equation model of the relationships between buyers’ and suppliers’ strategic focus on innovation, supplier innovation focus, collaborative innovation, and measures of product innovation and market performance is tested. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis is used …

Anticipating, Preventing, And Surviving Secondary Boycotts, Judith Schrempf-Stirling, Douglas A. Bosse, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Management Faculty Publications

Even the best stakeholder-managed firms can suffer when they become the targets of a secondary boycott, as recent headlines attest. A secondary boycott is a group’s refusal to engage a target firm with which the group has no direct dispute in an attempt to sway public opinion, draw attention to an issue, or influence the actions of a disputant. This article provides a new perspective and tools for both scholars and managers concerned with this phenomenon. Building on a stakeholder theory foundation, we examine possible actions managers can take to avoid being surprised by a secondary boycott, propose conditions that …

Roche’S Clinical Trials With Organs From Prisoners: Does Profit Trump Morals?, Judith Schrempf-Stirling

Management Faculty Publications

This case study discusses the economic, legal, and ethical considerations for conducting clinical trials in a controversial context. In 2010, pharmaceutical giant Roche received a shame award by the Swiss non-governmental organization Berne Declaration and Greenpeace for conducting clinical trials with organs taken from executed prisoners in China. The company respected local regulations and industry ethical standards. However, medical associations condemned organs from executed prisoners on moral grounds. Human rights organizations demanded that Roche ended its clinical trials in China immediately. Students are expected to review the economic and ethical issues regarding the outsourcing of clinical trials to controversial human …

From Tulip Bulbs To Sub-Prime Mortgages. Analyzing The Sub-Prime Crisis: The Case For A Systemic Approach, Alan A. Stephens, J. Brian Atwater, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market parallels several earlier failures within the financial services sector, begging the question why the lessons of past failures were not learned. Throughout history from the tulip bulb crisis of the 1600s to the most recent economic crisis, decision-makers keep making the same mistakes. This occurs in part because of a failure to recognize similarities between past and current events. This conceptual paper aims to use systems dynamics tools to examine the crisis and illustrate how seemingly independent events are linked. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a fundamental review of systems thinking concepts and uses …

The Delimitation Of Corporate Social Responsibility: Upstream, Downstream, And Historic Csr, Judith Schrempf-Stirling

Management Faculty Publications

The dissertation abstract and the reflection commentary present the work of Judith Schrempf. The dissertation examines the latest trends in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and advances a social connection approach to CSR to understand and explain those recent trends. The dissertation abstract provides an overview of the research questions and conclusions of the three-article dissertation. The reflection commentary discusses the author’s views of research process as a junior scholar (see Appendix).

Ever Expanding Responsibilities: Upstream And Downstream Corporate Social Responsibility, Judith Schrempf-Stirling, Guido Palazzo, Robert A. Phillips

Management Faculty Publications

The debate on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been on the public and academic agenda for several decades. In general, CSR issues can be divided into production-related issues (along the supply chain - or how things are made) and consumption-related issues (towards the consumer and society at large - or how things are used). Following the terminology of Phillips and Caldweli, Z upstream CSR refers to the CSR debate along the supply chain, and downstream CSR refers to corporate responsibility towards consumers and society at large. The chapter examines current CSR issues, and proposes a social connection model to understand …

Offshoring, Outsourcing, And Strategy In The Global Firm, Stephen Tallman

Management Faculty Publications

Offshore outsourcing of many of the activities of the firm has become a major issue of concern in welfare economics, politics, business management, and international business scholarship. From both practical and scholarly perspectives, though, we must recognize that this is not a new phenomenon, and that neither outsourcing nor offshoring is necessarily the problem that has been represented in the popular and scholarly press (Contractor et al., 2010: Engardio, 2006). The production of goods in locations other than those in which they are sold has been an established strategy of multinational firms for decades--as has the subset of situations in …

Organizational Learning And Capabilities For Onshore And Offshore Business Process Outsourcing, Jonathan W. Whitaker, Sunil Mithas, M. S. Krishnan

Management Faculty Publications

This paper identifies and analyzes firm-level characteristics that facilitate onshore and offshore business process outsourcing (BPO). We use organizational learning and capabilities to develop a conceptual model. We test the conceptual model with archival data on a broad cross section of U. S. firms. Our empirical findings indicate that firms with experience in onshore information technology (IT) outsourcing and capabilities related to IT coordination applications and process codification are more likely to engage in BPO, and firms with experience in internationalization are more likely to engage in offshore BPO. We also find that IT coordination applications have a greater impact …

The Impact Of Market Focus On Operations Practices, Tritos Laosirihongthong, Keah Choon Tan, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

A key element of successful organisations is the alignment of their strategy and tactics. This study explores the relationship between a firm’s competitive strategy and its operations practices in the context of a developing economy. Two competitive strategies are examined; a niche market strategy characterised by targeting specific market segments, and a broad market strategy characterised by serving a wide range of market segments. Three sets of operations practices consistent with the adoption of lean manufacturing, Total Quality Management, and relationship development in a supply chain context, are explored. Using survey data from senior managers in Thailand, results show that …

Supply Chain Integration: Cluster Analysis Of The Impact Of Span Of Integration, Vijay R. Kannan, Keah Choon Tan

Management Faculty Publications

Purpose

This paper aims to explore whether firms that integrate only with partners adjacent to them in the supply chain exhibit different patterns of supply chain practice and performance than those that also integrate with partners more distant in the supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

Cluster analysis of survey data is used to partition firms based on the span of the supply chain involved in their integration efforts.

Findings

Firms with a broad span of integration have a greater focus on alignment with suppliers and customers, and have more of a supply chain focus than those with a narrow span. They also …

Supply Chain Information And Relational Alignments: Mediators Of Edi On Firm Performance, Keah Choon Tan, Vijay R. Kannan, Chin-Chun Hsu, G. Keong Leong

Management Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of inter-organization information exchange on supply chain information and relational alignment. Drawing on literature on information systems, supply chain management, and logistics, the paper aims to present a multidimensional framework for considering electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption in supplier management and its effect on information and relational alignment. Design/methodology/approach: Theories drawn from resource-dependent and transaction cost economics, and the resource-based view of the firm were used to establish hypotheses. Structural equation modeling using survey data of manufacturing firms was used to test the hypotheses and research model. Findings: Results …

Utilisation Of Foreign Trade Zones In The Global Supply Chain: An Exploratory Study, Hokey Min, Thomas E. Lambert

Management Faculty Publications

Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) are considered duty-free areas and, thus, not governed by the usual customs and tariff controls. In other words, the merchandise permitted in the FTZ may be stored, sold, exhibited, labelled, repacked, assembled, distributed and mixed with other merchandise without paying customs duty until merchandise is released from the zone. Deferred customs duties in the FTZs can contribute significantly to the profitability of the Multinational Firms (MNFs) that get involved in global supply chain activities. Thus, the utilisation of FTZs is believed to have a positive impact on export/import operations and the location decisions of MNFs. Despite …

Or Practice—Efficient Short-Term Allocation And Reallocation Of Patients To Floors Of A Hospital During Demand Surges, Steven M. Thompson, Manuel Nunez, Robert Garfinkel, Matthew D. Dean

Management Faculty Publications

Many hospitals face the problem of insufficient capacity to meet demand for inpatient beds, especially during demand surges. This results in quality degradation of patient care due to large delays from admission time to the hospital until arrival at a floor. In addition, there is loss of revenue because of the inability to provide service to potential patients. A solution to the problem is to proactively transfer patients between floors in anticipation of a demand surge. Optimal reallocation poses an extraordinarily complex problem that can be modeled as a finite-horizon Markov decision process. Based on the optimization model, a decision-support …

Supply Chain Management Practices As A Mediator Of The Relationship Between Operations Capability And Firm Performance, Chinchun Hsu, Keah Choon Tan, Vijay R. Kannan, G. Keong Leong

Management Faculty Publications

The current study uses mediated regression analysis and structural equation modeling to test the proposition that supply chain management practices mediate the relationship between operations capability and firm performance. Operations capability is defined in terms of a firm's new product design and development, total quality management and just-in-time capabilities. Results support the research model and also suggest the existence of a direct relationship between operations capability and performance.

Assuring Quality At The Source With Varying Worker Skills: Economic Justification Of The Online Repair Policy, Dooyoung Shin, Hokey Min

Management Faculty Publications

Traditionally, quality control on an assembly line has been conducted by quality inspectors at the end of the assembly line. Defective or incomplete parts identified during the production cycle are typically transferred to a separate repair shop where such parts are reworked, retested, re-inspected or replaced. In contrast, today’s repetitive manufacturing companies have begun to delegate the power and responsibility of quality inspection and control to assembly workers on the line. This so-called online (line-stop) repair policy has been receiving increased attention from many manufacturing companies. Through a series of computational experiments, this paper examines the effectiveness of the online …

Is The World Flat Or Spiky? Information Intensity, Skills, And Global Service Disaggregation, Sunil Mithas, Jonathan W. Whitaker

Management Faculty Publications

Which service occupations are the most susceptible to global disaggregation? What are the factors and mechanisms that make service occupations amenable to global disaggregation? This research addresses these questions by building on previous work by Apte and Mason (1995) and Rai, Patnayakuni, and Seth (2006) that focuses on the unbundling of information and physical flows. We propose a theory of service disaggregation and argue that high information intensity makes an occupation more amenable for disaggregation because the activities in such occupations can be codified, standardized, and modularized. We empirically validate our theoretical model using data on more than 300 service …

A Field Study Of Rfid Deployment And Return Expectations, Jonathan W. Whitaker, Sunil Mithas, M. S. Krishnan

Management Faculty Publications

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology promises to transform supply chain management. Building on previous research in information systems and supply chain management, this paper proposes a theoretical framework for RFID adoption and benefits, and tests the framework using data on U.S. firms. Our analysis suggests that there is a positive association between information technology (IT) application deployment and RFID adoption. We find that RFID implementation spending and partner mandate are associated with an expectation of early return on RFID investment, and a perceived lack of industry-wide standards is associated with an expectation of delayed return on RFID investment. These results …

Improving Disaster Response Efforts With Decision Support Systems, Steven M. Thompson, Nezih Altay, Walter G. Green Iii, Joanne Lapetina

Management Faculty Publications

As evidenced by Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005, disaster response efforts are hindered by a lack of coordination, poor information flows, and the inability of disaster response managers to validate and process relevant information and make decisions in a timely fashion. A number of factors contribute to current lackluster response efforts. Some are inherent to the complex, rapidly changing decision-making environments that characterize most disaster response settings. Others reflect systematic flaws in how decisions are made within the organizational hierarchies of the many agencies involved in a disaster response. Slow, ineffective strategies for gathering, processing, and analyzing data can also …

Chrysler Leverages Its Suppliers' Improvement Suggestions, Janet L. Hartley, Bertie M. Greer, Seungwood Park

Management Faculty Publications

We examined Chrysler's SCORE (supplier cost reduction effort) supplier-suggestion process from the perspectives of Chrysler and its suppliers. Chrysler used SCORE to save over $2 billion and to build collaborative relationships with its suppliers. In our study, we observed four elements in Chrysler and its suppliers' organizations that contributed to SCORE'S success: (1) designating a process champion, (2) engaging suppliers in the process, (3) motivating em ployees, and (4) facilitating evaluation and implementation. Companies designing a supplier suggestion process should consider ways to reduce delays during evaluation, to minimize the number of low value suggestions, and to involve the entire …

Supply-Chain Synchronization: Lessons From Hyundai Motor Company, Chan K. Hahn, Edward A. Duplaga, Janet L. Hartley

Management Faculty Publications

One of the challenges of supply-chain management is developing ways to effectively integrate activities across organizations on the supply chain. Hyundai Motor Company developed mechanisms to coordinate production planning and scheduling activities among supply-chain members. Hyundai Motor's production-and-sales-control (P/SC) department uses regularly scheduled cross-functional meetings and scheduling policies to coordinate supply-chain activities. When implementing this process, the P/SC department overcame structural, environ mental, and behavioral problems. Although Hyundai manage ment concedes that the process is not perfect, communication among supply-chain members has improved, and the P/SC group has successfully promoted mutual understanding and respect among functional areas. The primary benefit, …