Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons^™

Target: How A Top Retailer Overseas Global Sourcing Challenges, Gloria Clarissa

Journal of Global Awareness

As one of the largest and most distinguished retailers in the United States, Target Corporation has faced a multitude of global sourcing challenges, as well as other internal and external issues. Through research, Target’s implementation of several processes and systems can be analyzed to explore how it counters the ever-changing market and global supply chains. This includes analyses of its history, business model, supply chain components, and value chains. In conclusion, this comprehensive study provides valuable insights into Target Corporation’s business operations, market positioning, supply chain management, and challenges. By capitalizing on opportunities and fortifying its brand promise, Target has …

Dentistry’S Cdt Code: Its Origins, Use And Future, Frank J. Pokorny Ii, Mba, Facd(Hon)

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Today’s version of the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature – commonly referred to as CDT 2024 -- is the latest iteration of the code set first published in 1969. The CDT Code is ADA intellectual property that serves dentists and the dental community at large as the HIPAA standard for documenting and reporting services delivered to patients. CDT supports multiple needs: e.g., documentation; billing and reimbursement; revenue; data analytics. The code set’s maintenance is an open process overseen by the ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs’ Code Maintenance Committee. Any dentist or interested party may submit a maintenance request. …

Logistics Service Quality And Product Satisfaction In E-Commerce, Aamir Rashid, Rizwana Rasheed

Publications and Research

Consumer satisfaction in e-commerce directly depends on logistical services. There is a constant dilemma in which logistical service dimensions affect consumers’ product satisfaction. The aim is to determine how specific dimensions of logistics services affect product satisfaction in the e-commerce industry of Pakistan. For this research, a survey questionnaire with a deductive approach was utilized by collecting data from 197 respondents through a convenient sampling technique. Further, hypotheses were tested through a quantitative method with the help of SmartPLS. A measuring instrument was used with six dimensions, that is, availability, delivery time, shipping costs, product quality and condition, information quality, …

The Body Positivity Movement: Improving Female College Students Mental Health And Body Appreciation, Emilie Conners, Lucy Matthews, Diane R. Edmondson

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Body image concerns among college-aged women continue to be an immense issue across many college campuses. As technology advances, it has become more common for young girls and women to edit their social media photos and focus more on their flaws. Body image has a significant impact on mental and physical health; therefore, it is vital that these concerns are addressed and fought. One movement recently used as a possible way to combat this concern is the body positivity movement. However, more research is needed to understand the impact of this movement on young women. Survey data was collected via …

Maintaining Consistent Sustainability Performance Through Peaks In Last Mile Logistics: What Factors Most Influence The Maintenance Of Consistent Social And Environmental Sustainability Performance In Last Mile Logistics During Peak Periods? How Do These Factors Exercise This Influence?, Prashant Saran

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Last Mile Logistics (LML) is the final leg of the supply chain that gets the product to the chosen destination point of the end consumer. LML has been witnessing unprecedented growth driven by increasing urbanization and growth in e-commerce retail sales. The impact of the rapid growth of LML is being witnessed both in the social and environmental dimensions, making social and environmental sustainability (S&ES) of LML an impactful area of research. LML deliveries driven by e-commerce also experience multiple demand peaks where the number of packages to be delivered spikes significantly over a short period of a few days …

Management Of Operations In Projects Including Planning, Organization And Control From The Beginning To The End Of Implementation, Burim Isa Berisha Dr.Sc

International Journal of Business and Technology

The project usually arises as soon as the client’s need is identified, and goes through all the extensive phases and sub-phases to take its true form and put into operation. The project is divided into two main parts that include Planning and Implementation that are separate in these stages: definition, planning, organization, control, completion. Planning involves a detailed calculation of the project. This includes known facts, admissible facts and risk calculation. Activity model used by IKOMs Planning as a process involves the cost that accompanies it. The manager must strike the balance between cost and benefit. Project control uses data …

Project Planning And Control, Burim Isa Berisha Dr.Sc

International Journal of Business and Technology

Operations management is important because it relates to the creation of products and services on which we are all dependent. Operations management is also quite motivating; operations are the center of many changes that affect business - changes in customer preferences, changes in the supply chain caused by technologies based on the businesses where we work, where we want to work and so on.

Operations Management includes the role of operations management, the various characteristics of processes, management activities, the responsibilities of managers, and the timely evolution of Operations Management.

Operations Management is a constant change, fostering creativity which allows …

Management Of Small Enterprises And Family Businesses In The Republic Of Kosovo, Burim Isa Berisha Dr.Sc, Burim Berisha B.B

International Journal of Business and Technology

Small businesses represent the driving force of an economy. They are the key that enables the production and marketing of thousands of products and services thus becoming the basis for a sound economic development. Consequently, small businesses are of vital importance to the economy.

Small business is a generator of innovation and a source of new jobs. The trend shows that small businesses are the backbone of all developments and movements in the economic system.

The small business scope is present in almost every pore of social and economic life.

According to the Statistical Register for Businesses, there are 9,358 …

Agency Theory And Audit Quality, Burim Isa Berisha Bb

International Journal of Business and Technology

Auditing plays a vital role in reducing both: information asymmetry by empirically confi rming the validity of fi nancial statements and agency problems. The principal- agent confl ict illustrated in agency theory, where principal (owner) lack reasons to believe their agents (managers) because of information asymmetries and contradictory motives. Information asymmetry deals with the study of decisions in transactions where one party has more or superior information than other. Agents (either directors or auditors) may be trustworthy without further incentives to align interest or monitoring strategies such as audit or increased regulation. However, the simple agency model would recommend that …

Chatgpt Unveiled: Unleashing Ai Magic In Online Shopping And Digital Marketing, Jianping Huang, Mark J. Sciuchetti Dr.

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This research paper explores the use of AI, specifically ChatGPT, in interactive activities within

online shopping and digital marketing. The paper examines the potential of AI-powered chatbots

to enhance customer engagement, personalization, and marketing effectiveness. Through a

literature review, case studies, and user feedback analysis, the research highlights the benefits of

AI chatbots in providing real-time assistance, personalized recommendations, and improved

customer experiences. The paper also addresses ethical and privacy concerns associated with AI

implementation and discusses future research directions. The findings are expected to suggest

that AI-powered chatbots have the potential to revolutionize online shopping and digital

marketing by …

Sharing Economy Last Mile Delivery: Three Essays Addressing Operational Challenges, Customer Expectations, And Supply Uncertainty, Nicolò Masorgo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Last mile delivery has become a critical competitive dimension facing retail supply chains. At the same time, the emergence of sharing economy platforms has introduced unique operational challenges and benefits that enable and inhibit retailers’ last mile delivery goals. This dissertation investigates key challenges faced by crowdshipping platforms used in last mile delivery related to crowdsourced delivery drivers, driver-customer interaction, and customer expectations. We investigate the research questions of this dissertation through a multi-method design approach, complementing a rich archival dataset comprised of several million orders retrieved from a Fortune 100 retail crowdshipping platform, with scenario-based experiments. Specifically, the first …

Investigating The Effect Of Knowledge Of Environmental Implications On Generation Z Vehicle Choice In Last Mile Delivery Service, Mitchelle Atungulu

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Consumer knowledge has a significant impact on consumer behavior and choice, where specific types of knowledge influences consumer shopping and purchasing decisions. As concerns about the environment and businesses operations’ effect on the environment grows, there has been various calls for facilitating increased consumer awareness on environmental issues; with the intent of this knowledge serving to influence consumer decision making in a manner that is viewed as favorable for environmental sustainability. With the substantial growth of ecommerce, one of the decisions that consumers more frequently make is that of delivery service choice as they make online purchase transactions. Various aspects …

Happy Campers Or Unhappy Prisoners: How Materialism Punishes Us In Lockdown Times, Banwari Mittal

Atlantic Marketing Journal

COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns created an unprecedented upheaval in consumers’ daily lives and lifestyles. The purpose of this research was to understand the psychological experience of life under lockdowns and the role of individual difference variables in that experience. Using survey data from U.S. consumers, the research identified two opposite feelings, coexisting: happy camper feeling or unhappy prisoner feeling. Younger, lower income, and less educated consumers felt more like prisoners than campers. Ability to maintain life as usual, and positive pre-pandemic life conditions (health, social network, and job satisfaction) led to happy camper feelings. In contrast, pre-pandemic materialism led …

Asymmetric Information Of Product Authenticity On C2c E-Commerce Platforms: How Can Inspection Services Help?, Linqiu Li, Xin Fang, Yun Fong Lim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Problem definition: We consider a customer-to-customer (C2C) platform that provides an inspection service. Uncertain about his product’s authenticity, a seller sells his product through the platform. Before purchasing, a buyer obtains a signal of the product authenticity from the product’s price set by the seller. The platform’s inspection service can detect a counterfeit with a probability. If the product passes the inspection, the platform sends it to the buyer and charges the seller a commission fee. Otherwise, the platform returns it to the seller and charges the seller a penalty fee. Methodology/results: We develop a two-stage game-theoretical model. In the …

Empowering Elderpreneurs Scommerce For Genx Consignment Store Owners In West Virginia, Joyita Sarkar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In an ever-evolving digital landscape, this research explores Generation X (GenX) consignment store owners in West Virginia and the transformative power of Social commerce (sCommerce). Despite the ubiquity of Social media platforms, little attention has been given to the impact of sCommerce on the consignment store industry. Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DIT), this study examines the factors influencing sCommerce adoption decisions for GenX consignment store owners.

Through qualitative research, this study uncovers untold stories within this entrepreneurial landscape. Purposeful sampling of 11 women and 20-60 minutes of in-depth interviews reveal the …

Impacts Of Covid-19 On Industrial Growth In The United States, Emily G. Warthman, Charles J. Landis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

COVID-19 has caused massive ramifications on all parts of life in the world and industry growth/decline is not immune to it. This report will analyze nine different industries’ profit and revenue from quarterly data during the years 2009-2022. Forecast models will be generated using various methods and different techniques of validating to predict the values from Q2 2020- Q4 2022 based on historical data. After which, a comparison will be conducted between those predicted values to the actual average revenue and profit generated by order of greatest error percentage made. Thorough research will then be completed to determine if there …

Fedex Ground Strategic Audit, Samantha Gates

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

FedEx Ground is an operating segment of the parcel carrier giant FedEx Inc. The company, known for shipping products via delivery truck, has remained one of the largest parcel carriers in the country, despite drastic changes in its environment. This report seeks to understand the changing operating environment of FedEx Ground, its competitive advantages, and the future challenges it may face. The analysis uses PESTEL and Porter's Five Forces analyses to evaluate the changing external environment and industry FedEx Ground operates in. Additionally, challenges and recommendations are offered to navigate the future of this company.

Brides And Bridal Stores: Online Or Brick-And-Mortar, Libby C. Jones, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper explores the growing global bridal industry and the different trends, traditions, and aspects of specific countries' bridal industries. It outlines western and eastern traditions and how globalization contributes to their spread. A deeper focus is dedicated to the United States' bridal industry and the issues brick-and-mortar bridal boutiques face as more brides have started shopping at online bridal stores. The relationship between brick-and-mortar and online bridal stores is explored based on various propositions about the bridal industry's emerging challenges. These propositions include trust issues in the retail environment, convenience, selection of bridal gowns in different retail formats, incorporating …

Pricing And Quality Strategies For An On-Demand Housekeeping Platform With Customer-Intensive Services, Jianjun Yu, Yanli Fang, Yuanguang Zhong, Xiong Zhang, Ruijie Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper, we study an on-demand housekeeping platform in which suppliers have hetero-geneous opportunity costs, and customers are sensitive to service quality, price, and waitingtime. The platform charges fees from customers and divides revenue with service suppliers ina certain proportion. We analyze two types of market coverage, namely full market coverageand partial market coverage. We find that as the potential demand market capacity expands,the platform will choose to lower prices to attract more customers and service suppliers until itreaches the partial market, thereby obtaining higher revenue, and suppliers will provide lowerquality services to serve more customers and thus obtain …

Understanding Millennials Regarding Online Versus In-Store Grocery Shopping Preferences, Timothy L. Schauer

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Grocery shopping has changed in significant ways over the last 150 years – all to allow customers to choose their own items (Strasser, 1989). Within the last decade, large U.S. supermarkets, like Kroger, Walmart, and Safeway have rolled out online stores (Perez, 2015). However, in 2017, when the Internet-based giant, Amazon, acquired Whole Foods and developed the Amazon Go concept store, the march toward online-only sales came into question. The purpose of this research is to attempt to understand the preferences associated with Millennials regarding online versus in-store grocery shopping preferences. This paper provides the following contributions. First, it extends …

Arclothmasks: A Pandemic Startup Journey, Adam Jackson

Information Systems Undergraduate Honors Theses

Covid-19 changed the way the world operated when it became a pandemic in 2020. The need for personal protection equipment was unexpected and suppliers were not prepared for the demand. The government mandate of masks furthered the need of PPE across the nation. To help fill this shortage, many companies began to retool their manufacturing processes from clothing to masks. This thesis will dive into one PPE company and its journey from the start of the pandemic. The business plan for the company will follow it along with graphs and charts that help tell the tale of the startup.

Northwest Arkansas Commercial Retail Strategy, Joshua Winn

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Retail supply chain tactics vary drastically by differing cities, especially when looking at population density and how it can affect final mile delivery. When looking to expand or create new business, you will have to look at new ways to operate your business to compete in each specific environment. An example of this would be how cultural trends affect how business is done, such as people having smaller cabinets in many Asian countries, meaning less products being purchased on shopping trips. Grocery stores in urban cities in China also have very limited access to parking. Walmart discovered the best way …

Walmart Vs Amazon: How Walmart Can Compete With Amazon In The Age Of E-Commerce, Andrew Turner

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the growing battle between the retail giants, Walmart, and Amazon, it has become clear that Walmart must take steps to secure their place in a market where a pandemic-driven technology enabled e-commerce industry is expected to grow leaps and bounds over the next several years. In order to compete with Amazon, who dominates the majority of e-commerce in the US, Walmart must identify core competencies that drive revenue and customer loyalty and adapt them to a new age of retail. By taking advantage of physical locations and access to customer data, Walmart may be able to continue to offer …

Unveiling The Impact Of Covid-19 And The Policy Implications On Indonesian Small Businesses: Where Do They Hurt The Most?, Sri Wahyuni, Novita Ikasari

BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi

The catastrophic impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is well-presented across countries featured on a helicopter view. However, studies on business activities as proxies to business functions that are exclusively affected by the pandemic are scarcely found, which in turn might cause ineffective recovery policy. Using Indonesia as a case in point, this study aims at codifying the particular business activities to proxy the functions that have been impacted across the sectors and business owners’ perception on the government’s policy. The study uses indicators for three business functions that are qualitatively constructed from previous studies …

What's In A Name? Public Perceptions Of Multi-Level Marketing, Robert A. Peterson, Jeffrey A. Peterson

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper presents the results of a nationwide survey of the American public’s general familiarity with, and perceptions of, multi-level marketing, direct selling, and social selling. Survey respondents were most familiar with direct selling; there was no substantive difference in familiarity with multi-level marketing and social selling. Respondents familiar with the three terms possessed perceptions of them that were significantly more positive than were the perceptions of respondents reporting not being familiar with the terms. Across all terms, male respondents reported being more familiar with, and more positively disposed toward, them than did female respondents. Respondents 55 years of age …

The Impact Of Verified (Unverified) Online Product Consumer Reviews On Consumer Product Attitudes, Kathryn Cort Dr., Roland Leak Dr.

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Customer product reviews are an integral component for companies conducting e-commerce, enabling them to stay connected and engaged with their consumers. However, more important these reviews are being utilized and incorporated into the marketing plans of companies. Companies can use a mixture of verified and unverified purchase badges in their displayed product reviews. This study finds that as customers are provided with this additional information to help form impressions about the products they are reviewing, customers' need for cognition ultimately determines how they utilize the presence or absence of these badges.

Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint, Bert Chapman

FORCES Initiative: Strategy, Security, and Social Systems

This work provides historical and contemporary overviews of this critical geopolitical problem, describes the policy actors addressing this in the U.S. and selected other countries, and provides maps and information on many undersea cable work routes. These cables are chokepoints with one dictionary defining chokepoints as “a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region."

Pivot Or Perish: The Retail Reality, Anne Lepissier, Ryan Vaughan, Shantanu Bhattacharya

Perspectives@SMU

Brick-and-mortar retailers are adapting to meet the challenges posed by accelerating e-commerce adoption. Some are doing better than others, but supply chain obstacles could prove decisive

Technology Lends A Hand To Green E-Commerce, Hao Liang, Sin Mei Cheah

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The world has witnessed an e-commerce boom in the past 2 decades, and Asia-Pacific is now driving the latest wave of growth. The Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated consumers' growing preference for online consumption, with the Asia-Pacific region raking US$230 billion in online retail sales in 2020. This article is adapted from the authors' teaching case study - Alibaba Cainiao's Smart Green Logistics Strategy: Good for the Earth, Good for the Business.

The Faculty Recruitment-Retention Connection: A Strategic Linkage Approach, Mary Mobley, Richard Easley

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is clear about the worsening shortage of doctoral qualified faculty. It is the proposition of this paper that business schools should consider evaluating and perhaps reinvigorating recruitment strategies in both the short- and intermediate-term, as well as developing marketing management strategies that will help alleviate business faculty shortages in the long-term. Strategic marketing guidance is set forth in this paper with a focus on the development and institutionalization of managerial linkages between recruitment-retention connections. Our major premise is that leadership robustness is needed relative to the construction and implementation of strategic …