Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractThis paper details research to design an estimation process for Deprivation Cost Functions (DCF) using Contingent Valuation, and to apply it econometrically to obtain a DCF for drinkable water. The paper describes both the process and results obtained. The results indicate that deprivation costs for drinkable water have a non‐linear relation with deprivation times. The estimated DCFs provide a consistent metric that could be incorporated into humanitarian logistic mathematical models, eliminating the need to use proxy metrics, and providing a better way to assess the impacts of delivery options and actions. The research reported in this paper is the first attempt in the literature to produce estimates of the economic value of human suffering created by the deprivation of a critical supply or service.

AbstractIn light of the growing complexity of globally dispersed, multi‐tier supply chains, the involvement of first‐tier suppliers has become instrumental in the quest for achieving sustainability compliance along the supply chain. We describe this new responsibility as the double agency role. We employ agency and institutional theory arguments to explore the conditions under which first‐tier suppliers will act as agents who fulfill the lead firm's sustainability requirements (i.e., the primary agency role) and implement these requirements in their suppliers' operations (i.e., the secondary agency role). The findings from three in‐depth case studies embedded in different institutional contexts highlight the importance for lead firms to incentivize each agency role separately and to reduce information asymmetries, particularly at the second‐tier level. In addition, our inductive analysis reveals several contingency factors that influence the coupling of the secondary agency role of the first‐tier supplier. These factors include resource availability at the first‐tier supplier's firm, the lead firm's focus on the triple‐bottom‐line dimension (i.e., environmental or social), the lead firm's use of power, and the lead firm's internal alignment of the sustainability and purchasing function. We integrate our findings in a conceptual framework that advances the research agenda on multi‐tier sustainable supply chains, and we subsequently outline the practical implications of assigning the double agency role to first tier suppliers.

AbstractThis paper evaluates the usefulness of the resource‐based view (RBV) to the field of operations management. Based on the seminal RBV articles, we argue that using the RBV does not align with the objectives and activities of operations management researchers in several ways. First, the dependent variable in the RBV is sustained competitive advantage. Using sustained competitive advantage as a dependent variable implies that scholars focus on explaining the differences between the relatively few firms with sustained competitive advantage and all the other firms, ignoring performance variations within the great mass of firms. In addition, competitive advantage exists at the level of the business or the firm and does not directly translate into the normal level of operations management research. Measuring sustained competitive advantage also presents difficulties. Second, the explanatory variables in the RBV are resources that must be rare, valuable and hard or impossible to imitate. Measuring valuable resources or factors firms cannot imitate poses serious problems both in demonstrating value independent of the factor's impact on performance (i.e., avoiding tautology) and in measuring unique or nearly unique entities. Third, under the RBV, prescription is problematic; you cannot prescribe things that firms can readily implement because such things can be imitated. We present the practice‐based view (PBV) as a simpler and better alternative for operations management where scholars attempt to explain the entire range of firm and unit performance based on transferable practices.

AbstractResearch indicates that deploying appropriate information technology (IT) competency in a manner that fits the supply chain integration (SCI) of a firm induces superior firm performance; however, our understanding of how to empirically conceptualize and assess the performance effect of the fit remains limited. Drawing upon resource orchestration theory and the literature on fit assessment methodologies, our study employs both a contingency and a configuration perspective to conceptualize and operationalize “fit.” The results of a survey of 196 firms in China provide the first empirical evidence for the existence and nature of interrelationships between multiple components of SCI and IT competency and their effects on firm performance. In particular, fit as “moderation” approach indicates that IT competency could strengthen the relationship between SCI and both operational and financial performance. Fit as “profile deviation” approach further reveals that the more similar the IT competency configurations are to those of the top performers in the high‐level SCI group, the higher their operational and financial performance are. However, in the medium‐ and low‐level SCI groups, the SCI‐IT competency fit is significantly positively associated with financial performance and insignificantly associated with operational performance. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the study are discussed.

AbstractSocial media have been increasingly adopted for organizational purposes but their operational implications are not well understood. Firms’ social media initiatives might facilitate information flow and knowledge sharing within and across organizations, strengthening firm‐customer interaction, and improving internal and external collaboration. In this research we empirically examine the impact of social media initiatives on firms’ operational efficiency and innovativeness. Taking the resource‐based view of firms’ information capability, we consider firms’ social media initiatives as strategic resources for operational improvement. We posit that firms’ social media initiatives enhance dynamic knowledge‐sharing routines through an information‐rich social network, leading to both operational efficiency and innovativeness. Collecting secondary data in a longitudinal setting from multiple sources, we construct dynamic panel data (DPD) models. Based on system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation, we show that firms’ social media initiatives improve operational efficiency and innovativeness. We identify the importance of an information‐rich social network to the creation of knowledge‐based advantage through firms’ social media initiatives, and discuss the theoretical and managerial implications from the perspective of operations management.

AbstractThis study investigates simultaneous linkages between outsourcing, in‐house offshoring, sales to emerging markets, inventory and product recalls. The study finds a positive and significant association between outsourcing to emerging markets and recalls and that sales penetration into emerging markets reduces recalls; however, it finds no direct relationship between in‐house offshoring and recalls. Interestingly, in‐house offshoring to emerging markets appears to mitigate the positive relationship between outsourcing to these markets and recalls; this suggests that transactional complexities of outsourcing to emerging markets are mitigated by a physical presence in the market. This important finding suggests that by keeping some operations in‐house, firms may reduce the negative effect of outsourcing on product quality and safety while reaping low‐cost benefits of sourcing from these emerging markets. Additionally, the results indicate that institutional immaturities within recipient countries (associated with outsourcing) are primary contributors to inefficiencies affecting quality performance. On the inventory side, sourcing from emerging markets negatively affects inventory performance. Although inventory performance typically does not appear to be related to recalls, finished goods inventory is positively associated with quality failures.

AbstractDrawing on contract governance literature and institutional theory, this study investigates the differential effects of output‐ and behavior‐based contract governance on buyer–supplier conflict in supply chains. The authors develop a contingent perspective to examine how institutional factors moderate the impact of contract governance. The findings, from an empirical study of buyer–supplier dyads in China, show that an output‐based contract is negatively, whereas a behavior‐based contract is positively, related to buyer–supplier conflict. The effects of a contract are moderated by two primary institutional factors: legal enforceability and unilateral government support. These findings have important implications for supply chain research, public policy, and managerial practice.

AbstractPartial least squares (PLS) path modeling is increasingly being promoted as a technique of choice for various analysis scenarios, despite the serious shortcomings of the method. The current lack of methodological justification for PLS prompted the editors of this journal to declare that research using this technique is likely to be desk‐rejected (Guide and Ketokivi, 2015). To provide clarification on the inappropriateness of PLS for applied research, we provide a non‐technical review and empirical demonstration of its inherent, intractable problems. We show that although the PLS technique is promoted as a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique, it is simply regression with scale scores and thus has very limited capabilities to handle the wide array of problems for which applied researchers use SEM. To that end, we explain why the use of PLS weights and many rules of thumb that are commonly employed with PLS are unjustifiable, followed by addressing why the touted advantages of the method are simply untenable.

AbstractResource based theory (RBT) has become increasingly popular in operations management research. The development and current application of RBT to the study and understanding of operations management problems and phenomena are reviewed and articles in the recent six plus years across nine journals are evaluated. Based on this review and evaluation, we identify several issues in the overall research and highlight some exemplary research themes in the use of RBT in operations management. Our research suggests that further application of RBT can add richness in operations management research, and has the potential to produce multiple contributions for this field and adjacent fields.