Multistage Process Model Research Articles

Managing buyer-supplier conflict when one party dominates: A process study

This study examines how conflicts develop in buyer-supplier relationships. Specifically, we investigate what drives the use of the dominating (win-lose) conflict management approach by parties in buyer-supplier conflicts, and how the sequence and types of conflict management approaches employed throughout the process affect whether it is managed in a functional or dysfunctional manner. Existing studies often focus on one-sided, one-stage conflicts which may not reflect the true process of conflict management. This qualitative study analyses the historical e-mail correspondences between a small retailer and five of its suppliers, allowing for an exploration of authentic conflict management processes. We develop a two-sided, multi-stage process model that outlines the drivers that promote the use of dominating approaches throughout the conflict, and considers the initial and subsequent actions by both parties that lead to a (dys)functional conflict process. It demonstrates that dysfunctional conflicts are those that end with either party employing a dominating approach. This suggests that even if dominating approaches are employed throughout the conflict process, the conflict may not escalate, and is therefore managed in a functional manner.

The Insidious Gender Promotion Gap: Gender Differences in Promotion Patterns in a Multi-Unit Bank

Although diversity management has gained momentum, gender inequality persists in the workplace, in particular glass ceilings. We explore the drivers of gender differences in promotions using a multi-stage process model and distinguishing between supply- and demand-side factors. Analyzing nine years of personnel records of a multi-unit European bank, we find that gender differences are driven both by supply- and demand-side factors. Women are less likely to indicate a motivation to move to a new job or to a new unit within the bank than men. Nevertheless, they are just as likely to be moved to a new role once they indicate a motivation to do so. Yet these moves are less likely to represent a promotion than men’s moves. Moreover, this gender promotion gap is greater for women far from the headquarters (HQ): a) women’s motivation to change jobs is lower in the branches overall than in the HQ; b) it is the lowest in branches that are further off from the HQ; and c) gender-based inequality in promotions among those who change jobs or units is greater in the branches than in the HQ. Our findings contribute to the literature on gender inequality and career advancement by highlighting the theoretical importance of examining promotions as a multi-stage process, of disentangling supply-side and demand-side factors, and of distinguishing promotion patterns across business units.

Reinventing Hollands Kroon: Dynamics of Strategic Change and Legitimacy in Public Sector

Managers of public organizations face cutting-edge technological opportunities and management practices that may enable their organizations to provide substantially higher value to citizens. However, in the absence of financial incentives and strong institutional pressures to sustain status quo attempts for strategic change are likely to face legitimacy challenges and fail. Using a multi-year qualitative study, we show how a Dutch municipality managed to undertake a major strategic change initiative while navigating legitimacy issues that emerged in relation with internal and external stakeholders. Taking a ‘legitimacy-as-process’ - perspective we offer a temporal model that explains how strategic change can endogenously happen in a public sector organization. We describe how evolving combinations of strategy, identity and institutional work where used by senior managers to kick-start, execute and preserve the change by securing legitimacy in relation with different audiences across time. We complement the strategic change research that is often focused on for profit private organizations by incorporating the unique challenges of change in public sector organizations and propose a multi-stage process model for navigating legitimacy issues during strategic change. Rather than taking an incremental approach towards change to minimize tensions, we suggest how a multi-stage, non-linear approach may be applied that 1) initially focuses on creating acceptance for a new philosophy among local stakeholders, hence creating receptiveness towards a major change, 2) then it moves to implementation of distinctive strategic initiatives based on liminal legitimacy risking issues and backlash, and 3) curbing the scope of the change initiative to satisfy the broader institutional audience while maximally using the space that is created in the previous steps.

Where does the heart lie? A multistage process model of entrepreneurial passion and role identity management

SummaryWith research on entrepreneurial passion booming, there is an increasing need to understand how and why that passion influences entrepreneurs' performance over time. To address this need, we develop a multistage process model, proposing that entrepreneurial passion type—harmonious or obsessive—explains how entrepreneurs modify their identity and reprioritize their roles as inventors, founders, and developers in response to feedback as the venture develops, thus giving rise to different patterns of role identity transition or persistence. The proposed feedback system advances our understanding of entrepreneurial passion by providing a dynamic view of the impact of passion and role identity management on overall entrepreneurial performance. We conclude by outlining the theoretical and practical implications of our multistage process model and by presenting an agenda for future research on entrepreneurial passion and role identity management.

A Multistage Process Model of How a Person Who Currently Injects Drugs Comes to Assist Persons Who Do not Inject with Their First Injections.

Injecting drugs for the first time almost always requires assistance from an experienced person who injects drugs (PWID). While there has been moderate amount of research on PWID who assist with first injections, most of this research has focused on identifying characteristics of PWID who assist with first injections. We do not have a formal model that describes how the minority of PWID come to assist do so, while the majority never assist. Through comparison of persons who did or did not recently assist with first injections using data from PWID in Tallinn, Estonia (N = 286) and Staten Island, New York City (N = 101), we developed a formal multi-stage model of how PWID come to assist with first injections. The model had a primary pathway 1) of engaging in “injection promoting” behaviors, 2) being asked to assist, and 3) assisting. Statistical testing using odds ratios showed participation in each stage was strongly associated with participation in the next stage (all odds ratios >3.0) and the probabilities of assisting significantly increased with participation in the successive stages. We then used the model to compare engagement in the stages pre-vs. post participation in an intervention, and to compare persons who recently assisted to persons who had assisted in the past but had not recently assisted and to persons who had never assisted. Advantages of a formal model for how current PWID come to assist with first injections include: facilitating comparisons across different PWID populations and assessing strengths and limitations of interventions to reduce assisting with first injections.

ВЕРОЯТНОСТЬ ОТКАЗА БЛОКА КОНТРОЛЯ ОБОГРЕВА ВО ВРЕМЯ ПОЛЕТА И ЕЕ ПОСЛЕДСТВИЯ

The article presents the results of predicting the probability of failure of the heating control unit during flight on the basis of mathematical modeling of multistage processes of performing operations in stochastic productive systems. The problem statement is formed as follows: to determine the probability of failure of the heating control unit during the flight and its possible consequences. The structural and functional diagram of the heating control unit using a strict formal mathematical description based on equations describing the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process was considered as an initial object for determining the probability of failure.

The Blended Learning Model: Does It Work?

The advances in information and communicate on technologies have led to the development of wide spectrum of new techniques, methods and models of education. One of these promising approaches in education is blended learning. Although the blended learning model is not new, it produces new kinds of learning experiences and encompasses a much richer set of learning strategies or “dimensions.”It maximizes the benefits of traditional and electronic delivery platforms, while diminishing the weaknesses of each. The aim of the present paper is to provide practitioners and researchers with a comprehensive framework outlining its basic characteristics and the rationale for adopting it. It also presents a multi-stage process model of it to identify the activities, actors, and key success factors associated with how best to set it up. It also outlines framework for how to evaluate the different interventions aiming at developing it.

Building Sustainable Business Models in the BoP: Evidence from Social Enterprises in East Africa

Globally, an estimated 4.5 billion people live on less than US $8 per day, in the ‘base of the pyramid’ (BoP). The last twenty years have witnessed growing engagement with the BoP by business, with it argued that a fortune awaits those firms providing needed products and services to BoP markets. However, other actors are also working in and with the BoP, including social enterprises. The activities of such social enterprises in the BoP remain under-researched. Scholars have identified a particular need for further study of how social enterprises in the BoP interact with their ecosystems to achieve their objectives. Drawing upon case study research with 10 East African social enterprises, this paper responds to this need. It sheds light on how social enterprises work with ecosystem actors to overcome challenges of doing business in the BoP, and to design and build community-centred business models. We introduce a multi-stage process model of learning, engaging, and harnessing to describe these activities of social enterprises. In so doing, we contribute to multiple literatures. We add to still limited work on the activities of social enterprises in the BoP. We provide novel empirical insights, and elaborate a theory of how social enterprises interact with their ecosystems to build sustainable community-centred business models. We further contribute to hitherto limited scholarship on social entrepreneurship in Africa. Additionally, Africa remains underrepresented in BoP research, with our study contributing to addressing this lacuna. Finally, our research has practical implications for social entrepreneurs in Africa and elsewhere looking to design and build community-centred business models.

Managing the challenges of business-to-business open innovation in complex projects: A multi-stage process model

Research shows that knowledge sharing and system integration are two major challenges posed by openness to business partners in complex innovation projects. However, there remains limited research on the microfoundations (i.e., actions and practices) underpinning the organizational capabilities required to address these challenges. Drawing on a case study of a pioneering electric vehicle manufacturer, we develop a multi-stage process model showing how these capabilities are developed and phased out in terms of the organizational principles (e.g., hierarchical product architecture) and actions and practices (e.g., sharing knowledge by deputing staff to/from business partners). Our study contributes to the literature by taking a microfoundations approach to unpack the ‘black box’ of organizational capabilities critical for managing complex innovation projects into actions and practices, and emphasizes the importance of firms' internal preparedness for managing openness.

Banking for a Low Carbon Future

We present a qualitative comparative case study of four European banks, investigating mechanisms that help or hinder the integration of climate change (CC) considerations in the banks’ corporate strategies. We find that strategic CC responses are dependent on the following factors: the initial interpretation of the CC issue, the language deployed to advocate for CC and the governance structures that are being invoked (or not) to spread attention to CC both within the bank and to external constituents. We contribute to research on corporate CC (in)action by developing a multi-stage process model of CC responses in a low salience industry.

Multistage model of flotation process for water purification

The paperdeals with the features of multistage model’s application of the flotation process that was devoted by the author. In his paper, the author described the applicability of ion flotation for wastewater treatment using the flotation machines. The author showed the approach associated with the use of a multi-stage process model is effective for determining the floating time. The author gives the theoretical and experimental data of the flotation process and their comparison. The paper shows that the proposed model reasonable describes the process of flotation water purification, in particular from metal ions. In this case, the kinetics of the formation of flotation complexes and the concentration of metal ions in the foam layer are also quite understandable.

Day-ahead optimal scheduling method for grid-connected microgrid based on energy storage control strategy

A day-ahead optimal scheduling method for a grid-connected microgrid based on energy storage (ES) control strategy is proposed in this paper. The proposed method optimally schedules ES devices to minimize the total operating costs while satisfying the load requirements of cold, heat, and electricity in microgrids. By modeling the operating cost function of each stage, the proposed method is able to adapt to different types of electricity markets and pricing mechanisms. The technical characteristics of ES, such as self-discharge and round-trip efficiency, are considered in the control strategy with a multi-stage process model. An improved dynamic programing method is used to solve the optimization model. Finally, case studies are provided to illustrate the application process and verify the proposed method.

A process model of academic entrepreneurship

Innovations stemming from research conducted on university campuses are a growing source for the ideas and core technologies that drive entrepreneurial endeavors. This trend has led to development of the term academic entrepreneurship, which refers to the efforts and activities that universities and their industry partners undertake in hopes of commercializing the outcomes of faculty research. Because it is a relatively new phenomenon, the process of academic entrepreneurship has not been as well articulated as one might hope. As such, the objective of this article is to draw on a range of academic entrepreneurship literature to develop a multi-stage process model of academic entrepreneurship. This model is intended to guide potential stakeholders through the application of academic entrepreneurship, with a focus on improving the odds of success. The advantage of this approach is identification of the activities, actors, and key success factors associated with each stage of the academic entrepreneurship process. We conclude our discussion by highlighting the benefits of engaging in academic entrepreneurship for a variety of potential stakeholders.

Statistical monitoring of multi-stage processes based on engineering models

Most manufacturing processes consist of a large number of stages. The modeling of multi-stage processes by considering physical and mechanical laws in a linear state space form is extensively reported in the literature. This type of modeling describes the quality linkage among stages. However, recent research on statistical monitoring of multi-stage processes usually makes no use of this type of approach. A Statistical Process Control (SPC) method is proposed for multi-stage processes described by an engineering state space model. As a part of Phase I SPC analysis, a maximum likelihood estimation procedure based on an EM algorithm is developed. The complex multi-stage monitoring problem is converted to a simple multi-stream monitoring problem by applying group exponential weighted moving average charts to the one-step ahead forecast errors of the model. Reported run length results show the efficiency of the proposed charting method. The effectiveness of the proposed monitoring method is illustrated by its application to data from automobile hood manufacturing and workpiece assembly.

The Effect of Price History on Demand as Mediated by Perceived Price Expensiveness

A multistage process model is proposed that predicts past prices are used to form a reference price (stage 1), the reference price determines perceived expensiveness of the current price (stage 2), and the perceived expensiveness mediates the effects of past prices on demand (stage 3). This process model is tested by measuring the effect of past prices on perceived expensiveness and actual demand in a simulated shopping experiment. The robustness of the model is studied using several price histories and controlling for alternative processes by which past prices might influence demand. Results show that the influence of price history on current demand is mediated through perceived expensiveness as the model predicts; higher past prices lead to lower perceived expensiveness of the current price and this lower perceived expensiveness leads to higher demand.

The general-gamma distribution and reaction times

The general-gamma distribution describes input-output times in a multistage process consisting of exponential components whose constants are all different. The distribution and its unique history are examined. A stochastic process that leads to it is presented. The conditional density (hazard) function is studied as a means for estimating parameters. Finally, the multistage process model is applied to simple reaction times in an effort to reveal underlying detection and response components.