Order Winners Research Articles

Unraveling the dynamics of urban desirability: a multi-faceted analysis of large cities

In the context of rapid urbanization, the challenge of accommodating growing populations while enhancing urban desirability has become a paramount concern for city planners worldwide. This study delves into the multifaceted endeavor of understanding urban desirability index, aiming to identify and analyze the attributes that contribute to the allure of large cities. Going beyond traditional perspectives, the research employs association rule mining to uncover hidden interdependencies among urban quality of life attributes that collectively shape citizens’ satisfaction. Furthermore, the study introduces the operative concepts of 'order qualifiers' and 'order winners’, borrowed from the realm of operations management. These concepts provide a novel analytical framework for evaluating pivotal dimensions of urban desirability. Leveraging both survey data and city-level statistical metrics from prominent U.S. urban centers, this research investigates the intricate interplay between economic, social, and environmental facets, thereby illuminating their cumulative influence on the satisfaction of urban residents. Notably, the study identifies median salary and community wellbeing as essential qualifiers shaping urban desirability, while also exploring the impact of nationwide excellence as a determinant of municipal desirability. These discernments serve to empower local governing bodies and policymakers in devising effective strategies for urban development and enhancement.

Green certification practices and process innovation alignment: diminishing point and catching up in nation's economic development

PurposeThe manufacturing investment shift from developed countries to emerging and developing regions creates further needs for identifying appropriate green certification strategies. This study proposes that alignments between green certification practices (GCRs) and process innovation (PIN) could help identify appropriate strategies that national economic development can influence.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the diffusion of innovation theories, this study proposed a taxonomy to examine whether sustainable performance differs depending on the levels of alignment and the role of national economic development. The study uses an empirical survey approach to highlight alignments between GCRs and PIN among developed, developing and emerging economic nations, addressing resource allocation for the world's sustainable development goals (SDGs).FindingsManufacturers need to align PIN practices with the level of green certification to achieve sustainable performance. Manufacturers experiencing higher payoffs from various improvements successfully align in GCR and PIN. The alignment between these two concepts can derive different taxonomies, which highlight performance and managerial implications for manufacturers. The manufacturers followed three distinct typologies: minimalist, process active and proactive. Besides, building on the theory of performance frontiers, the findings indicated that manufacturers in developing and emerging economies placed the most substantial GCR effort compared to their counterparts in developed nations. Manufacturers in developed countries are increasingly reaching the “diminishing points” and investing limited resources in GCR just enough to keep their competitive positioning as order qualifiers rather than order winners. Developing economies are catching up very quickly in attaining GCRs and business performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis insight is essential for managers to adapt to nations' economic development conditions and appropriately and effectively align resources.Practical implicationsThe findings offer a decision-making process and provide straightforward guidelines for supply chain managers' green certification adoption.Originality/valueIn including both PIN and green certification, this paper adds greater comprehensiveness and richness to the supply chain literature.

The importance of warehouses in logistics outsourcing: benchmarking the perspectives of 3PL providers and shippers

PurposeAn ever-increasing number of companies outsource logistics activities to third-party logistics (3PL) providers to beat the competition. From the buyer's (shippers') perspective, selecting the right 3PL provider is crucial, and from the 3PL provider's perspective, it is imperative to be attractive and to retain clients. To this aim, a potential lever can be physical assets, such as warehouses, which the literature has traditionally neglected. The objective is to benchmark the importance of warehouses for 3PL providers to attract/retain clients and for shippers to select the right 3PL provider.Design/methodology/approachThe authors performed an empirical investigation through interviews on dyads (3PL providers/shippers) and utilized the Best-Worst Method (BWM) to rank the criteria used in the 3PL buying process and allow the warehouse's role to emerge.FindingsResults show that the 3PL buying process consists of four phases and three evaluation steps. The selection criteria are classified into three groups: order qualifiers, order winners and retention factors. The warehouse has different levels of importance throughout the process. It appears that it can indirectly enhance the attractiveness and retention capability of 3PL providers through other selection criteria.Originality/valueBy combining the resource-based view and the customer value theory, this research extends the theory on logistics outsourcing by studying the phases of the 3PL buying process and scrutinizing the criteria used in different evaluation steps. The research adds a double perspective of analysis (3PL providers and shippers), which is missing in the literature, and focuses on the importance of warehouses.

What Makes Bangladeshi RMG Suppliers Resilient in Global Apparel Supply Chain Management?

The global Readymade Garments (RMG) industry heavily relies on global supply chain management that aims to seek suppliers offering affordable, high-quality products delivered quickly. However, research on the factors influencing supplier selection in the RMG sector is scarce, and existing models fail to explain the paradox of rising exports in Bangladesh despite supply chain disruptions. This research strived to pervade this knowledge gap through a mixed-method empirical study on 66 international clothing brands. The findings reveal a two-step supplier selection process involving enlistment in a qualified supplier pool and subsequent allocation of work orders within the pool. Supplier competence and competitiveness are critical for enlistment and order qualification, while supplier relationship, competitiveness, and competence influence the selection of order winners. Notably, larger companies prioritize relationships in supplier selection. International RMG buying companies should focus on supplier competence factors to mitigate supply chain risks and maintain positive public relations. For the same reason, Bangladeshi policymakers should enforce compliance and help RMG suppliers to gain competencies.

캘더콧 수상작에 나타난 동물 형상화의 양상

This article aims to discuss animal-focused Caldecott winners in order to explore the way in which anthropocentric perspectives are projected onto animals, the animal wildness erupts through artificial coverings, and animals and humans meet in the wild. The act of feeding and helping animals is based on a highly human-centered setting that makes animals live and feel happy even in hard conditions, as depicted in Make Way for Ducklings, The Big Snow, and Song of the Swallows. The relationship between Genevieve and Madeline in Madeline’s Rescue shows that animals have risen to the status of friends living together, instead of being typified as inferior creatures. On the other hand, references to zoo tigers in Madeline’s Rescue lead to rethinking of the meaning of animals located in a separate space called a zoo, unlike pets, as in The Biggest Bear, May I Bring a Friend?, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, and Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear. Zoos are exposed to the fundamental problems implied by the observation that the zoo animals have been deprived of wildness. The wild energy of the animal as a “living creature” breaks through the cracks of the homopocentric layers no matter how hard the layers try to cover the energy, which is portrayed in The Three Pigs, Where the Wild Things Are, Jumanji, and Tuesday. A possible union of an animal and a human is hinted in The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, but it is almost impossible to capture the scene with human language. Owl Moon and Wolf in the Snow demonstrate how hard it would be to try to reach the reality of the animal in the wild under the cover of human language. Not relying on any other human language than onomatopoeia, which translates the sounds of animals into symbols as they are heard, Owl Moon and Wolf in the Snow trace meaningful encounters between animals and humans in the wild.

Materiality of supplier sustainability assessment for buyer companies in a global context

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the materiality of supplier sustainability assessment (SSA) on four sustainability dimensions and seeks to reveal the associations of some company (sustainability orientation, supply-chain position, stock exchange membership, and size) and country-level variables (fundamental rights protection, regulatory enforcement, environmental policy stringency, and business ethics) with the materiality of SSA for buyers. Using secondary data from multiple sources and permutation tests, the study also makes methodological contributions to the literature dominated by case- and survey-based research. Findings show that the variables associated with SSA materiality change with sustainability dimensions: while both country- and company-level variables such as regulatory enforcement and sustainability orientation have strong associations with the materiality of SSA on newer dimensions (e.g. social impact), these variables have no association in case of traditional dimensions (e.g. environment). These imply that emphasis put on SSA only on newer dimensions may differentiate companies in sustainability orientation and serve as order winners, and for other dimensions the same observation is not possible.

The effect of lean and agile operations strategy on improving order-winners: Empirical evidence from the UAE food service industry

This research aims to assess the impact of lean and agile operational strategies on improving order winners in the food service industry in the UAE. Research disclosed a few attributes with a dimensional review of lean and agile strategies that enhance strategic alignment in the food service industry of UAE to achieve the maximum benefits that have never been identified in research before. Data from 85 Sharjah-based food service companies were used for the analysis. A quantitative method with descriptive, causal and exploratory research design was used, along with convenient cluster sampling. A valid sample size of 255 respondents was used to assess the model through regression and ANOVA using SPSS. Research findings show a significant direct impact of lean strategies on order winners, and agile strategies significantly positively impact order winners. In contrast, both variables have a significant direct impact on order winners. This research is limited to assessing the impact of lean and agile strategies to achieve maximum order winners. Future research should consider a manufacturing industry to increase generalizability and a comprehensive focus on the lean and agile dimensional impact on competitive advantage. Customer loyalty and satisfaction lead a business toward order winners. An exemplary implementation of lean and agile strategies can translate into high business performance.

The analytic hierarchy process as an innovative way to enable stakeholder engagement for sustainability reporting in the food industry

AbstractThe sustainable transition, which requires a combination of natural and human resources to foster the development and protection of ecosystems, is a challenge of civil society. New approaches may be proposed to support enterprises in identifying the appropriate strategic criteria for their sustainability initiatives, which are eventually documented in corporate sustainability reports. The present paper focuses on the food industry, particularly with regard to pasta production.The analytic hierarchy process method was used to assign relevance to sustainability criteria, according to the judgment of 10 academic experts. The initial criteria were selected from the sustainability reports of a virtuous and Italian pasta producer, La Molisana S.p.A., and divided into four categories: (1) people and community, (2) innovation and new product development, (3) commitment to the environment and (4) local supply chain and traceability. Promotion of social and economic development in the local community emerged as the most relevant criterion, followed by business development and promotion of talent. The people and community category was deemed most strategic for sustainability, while social and economic dimensions were given less relevance. Stakeholder engagement was proposed as an order winner for sustainable strategies.The present work has relevant methodological implications, as it shows that the analytic hierarchy process, applied in conjunction with a sustainability materiality matrix, may provide new and useful information for strategy and communication. In terms of operational implications, an enterprise’s historical connection to an area may attract global recognition and increase brand value through higher raw material quality, the harmonisation of human and natural resources, and synergy with the tourism industry.

An empirical investigation into the impact of product quality dimensions on improving the order-winners and customer satisfaction

The quality of product is a major element through which customers are attracted to purchase and as a result, companies get in return sales and profits. This study aims to investigate how product quality dimensions can improve the order winners from the case study of Apparel Group a leading retailer in Dubai, UAE. 155 customers were surveyed to collect the primary data to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that performance, features, durability and perceived quality have strong relationships with order-winners, and all such elements improve the winning orders for firms.

Development of footprint framework of performance measurement system for SMMOs

PurposeThe performance measurement system (PMS), recognized as an important tool for rapid improvement, has found wide applications in the larger organizations and has received a lot of research attention in recent past. PMS adoption in SMEs is low even though SMEs have realized its importance and benefits and are now ready to embrace PMS as a tool for improvement. This paper proposes a novel framework, called the footprint framework, for design and implementation of PMS for SMEs. The proposed framework overcomes some of the major barriers to adoption by simplifying the process of design and implementation of PMS.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework was conceptualized and its basis was tested for feasibility using an industry survey. The survey was analyzed using the statistical tools available in the SPSS 24.0 statistical analysis software, and the insights obtained from this analysis were used to shape the proposed framework. The framework was populated for small and medium manufacturing organizations (SMMOs) as a case study. Analytic hierarchy process was used to synthesize the data provided by the survey to build up the proposed framework and its components.FindingsThe footprint framework is a unique framework in the respect that it consists of a set of PMS suited to different company profiles that can be accessed quickly. Any SMMO that desires to determine its future PM requirements has simply to define its probable profile of the future in terms of size, business model and order winner and check the PMS appropriate to that profile from the footprint framework. Thus the SMMO can even prepare for its futuristic PM needs.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework overcomes some of the major barriers to adoption by simplifying the process of design and implementation of PMS. The main advantages of the footprint framework are its simplicity, ease of use, immediate implementation and a built-in knowledge bank.Practical implicationsThis research has proposed a new PMS framework, an out of the box tool that makes it possible for the Indian SMMO to adopt PMS on an instant basis. The footprint framework combines the experience of several researchers and several practitioners to offer a ready-made starter kit that needs no other aid to implement a most appropriate PMS and leverage the industry PM best practices to build the performance measurement knowledge and expertise of the SMMO without going through a protracted learning or training process.Social implicationsThis research has made a novel proposal for a PMS framework by proposing the footprint framework – a PMS framework that is not only an instant, out of the box solution for the SMMOs but also incorporates the know-how to implement the performance measurement complete with information on what to measure, how to interpret and what should be done to improve.Originality/valueThe proposed framework is simple to understand and removes a key barrier of PMS adoption for SMMOs. The user SMMO needs to state its size, business model and order winner from the available options, build up its PMS code, select the matching PMS from the framework and the SMMO is ready to implement the PMS.

When Sustainability Becomes an Order Winner: Linking Supply Uncertainty and Sustainable Supply Chain Strategies

This study investigates how to implement a sustainable supply chain strategy by choosing a set of sustainable practices while considering the strategic priority assigned to sustainability within a company’s competitive strategy (i.e., an order winner (OW), market qualifier (MQ) or desirable attribute (DA)). Therefore, two research questions arise: RQ1. What are the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices adopted by companies under the different levels of priority assigned to sustainability (i.e., OW, MQ and DA)? and RQ2. How does supply uncertainty influence the choices regarding the SSCM practices to adopt or vice versa? We addressed these questions through a two-step methodology that includes 10 exploratory case studies in different industries and four explanatory cases in the furniture industry. Six research propositions are developed, and we show how some sustainable practices are common to all companies in the sample, while others are only applicable when sustainability is an MQ or an OW. Moreover, in contrast to the suggestion in the literature, we observed that companies with sustainability as an OW implement sustainability practices despite increasing exposure to supply uncertainty. However, when sustainability is a DA or an MQ, companies might implement sustainable practices with the aim of reducing supply uncertainty rather than for sustainability goals. The cases show that investment in these practices can trigger a transition towards a situation in which sustainability is an OW.

Offshore versus Onshore Sourcing: Quick Response, Random Yield, and Competition

Motivated by the recent reshoring initiatives, we study firms’ global sourcing strategies from two different supply sources, offshore and onshore supply bases, under supply and demand uncertainty. Interestingly, even though onshore sourcing has a significant benefit from market responsiveness, offshore sourcing having no cost advantage also provides benefits in the presence of yield uncertainty and market competition. If competing firms commit single sourcing, one firm may choose inferior offshore sourcing to dampen competition. When a dual‐sourcing option is available, firms always utilize dual sourcing, offshore sourcing as well as onshore sourcing, for risk pooling purpose. Our result shows that risk pooling is an essential driver in supplier selection in that the need for dual sourcing cannot be eliminated by other influential factors (e.g., responsiveness and competition effect). However, we find that firms may suffer from a dual‐sourcing option under competition. This contrasts with the conventional wisdom that dual sourcing benefits firms in the presence of supply uncertainty. When it comes to order allocation, market responsiveness is not necessarily an order winner since it does not lead to a larger order to an onshore supplier if demand is guaranteed above a certain level. Under competition, firms’ order allocation is mainly determined by supply yield correlations.

Resource-Based Product and Process Innovation Model: Theory Development and Empirical Validation

Using a resource-based approach to innovation, this study proposes an alternative innovation model to the existing market-based Product Life Cycle (PLC) model. In particular, this study explores how the attributes of corporate strategic resources affect product and process innovation patterns. This study covers the development of new theory, as well as the empirical validation of the innovation model proposed in this study. Based on survey data from 257 chief operations officers in the United States, the ‘resource-based innovation model’ was tested and validated through various analytical methods, such as clustering, discriminant, and structural equation modeling analysis. The main findings are that (1) companies relying on both knowledge-based resources (KBR) and property-based resources (PBR) tend to focus on product and process innovation at the same time, (2) companies relying heavily on KBR tend to centralize their efforts for process innovation rather than product innovation, (3) companies with low reliance on KBR and PBR tend to minimize R&D efforts in product and process innovation, and (4) in a dynamic market condition, process innovations serves as order winners, while product innovations serves as order winners in a stable market. This research contributes to the operational management literature by proposing a new resource-based innovation algorithm that helps to understand innovation phenomena that are difficult to explain through the lens of the PLC-based innovation paradigm.

Logistics capabilities measurement in the fractal supply network

Measurement of logistics capabilities will enable firms to provide order winners by adding value for products and services during the different stage of supply chain to win the competition and enhance firm's performance and customer's satisfaction. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a fuzzy-AHP multi-criteria decision-making model to measure logistics capabilities in the fractal supply network. The key areas of measurement within a fractal supply network are identified and a hierarchical model is proposed with a set of generic measures. In addition, a questionnaire is developed for pair-wise comparison and to collect opinions from practitioners, researchers and managers to validate the proposed model. The relative importance of the measurement criteria is assessed using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy-AHP. Hence, the validity of the model is confirmed with the results obtained.

Logistics capabilities measurement in the fractal supply network

Measurement of logistics capabilities will enable firms to provide order winners by adding value for products and services during the different stage of supply chain to win the competition and enhance firm's performance and customer's satisfaction. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a Fuzzy-AHP multi-criteria decision-making model to measure logistics capabilities in the fractal supply network. The key areas of measurement within a fractal supply network are identified and a hierarchical model is proposed with a set of generic measures. In addition, a questionnaire is developed for pair-wise comparison and to collect opinions from practitioners, researchers and managers to validate the proposed model. The relative importance of the measurement criteria is assessed using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and Fuzzy-AHP. Hence, the validity of the model is confirmed with the results obtained.

Dissecting supply chain integration: impact of integration quality on customer-oriented performance

Supply chain integration (SCI) has been touted as an important strategy for obtaining competitive advantage. In the context of the mobile telecommunication service (MTS) industry, this study examines how different dimensions of SCI relate to customer-oriented performance measures, including customer satisfaction, customer relationships, switching costs, and customer loyalty. Building upon the service profit chain framework, this study proposed and tested seven research hypotheses in two dimensions of SCI: upstream (i.e. phone provider and MTS provider) and downstream (i.e. MTS provider and application provider) integrations. As part of these efforts, this study developed a new instrument to measure the quality of upstream and downstream SCIs. The dataset with 158 upstream and 130 downstream integrations in the Taiwanese MTS industry was then analysed by using a structural equation model. The results confirm the impacts of upstream and downstream SCIs on customer loyalty and the mediation effects of relationship quality, customer satisfaction, and switching cost. This study also discovers differential effects of upstream and downstream integrations on customer-oriented performance: the upstream integration serves as an order qualifier in the marketplace, while the downstream integration is the order winner for MTS providers. Several suggestions are made regarding the measurement of SCI and improvement on SCI strategies to achieve customer loyalty in the MTS industry.

Order Winners and Order Qualifiers by ISM and MICMAC Analysis-Hanssem

Order Winners and Order Qualifiers by ISM and MICMAC Analysis-Hanssem

Integration of Order Review and Release and Output Control with Worker’s allocation in a pure flow shop

With the increase of competitiveness and customer customization requirements, companies’ capability to predict and shorten lead-time is becoming an order winner factor. This is particularly crucial for high variability mix and low volume make-to-order companies. Production Planning and Control aims at the alignment between capacity and demand in order to improve production system performance along with lead-time reduction. Workload control is a planning production and control concept developed for high-variety low-volume companies. It aims at controlling the workload in the system by mean of two mechanisms: the input control and the output control. The former regulates the release of new orders in the system, while the latter controls the production capacity. Most of the existing studies focused only on input control, while the output control has been quite overlooked. Moreover, the few studies that combine the two controls were interested in showing the effect on performances and did not consider a specific output control strategy: they operationalized capacity adjustments as decreases of the processing time. This paper is a preliminary step in filling this gap: input control in the form of order review and release and worker’s allocation, as capacity adjustments strategy, are integrated in a pure flow shop. Worker’s allocation is meant not to increase the overall capacity of the system but to shift idleness periods of workers. Order review and release and Output Control integration (ORROCI) model is presented, showing how the two control mechanisms can be integrated and tested, through simulation. It takes into account both load distribution and capacity available in the system and it transfers workers only when there are imbalances amongst stations load. Preliminary results show that order review and release and worker’s allocation can be successfully integrated, achieving superior performances. Further researches can be pursed testing different labor flexibility and efficiency levels, along with different where, when and who rule concerning worker’s allocation.

Investigating critical criteria for supplier quality development

Identifying critical criteria for supplier quality development is vital for improving the performance of suppliers. In this paper, we determine critical criteria for supplier quality development based on review of literature and discussion with supplier quality experts from industry. The criticality of the criteria is determined based on: (a) Kano’s model (must haves, satisfiers, dissatisfiers); (b) Hill’s manufacturing strategy (order winners and order qualifiers); and (c) criteria weights. The results of the study yield the following as the must-be and order winning elements for supplier quality evaluation: price; delivery performance; service; environment; health and safety; ISO 9000; European Foundation for Quality Management; quality management policy; understanding of customer requirements; supplier product quality; process control; quality inspection programs; process for handling complaints; and a system for corrective action. For supplier quality development, the must-haves and order winning elements are: honoring outstanding suppliers; involving suppliers early in product and process development; and sending instructors and technical consultants to the supplier’s site. The proposed results have strong practical applicability and can be used by decision makers for supplier performance evaluation, setting targets for performance improvement, resource allocation for supplier quality development, and designing necessary operations for improving the performance of their suppliers.

Environmental sustainability in shipper-LSP relationships

In this study we examine the role of environmental sustainability in transport operations in Shipper-Logistics Service Provider (LSP) relationships from the LSP perspective. The research questions posed are as follows: What kinds of firm see environmental sustainability as a component of competitive advantage, and why? How does environmental sustainability manifest itself in firm operations, and why? What pressures are there for environmentally sustainable development, and why? What is the role of environmental sustainability in the selection of LSPs, and why? Data was collected from Finland, using an exceptional combination involving both quantitative and qualitative methods in a survey (600 responses) and in firm interviews (15 LSPs). The findings indicate that large, globally-operating shippers and carriers are the most interested in environmental issues, partly because of external pressures and partly because they see the greening of transport as a potential source of competitive advantage. However, due to the lack of widely accepted methods for measuring the environmental impact of transports, companies cannot easily share the costs and benefits of environmental initiatives between supply chain members nor use such initiatives as marketing arguments to differentiate their offerings. Therefore, environmental sustainability acts in practice more as an order qualifier than as an order winner in the carrier selection process. Despite this, it seems that environmentally proactive LSPs financially outperform their less active peers. We therefore conclude that environmental sustainability can be free, if it is integrated with operational performance and cost indicators that boost competitive advantage. Our study contributes to the intersection of GSCM and logistics, particularly from the LSP point of view.