Supply Organizations Research Articles

Contracted ERP projects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the sequential nature that enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects tend to take and to describe how the buyer typically behaves concerning the need for control and learning in and in‐between ERP projects.Design/methodology/approachResults come from an in‐depth case study of sequential ERP projects. The respondents were a major Swedish retailer and a supplier who undertook upgrading of an ERP system with six separate and sequential projects. The research was framed by independent pre‐ and post‐interviews in three buyer companies' from different areas of business.FindingsResults suggest that success is associated with mutual learning between supplier and buyer organizations that lead to reasonably amicable working relationships. Control considerations run through these projects and conflicts appear minimal in the sequential treatment. Insightful interpretation comes not only from empirical reflection on interactions in an in‐depth case study, but also from concepts available in decision making and project marketing as well.Research limitations/implicationsCase studies present in‐depth understanding but have generalization limitations. Also the case study was accomplished in Sweden and thus knowledge about behaviour in other countries and cultures is needed.Practical implicationsManagers investing in relationships and learning in an initial project probably suffer in terms of satisfaction and profitability at that stage but could accomplish more effective, satisfying and profitable situations over time. In particular, appreciation of the nature of the sequential project development, mutual control, delivery and learning in these projects could be useful in understanding the buyer behaviour in ERP projects.Originality/valueLearning is important in projects but how do the buyers behave? A description of the sequential nature of ERP projects and the learning process both within the buyer's company and within the supplier's company is established. Tables are created that describe how the gap in the mutual learning process decreases in‐between projects in business‐to‐business projects.

El prefecto del pretorio: una figura dominante de la política romana en el siglo III

El artículo analiza el desarrollo de la fi gura del Prefecto del Pretorio, que desde sus comienzos fue una de las más importantes dentro de las instituciones de estado romanas, pero que con la llegada de los cambios políticos después de la muerte de Marco Aurelio, aumentó su protagonismo hasta el punto de gozar de más poder en ocasiones que el mismo emperador. La coyuntura inestable y las fuertes prerrogativas de las que gozaba convirtieron a ese alto funcionario, mitad militar y mitad burócrata, en un personaje clave dentro de las intrigas políticas romanas, que desde su posición inigualable fue capaz a menudo de eliminar al emperador mediante una conspiración para ocupar su lugar. La situación se hizo tan grave llegado el siglo iv que Constantino decidió retirarle el mando de tropas y las funciones militares, convirtiendo al Prefecto del Pretorio en un juez supremo y organizador del suministro.

Shoppers' Experiences of Digital Signage-a Cross-National Qualitative Study

Digital signage, sometimes known as a Digital Communications Network (DCN) or private plasma screen network, has been little researched to date. This paper puts forward the view that signage is a very important facet of modern life due to its ubiquitous and visible nature to advertise the names of brands, services and the corporate names of supplier organisations and high street stores, to direct people as to where to go for special events and so on. The paper focuses on how consumer shopping behaviour can be enhanced by an atmospheric stimulus and the ways in which digital signage can affect consumer perceptions about the brand names or image of shopping malls. A qualitative study is carried out with empirical results evaluating how digital signage screens can improve the image of shopping malls and create a favourable shopping atmosphere. The findings showed that the effects are influenced by the audio and video contents and also by the locations of the screens. In addition to the obvious application to shopping malls in improving business-to-consumer appeal to shoppers the findings are of use to suppliers of digital signage in business-to-business marketing of their systems to shopping mall tenants.

Jungle Laboratories: Mexican Peasants, National Politics, and the Making of the Pill

Despite the birth control pill’s position as a symbol of modern scientific advancement, Mexico’s role in the production of synthetic steroids and the global pharmaceutical science that led to the pill has been regrettably overlooked. Fortunately, Gabriela Soto Laveaga corrects this. By exploring the history of a forgotten medicinal yam that grows wild in Mexico’s southern tropical states — and the powerful and lucrative diosgenin source material extracted from it — Soto Laveaga demonstrates the intertwined complexity of global medicine, social conditions, and economic reforms. She reconstructs the shifting relationships between rural harvesters, state industries, and international companies from 1941 to 1989 and in doing so chronicles the social organization that waxed and waned around this tuber.Although it might fit into the slew of recent “commodity” profiles, this book is different for two reasons. First, rather than a botanical product of high visibility (cocaine, vanilla, coffee), it chronicles the hidden, unsuspected role of a native root, barbasco, in the modern pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, barbasco’s story proves so compelling because of its ubiquitous presence in laboratories and its rapid rise and fall in global circulation in an industry long imagined to have only elite roots. Second, the author succeeds in telling this story from a remarkably human perspective.Soto Laveaga’s introduction situates barbasco’s usage and makes a strong case for its relevance to the political, economic, and social changes of the mid-twentieth century. The book’s nine chapters alternate among the local, national, and international domains. She first gives a glimpse into the deep history of the Tuxtepec region of Oaxaca, considered the nation’s richest barbasco site, and guides the reader through a host of relevant landscape and demographic changes. A discussion of international pharmaceutical discoveries follows to chronicle how scientists came to seek out steroid hormones in southern Mexico. The explanations of relevant scientific terms and processes are particularly strong here. Examples of how international demand reached the countryside and began to reconfigure rural labor demonstrate the author’s attention to the tensions between supply, demand, and social organization. The same tensions led subsidiaries of prominent pharmaceutical firms to enter Mexico, raising the interest, but not yet sustained actions, of government committees. Increasing national interest in the yam’s value peaked during the shifting political atmosphere of the 1970s. President Echeverría ultimately used this interest to nationalize the industry and create a government processing company, Proquivemex, with the intent to modernize rural areas. In the final chapters, Soto Laveaga chronicles Proquivemex’s struggles with transnational corporations, local populations, and ultimately, the business conditions that resulted in the company’s failure to reach its much heralded potential. Yet, some of the social changes, such as expanded knowledge, land reconfiguration, and unionization, remained in the countryside.The strength of this work comes from the judicious use of both interviews and archival sources. Drawing on repositories in Oaxaca, Mexico City, and the United States, the author mines a variety of sources for data on volumes and prices, company negotiations and government policies, as well as barbasco ballads, photographs, and cartoons. The volume of evidence is astounding and put to good use. To this background, Soto Laveaga adds lively oral histories. Her brief but revealing profiles of campesinos humanize discussions of yams, diosgenin, and state projects as she insists that scientists, both domestic and foreign, relied on rural Mexicans’ understandings of natural systems, from soil conditions to yam species, to develop this prosperous trade. By locating processing facilities in the sites of harvest, like Tuxtepec, state administrators conceded the signifi-cance of campesinos to this industry; but campesinos proved more than passive recipients. In this way, barbasco offered an important opportunity for Echeverría’s populist government to hitch waning revolutionary rhetoric to a new site of possibility, with wide-ranging results. Soto Laveaga carefully maintains that barbasco’s use in reshaping the pharmaceutical world was more than an early case of biopiracy. Instead, this study also demonstrates how local power structures change over time.My single minor quibble with this otherwise captivating text is a structural one: The overuse of subheadings at times shortens the interesting analysis rather than allowing narrative threads to weave together. Otherwise, the writing is crisp and clear.In sum, this is an interesting and important book. For Mexicanists, it makes a much-needed contribution to studies of post-1940 rural Mexico and of Echeverría’s era in particular. It will earn attention from regional scholars interested in the history of science and the history of state formation, political organization, and transnational business, in addition to a commodity studies audience. Finally, historians, anthropologists, and geographers interested in the ebb and flow of local knowledge will also find much use in this careful study.

Improving long-term care provision: towards demand-based care by means of modularity.

BackgroundAs in most fields of health care, societal and political changes encourage suppliers of long-term care to put their clients at the center of care and service provision and become more responsive towards client needs and requirements. However, the diverse, multiple and dynamic nature of demand for long-term care complicates the movement towards demand-based care provision. This paper aims to advance long-term care practice and, to that end, examines the application of modularity. This concept is recognized in a wide range of product and service settings for its ability to design demand-based products and processes.MethodsStarting from the basic dimensions of modularity, we use qualitative research to explore the use and application of modularity principles in the current working practices and processes of four organizations in the field of long-term care for the elderly. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 key informants and triangulated with document research and observation. Data was analyzed thematically by means of coding and subsequent exploration of patterns. Data analysis was facilitated by qualitative analysis software.ResultsOur data suggest that a modular setup of supply is employed in the arrangement of care and service supply and assists providers of long-term care in providing their clients with choice options and variation. In addition, modularization of the needs assessment and package specification process allows the case organizations to manage client involvement but still provide customized packages of care and services.ConclusionThe adequate setup of an organization's supply and its specification phase activities are indispensible for long-term care providers who aim to do better in terms of quality and efficiency. Moreover, long-term care providers could benefit from joint provision of care and services by means of modular working teams. Based upon our findings, we are able to elaborate on how to further enable demand-based provision of long-term care by means of modularity.

Critical factors for implementing green supply chain management practice

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore critical factors for implementing green supply chain management (GSCM) practice in the Taiwanese electrical and electronics industries relative to European Union directives.Design/methodology/approachA tentative list of critical factors of GSCM was developed based on a thorough and detailed analysis of the pertinent literature. The survey questionnaire contained 25 items, developed based on the literature and interviews with three industry experts, specifically quality and product assurance representatives. A total of 300 questionnaires were mailed out, and 87 were returned, of which 84 were valid, representing a response rate of 28 percent. Using the data collected, the identified critical factors were performed via factor analysis to establish reliability and validity.FindingsThe results show that 20 critical factors were extracted into four dimensions, which denominated supplier management, product recycling, organization involvement and life cycle management.Research limitations/implicationsThis study obtained 84 valid responses from the Taiwanese electrical and electronics industries, the limitation of the study is the insufficient sampling. Future researches need to be performed using a larger sample and studying more countries.Practical implicationsThe Taiwanese electrical and electronics industry plays a decisive role in the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry. Consequently, the validated instrument enables decision makers at ICT manufacturers to evaluate the perceptions of GSCM in their organizations. In addition, the critical factors of implementing GSCM practices validated in this work can help enterprises identify those areas of GSCM where acceptance and improvements will be made, and in prioritizing GSCM efforts.Originality/valueThis study presents an empirical investigation of GSCM practices, and fills a gap in the literature on the identification and establishment of critical factors for GSCM implementation in electrical and electronics industries.

Policy strategies to reduce waits for elective care: a synthesis of international evidence

This synthesis seeks to assess and explain the effectiveness of policy interventions to reduce elective wait times or lists. PubMed, EMBASE, EconLit, and grey literature were systematically searched for relevant studies and reviews. Strategies with the strongest evidence base include paying for activity, buying capacity locally and setting targets with strong incentives. There is also evidence for improving the use of existing capacity. Limiting demand through rationing can reduce waits, but is ethically problematic. Short-term injections of funding, cross-border treatment schemes, unenforced targets and promotion of private health insurance had the weakest evidence. Available evidence favours options that act fairly directly on supply, demand or local organizations' behaviour, over indirect strategies that depend on a 'domino effect'. Further research is needed to determine how to achieve major, system-wide improvements in the use of capacity.

Barriers to innovation adoption: a study of e‐markets

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore and expound the factors that impinge on the adoption and usage of industrial e‐markets.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature on e‐market adoption was followed by in‐depth interviews with senior managers in buyer, supplier, and e‐market organisations. Senior level executives (15) reported barriers and challenges to the adoption and usage of e‐markets operating in the aerospace and defence and higher education sectors. The interview data is transcribed, coded and analysed using the qualitative data analysis programme QSR N6.FindingsThe paper found a number of barriers and challenges related risk perception, knowledge deficits, trust, firm size, and organisational readiness that moderate the adoption and usage of e‐markets in the sectors.Research limitations/implicationsThere is unequal representation of buyer and supplier organisations between the two e‐market sectors. However, the case material enabled the research question to be answered and did not compromise the aims of the research.Practical implicationsThe case material presented in the paper can help academic researchers, managers, practitioners and other professionals better understand the barriers that impinge on e‐market adoption and find practical ways to mitigate those barriers.Originality/valueRecently, research on the barriers and challenges to e‐markets has been largely anecdotal and patchy with a paucity of studies noting factors that are likely to be conducive to e‐markets success. This study departs from such studies by offering empirical evidence of the factors in moderating the uptake of e‐markets.

Conflict Management for Justice, Innovation, and Strategic Advantage in Organizational Relationships

This study proposed that conflict management affects organizations’ beliefs that they have an effective voice (procedural justice), have shared their benefits fairly (distributive justice), and are treated respectfully (interactional justice). Structural equation analysis results suggest that a cooperative approach to conflict facilitates justice in its 3 forms in organizational relationships, and that justice, in turn, results in partner strategic advantage and innovation. Results from a sample of 103 pairs of customer and supplier organizations in Shanghai were interpreted as providing support for the value of justice for collaborative work between organizations. The findings also suggest that a cooperative approach to managing conflict is an important antecedent to justice in organizational relationships in China.

Direcionadores na difusão da estratégia de Postponement: casos de empresas Brasileiras

O propósito deste artigo foi investigar a difusão do postponement no ambiente de negócios brasileiro e identificar os direcionadores de sua implementação. Este estudo utilizou a metodologia de multicasos para avaliar um fenômeno muito conhecido na literatura, mas raro no mundo empresarial. Resultados sugerem que a adoção do postponement exige não apenas a reconfiguração do sistema logístico, mas também mudanças no relacionamento entre os membros da cadeia de suprimentos, investimentos em tecnologia e visão estratégica de seus líderes. Novos pré-requisitos foram identificados, sugerindo que o atual modelo para implementação do postponement necessita ser ampliado. As empresas precisam investir em mudanças de produto, processo, relacionamento na cadeia de suprimento e organizacionais para usufruir dos benefícios do postponement.

Relationship between supply chain management practices and organisation performance: a case study in the Malaysian service industry

Supply chain management (SCM) is one of the tools used by organisations to improve their business performances. This research aims to investigate the relationships between supply chain practices and organisations performance. Six supply chain practices are chosen in this research: customer orientation, knowledge sharing, information technology (IT) adoption, partnership, leadership and training. This study was conducted based on the service industry in Malaysia. Regression analysis was applied to test the model in this research. The findings showed that leadership, IT adoption, customer orientation and training have a significant influence on the performance of the service organisations. Our results will be useful for decision makers and top management in the service industry to formulate SCM strategies that can help them to enhance their organisation performance.

Establishment of a Composting Manure Supply Organization Mainly Run by Arable Farmers:

Establishment of a Composting Manure Supply Organization Mainly Run by Arable Farmers:

Power Industry Reliability Coordination in Asia in a Market Environment

This paper addresses the problems of power supply reliability in a market environment. The specific features of economic interrelations between the power supply organization and consumers in terms of reliability assurance are examined and the principles of providing power supply reliability are formulated. The economic mechanisms of coordinating the interests of power supply organization and consumers to provide power supply reliability are discussed. Reliability of restructuring China's power industry is introduced. Some reliability data is provided. The data shows that the reliability level has increased significantly in the past two decades. More and more measures are being applied to guarantee reliability of the restructured power systems. The reliability issues and challenges that are facing the Chinese power industry are considered The paper, then examines the evolution of power grids in India, the establishment of a regulatory framework, and operational philosophy in reliability aspects of long-, mid- as well as short-term (operational / outage) planning. Grid security, restoration, and mock trial for black start, etc. from the reliability angle are considered. Related issues for islanding operation to improve service reliability for Thailand's Electric Power System are then analyzed.

Seven modes of healthcare operations - a tool for casemix analysis?

Seven modes of healthcare operations - a tool for casemix analysis?

Preventing failure in IT-enabled systems for supply chain management

Supply chain management (SCM) emphasises the overall and long-term benefit of all parties on the chain through cooperation and information sharing. This signifies the importance of communication and the application of IT-enabled systems in SCM. A supply chain management information system (SCMIS) is usually user-interfaced and designed to provide information and information processing capability to support the strategy, operations, management analysis, and decision-making functions in an organisation's supply network. SCMIS provides high quality, relevant and timely information flow that effectively supports decision-making for inventory replenishment, capacity activation, and for synchronising material flows at all tiers within the supply chain. In recent years, there have been some efforts on designing efficient information systems for supply chain management; but many of them have led to failure. Using a critical failure factor (CFF) approach and based on a perfect study, we investigate this crucial issue in-depth and put forward feasible solutions regarding failure prevention in such systems throughout this article. Three main purposes of this paper are to: (1) identify SCMIS and its characteristics, (2) introduce and categorise the critical failure factors of SCM and SCMIS, and (3) investigate the explanatory power of these CFFs on the performance of supply channel processes performed through SCMIS.

Strategic relationships between boundary-spanning functions: Aligning customer relationship management with supplier relationship management

This review focuses on the potential impact of enhanced strategic relationships between the boundary-spanning functions in supplier organizations. Specifically, the concern is with alignment between the organizational groups managing: marketing, sales and strategic account management; purchasing and supply strategy; and, collaborations and external partnerships. The topic is framed by the organizational evolution being driven by market change, and the search for superior innovation capabilities and business agility. These changes bring new challenges in cross-boundary integration and managing complex market networks. The logic is that strategic external relationships (with customers, supplier and partners) should be mirrored in strategic internal relationships (between the functions with lead responsibilities for managing relationships with customers, supplier and partners). Approaches to enhancing this capability include process management, internal partnering strategies and internal marketing activities. The discussion identifies a number of implications for practice and new research directions.

Water resource management in Malaysia: legal issues and challenges

The two-wave flood incident in Malaysia in 2006 has raised concerns over the economical, sociological and psychological impact on the victims. Nevertheless, many do not realize that the tragedy has been exacerbated due to the current structure of water resource management system in the country. This paper discusses the complexities of the present legal framework with regard to water resource management in Malaysia. An examination has been made to the current Federal Constitution as well as the Federal legislations. The study proves that the problem related to water resource management in Malaysia is partly due to the unclear division of power between the Federal and the State Governments and the fragmented legislation on Malaysian water. As a developing nation, Malaysia has been experiencing rapid urbanization and development. High-rise commercial buildings have become common and the number of housing estates is rising at an unimaginable rate. These developments do come with some prices. Many of its tropical rainforests, which act as its natural storm water preservation, have been cleared to make way for development. Most of the flood storage has been reduced due to developments extending into and taking over flood plains and the drainage corridor. As a result, many cities in Malaysia like its capital Kuala Lumpur and cities in industralized states like Selangor, Penang and Johore often experience occasional flooding. Although the global change in climate may have contributed to the situation, the inefficient water resource management in the country does play some part in it. This paper aims to look at the existing legal framework of water resource management in the country and identifies problems that may hinder improvement in its water resource management. THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 2 IN MALAYSIA Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. The Federal Constitution clearly indicates that water is a state matter, and this includes rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater. This, however, is not exclusive as under the Federal List of the Constitution, the Federal Government has power over certain water-based projects in the state, such as hydropower generation, navigation within ports, marine fisheries and mining. In addition, drainage and irrigation has been stipulated under the Concurrent List, and hence fall under the jurisdiction of both Federal and State Governments. Under Article 76 of the Constitution, the Federal Government has the power to enact any law under the State List for the purpose of achieving uniformity, in compliance with an international treaty, or simply at the request of the state. Nevertheless, these regulations will not be effective unless the State Legislature approves them (1). The Federal Constitution has recently been amended in 2005 to delete the item 'water supply and services' from the State List and insert it in the Concurrent List. This will enable the Federal Govern- ment's involvement in the water services sector and to establish a regulated water services industry. Prior to the amendment, State Governments have established different types of water supply organizations, some fully privatized and some for operation and maintenance. Since privatization

Buyer–supplier partnerships during product design and development in the global automotive sector: Who invests, in what and when?

This paper explores the concept of partnerships between buyers and suppliers in the global automotive sector during product design and development. Partnerships are often the goal in a shift away from adversarial arms-length relationships. The objective of this research is to provide empirical evidence to explain the levels of mutual investment expected and achieved in partnerships from both buyer and supplier perspectives. During this research, 25 employees from 12 global supplier organisations who were in partnership with a specific vehicle manufacturer (VM) were interviewed. Twelve employees from this VM were also interviewed. The research showed the differences between partnerships and non-partnerships and the disparities in the expectations of investment from each partner. For suppliers and buyers to get the most out of partnerships, clear expectations and investments needed over time should be understood and agreed early in the relationship.

Was leisten Entwicklungsbeobachtungen in Kitas? Eigenschaften und Verbreitung verfügbarer Instrumente

The German institutions of elementary education, such as the kindergarten, are to perform developmental assessments for pre-school children in order to address specific need for interventions. Currently available assessment tools for the use by kindergarten staff were collected and compared according to scientific, economic and practical usability criteria based upon research and users expectations. 20 assessment tools were found in the German psychology database PSYNDEX, in publications, Internet, and in 45 interviews with experts from the largest supplier organizations of kindergartens. In addition to interviews and publications, criteria for the exclusion and the comparison of instruments were derived from basic methodological texts on test quality and from 10 interviews of kindergarten headmasters in Hamburg. Among the 48 descriptive characteristics of the screening instruments, 24 well-definable criteria were used for a comparison. The instruments varied widely in scope (developmental dimensions covered), efficiency (number of tasks and application time required), and practical usability. For most tools, including the most popular ones, psychometric quality is weak, not documented or dubious, and many tools neglect requirements of practical usability. Conclusions concerning the improved construction of instruments and the support of their implementation and practical relevance are proposed.

Process‐centric business intelligence

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to deliver an insight into the interaction effects of process‐oriented management and business intelligence (BI).Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes up publications from the fields of BI and business process management and analyzes the state‐of‐the‐art of process‐centric business intelligence (PCBI). To highlight the potentials and limitations of the concept, two exemplary use cases are presented and discussed in depth. Furthermore, a vision for the technical implementation is sketched.FindingsPCBI is found to play an important role in an organization's strive for competitiveness. The concept's potential benefits are significant. However, the overall levels of adoption and maturity of the concept within real‐world organizations appear to be rather low at the moment.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper discusses solely two exemplary use cases – the most that could be done within the scope of a journal publication. Therefore, the explanatory power and the representativeness of the results need to be scrutinized in detail.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the practical significance of PCBI. It therefore represents a useful source of information for both practitioners and academics who are interested in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization's information supply in support of its processes.Originality/valueThe paper motivates, describes, and analyzes the concept of PCBI. Furthermore, it provides examples of the concept's adoption and benefits from a practitioner's point of view.