Vendor Expertise Research Articles

Factors that Influence Electric Vehicle Purchase Intention: an Evidence from Indonesia

Electric vehicles (EV) are new products that will replace conventional vehicles. Previous studies on factors influencing EVs purchase intention rarely includes the impact of social media factors. This study aims to build a comprehensive model examining factors that influence consumer intention to purchase EVs. Based on the theory of reasoned action and risk-benefit model, this study incorporates social media relevance, vendor trustworthiness, vendor expertise, social influence, and perceptions of EV benefits and risks. Data is collected through online surveys. 295 data were obtained and analyzed by exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression using SPSS. The results show that perceived relevance to social media has the greatest influence on EV purchase intention, followed by perceived benefits and risks, social influence, and vendor expertise, while vendor trustworthiness didn’t have a significant impact. This study’s result contributes to the knowledge of EV buying factors and offers managerial implications for EV providers’ business strategy. Keyword: factor, purchase intention, social media, theory of reasoned action, electric vehicle

Determinants of Company Performance with Supply Chain Risk Management as an Intervening Variable: Empirical Studies on BUMN Construction in Indonesia

BUMN construction companies are required to be competent to maintain the quality of the company by having good performance. Due to the phenomenon of declining financial performance and the phenomenon of outsourcing, a system is needed which is a synergy between SCM and risk management, that is Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM). This study aims to further explore the supply chain risks that occur in state-owned construction companies in Indonesia by developing a system that can control risk and play an important role in Vendor Trust, Contractor-Vendor Relationship and Top Management Involvement to measure company performance. The data collection was carried out using a survey method using questionnaires and interviews. Respondents were selected using the purposive sampling method, that experts on Indonesian BUMN construction projects using the Smart PLS analysis method. The results of the study concluded that Vendor Trust has no effect on Supply Chain Risk Management. This is related to the existence of Law No.2 of 2017 reinforced by Minister of BUMN No.08 of 2019 which regulates the readiness of database infrastructure and Vendor criteria. Based on this regulation, a Vendor Management System was created that applies ratings, sanctions and Blacklists to Vendors, if there are errors or even a shortage of Vendor expertise documents, Unverified will occur and the impact on billing to contractors will be hampered so that trust can increase mutually beneficial relationships in long-term partnerships hard to do. Contractor-Vendor Relationship and Top management Involvement influence SCRM. Vendor trust, Contractor-Vendor Relationship and Top Management Involvement influence company performance after being mediated by Supply Chain Risk Management.

The Application of the Best Value Approach in Janitorial Services

A problem facing the construction industry is how to reduce cost and increase value on projects. The Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) identified, through the Industry Structure (IS) model, that the problem is being caused by the “client centric” approach where the client is the expert and uses the price-based approach. The IS model identifies that if a client uses a Request for Proposal and identifies and utilizes vendor expertise, they can increase performance and lower cost on projects. This is the Best Value Approach (BVA). A city in Colorado used the BVA to deliver a requirement for janitorial services. Their budget was lower than their current expenses. The City agreed to utilize the BVA to attempt to cut cost and increase the level of service. This paper covers their purchasing effort to identify and utilize janitorial services. The paper identifies if the BVA was able to increase the janitorial service while lowering the cost.

An Empirical Study of Delays in Large Engineering Projects: An Indian Experience

This article analyzes factors responsible for delays in two large projects undertaken by an Indian organization over a period of 7 years. The research work critically examines the reasons for delays using questionnaires in four core areas of project work. An in depth analysis has identified 10 factors, which cause delays, viz., inept project planning practices, inadequate and inexperienced consultant personnel, recurring stakeholders interactions, incomplete understanding of the client’s requirements, unfamiliarity with documentation needs in the client country, subsequent client and inspection agency-driven change requirements, incomplete preparation at the hook-up yard, and delays in vendor mobilization/inadequate vendor expertise. The original contribution of this research is in the areas of analyzing and understanding delays due to doing work in offshore locations, doing project management work using documents in offshore country language, understanding offshore country laws and regulations, in-depth understanding of the root causes of delays using detailed, segmented questionnaires and analysis of the sequential nature of project management work.

Effect of Vendor Characteristics and Relationship Quality on Consumer Re-Purchase Intention in the B2C E-Commerce in Yemen

This study attempted to establish the relationship between vendor characteristics and relationship quality on consumer B2B E-commerce in Yemen. E-commerce is gaining a lot of attention, especially in the Arabian world, as such we formulated and tested a model to explain B2C user repurchase intentions from the perspective of relationship quality. The model was empirically tested through a survey conducted in Yemen. Results showed that online relationship quality and perceived website usability positively impacted customer repurchase intention. Moreover, online relationship quality was positively influenced by perceived vendor expertise in order fulfillment, perceived vendor reputation, and perceived website usability. Trust in vendor behavior predominantly influenced online relationship quality and subsequent purchase intention. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Impact of Employee Participation in Accounting Services Outsourcing Decision: Case Study of Nigerian SMEs

This paper titled the Impact of Employee Participation in Accounting Services Outsourcing (ASO) by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. The study seeks to identify what factors affect outsourcing decision and the relationship between employee participation and outsourcing decision by SMEs. Therefore the study is mainly guided by the theory of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). The key arguments of this paper were developed in line with TCE Theory. Thematic analysis of 1,300 SMEs using 10 case study based on in-depth interviews with Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) representing 10 industrial sectors. The study area is North Central Geo-Political Zone of Nigeria comprising mainly profit based manufacturing SMEs excluding public not for profit and service oriented enterprises. The study found that ASO decision is affected by cost-driven, strategy-driven, environment-driven and function-driven factors which all are linked with employee attitude and behavior to work. Therefore the study concludes that employee participation has positive influence over sourcing decision by Nigeria’s SMEs. It also confirmed that communication, vendor expertise and trustworthiness are drivers of sourcing decision by these enterprises.

IoT Platforms: Analysis for Building Projects

1 IntroductionThe Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects around us that contain electronic components, software, sensors and networking systems, situation that allows these objects to exchange and acquire information. IoT generally allows the remote control of these objects using the already existing telecommunication infrastructure allowing direct integration into classic computer networks, with immediate benefits at reasonable costs. (2017) it is estimated that there are over 50 billion such objects already connected to the Internet. Through them, it is possible to connect a lot of devices, after interconnecting people through social networks and using the existing infrastructure. It is currently generally used for business, e-learning, education, research, or simply for personal needs [1].IoT requires all objects to be equipped with sensors and all people to be equipped with devices to collect this information to send them over the Internet to a series of integrated services to evaluate this information generating a complete map of people's lives. IoT is basically a network of objects interconnected with the following types of relationships:* People - people* People - things* Things - thingsWhat is an IoT platform? It's a suit of components that enables developers to deploy apps, remote data collection, secure connectivity device/sensor MGMT. IoT is a set of sensors, boards, devices that uses network support to exchange data and integrating these ecosystem with cloud platforms lead us to smart objects remotely controlled using collected and analyzed data by these platforms.2 Literature ReviewIoT Platforms (Internet of Things) and Cloud platforms are different technologies but together they are the future of Internet. Merged together and integration enables a large number of applications to be deployed regardless of which operating system is used by the user [2]. Figure 1 describes sensors and devices connected over Internet. Platforms provide a set of features and functionalities that can be used to build IoT, apps facilitating communication between sensors and devices regardless of operating system or type using common working environment storage and applications as virtual solution resides over cloud. Data transmitted between sensors and devices as well as those between devices and cloud-processed-based platforms ensures the business intelligence. The IoT platform is a hosted service that facilitates deployment of apps without cost of acquiring and complexity of hardware and software layers to ensure interconnecting things based on information and communication technologies by shared networks, apps, storage, hardware and services.The survey on IoT platforms was arbitrary based on the most simple and needed features and the options offered to developers[3] In the future with the help of IoT, robots will supply information and collaborate with humans by augmented reality and interact more efficiently in taking decisions based on-demand services. IoT can turn every smart object into a useful device that is connected to a network to provide useful information through common communications protocols and friendly interfaces regardless of remotely device used for displaying or control. Today are available various platforms for applications developers used for IoT solutions. first criterion considered for an IoT platform is that if the platform is an open-source (middleware/platform) or commercial (PAAS) platform. First of all, the developer should consider the following issues:* Cost of usage (free VS annual fee)* Visibility, control, interoperability (limited VS free including new features )* Vendor expertise support (PAAS VS Full stack)* Deployment (3rd party vs on-premises, cloud, hosted)* Professional services (expensive, shared VS cost-efficient methodology).Based on this criterion there are a lot of commercial platforms developed by cloud companies:* Google Cloud Platforms* IBM Blue Mix* Microsoft Azure Cloud* Amazon Web Services* Oracle Integrated Cloud* Bosch IoT suite* Ericsson Device connection platform3. …

Job Order Contracting Performance and Industry Analysis

The construction industry has had difficulty in delivering projects efficiently, in a timely manner and within budget. Approximately 2.5% of all global projects are delivered on time and on budget. Over the past 24 years, research has been conducted at Arizona State University to identify the source of project inefficiencies. As a result of 1800+ tests, researchers have concluded that a primary cause in project performance (time, cost and customer satisfaction) is the traditional owner-vendor relationship in which the owner uses a design, and build (DBB) approach. The industry has come up with other approaches such as design-build (DB) and construction management @ risk (CMAR) in hopes of decreasing the delivery time and lowering the project cost. However, in the latest industry study done comparing the different approaches, there are still no significant conclusions about which process is the most efficient. Deductive logic identifies that the contractor typically has more expertise than the owner does. Research shows that low bid and MDC could increase project costs and time up to 30%. Job Order Contracting (JOC) is a delivery system focused on minimizing the owner's repeated design and procurements and MDC on projects, by enabling a greater utilization of vendor expertise. This report examines the perspective of 47 owners and 13 contractors who have collectively delivered over $5 billion of construction services in JOC projects. The results of this survey effort suggest that JOC users are highly satisfied with its overall performance and are seeing better project outcomes and cost savings compared to more traditional methodologies.

A Decision-Analytic Feasibility Study of Upgrading Machinery at a Tools Workshop

This paper presents the evaluation, from a Decision Analysis point of view, of the feasibility of upgrading machinery at an existing metal-forming workshop. The Integral Decision Analysis (IDA) methodology is applied to clarify the decision and develop a decision model. One of the key advantages of the IDA is its careful selection of the problem frame, allowing a correct problem definition. While following most of the original IDA methodology, an addition to this methodology is proposed in this work, that of using the strategic Means-Ends Objective Network as a backbone for the development of the decision model. The constructed decision model uses influence diagrams to include factual operator and vendor expertise, simulation to evaluate the alternatives and a utility function to take into account the risk attitude of the decision maker. Three alternatives are considered: Base (no modification), CNC (installing an automatic lathe) and CF (installation of an automatic milling machine). The results are presented as a graph showing zones in which a particular alternative should be selected. The results show the potential of IDA to tackle technical decisions that are otherwise approached without the due care.

Supply management concepts in local government: Four case studies

The purpose of the article is to examine the factors that either foster or impede adoption of supply-chain management processes by public sector organizations, as well as to identify the potential benefits that can be achieved by local governments through the use of the supply chain framework. Case study findings suggest that in order for supply chain management innovation to occur in the public sector a number of factors must be addressed, including the willingness to invest in information technology; identifying opportunities for procurement to transition from a control to a support function; seeking to partner organizational expertise with vendor expertise; the ability to identify crucial supplies and strategic issues that add value to the organization; and to innovate incrementally. Results suggest that the adoption of a supply chain perspective can yield innovative procurement techniques.

Repurchase intention in B2C e-commerce—A relationship quality perspective

Information systems professionals must pay attention to online customer retention. Drawing on the relationship marketing literature, we formulated and tested a model to explain B2C user repurchase intention from the perspective of relationship quality. The model was empirically tested through a survey conducted in Northern Ireland. Results showed that online relationship quality and perceived website usability positively impacted customer repurchase intention. Moreover, online relationship quality was positively influenced by perceived vendor expertise in order fulfillment, perceived vendor reputation, and perceived website usability, whereas distrust in vendor behavior negatively influenced online relationship quality. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Automated library system migration in the United States

The application of computer technology to routine procedures in libraries has been evolving for more than twenty years. As technology has made new applications possible and as library and vendor expertise has developed, some libraries today are working with a second or even a third system vendor. This paper reports on a survey of libraries in the United States which have changed vendors and it identifies commonality and variation in factors associated with automation system change by these libraries.