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Article
Publication date: 16 August 2019

Benn Lawson, Antony Potter, Frits K. Pil and Matthias Holweg

Responding in a timely manner to product recalls emanating from the supply chain presents tremendous challenges for most firms. The source might be a supplier from the same…

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Abstract

Purpose

Responding in a timely manner to product recalls emanating from the supply chain presents tremendous challenges for most firms. The source might be a supplier from the same industry located next door, or one from a completely different sector of the economy situated thousands of miles away. Yet the speed of the firm’s response is crucial to mitigating the consequences of the recall both for the firm, and consumer health and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of geographic distance, industry relatedness and clustering on firm response time to a supplier-initiated product recall.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test the theoretical framework via an examination of food recall announcements registered with the US Food and Drug Administration over a ten-year period. The authors develop a data set comprising 407 pairs of supplier and affected downstream manufacturing firms, and utilize cross-classified hierarchical linear modeling to understand the drivers of organizational responsiveness.

Findings

The results suggest that firm response time is lengthened by geographic distance but reduced when the supplier and affected firm operate in related industry sectors. The authors further find that as more firms in a given industry are affected by the same recall, response time deteriorates.

Originality/value

Product recalls in the agri-food industry are significant events initiated to protect consumer health and ensure the safety of the farm-to-fork food chain. The findings highlight how both geographic- and industry-related factors determine the speed of firm responsiveness to these events.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 39 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 March 2021

Yinyin Cao, Frits K. Pil and Benn Lawson

This study aims to provide insight on how work–life initiatives impact employees. Using corporate volunteer programs as an example, the authors examine the role of coworker social…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to provide insight on how work–life initiatives impact employees. Using corporate volunteer programs as an example, the authors examine the role of coworker social influence in shaping the reactions of both employee participants and non-participants of the program. The paper further identifies several factors that may moderate these relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors surveyed employees before and after the implementation of a new corporate work–life initiative. 99 employees provided data pre and post. OLS regression and hierarchical linear modeling were used to test hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Even in the context of low participation, work–life initiatives engendered positive organization-related perceptions among employees. These positive outcomes were due in part to coworkers' sharing of their volunteer experiences and were most prominent for employees in positions that afforded flexibility, and employees who reported close ties with coworkers.

Practical implications

The study deepens our understanding of employee reactions to work–life programs and underlines the importance of these programs even when employee participation is low. The role of coworker influence as a determinant of employee reactions suggests there may be value in purposefully fostering participants' sharing of volunteer experiences in the workplace.

Originality/value

This study takes a unique approach to examining the role of coworker influence in shaping employee reactions to corporate initiatives.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2023

Yinyin Cao, Benn Lawson and Frits K. Pil

Firms are accountable for upholding worker rights and well-being in their supply base. The authors unpack the evolution in lead firm thinking and practice about how to assure…

Abstract

Purpose

Firms are accountable for upholding worker rights and well-being in their supply base. The authors unpack the evolution in lead firm thinking and practice about how to assure labor conditions at suppliers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted interviews with the social sustainability leaders at 22 global corporations (“lead firms”) and their sustainability consultants to understand how they think about, and enact efforts, to support labor in their supply base. The authors complement this with an analysis of stated practice in proprietary supplier codes of conduct for the manufacturing and extractive-related firms in the S&P 500 and FTSE 350.

Findings

The authors’ interviews suggest firms follow two distinct and cumulative approaches: a transactional-based approach leveraging collective buyer power to enforce supplier compliance and a relational-based approach focused on mutual capacity building between lead (buyer) firms and their suppliers. The authors also see the emergence, in a small subset of firms, of a bottom-up approach that recognizes supplier workers as rights-holders and empowers them to understand and claim their rights.

Originality/value

The authors identify systematic convergence in supplier codes of conduct. While the transactional and relational approaches are well documented in the supply chain social sustainability literature, the rights-holder approach is not. Its emergence presents an important complement to the other approaches and enables a broader recognition of human rights, and the duty of Western firms to assure those rights.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 February 2015

Adam Seth Litwin

Although many employers continue to adopt various forms of worker participation or employee involvement, expected positive gains often fail to materialize. One explanation for the…

Abstract

Although many employers continue to adopt various forms of worker participation or employee involvement, expected positive gains often fail to materialize. One explanation for the weak or altogether missing performance effects is that researchers rely on frameworks that focus almost exclusively on contingencies related to the workers themselves or to the set of tasks subject to participatory processes. This study is premised on the notion that a broader examination of the employment relationship within which a worker participation program is embedded reveals a wider array of factors impinging upon its success. I integrate labor relations theory into existing insights from the strategic human resource management literature to advance an alternative framework that additionally accounts for structures and processes above the workplace level – namely, the (potentially implicit) contract linking employees to the organization and the business strategies enacted by the latter. The resulting propositions suggest that the performance-enhancing impact of worker participation hinges on the presence of participatory or participation-supporting structures at all three levels of the employment relationship. I conclude with implications for participation research.

Details

Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-380-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1999

Low Sui Pheng and Wee Tian Sin

Presents the principles of thirty six Chinese classical strategies which includes strategies for attack, strength, confrontation, confusion, gaining ground and desperate…

Abstract

Presents the principles of thirty six Chinese classical strategies which includes strategies for attack, strength, confrontation, confusion, gaining ground and desperate situations. Applies these to strategic planning and marketing rather than the traditional use on battlefields. Uses anecdotal evidence to give examples and suggests that they are relevant to many other business areas.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1984

Edward C. Paolella

Within the past few years, responsible educators, librarians, parents, counselors, social workers, therapists, and religious groups of all sexual persuasions and lifestyles have…

Abstract

Within the past few years, responsible educators, librarians, parents, counselors, social workers, therapists, and religious groups of all sexual persuasions and lifestyles have recognized the need for readily available reading material for lesbian and gay youth. Unfortunately, this material is often buried, because it is embedded in larger works. To meet this need, I have compiled and annotated 100 of the best works for young homosexuals, bisexuals, and heterosexuals. I have also included a few of the best works currently available on heterosexuality as a much needed source of knowledge for all young adults whether they are gay or straight, whether they remain childless or eventually become parents.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2004

Purba Rao

This paper studies the relevance of the “greening of production” in the South‐East Asian context. It investigates the various initiatives taken by the companies of this region and…

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Abstract

This paper studies the relevance of the “greening of production” in the South‐East Asian context. It investigates the various initiatives taken by the companies of this region and thereby identifies the factors that are critical in the process of greening production in this region. The significance of the factors are ascertained and validated through an empirical research that has been conducted across five countries of the region employing the structural equation‐modeling framework.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

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