Search results

Exploring ways to acquire, sustain and improve competitive positions in supply chains through information sharing, supply chain visibility, collaboration and agility have been essential for scholars and practitioners. Basing on the relational view, resource based view and the extended resource based view, this study assesses the critical role of information sharing in supply chains through emphasizing its effect on supply chain visibility, collaboration, agility and supply chain performance. Particularly, the study proposes that information sharing, supply chain visibility, collaboration and agility collectively have crucial direct and indirect influences on supply chain performance which lead to superior gains, competitiveness and flexibility.

The study adopted a survey research design, a quantitative approach and partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in making data analysis and interpretations due to its suitability for predictive research models.

The results indicate information sharing positively and significantly influenced supply chain visibility, collaboration, agility and performance. Supply chain visibility presented significant effects on collaboration, agility and performance, while supply chain collaboration and agility had significant impact on supply chain performance. The study findings connote that information sharing is key to enhancing competitive gains and superior supply chain performance.

The study is among the few to probe on how information sharing as a variable interacts with supply chain visibility, collaboration, agility and performance. Although, information sharing has received a lot of attention in supply chains, this study is among the first to capture the study variables in a single model and thus, exposes the vital need for information sharing in improving supply chain performance seeing that it ensured significant and robust impacts on the study variables.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of information technology (IT) and supply chain management initiatives (information sharing and collaboration) impact a company's performance in reverse logistics (RL).

A survey based on a previous exploratory research and literature review was sent out to 600 US companies having substantial activities in RL. Issues addressed in the survey, such as IT types deployed, IT operational attributes, information sharing, and collaboration, involve multiple parties in multi‐tier RL networks, extending beyond a simple buyer‐supplier dyad.

The results revealed that the type of IT used per se did not have a differential impact on a company's performance in RL. However, IT operational attributes positively affected RL performance and information sharing and collaboration are critical to RL performance.

Investment in IT alone cannot improve a company's performance; managers should take full account of IT attributes when deciding IT in RL. IT operational attributes tend to support one another – an improvement in one would lead to improvements in the others. With no exception in RL, companies need to share information and collaborate with their partners.

The paper reports an empirical survey of the IT use and collaboration practices in RL, and provides insights into the relationships and impacts of IT, RL operational attributes, information sharing, and collaboration on one another as well as on RL performance.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the interrelationships between various characteristics of information sharing and trust and their criticality for effective information-centred supply chain collaboration initiatives and, in turn, its criticality to overall firm’s performance.

A survey of 189 executives from different firms was conducted and the resulting data were analysed to investigate how collaboration enablers affect effective collaboration and to determine its impacts on organisational performance. Structural equation modelling through partial least squares is used to study the relationships between four enablers (trust, information readiness, information accuracy and information security), perceived collaboration success, and two outcomes (sales growth and overall operational performance).

The empirical results indicate that three collaboration enablers including trust, information readiness and secure sharing of information improve supply chain collaboration. The present study finds that “secure sharing of information” was the most important factor in fostering information sharing-centred collaboration. The present study also demonstrates that effective collaboration positively and significantly influences on firm’s performance.

This study provides researchers and practitioners with a more comprehensive understanding about the information sharing-centred collaboration, its enablers and effects on firms’ performance in a supply chain context. Future research should focus on developing additional constructs that may capture other drivers of effective collaboration.

The present study makes an empirical contribution to the body of knowledge by investigating an integrated framework focussing on the enablers of collaboration through information sharing and its impact on firms’ performance.

This paper aims to describe how knowledge management (KM) in planning can support the sustainability of innovation in a hybrid, joint-use facility. The case study research studies ImaginOn, a 15 year-old children’s library and theater for young people in Charlotte, NC.

This research used KM model analysis of qualitative data about tacit-explicit knowledge, intellectual capital (IC) and cognitive modes of collaboration. Both historic documents and primary data (from field study observations, interviews and a questionnaire) were analyzed for informal KM practices. Semi-structured and unstructured interview questions about innovation were used.

This study found evidence of tacit knowledge sharing, the growth of IC and the operationalization of collaboration to promote innovation. Although traditional KM terms were not used by staff, an integrated model framework demonstrates how KM practices promote innovation in planning joint-use facilities.

Although a study of a diverse cultural collaboration rather than two libraries, the KM practices that supported innovation and collaboration in this hybrid, joint-use facility might be applied to libraries. Future KM model research on joint-use organizations could investigate merged businesses, government programs and non-profits.

The library and theater institutions in ImaginOn impact the lives of children and parents in meaningful ways that support community understanding, art, diversity and social interaction.

Research on joint-use libraries began in the 1960s. This case study provides unique model analysis of KM practices in a hybrid, joint-use facility (a library and theater). The innovative success and sustainability of ImaginOn illustrates the application of KM for strategic planning and aligning IC and business assets.

This study aims to explore the challenges of truck-sharing and effective ways of dealing with those in achieving supply chain collaboration and collaboration in transportation management (e.g. transport collaboration) for transport capacity expansion, and reducing carbon emission and traffic congestion for integrating environmental and social sustainability issues. This paper also reveals insights into successful shared-transportation and a reduction in empty trips.

This exploratory qualitative study was conducted by means of interviewing road carriers from the container transportation industry.

In a truck-sharing initiative, technical issues (e.g. carrying capacity) arise, some of which involve the container truck and some involving constraints that cannot be controlled, such as driving restrictions, seaport operating hours, and the presence of the large number of container categories pertaining to the industry. Therefore, a significant amount of “structural empty running” may always prevail. It should also be noted that some, seemingly vital, constraints can actually be changed, treated, or modified for better truck-sharing outcomes, such as building a foundation of trust and establishing coordination among road carriers.

A probable solution to the problem of increasing hinterland transport capacity is to make appropriate use of the huge number of idle truck slots that exist; this could be achieved by encouraging the acceptance of the challenges of truck-sharing realistically and suggesting an approach to handling them.

To broaden its appeal, truck-sharing initiatives must be able to overcome challenges by combining theoretical insight with an understanding of the practical aspects of such an endeavor. This original research fosters knowledge that is unique and which also has real-life applications in maritime logistics studies and supply chain literature for both port authorities and container road carriers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of strategic collaboration (SC) on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), considering the mediating role of internal knowledge sharing (IKS) and external knowledge sharing (EKS).

The study population consisted of experts associated with the supply chain in the automotive, food, clothing, pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries. After reviewing the literature, a conceptual framework was developed and applied using a structural equation modeling approach. In this study, samples with 271 observations were collected from manufacturing and servicing companies in Iran.

The results showed that SC in the supply chain has a positive impact on the IKS and EKS and SSCM. IKS and EKS have a positive impact on SSCM. Also, the results showed that IKS and EKS fully mediate in the relationship between SC and SSCM.

This study has been done in the context of Iran, so caution should be taken to generalize the results.

The findings of the study contribute to the knowledge of the managers and policy makers in achieving SSCM. The results provide the important environmental and social concepts regarding the sustainability of supply chain using SC and IKS and EKS.

The dilemma of implementing and adopting inter‐organisational systems (IOS) that enable information sharing in an electronic fashion has been regarded as an inevitable issue for the public sector. The majority of previous studies have mainly focused on Central or Federal level organisations, and more importantly applied so‐called old fashion theoretical lenses, hence failed to capture the extensive picture of information sharing in an inter‐organisational and inter‐departmental settings. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the barriers and enablers of information sharing in local level in order to clarify why sharing information in local level differs from the central/federal level, and why innovation adoption theories are not sufficient enough to explore an inter‐organisational phenomenon.

A systematic literature review on technology adoption in public sector is carried out in order to select a suitable theoretical lens. Hence, based on previous research on information sharing in public/private sector, inter‐organisational systems adoption, and inter‐departmental collaboration, the factors and participation phases that are relevant to the context of local government have been summarised and discussed.

This paper proposes a novel conceptual framework that can be used as a tool for decision‐making while sharing information electronically. The framework consists of four main levels: investigation and presentation of factors influencing EIS in LGAs based on external environment, organisational capacity, technology environment, EIS characteristics, and inter‐departmental environment; investigation and presentation of the processes that an LGA department should carry out to decide whether to share information with another department; mapping of the influential factors on the participation phases; and prioritisation of the factors influencing EIS in LGAs in different decision‐making phases.

The proposed framework should be tests and validated through empirical cases, focusing on inter‐departmental collaboration in local level.

From theoretical perspective, almost none of the previous research have investigated the effectiveness of DOI or TOE in studying the adoption of inter‐organisational innovation. Also, they have failed to examine and prioritise the importance of the factor influencing EIS on the participation phases.

The purpose of this study is to investigate organizational culture’s perceived importance and practice as it unfolds across hierarchal layers of a formalized organization. Organizational culture is important in innovation and change and becomes significant if its importance and practice are shared across all levels of an organization. Highly formalized organizations are not an exception to this. Yet, there is a shortage of empirical evidence on how the organizational culture’s perceived importance and practice unfold across the senior-management, middle-management and operational levels of a formalized organization.

Applying a theoretical frame incorporating information asymmetry, knowledge sharing and cultural participation, this paper examined three important facets of culture, namely, trust, collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Using a Jordanian bank’s case study, this paper collected data using a mixed-methods approach; quantitative to identify variations across levels and, subsequently, qualitative to explore the nuanced patterns in the perceived importance and practice of the three facets across different organizational levels in the context of a formalized organization.

The findings suggest that the importance and practice of the three cultural facets are shared, as well as differentiated across organizational levels based on purposiveness, person/situation-dependency and nature of work and nature/relevance of knowledge.

Using a multi-level lens provided insight not yet gained by current work in the field. This allowed us to unearth nuanced differences in the perception of organizational culture across organizational hierarchies. The paper contributes to the scholarship on organizational culture in the context of formalized organizations and to managerial practice by offering insights on how a shared practice of trust, collaboration and knowledge sharing is distributed across organizational levels, not captured before. This paper also suggests propositions related to each of three cultural facets, not spelled out before.

The present study aims to tackle SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) managers' awareness of coopetition benefits underpinning the process of knowledge sharing with a view to achieve innovative performance. The scrutiny of coopetition is placed within the context of SMEs strategic networks, which foster a fertile ground for competitive knowledge sharing and direct collaboration among members.

In total, 102 top managers and business owners of European steel SMEs were questioned regarding various issues related to coopetition, knowledge, collaboration and innovative performance strategies. The collected data were analyzed via the technique of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The obtained values confirm that intense competition in the field stimulates SMEs to become aware of the benefits of coopetition. This awareness directly influences the innovative performance of the SMEs, as well as their interest in competitive knowledge sharing and their willingness to engage in direct collaboration. Direct collaboration catalyzes more intense competitive knowledge sharing at the inter-unit level whereas both direct collaboration and competitive knowledge sharing lead to better innovative performance in the case of the studied steel SMEs.

A key theoretical contribution resides in revealing the influence of manifold factors in the overall equation of innovative performance, integrating competition, coopetition and knowledge sharing as antecedents.

The research advances a phenomenological view on SMEs networks in their strategy to leverage competitive knowledge and enhance system-driven innovation.

This study aims to fill the gap in collaboration culture improvement by designing an information-sharing system as an enabler to support the forming dimensions of the collaboration process in previous studies. The authors propose the appropriate system to eliminate the collaboration culture gaps between the related functional units based on in-process interaction learning in a business process outsourcing company.

This study employed action research (AR) based on soft systems methodology (SSM) with a system thinking approach, in which the authors and process actors design the agreed information-sharing system by involving the process actors in identifying the initial problem situation as well as validating the conceptual model through discussions and designing the expected system.

This study discovers that SSM-based AR is a suited method for designing a system that supports the formation of collaboration culture among actors in the digital service creation process by learning user perceptions and expectations in order to obtain their commitment to empower the proposed system.

In addition to providing a system to minimize the lack of collaboration culture, this study contributes to the academic literature by offering a new way of planning and designing in a system development methodology using soft systems approaches to understand user perceptions, expressing user interaction in a conceptual model and validating it and defining agreed activities to obtain the best design according to user expectations.