Search results

1 – 10 of over 2000
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 December 2019

Sandro Cabral, Priscila Fernandes Ribeiro and Sanders Zurdo Romão

This paper aims to analyze the underlying factors of contract renewals in business-to-business (B2B) contracts.

1549

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the underlying factors of contract renewals in business-to-business (B2B) contracts.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors build a unique data set with 296 contracts signed between a major firm supplying petrochemical goods and its 128 customers between 2013 and 2016. They use Insider Econometrics as their methodological approach.

Findings

The econometric results suggest that contracts involving higher volume of trade, higher levels of dedicated assets representing seller’s specific investments in each transaction, and contracts comprising more than one product present an increased likelihood of being renewed.

Research limitations/implications

Although limited to a single organization, this paper contributes to management theories focused on buyer–supplier relationships in which coordination between interdependent parties is required.

Practical implications

Practitioners engaged in B2B relationships may benefit from the findings to shape their bargaining strategies in contexts of high levels of asset specificity and bilateral dependence.

Originality/value

This paper contribute to theories related to the strategic negotiation between buyers and suppliers by emphasizing the importance of asset specificity in a nuanced and multifaceted fashion, by highlighting aspects related to resource dependency, and idiosyncratic characteristics on contract renewal.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. 55 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Amer Jazairy, Robin von Haartman and Maria Björklund

The green logistics literature remains undecided on how collaboration between shippers (i.e. logistics buyers) and logistics service providers (LSPs) may facilitate green…

9691

Abstract

Purpose

The green logistics literature remains undecided on how collaboration between shippers (i.e. logistics buyers) and logistics service providers (LSPs) may facilitate green logistics practices (GLPs). This paper identifies two types of collaboration mechanisms, relation specific and knowledge sharing, to systematically examine their influence on facilitating the different types of GLPs – as seen by shippers versus LSPs.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey responses of 169 shippers and 162 LSPs in Sweden were collected and analysed using exploratory- and confirmatory factor analysis, followed by multiple regression analysis.

Findings

The findings reveal that neither of the actors consistently favour a certain type of collaboration mechanisms for facilitating all types of GLPs. Although it was found that both actors share the same view on the role of collaboration mechanisms for some GLPs, their views took contrasting forms for others.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the green logistics literature by incorporating a trilateral distinction to present collaboration recommendations for GLPs, based on (1) the collaboration mechanism at play, (2) the actor's perspective and (3) the GLP in question.

Practical implications

Insights are offered to managers at shipper/LSP firms to apply the right (“fit for purpose”) collaboration mechanisms in their relationships with their logistics partners with respect to the desired GLPs.

Originality/value

This is one of the first large-scale studies to systematically reveal in what way collaboration can facilitate the different types of GLPs.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 51 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 November 2023

Wen-Hong Chiu, Zong-Jie Dai and Hui-Ru Chi

This study aims to explore how manufacturing firms master customer lock-in through value creation by servitization innovation strategies from the perspective of asset specificity.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how manufacturing firms master customer lock-in through value creation by servitization innovation strategies from the perspective of asset specificity.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple case study with triangulation fashion is adopted to identify servitization innovation strategies. Several manufacturing firms were investigated, which are distributed in different positions of the value chain. Content analysis and abductive approaches are adopted to analyze the data. Moreover, an in-depth interview and participatory observation were conducted to refine the analysis results.

Findings

This study identified four different focusing points of servitization operations. Based on these, the paper further induces an innovative servitization strategy matrix of customer lock-in, concerning communion, intellectual, existential and insubstantial strategies. Furthermore, a conceptual model of customer lock-in by servitization innovation from the perspective of asset specificity is elaborated. It is suggested that companies can use tangible or intangible resources by sharing or storing operations to create servitization value.

Originality/value

This study theoretically proposes a conceptual model to extend servitization innovation as an intangible asset and adopt the new perspective of asset specificity to illustrate the value creation in servitization to generate customer lock-in.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 January 2022

Andrea Patrucco, Christine Mary Harland, Davide Luzzini and Federico Frattini

Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive…

2696

Abstract

Purpose

Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive environment, firms may choose to collaborate with suppliers beyond dyads, forming triadic or three-party relationships. Using the theoretical lens of the relational view (RV), this study aims to explore what type of triad configurations firms use to govern supplier relationships in collaborative innovation projects, how they choose to share resources and implications for project performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use interview data from buyers and suppliers in six case studies of firms involved in ten collaborative innovation projects. The four constructs of the RV are used to observe how firms govern triadic relationships, combine complementary resources, invest in relationship-specific assets and manage information and knowledge exchange with and between suppliers in innovation projects.

Findings

Four archetypes of triadic relationships in innovation projects – labeled Triangle, A-frame, D-Frame and Line – are presented and characterized in terms of their structural and relational features. The authors discuss how each triad archetype is applicable to different innovation projects according to specific project characteristics.

Originality/value

This study is pioneering in its empirical examination of triadic relationships in collaborative innovation projects. It provides a novel typology of four archetypes of triad from the perspective of collaborative relationships with suppliers. Through applying the RV, it advances understanding of how triadic relationships are governed, how they invest in relationship-specific assets, how they combine complementary resources and how they exchange knowledge and information in each type of triad appropriate to different innovation project settings. To date, much of the extant literature has focused on dyads.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 December 2023

Nakayima Farida, Ntayi Joseph, Namagembe Sheila, Kabagambe Levi and Muhwezi Moses

This study investigates how asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability relate with supply chain integration (SCI), considering selected food processing firms…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates how asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability relate with supply chain integration (SCI), considering selected food processing firms (FPFs) in Uganda.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies a quantitative research methodology. This research draws on a sample of 103 FPFs that have been selected from a population of 345 FPFs located in Kampala district. Hypothesis testing was done using Smart PLS version 3.

Findings

Asset specificity has a significant positive relationship with SCI, and firm adaptability partially mediates this relationship. Also, there is a full mediation impact of firm adaptability on the relationship between relational governance and SCI.

Research limitations/implications

This study focused on perceptual measures to get responses from managers on the level of integration with key suppliers and customers, yet firms deal with a number of suppliers and customers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to existing literature on SCI by applying the transaction cost theory. The study focuses on the influence of asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability on SCI in the food processing sector. Literature on relational governance in supply chain using the transaction cost theory remains scanty. Few studies have also focused on firm adaptability as a mediator in the FPS with specific focus on Uganda, yet the sector is highly faced with uncertain events. The uncertain events in the sector and in developing countries call for adaptive strategies. Additionally, this study is the first to use firm adaptability to mediate the influence of asset specificity and relational governance on SCI more so in a developing country like Uganda where the FPS is one of the most important in the economy.

Details

Modern Supply Chain Research and Applications, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3871

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 September 2022

Jan Sher Akmal, Mika Salmi, Roy Björkstrand, Jouni Partanen and Jan Holmström

Introducing additive manufacturing (AM) in a multinational corporation with a global spare parts operation requires tools for a dynamic supplier selection, considering both cost…

1860

Abstract

Purpose

Introducing additive manufacturing (AM) in a multinational corporation with a global spare parts operation requires tools for a dynamic supplier selection, considering both cost and delivery performance. In the switchover to AM from conventional manufacturing, the objective of this study is to find situations and ways to improve the spare parts service to end customers.

Design/methodology/approach

In this explorative study, the authors develop a procedure – in collaboration with the spare parts operations managers of a case company – for dynamic operational decision-making for the selection of spare parts supply from multiple suppliers. The authors' design proposition is based on a field experiment for the procurement and delivery of 36 problematic spare parts.

Findings

The practice intervention verified the intended outcomes of increased cost and delivery performance, yielding improved customer service through a switchover to AM according to situational context. The successful operational integration of dynamic additive and static conventional supply was triggered by the generative mechanisms of highly interactive model-based supplier relationships and insignificant transaction costs.

Originality/value

The dynamic decision-making proposal extends the product-specific make-to-order practice to the general-purpose build-to-model that selects the mode of supply and supplier for individual spare parts at an operational level through model-based interactions with AM suppliers. The successful outcome of the experiment prompted the case company to begin the introduction of AM into the company's spare parts supply chain.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 42 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 April 2023

Paul T.M. Ingenbleek and Caspar Krampe

As corporate sustainability is systemic, it cannot be achieved without effective involvement of suppliers. This study aims to examine the drivers of supplier companies’ resource…

3023

Abstract

Purpose

As corporate sustainability is systemic, it cannot be achieved without effective involvement of suppliers. This study aims to examine the drivers of supplier companies’ resource allocation to a sustainability issue that affects customer companies and society at large.

Design/methodology/approach

Supplier companies’ resource allocation for a sustainability issue is explained from variables at the levels of the institutional, supply chain and internal environments of a supplier company. The framework is tested with a moderated regression model on 102 supplier companies in animal-based supply chains, focussing on their resource allocation for farm animal welfare.

Findings

The findings show that supply chain factors have the strongest influence on suppliers’ resource allocation, including a strong effect of investment specificity and a U-shaped effect of chain integration. Also, significant effects from institutional variables, namely, the pressure on consumer companies, and an inverted U-shaped effect of sustainability competition are found. The innovativeness, referring to the internal environment of supplier companies, appears as another important factor for the allocation of resources to animal welfare, as a sustainability issue.

Research limitations/implications

The results have implications for consumer market companies to deal with sustainability issues that require involvement of their suppliers, for supplier companies to increase their competitive positions and strengthen their relationships within the supply chain, and for policymakers seeking solutions for sustainability issues in the market domain.

Originality/value

While existing literature focusses mostly on the corporate sustainability of highly visible and large consumer companies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the drivers of supplier companies’ resource allocation for a sustainability issue, namely, animal welfare. It provides insights on what drives supplier companies, usually operating outside the spotlight, to become part of a sustainability transition.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 February 2019

Carlos Sakuramoto, Luiz Carlos Di Serio and Alexandre de Vicente Bittar

There is a great reliance on fiscal incentives to sustain the automotive industry competitiveness due to several structural problems, among them the inefficiency of the supply…

10424

Abstract

Purpose

There is a great reliance on fiscal incentives to sustain the automotive industry competitiveness due to several structural problems, among them the inefficiency of the supply chain. This paper aims to compare the supply chain structure of traditional automotive industry with the supply chains from South Korea and China. Based on strategic decision and transaction cost theory, this comparison seeks to exploit the factors that led to the inefficiency of automotive supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a qualitative approach and applied a multi-method research. They conducted semi-structured interviews with six executives from automakers representing the selected countries, carried individual meetings during one workshop and used secondary data from several sources.

Findings

Concepts identified in the research such as reliability, supply chain governance and automaker competencies led the authors to propose that the traditional automakers have higher transaction costs when compared to the new automakers due to the horizontal structure of their supply chain. While new competitors have vertical upstream supply chains, which indicates better profitability, traditional automotive industry is horizontal, depends on fewer Tier 1 suppliers and is disconnected from Tier 2, impacting negatively in the transaction costs and supply chain management.

Practical implications

This study suggests that automotive executives rethink the current upstream supply chain model by identifying the competencies required for their current and future competitiveness and implementing a vertical integration of these competencies.

Originality/value

This research exploited the inefficiency of supply chain as one of the explanations for the low competitiveness of the national automotive industry.

Details

RAUSP Management Journal, vol. 54 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2531-0488

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Johan Nyström

Provide explanations to why firms subcontract.

Abstract

Purpose

Provide explanations to why firms subcontract.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Theoretical analysis based on current and specific conditions of the construction sector and empirical indicators.

Findings

Attributes potentially influencing the subcontracting decision are updated.

Research Limitations/Implications

The paper will only focus on the make-or-buy decision of the main contractor and not the client.

Practical Implications

Contributing to coming analysis on the subcontractor decision.

Originality/Value

Updated transaction cost analysis on the construction industry.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 April 2023

Tim Gruchmann, Sara Elgazzar and Ahmed Hussein Ali

Adopting new technologies to improve supply chain activities and processes is essential due to increasingly complex and dynamic business environments. Particularly in the…

4555

Abstract

Purpose

Adopting new technologies to improve supply chain activities and processes is essential due to increasingly complex and dynamic business environments. Particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, high-quality standards must be met, requiring transparency and visibility in the supply chain. This research aims at investigating the implementation of blockchain technology in the supply chain of an Egyptian pharmaceutical company.

Design/methodology/approach

The research applies a single case-study approach building on the theoretical underpinnings of transaction cost economics. Twenty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with pharmacies and employees of the case company to identify the blockchain technologies' potential for pharmaceutical supply in Egypt. Further analyzing the frequencies of the codes, the authors elaborate on specific relationships between the observed practices.

Findings

The research revealed the potential benefits of adopting blockchain technology. Transaction costs are indeed positively impacted by reduced contracting costs, processing costs and lead times, also ensuring the safe delivery of medications. However, the findings also highlight obstacles related to running costs, awareness and company culture. Regarding supply chain governance, blockchain technology can enhance collaboration within the supply chain as well as with important stakeholders.

Practical implications

Insufficient management of pharmaceutical supply chains (PSC) may affect a company's reputation but also disrupt the patient's healing process due to temperature damage and counterfeit medicines. Blockchain governance, in this vein, can ensure a safer and more reliable supply of pharmaceutical products. For intraorganizational purposes, however, cloud solutions, barcoding and generally digital platforms are rated more frequently than blockchain solutions.

Originality/value

The present study contributes to an advanced understanding how blockchain technology supports PSC, particularly in an emerging country context like Egypt. It thereby confirms and extends previous research as well as adds to the theoretical underpinnings of digitalized supply chains.

Details

Modern Supply Chain Research and Applications, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3871

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000