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11 – 20 of 37Katri Kauppi, Alistair Brandon‐Jones, Stefano Ronchi and Erik M. van Raaij
The paper examines the moderating role of a purchasing function's absorptive capacity (AC) on the relationship between the use of electronic purchasing tools and category level…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper examines the moderating role of a purchasing function's absorptive capacity (AC) on the relationship between the use of electronic purchasing tools and category level purchasing performance. The authors argue that an e‐purchasing tool may not in itself positively influence performance unless combined with AC as a human interface to maximise its information and transactional improvement potential.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data collected from 297 procurement executives of large companies in ten countries are analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical moderated regression.
Findings
The results demonstrate few significant direct effects of e‐purchasing tools on category performance. All performance measures studied are enhanced when dimensions of AC and their interactions with the e‐purchasing tools are added. Specifically, buyer competence, manager competence and communications climate have performance‐enhancing effects. In some cases, AC on its own appears to increase performance more than e‐tools.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to study the moderating effects of AC on the relationship between e‐purchasing tool usage and category performance. Its findings support the view that simply implementing technology does not lead to performance improvements, but that a human interface is required to maximise the information and transactional improvement potential of e‐purchasing tools.
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Davide Luzzini, Federico Caniato, Stefano Ronchi and Gianluca Spina
The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretically sound and empirically tested classification system composed of purchasing strategic categories as a basis for purchasing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretically sound and empirically tested classification system composed of purchasing strategic categories as a basis for purchasing portfolio models.
Design/methodology/approach
An international, cross‐industry survey has been designed to assess the characteristics and corresponding strategies of the purchasing categories.
Findings
The paper operationalises the constructs derived from previous scientific contributions related to purchasing portfolio management and transaction cost economics (TCE) to empirically test the purchasing portfolio. In total, four different types of strategic categories have been identified, and distinctive competitive priorities have been found.
Research limitations/implications
Managers might be able to identify different types of purchasing strategic categories, whose characteristics drive specific purchasing strategies. Longitudinal data and more extensive tests of the characteristics of each category might contribute to improving the proposed research framework.
Originality/value
The research overcomes some of the classical limits of purchasing portfolio models, including the absence of a theoretical and empirical basis. In particular, TCE is used to support and expand traditional purchasing portfolio approaches, and a broad empirical base is used to test such an approach.
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Federico Caniato, Ruggero Golini, Davide Luzzini and Stefano Ronchi
The purpose of this paper is to identify different maturity stages of eProcurement adoption. eProcurement (i.e. electronic purchase of indirect goods), is a growing reality and it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify different maturity stages of eProcurement adoption. eProcurement (i.e. electronic purchase of indirect goods), is a growing reality and it is spreading among companies. However, even inside a growing trend, no and low adopters can still be found, and those already using eProcurement go through many intermediate levels. According to the literature, there can be many factors influencing eProcurement adoption but clear approaches and maturity stages are still not defined.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a general framework in which eProcurement maturity is measured by three components: level of adoption, technology and organizational objectives. The framework was applied to 13 case studies of information technology purchases of companies in different sectors; thus, indentifying different approaches that have been clustered in three maturity stages.
Findings
First of all, a quite strong relationship is found between eProcurement adoption and technology in place. As far as organizational objectives are concerned, some interesting linkages are found with both the adoption and technological functionalities. These patterns of adoption are grouped into three clusters, named basic, intermediate and advanced.
Practical implications
The results of this paper can be useful for practitioners trying to position a company into a maturity model and verify the coherence of the adoption with the technological and organizational choices.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in a new framework of analysis of the eProcurement strategies that allows the identification of different maturity stages.
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Harry Boer, Sarah Caffyn, Mariano Corso, Paul Coughlan, José Gieskes, Mats Magnusson, Sara Pavesi and Stefano Ronchi
Competition today is forcing companies to increase their effectiveness through exploiting synergy and learning in product innovation. Literature, however, is still mainly focused…
Abstract
Competition today is forcing companies to increase their effectiveness through exploiting synergy and learning in product innovation. Literature, however, is still mainly focused on how product development projects, seen largely as isolated efforts, should be organised and managed. This article proposes a model to describe and explain how companies can gain a substantive competitive advantage by extending their innovation efforts to other phases of the product life cycle and by facilitating knowledge transfer and learning both within the company and with other partner organisations. The model is based on collaborative research by the authors, based on their involvement in the Euro‐Australian co‐operation project CIMA (Euro‐Australian co‐operation centre for Continuous Improvement and innovation MAnagement).
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Andrea S. Patrucco, Davide Luzzini, Daniel Krause and Antonella Maria Moretto
The authors empirically examine purchasing strategy typologies based on strategic intent (i.e. competitive priorities) and practices used to achieve these priorities. The authors…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors empirically examine purchasing strategy typologies based on strategic intent (i.e. competitive priorities) and practices used to achieve these priorities. The authors further investigate the implementation conditions of such strategies based on perceived uncertainty and strategic purchasing.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors utilize case study data from 11 international service and manufacturing firms with global supply chains. Each company was profiled based on the level of perceived environmental uncertainty, the characteristics of strategic purchasing, the use of relevant purchasing practices and its ability to create value through purchasing.
Findings
The study findings show that four purchasing strategy types exist: Purchasing Rationalization, Supply Base Optimization, Purchasing as a Service and World-Class Supply Base Management. Lower levels of perceived environmental uncertainty favor the adoption of rationalization strategies (i.e. Purchasing Rationalization and Supply Base Optimization), while increased uncertainty leads companies to switch to relationship-focused strategies (i.e. Purchasing as a Service and World-Class Supply Base Management). Further, that specific components of strategic purchasing (i.e. strategic planning, maturity, status and report level) enable the successful implementation of different strategy types.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the existing literature by outlining the different types of purchasing strategies and the external and internal factors that need to be considered to achieve strategic alignment and value creation in purchasing, and by classifying purchasing strategy types at the functional level based on empirical evidence.
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Amresh Kumar, Pallab Sikdar and Raiswa Saha
Recent decade has witnessed exponential growth in e-commerce segment, leading to emergence of various online selling platforms catering to diverse product requirements of…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent decade has witnessed exponential growth in e-commerce segment, leading to emergence of various online selling platforms catering to diverse product requirements of customers. Such a development has provided impetus to both existing businesses and newly established ventures to make available their offerings through online selling platforms with a view to improve the reach of their products. This study is an attempt to identify the experience of registered vendors with the online marketplaces. It aims to develop and validate a scale to measure vendor's experience with e-commerce platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
As a part of the scale development process, relevant literature sources were scanned to spot the precise knowledge gap and to put in place a sound theoretical background for the study. Thereafter, a scientific approach was adopted for scale creation. First, the scale items were identified through interviews of vendors registered with major online selling platforms and other academic experts pertaining to the marketing domain. Subsequently, major dimensions of seller experience were identified through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) applied on data collected from active vendors by the means of a structured survey instrument. The final data set was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a bid to validate the scale.
Findings
The study’s outcomes reveal that seller experience in an online marketplace can be best captured by a multidimensional scale characterized by six major dimensions. These are “Registration,”; “Product Listing”; “Pricing Autonomy”; “Ease of Pick-up and Delivery”; “Credit of Receivables” and “Vendor Assistance.” A proper emphasis to continually improve upon these dimensions by the e-commerce platforms is expected to enhance the utility and overall experience of vendors from such platforms. Existence of a mutually beneficial relationship between vendors and online marketplaces will help marketplaces to mitigate concerns like nonfulfillment of orders and dispatch of substandard products.
Originality/value
Sustainable long-term relations between vendors and online marketplaces hold the key for such marketplaces to render error-free and delightful service on each individual order received. Seller experience of registering and operating on such e-marketplaces inspite of playing a defining role in vendor–marketplace relations has received scant attention of researchers, both in academia and industry till date. The present research is a seminal attempt to address this gap in marketing literature and offer additional know-how.
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