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1 – 10 of over 9000The purpose of this research was to address the critical need for supply chain workforce training to empower employees to use new digital technologies and to identify and evaluate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to address the critical need for supply chain workforce training to empower employees to use new digital technologies and to identify and evaluate current sources of supply chain training.
Design/methodology/approach
An online search was performed to locate training that is available for supply chain employees. Training providers who met the online delivery criterion were identified and evaluated on: (1) amount of supply chain content and/or digital technology content, (2) flexibility, (3) customizable and (4) credentials offered.
Findings
Several sources of supply chain training were identified—supply chain professional organizations, consultants, MOOC courses and MicroMasters programs at colleges and universities.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study are limited by the fact that the number of supply chain training providers identified is not exhaustive and because the study examined training opportunities available at a particular point in time. Course offerings will change over time; certification requirements will be updated, and new providers will appear.
Practical implications
By identifying sources of supply chain training that are currently available to help bridge this serious skill shortage, the results can serve as a guide to enterprises moving toward supply chain digitalization.
Social implications
To succeed in the current environment of digital transformation, employees need opportunities to build digital skills that are demanded by corporations around the world. This is especially important at a time when unemployment is at an alarming rate.
Originality/value
An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 2019 Meeting of the Decision Sciences Institute, November 23–25, 2019, in New Orleans, LA.
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Eric Weisz, David M. Herold and Sebastian Kummer
Although scholars argue that artificial intelligence (AI) represents a tool to potentially smoothen the bullwhip effect in the supply chain, only little research has examined this…
Abstract
Purpose
Although scholars argue that artificial intelligence (AI) represents a tool to potentially smoothen the bullwhip effect in the supply chain, only little research has examined this phenomenon. In this article, the authors conceptualize a framework that allows for a more structured management approach to examine the bullwhip effect using AI. In addition, the authors conduct a systematic literature review of this current status of how management can use AI to reduce the bullwhip effect and locate opportunities for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
Guided by the systematic literature review approach from Durach et al. (2017), the authors review and analyze key attributes and characteristics of both AI and the bullwhip effect from a management perspective.
Findings
The authors' findings reveal that literature examining how management can use AI to smoothen the bullwhip effect is a rather under-researched area that provides an abundance of research avenues. Based on identified AI capabilities, the authors propose three key management pillars that form the basis of the authors' Bullwhip-Smoothing-Framework (BSF): (1) digital skills, (2) leadership and (3) collaboration. The authors also critically assess current research efforts and offer suggestions for future research.
Originality/value
By providing a structured management approach to examine the link between AI and the bullwhip phenomena, this study offers scholars and managers a foundation for the advancement of theorizing how to smoothen the bullwhip effect along the supply chain.
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Ziboud Van Veldhoven and Jan Vanthienen
This paper aims that digital transformation (DT) is crucial for companies to stay competitive. While research on DT has quickly gained great popularity, the intersection of trade…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims that digital transformation (DT) is crucial for companies to stay competitive. While research on DT has quickly gained great popularity, the intersection of trade associations (TAs) and their role in the DT of their members is not yet researched.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors conducted 20 interviews with Belgian TAs to investigate the role of a TAs in the DT of its members, and how they drive the DT of its members. In addition, the authors investigate the core tasks of TAs, the need of the different industries to digitalize, and the digital projects the different industries are working on.
Findings
The findings indicate that TAs can be in a prime position to steer the DT of their members, especially for industries comprised of smaller players. Their roles can range from informing roles to true leaders of DT by creating novel products, such as online platforms and driving the entire sector forwards.
Research limitations/implications
These findings call for more research into TAs and how their role can be optimized for steering DT of their members.
Originality/value
This is the first study to extensively study the role of TAs on the DT of their members.
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Robert E. Overstreet, Joseph B. Skipper, Joseph R. Huscroft, Matt J. Cherry and Andrew L. Cooper
The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the relationship between learning culture, workforce level, human capital and operational performance in two diverse supply…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically evaluate the relationship between learning culture, workforce level, human capital and operational performance in two diverse supply chain populations, aircraft maintenance and logistics readiness.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon competence-based view of the firm and human capital theory, this paper analyzes data from two studies.
Findings
The results provide support for the hypothesized model. Workforce level moderates the relationship between learning culture and human capital, and human capital partially mediates the relationship between learning culture and operational performance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings have implications for behavioral supply chain management research and implications for educating and training the supply chain management workforce. While the populations represent a diverse set of logistics functions and responsibilities, the participants are all military members, which may limit generalizability.
Practical implications
This study should help leaders understand the importance of learning culture and the perceived differences in its effect on human capital based upon workforce level.
Originality/value
This research is among the first to investigate the role of workforce level and answers a multitude of calls for research into the human side of supply chain management.
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Michael J. Maloni, Stacy M. Campbell, David M. Gligor, Christina R. Scherrer and Elizabeth M. Boyd
Despite a pervasive workforce shortage, existing research has provided limited guidance about job satisfaction and commitment of the supply chain workforce. Moreover, few studies…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite a pervasive workforce shortage, existing research has provided limited guidance about job satisfaction and commitment of the supply chain workforce. Moreover, few studies explore the effects of workforce level on such satisfaction and commitment. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this gap, the authors apply person-organization fit theory to study the critical work value drivers of supply chain job satisfaction and industry commitment across workforce levels through structural modeling of practitioner survey data.
Findings
Job satisfaction and industry commitment are impacted differently across workforce levels, particularly for executives, suggesting the potential for conflicts in the workplace and that a “one size fits all” approach for recruitment and retention will be ineffective.
Practical implications
The results reveal how proactive organizations can not only hire and retain the best people but also help employees at different workforce levels understand one another’s motivations, empowering these organizations to become employers of choice.
Originality/value
This study is among the first empirical papers to directly address the labor shortage in supply chain. It also strikes new ground by assessing differences in work values across workforce levels.
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Rose Opengart, Peter M. Ralston and Steve LeMay
The purpose of this paper is to extend the concept of myopia and introduce the concept of labor market myopia (LMM), as well as the role that human resources management (HRM…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the concept of myopia and introduce the concept of labor market myopia (LMM), as well as the role that human resources management (HRM) plays in its prevention and resolution. LMM, a more specific form of factor market myopia (FMM), is a myopic view of labor needs. LMM is only going to increase as human capital becomes increasingly scarce due to labor shortages.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual review focuses on research on factor market rivalry (FMR) in the supply chain. Using three sample job categories, the concept of myopia is applied toward the human resources context to propose a new term describing a failure to consider future labor needs.
Findings
The authors position HRM/talent management as critical in preventing and addressing LMM at both firm and industry levels and the critical role of labor markets in FMR. HR strategies are suggested to prevent LMM include: expansion of the available workforce; increasing current workforce productivity, economic remedies like paying higher wages and proactively assessing and forecasting the current and future human resource capacity and needs.
Practical implications
Labor needs to be considered as a factor in the same realm of importance as other resources. The HR strategies discussed are key to preventing LMM and improving organizational performance and effectiveness.
Originality/value
The authors argue that organizations not only compete for resources downstream (i.e. customers and markets) but also upstream, such as with human resources. The authors introduced a new concept/term to frame the effect on organizations when supply chain planning and HR strategy do not take labor into consideration. This was accomplished by first narrowing the concept of marketing myopia to FMM, and in this conceptual paper, it was subsequently narrowed to introduce the term LMM.
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Andrea Stefano Patrucco, Liliana Rivera, Christopher Mejía-Argueta and Yossi Sheffi
In line with the knowledge-based view of organizations, this paper aims to analyze how supply chain (SC) employees contribute to the creation of competitive advantage through…
Abstract
Purpose
In line with the knowledge-based view of organizations, this paper aims to analyze how supply chain (SC) employees contribute to the creation of competitive advantage through knowledge acquisition and utilization activities. The authors consider SC employees' skills and competencies, their external network of relationships, their job satisfaction and company investments in training and test how they relate to SC-level outcomes (i.e. SC growth).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors design a research model including the aforementioned variables, and the authors apply structural equation modeling (SEM) to survey data collected from 246 SC professionals in Latin America. The authors also use multi-group analysis to evaluate how the relationships between these variables change with different levels of company investment in training.
Findings
The results show that a broad professional network of relationships contributes to increasing the skills and competencies of SC professionals, which, in turn, impact job satisfaction and SC performance. This reinforces the value of investing in skilled human talent, who can contribute to knowledge acquisition, utilization, and, ultimately, to SC competitiveness. Companies that invest more in training to develop their SC employees benefit from stronger SC outcomes.
Originality/value
This study contributes to broadening the understanding of the impact of human resource management (HRM) on supply chain management (SCM). One of the added original foci of this research is the emphasis on developing countries where these HRM-to-SCM performance relationships have not been studied before.
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Rosanna Cole, Noor Al-Ma'aitah and Rima Al Hasan
This paper presents an empirical study of a Syrian refugee workforce in textile export from Jordan. The purpose of this study is to determine the challenges of integrating Syrian…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents an empirical study of a Syrian refugee workforce in textile export from Jordan. The purpose of this study is to determine the challenges of integrating Syrian refugees into the local workforce and to consider the implications of these challenges for the global supply chain aiming to create stable trade.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via three face-to-face focus group interviews with refugee workers and managers at a clothing factory site in Al-Duleil, Zarqa. Data were analysed using the Gioia methodology.
Findings
Worker attitudes, factory environment, and government support are important factors for refugees' workforce participation. The success of integrating Syrian refugees into the Jordanian workforce was largely a matter of their attitudes, commitment and motivations for taking up manufacturing work. Misconceptions about the roles refugees will undertake were identified, which results in fewer people becoming self-sufficient through employment.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to understanding refugees' long-term integration in the host country by investigating refugee workers' and their managers' perspectives. Considering the views of multiple stakeholders enrichs the literature on refugees' integration.
Social implications
Understanding refugees' perspectives facilitates their integration in the host country which leads to improvement in their wellbeing and quality of life. More broadly, Jordan's approach to integrating refugees into the economy is seen as a development opportunity rather than a crisis to be handled.
Originality/value
Rather than focus on the procedures of integrating refugees in the host country, this study provides the voices of refugee migrant workers themselves, thereby offering a more complete picture of those factors shaping refugees' (dis)integration in local communities.
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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
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Roger Ayimbillah Atinga, Samuel Dery, Simon Peter Katongole and Moses Aikins
The study drew on capacity framework around the individual, organisational, health system and wider context to explore gaps in health supply chain (HSC) workers capacity and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study drew on capacity framework around the individual, organisational, health system and wider context to explore gaps in health supply chain (HSC) workers capacity and competency to perform supply chain (SC) functions and the lessons for workforce development.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method study was conducted across the Northern Region of Ghana. Qualitative data were collected from in-depth interviews with 34 key SC managers at the regional, district and facility levels. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered through the RedCap mobile app to 233 core HSC workers and non-core workers (clinicians with additional responsibilities in SC). Data were managed and analysed inductively and deductively for themes.
Findings
Weak knowledge and competency in SC functions attributed to poor training exposure and organisational support for capacity building, undermined the capacity to perform basic SC functions, especially by the non-core category. The policy and regulatory environment of the HSC marketplace were described as fluid and with complexity of demands. Both worker categories, therefore, requested functional, technical, managerial and customer care competencies to anticipate and manage complexities. Structural characteristics of the health system giving narrow decision space to HSC workers cascaded the capacity for innovation and initiative and promoted frustrations among mid-level managers. Infrastructural deficits and shortfalls in operational resources scaled back the capacity to efficiently manage inventory and ensure that commodities reach clients in good quality.
Originality/value
Finding suggest that capacity building of HSC workers, strengthening of health institutions structural and resource capacity, and leveraging on technology will enable optimal performance of HSC functions.
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