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1 – 10 of over 8000Wenbin Ni and Hongyi Sun
Literature proposes that implementing supplier assessment and supplier collaboration simultaneously may lead to better sustainable performance. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature proposes that implementing supplier assessment and supplier collaboration simultaneously may lead to better sustainable performance. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the proposition by considering the contingent effects of two contextual factors, the environmental dynamism and the stakeholder pressure on sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Four configurations of governance mechanisms are identified according to the different levels of implementing supplier assessment and supplier collaboration. The performances of the four configurations are compared against the levels of environmental dynamism and stakeholder pressure. The empirical data from the sixth round of International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) are used.
Findings
This paper found that the governance configuration with the highest level of implementing both governance mechanisms leads to the best performance. The synergistic effect that supplier assessment and collaboration complement each other to achieve better performance is verified. However, the synergistic effect holds robust only when the environmental dynamism and stakeholder pressure are high. The synergistic effect vanishes in the social and environmental performance when the environmental dynamism is low. The effect also vanishes in the environmental performance when the stakeholder pressure is low. No synergistic effect was found in business performance.
Originality/value
This paper reveals the complementarity between supplier assessment and supplier collaboration when they are implemented at a reasonably high level. It also reveals the importance of the fit of governance mechanisms under different external contexts. The results contribute to reconciling the disputes about the effectiveness of governing supplier relationship to achieve the sustainability along a supply chain.
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Quality management (QM) practices have long been suggested as a package to improve the quality performance of a company. Yet, empirical studies offered little support of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Quality management (QM) practices have long been suggested as a package to improve the quality performance of a company. Yet, empirical studies offered little support of this perspective as only a small set of QM practices were found to be conductive to quality improvement. By taking a new approach, the purpose of this paper is simultaneously evaluate the individual and synergistic effects of several key quality practices on operations performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected and used to test the proposed hypotheses. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to assess the magnitude of synergistic effects and individual effects.
Findings
It is found in this study that the synergistic effects across QM practices are substantial in enhancing all operations performance dimensions whereas individual effect varies for different performance goals.
Originality/value
This study makes theoretical contributes to the field of QM by providing empirical support of the interdependence assumption of QM practices and resolving the inconsistent findings. Practically, the results suggest that in-depth implementation of various QM practices simultaneously can be highly effective to achieve performance improvement on all accounts. In addition, the positive additional individual effects also open up a firm’s strategic choices of where to focus the resource investment in the adoption process as long as the strategic focus can justify its contribution toward the desired performance goals.
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Xiaoyu Wang, Xinchun Wang and Linzan Ran
The purpose of this study is to explore what is synergistic innovation in the logistics service outsourcing context and how this strategy can potentially benefit an organization…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore what is synergistic innovation in the logistics service outsourcing context and how this strategy can potentially benefit an organization by improving performance outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 21 in-depth interviews were conducted to conceptualize the construct of synergistic innovation. In addition, a theory-based model is tested using data collected from 282 Chinese manufacturing firms that are currently engaged in logistics service outsourcing.
Findings
The results from the in-depth interviews reveal that synergistic innovation goes beyond just interactions on innovation but requires both parties to achieve synergies that otherwise cannot be achieved by individual party alone. In addition, the empirical analysis suggests that synergistic innovation can help firms improve both logistics service performance and market performance. This process is dynamic as knowledge integration capability influences the outcomes of synergistic innovation.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to conceptualize synergistic innovation. It also offers a practical scale that helps future studies effectively measure this construct. Moreover, the results of this study provide compelling insights into how managers can use logistics service outsourcing as an important source for improving innovation outcomes.
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Z. AHMAD, M. GHAFELEHBASHI and S. NATEGH
Introduction The degree of adsorption of organic inhibitors on a metal surface in presence of halide anion is predominantly influenced by the synergistic effect. The synergistic…
Abstract
Introduction The degree of adsorption of organic inhibitors on a metal surface in presence of halide anion is predominantly influenced by the synergistic effect. The synergistic effect brings about an improvement in inhibition as a result of chemisorption or physical adsorption depending on the nature of the interaction between the halide and the cation of the inhibitor. This effect is partly attributed to the stabilization of the adsorbed anion layer by an organic cation through a possible covalent linkage. The degree of availability of electrons influences the mode of adsorption. Investigations on ferric ion corrosion have shown that the synergistic inhibition effects the corrosion processes by primarily increasing the polarization of the cathodic reaction. The adsorption of quinoline on 18–8 steel in the presence of halider ions is predominantly influenced by the synergistic effect. It has been found that the addition of smaller concentration of quinoline inhibits the cathodic reaction and higher concentrations of quinoline inhibit the anodic reaction as well. According to Iofa the formation of an adsorbed layer of positively charged ion retards the transfer of cation through a binary layer and lowers the transfer rate. Work on amines has shown that tertiary and secondary amines are stronger than the primary amines as a result of increase of dipole moment of the doublet, increase of ionisation energy and increase of polarizability. Basicity and stearic effects, both are important. The high effectiveness of cyclic amines with more than seven carbon atoms appears to be correlated with the character of the free electron. It has been shown that whereas the organic compounds of cationic type were weakly absorbed on the iron surface in H2SO4 the addition of halides produced a considerable increase in the adsorption. Cavallaro and others have shown that several nitrogen molecules inhibit both the anodic and cathodic reactions.
Leonidas A. Zampetakis and Panagiotis Gkorezis
The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the relative impact of the various workplace resources on employees' effective coping with job stress symptoms, taking into…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the relative impact of the various workplace resources on employees' effective coping with job stress symptoms, taking into account synergistic and antagonistic effects. The authors used job demands-resources (JD-R) theory as an overarching theoretical framework to test the hypotheses.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a factorial survey experiment and a within-person design. Data were obtained from a random sample of 97 Greek employees working in public and private organizations. Multilevel modeling regression techniques were used for data analyses. The authors examined the relative effect of various job resources at different levels on employees' ratings of effective coping with job stress symptoms. In parallel, the authors investigated the possible synergistic and antagonistic interactions between the specific job resources.
Findings
The authors found that managers' leadership and humor style, their relationship with subordinates and coworkers’ support had positive effects on employees' coping with job stress. In addition, the authors found that the manager's leadership style interacts with manager–subordinate relationship quality and coworkers’ support as well as the latter interacts with the manager's humor style and manager–subordinate relationship quality. The study model explained 50% of the variance in effective coping with stress ratings.
Originality/value
The study highlights the importance of workplace resources as contextual variables, for the effective coping with stress symptoms at work. It highlights that a combination of workplace resources produces a net effect that was better than would have been expected based solely on the individual performance of these job resources. As such, the research answer calls to attend to the effects of synergistic effects of workplace resources on effective coping with stress symptoms at work.
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The purpose of this paper is to develop an equation for the synergistic corrosion of SRB and CO2 based on the D-W model.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an equation for the synergistic corrosion of SRB and CO2 based on the D-W model.
Design/methodology/approach
The bacterial types in the a and ß pipelines were studied by the most probable number method, and the corrosion morphology of L360 in pipeline water samples was studied by surface analysis. The corrosion rate of L360 was studied using the weight loss method. The gray correlation method was used to calculate the degree of correlation between the influencing factors of corrosion under the synergistic effect of CO2 and SRB. The curve obtained from PIPESIM software and experiments data was then fitted using multiple non-linear regression method by MATLAB software.
Findings
The equation was used to predict the corrosion of the ß pipeline for verification, and it was found that seven out of ten excavation sites were within a 20% error range.
Originality/value
Using the gray correlation method, an equation that considers synergistic corrosion of SRB and CO2 has been developed based on the D-W model. The equation could be used to predict the corrosion rate of shale gas gathering pipelines through SRB and CO2 synergistic corrosion.
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Junjun Liu, Yuan Chen and Qinghua Zhu
This study aims to develop a comprehensive green supplier governance (GSG) concept and explore whether specific GSG approaches (green supplier assessment, green supplier…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a comprehensive green supplier governance (GSG) concept and explore whether specific GSG approaches (green supplier assessment, green supplier assistance and green strategic partnership with suppliers (GSPS)) bring environmental and economic performance. Moreover, this study aims to reveal a synergistic effect of three GSG approaches on performance improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from 200 Chinese manufacturing firms, regression analysis was employed to reveal the relationship between specific GSG approaches and firm performance. Further, cluster analysis was used to identify groupings of firms regarding implementation levels of three GSG approaches and compare the performance of the firm groups.
Findings
Green supplier assessment (GSA) can bring environmental performance, but GSA is not associated with economic performance. Green supplier assistance is positively associated with economic performance, while green supplier assistance cannot improve environmental performance. Only GSPS leads to improvement for both environmental and economic performance. Furthermore, firms with high implementation levels of GSA and GSPS (whether with high or low implementation levels of GSAS) can achieve the best environmental and financial performance.
Practical implications
This study provides implications for firms to more strategically and comprehensively implement GSG approaches, which can be more effective in bringing environmental and economic performance.
Originality/value
The authors' study extends the GSG concept with two approaches by subdividing the collaborative approach into green supplier assistance and GSPS based on the collaboration levels. This study also sheds light on how to improve firm performance by different GSG approaches and reveals a synergistic effect of three GSG approaches on performance.
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Gaofeng Han, Pengfei Jiang, Jianzhang Wang and Fengyuan Yan
This report aims to study the influence of applied potentials on the corrosion-wear behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS) in artificial seawater.
Abstract
Purpose
This report aims to study the influence of applied potentials on the corrosion-wear behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS) in artificial seawater.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, wear-corrosion behavior of 316L SS had been studied under different applied potentials in artificial seawater by using a reformed pin-on-disc test rig. The applied potentials were selected ranging from –1.2 to 0.3 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The friction coefficient, mass loss rate and current density were determined.
Findings
It was indicated that mass loss was determined by the combined effect of mechanical wear and chemical corrosion. The wear-corrosion process was synergistic effects dominate while mechanical wear contributed the major material mass loss.
Practical implications
The results helped us to choose the appropriate metals for application under the specified environment.
Originality/value
The main originality of this research is to reveal the corrosion-wear behavior of 316L SS under different potentials, which would help us to understand different states of 316L SS under different corrosion environments.
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Javad Feizabadi and Somayeh Alibakhshi
To address how organizations should be malleable, the purpose herein is to draw on complementarity theory to examine the interaction effect of customer integration (i.e…
Abstract
Purpose
To address how organizations should be malleable, the purpose herein is to draw on complementarity theory to examine the interaction effect of customer integration (i.e. coordination) and shared relationship governance (i.e. cooperation) on supply chain adaptability and firm's performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey research design is adopted to collect primary data from 177 automotive components suppliers. After assessing the measures' psychometric properties, the hypothesized relationships are evaluated using hierarchical regression analysis supplemented by structural equation modeling and complementarity test.
Findings
In the context of industrial markets, and specifically the automotive component industry, a complementary interaction effect is found between coordination and cooperation. The complementary impact was significant in affecting the supply chain adaptability and the firm's performance. Our results refine the existing supply chain integration by highlighting the complementary effect of coordination and cooperation.
Practical implications
Understanding the true interaction effect between cooperation and coordination to develop supply chain integration avoids decision-makers' misperception over or underinvesting in activities. This research also provides key insights on the complementary effect of coordination and cooperation to establish structural flexibility in the supply chain and the ability to respond to the disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
Understanding the true interaction effect between cooperation and coordination to develop supply chain integration avoids decision-makers' misperception over or underinvesting in activities. The implications for theory and practice are also presented.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of two perspectives of well-being, hedonism and eudaimonism, on job attitudes and extra-role behaviors. Theoretically, hedonism…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of two perspectives of well-being, hedonism and eudaimonism, on job attitudes and extra-role behaviors. Theoretically, hedonism equates well-being with the experience of pleasure, whereas eudaimonism is the experience of personal growth, purpose and social significance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 528 administrative support staff at two points in time. At time 1, hedonia and eudaimonia at work were measured. Job attitudes and extra-role behaviors were measured at time 2.
Findings
Results indicate that hedonia and eudaimonia, although strongly correlated, have unique effects on job attitudes and extra-role behaviors. Further, there is a synergistic effect between eudaimonia and hedonia such that experienced eudaimonia has a stronger effect on employee outcomes when hedonia is higher.
Practical implications
Popular books highlight the importance of creating happy workers. However, one’s view of happiness/well-being at work influences the actions taken to improve such well-being. An important implication of this study is that firms should focus on creating an environment that fosters personal growth, a sense of purpose and a feeling of social significance in addition to hedonic happiness.
Originality/value
Both eudaimonic and hedonic measures of well-being were examined and results indicated that both were important predictors of extra-role behavior and job attitudes. Such results not only highlight the importance of explicit examination of additional conceptualizations of well-being at work, but also indicate the importance of eudaimonia at work.
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