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1 – 10 of 592Michael Wang, Bill Wang and Ricky Chan
Due to increasing supply chain complexity, the supply chain uncertainty has become an imperative issue, which hinders the development of modern logistics and supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to increasing supply chain complexity, the supply chain uncertainty has become an imperative issue, which hinders the development of modern logistics and supply chain management. The paper attempts to conceptualize reverse logistics uncertainty from supply chain uncertainty literature and present the types of reverse logistics uncertainty in a triadic model.
Design/methodology/approach
The concept of reverse logistics uncertainty is developed based on a triadic model of logistics uncertainty and supply chain uncertainty literature. A desk research is conducted to develop a taxonomy of reverse logistics uncertainty. To better depict the reverse logistics uncertainty, we use case studies to discuss the types of reverse logistics uncertainty in the triadic model.
Findings
The study reveals four types of supply chain uncertainties in the reverse logistics. We call them reverse logistics uncertainty. Type-A and Type-B uncertainty are new types of supply chain uncertainty in the reverse logistics.
Research limitations/implications
The types of reverse logistics uncertainty have not been empirically validated in industries. Especially, the two new types including Type-A and Type-B reverse uncertainty need further exploration.
Originality/value
Although reverse logistics has been discussed in the past decades, very few studies have been conducted on the supply chain uncertainty in returns management arena. The paper offers valuable insights to better understand the supply chain uncertainty in the reverse logistics. This also provides suggestions for both managers and researchers to reflect on the reverse logistics uncertainty management and business sustainability.
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This study analyses agricultural land price dynamics in order to better understand price development and to improve forecast accuracy. Understanding the evolution of agricultural…
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyses agricultural land price dynamics in order to better understand price development and to improve forecast accuracy. Understanding the evolution of agricultural land prices is important when considering sound investment decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies threshold autoregression to model agricultural land prices. The data includes quarterly observations on Finnish agricultural land prices.
Findings
The study shows that Finnish agricultural land prices exhibit regime-switching behaviour when using past changes in prices as a threshold variable. The threshold autoregressive model not only fits the data better but also improves the accuracy of price forecasts compared to the linear autoregressive model.
Originality/value
The results show that a sharp fall in agricultural land prices temporarily changes the regular development of prices. This information significantly improves the accuracy of price predictions.
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The retail sector is not largely studied in Italy. The study offers a comparison between youth retail shift work in Milan and London. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The retail sector is not largely studied in Italy. The study offers a comparison between youth retail shift work in Milan and London. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the one hand on youth work and on the other hand to the debate on agency and structural factors in life planning, representation of the future and the transition to adulthood, observed in the United Kingdom's and Italian labour market. Even if the second one is a Southern European Country, these contexts are both characterised by a service-oriented economy and the widespread of precarious and flexible jobs.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methods were used: one year of ethnographic observation, 50 interviews and two focus groups were carried out between 2015 and 2018 with retail workers and trade unionists. The contexts are Corso Buenos Aires in Milan, Italy, and Oxford Street in London, United Kingdom. Analysing young workers' discourses, the author identifies narratives that allow to grasp their present agency and imagined future.
Findings
Observing the crisis of the narrative (Sennett, 2020) allows to highlight the social consequences of working times on young workers' everyday life and future. The author argues that young workers struggle with the narrative of their present everyday life and the representation of the future. This relates to the condition of time alienation due to the flexible schedules and the fast pace of work in retail, both affecting the work-life balance.
Originality/value
The social consequences of flexible schedules in retail and fast fashion sector, which are new issues not yet sufficiently explored, are here investigated from the perspective of young workers. The study is focussed on the representations of young people working with customers in social and economic contexts characterised by flexible schedules and the deregulation of shop openings, the so-called 24/7 service society, not largely investigated in the sociological scientific literature, above all in the Italian context.
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Christopher Miller, Brychan Celfyn Thomas and Michael Roeller
This study attempts to create new insights into innovation management through the integration of innovation management processes and sustainable, iterative circles. Through the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to create new insights into innovation management through the integration of innovation management processes and sustainable, iterative circles. Through the exploration of the use of sustainable, iterative circles in a manufacturing environment, this paper explores their role in facilitating customer-focused innovation practices. Other supporting antecedences for innovative behavior are reviewed, and their combined effect upon delivering cost-effective product developments are assessed.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through semi-structured interviews in manufacturing organizations from the automotive industry. Interviews were conducted with senior functional managers to interpret the application of sustainable, iterative development circles. Analysis of the data was undertaken via thematic analysis based upon pertinent and emergent themes.
Findings
Sustainable, iterative development circles overcame the inherent path-dependency of traditional linear development approaches, whereas, traditional approaches structure the involvement of key business functions, iterative circles facilitate more flexible approaches to product development that more closely met the requirements of the customer, especially when those requirements are in a state of flux.
Practical implications
This iterative, customer-centric approach to product development reflects the increasingly dynamic market environments in which manufacturing organizations operate. Using this approach helps to focus the organization’s attention upon customer requirements rather than the challenges of adhering to the rigid dogma of a chosen development methodology.
Originality/value
This study proposes a new approach toward the development of innovations in manufacturing organizations utilizing the sustainable, iterative circles, and therefore, contrasts with the traditional, linear development methodologies that are usually employed.
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Son Nguyen, Peggy Shu-Ling Chen and Yuquan Du
Container shipping is a crucial component of the global supply chain that is affected by a large range of operational risks with high uncertainty, threatening the stability of…
Abstract
Purpose
Container shipping is a crucial component of the global supply chain that is affected by a large range of operational risks with high uncertainty, threatening the stability of service, manufacture, distribution and profitability of involved parties. However, quantitative risk analysis (QRA) of container shipping operational risk (CSOR) is being obstructed by the lack of a well-established theoretical structure to guide deeper research efforts. This paper proposes a methodological framework to strengthen the quality and reliability of CSOR analysis (CSORA).
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on addressing uncertainties, the framework establishes a solid, overarching and updated basis for quantitative CSORA. The framework consists of clearly defined elements and processes, including knowledge establishing, information gathering, aggregating multiple sources of data (social/deliberative and mathematical/statistical), calculating risk and uncertainty level and presenting and interpreting quantified results. The framework is applied in a case study of three container shipping companies in Vietnam.
Findings
Various methodological contributions were rendered regarding CSOR characteristics, settings of analysis models, handling of uncertainties and result interpretation. The empirical study also generated valuable managerial implications regarding CSOR management policies.
Originality/value
This paper fills the gap of an updated framework for CSORA considering the recent advancements of container shipping operations and risk management. The framework can be used by both practitioners as a tool for CSORA and scholars as a test bench to facilitate the comparison and development of QRA models.
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The primary objective of the paper is to present the role and meaning of fear in organizations implementing TQM. The author's intention is to identify the causes of fear in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary objective of the paper is to present the role and meaning of fear in organizations implementing TQM. The author's intention is to identify the causes of fear in the TQM components as well as the main types of fear, their causes, consequences and methods of reduction.
Design/methodology/approach
The main research method applied is a systematic review of the literature on the subject. The applied systematic review procedure takes into consideration the indicated research objective, the selection of the basic literature and publications, the presentation of the publication database and content analysis. The author also makes use of his own observations ensuing from his acting in the capacity of a TQM consultant and a juror of the Polish Quality Award.
Findings
The paper presents the causes of fear in the TQM components, the main types of fear and its consequences. The limited possibilities of eliminating fear are also indicated. Fear appears when, for various reasons, TQM is improperly implemented and maintained, but also when resources are allocated incorrectly (e.g. a wrong selection of quality team members), and it is included in social processes (e.g. in the quality team forming process). It appears when only structural empowerment rather than mental empowerment is applied, when there exist contradictory expectations with regard to empowerment, in case of excessive and/or “have to” commitment in particular employees, and when too much emphasis is placed on commitment.
Research limitations/implications
The reflections included in the paper may become useful for quality management practitioners, as such knowledge allows them to avoid mistakes which are the cause of fear, that is an emotion making quality improvement difficult. The paper does not present the manifestations and sources of fear in all TQM components, and they are certainly included in a broadly understood quality culture. Nevertheless, the gathered and arranged knowledge can be the source of further research.
Originality/value
Being the result of the studies of the literature on the subject, this paper is one of few publications discussing in a detailed manner one of the principles of effective quality management formulated by E. Deming, namely “driving fear out”.
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Yuehua Bao, Qiang Chen and Xingcan Xia
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development and evolution of industrial innovation ecosystems of Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle from the three levels mentioned…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development and evolution of industrial innovation ecosystems of Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle from the three levels mentioned above, focusing on knowledge-producing populations, core populations and service-supporting populations, and to further develop this research framework by combining with the latest developments.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the five-helix theory and economic census statistical data, this paper adopts geographic information system technology and examines the characteristics of the industrial innovation ecosystem and the synergistic evolution process in Around-Tongji knowledge economy circle.
Findings
The knowledge product populations lead the development of industries in Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle. It contributes political capital output for the government. It innovates community cooperation and governance mode, and it improves the natural ecological environment. In the face of the changes and challenges in the development environment, the future development must be recognised from the height of the iterative development of the interaction mode between university knowledge production and economic and social development.
Originality/value
Based on the five-helix theory and economic census statistical data, this paper examines the characteristics of the industrial innovation ecosystem and the synergistic evolution process in Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle. It further expands the research framework used to develop a synergistic evolution model, which reveals the interactive and synergistic relationship among the populations and the evolution characteristics of the entire industrial innovation ecosystem. This paper also provides useful perspectives for the study of the industrial innovation ecosystem.
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Christophe Theys and Theo Notteboom
The awarding of terminals to private operators is considered a prime task of landlord port authorities. Yet, terminal concessions in seaports have only recently gained interest in…
Abstract
The awarding of terminals to private operators is considered a prime task of landlord port authorities. Yet, terminal concessions in seaports have only recently gained interest in academic circles. The awarding process poses a complex set of managerial challenges to port authorities, one of the key issues being the determination of the duration of the concession.
Despite the importance of the duration of terminal concessions in seaports, the issue has not received much attention in academic circles. Factors impacting on the duration of contracts, leases or concessions have, however, been studied extensively in other research areas, such as agriculture, coal contracts, franchising and natural gas. This paper uses insights from these academic studies to obtain a better understanding of the impact of concession duration on the stakeholders involved and relates them to empirical evidence on concession length in European seaports. The paper then proposes a classification scheme for the exogenous determination of concession duration, based on techniques developed for Public-Private-Partnerships in large infrastructure projects. In the last section the paper discusses the importance of concession durations to various stakeholders in seaports and illustrates these principles using a case study.
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Kaija Villman and Mervi Rajahonka
The chapter describes a model solution for supporting mature women, developed as part of the Finnish Time4Help project. The solution includes training programmes for mature women…
Abstract
The chapter describes a model solution for supporting mature women, developed as part of the Finnish Time4Help project. The solution includes training programmes for mature women supporting their careers and networking. The model is built on a new flipped training and coaching programme approach where, first, women were asked to gather a group of peers who were interested in developing their enterprises or working skills and who had similar needs and interests to them. After that, a programme was built matching the needs of this group of women. This model resembles the study circle approach particularly popular in the Scandinavian countries. Therefore, the authors build on the research literature on study circles, and study how tailored programmes help mature women to develop their careers and reach a work–life balance. The empirical part of the research builds on interviews and observations with 25 women in 5 groups and their facilitators participating in Time4Help training programmes in Finland in 2019–2021.
Lisete Barlach and Guilherme Ary Plonski
This paper aims to investigate the decision-making on new ventures of eight directors or managers of Brazilian accelerators, aiming to understand if the Einstellung effect …
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the decision-making on new ventures of eight directors or managers of Brazilian accelerators, aiming to understand if the Einstellung effect – mental rigidity – operates during the judgment of new ventures to accelerate.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a quasi-experiment design, the study was conducted with directors or managers of Brazilian accelerators, who were separately interviewed and responded to a psychological test, previously consented, as well as to a simulated decision-making questionnaire.
Findings
The selection process, with the criteria for decision-making, functions as a “template” for the recognition of potentially successful companies and is, indeed, subject to various cognitive biases, among which, the Einstellung effect, characteristic of mental rigidity.
Research limitations/implications
The main contribution of the present study is to identify the cognitive mechanisms, which can negatively affect the evaluation of innovative projects and propose ways that can counteract or mitigate them.
Originality/value
The psychological approach to decision-making, usually studied in chess game context or problem-solving, was applied to a relatively unexplored field that is startups to accelerate. Its originality remains at the interdisciplinary approach, combining knowledge from psychology, decision-making and entrepreneurship.
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