Search results

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the motives, structure and performance attributes of horizontal cooperations between logistics service providers (LSPs). Based on an analytical classification model, distinctive types of logistics cooperation that characterize the logistics landscape are identified.

Empirical data were collected on horizontal LSP cooperations from managers of German LSPs. Different uni‐ and multi‐variate statistical methods including ANOVA and cluster analysis were applied to the dataset of 226 cooperations for a total of 6,081 involved parties.

Horizontal cooperations with other LSPs are an organizational form used by 57 percent of LSPs. Cooperation decisions are substantially driven by external market objectives. Six distinctive types of cooperation are identified. They reveal the dominance of multi‐lateral and international networks that are mainly based on contractual agreements. There is a clear preference for partners with similar market competencies and for strong functional integration. Despite its inherent complexity, performance of these cooperations is high – its less than 19 percent failure rate makes these cooperations substantially more stable than cooperations within manufacturing industries.

This study is limited to an exploratory, descriptive approach in providing a sound understanding of the cooperation landscape.

The findings contribute transparency to horizontal LSP cooperations and a common understanding of their idiosyncrasies. The conclusions help logistics managers to position themselves better within the cooperation landscape. Further, the analyses offer managers a conceptual classification of horizontal LSP cooperations and some guidance on how to structure their individual LSP cooperations more successfully.

This paper is the first empirical study that defines the types of cooperation that comprise the logistics cooperation landscape. The analysis integrates a holistic perspective of their contractual, organizational, functional, geographical, service and resource scope and matches them with underlying motives and performance attributes.

This study aims to present a model that can be used for predicting effective knowledge sharing behaviors in cross‐functional project teams.

Drawn from the extant literature, a coopetitive model of knowledge sharing is postulated. Data from 115 project managers are used to test the proposed model, using partial least squares (PLS).

The findings confirm the applicability and predictive power of the proposed model. Three dimensions of cross‐functional cooperation (cooperative task orientation, cooperative communication, and cooperative interpersonal relationships) were proved to directly drive effective knowledge sharing behaviors. The results show that competition affects effective knowledge sharing behaviors through influencing cooperative behaviors. In addition, this study shows that different dimensions of competition generate mixed impacts. Competition for tangible resources was found to positively affect cooperative communication of individuals, whereas competition for intangible resources (political competition) had negative impacts on cooperative communication and task orientations.

This study contributes to the extant literature by presenting a model that predicts effective knowledge sharing practices in cross‐functional projects. In addition, the results advance the current understanding of the concept and modeling of coopetitive knowledge sharing.

The proposed model of this study can be used by managers in order to facilitate problematic knowledge sharing processes within cross‐functional teams.

This study stands as one of the first attempts in providing a model that explains the forces behind effective knowledge sharing behaviors in cross‐functional teams. The model explores coopetition effect in a systematic way, which has not been previously studied.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had major ramifications for the small developing countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as 3 of the then 13 countries experimented with strands of socialism, festering political fragmentation/ideological pluralism regionally. As the rivets of the Iron Curtain came unfastened, the emerging markets of CARICOM were forced to rethink their geopolitical positions while reforming their national educational systems. This chapter examines how the dissolution of socialism in the former socialist countries of Southeast/Central Europe and the former Soviet Union created a reform atmosphere across CARICOM countries. CARICOM's response to the impact of 1989 lies in how it spent the 1980s dealing with the 1973–1974 oil crises, ideological pluralism, and the subsequent imposition of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) under the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The successive degeneration of ideological pluralism within CARICOM countries caused by the simultaneous collapse of cooperative socialism in Guyana, revolutionary socialism in Grenada, and democratic socialism in Jamaica paved the way for post-socialist transformations regionally. This chapter considers how the policy process of functional cooperation – the non-economic policy mechanism upon which CARICOM seeks to integrate its members – facilitates the policy tool of lesson-drawing to take place between member states while laying the foundation for post-socialist change across CARICOM. Using data from the educational policies of 10 countries, this chapter illustrates how CARICOM members used the global policy alterations of 1989 as a reference point to reform their educational systems. Educational reforms occurred as member states drew lessons from each other – in the form of cross-national consultations – guided by the policy process of functional cooperation.

Although coopetition has been studied for decades, most prior studies shed light on interfirm coopetition across firms instead of intrafirm coopetition across functional departments within a firm. To fill the research gaps, this study aims to investigate the differential effects of cross-functional coopetition on both product and service innovations and the moderating roles of environmental turbulence.

This study surveyed both senior and middle managers from 149 pharmaceutical firms in China.

This study discovers the opposite relationships of cross-functional coopetition on product and service innovations such that cross-functional coopetition enhances product innovation but hurts service innovation. Furthermore, market turbulence attenuates the positive effect on product innovation but strengthens the negative effect on service innovation. However, technological turbulence attenuates the negative impact of cross-functional coopetition on service innovation.

The effects of cross-functional coopetition have been ignored in the innovation literature. By identifying the double-edged sword of cross-functional coopetition, this study contributes to the literature by providing new insights into the differential effects of cross-functional coopetition on product and service innovations.

Although customer co-creation has received a significant amount of attention in both practice and academics, most of the previous studies have been conducted from the customer perspective while how service employees are involved in the customer value co-creation process has been rarely examined. To fill in this gap, the purpose of this paper is to develop a scale of employee involvement in customer value co-creation, and test a theoretical model that investigates the antecedents and consequences of employee involvement in customer value co-creation.

Based on a comprehensive literature review and 12 in-depth interviews with service employees, a scale of employee involvement in customer value co-creation was developed in Study 1. The items were purified, and the construct validity and reliability were evaluated via a survey (n = 178). In Study 2, the newly developed scale was cross-validated in a new service context and a conceptual model was tested by estimating a structural equation model with survey data collected from service employees (n = 225).

The newly developed scale of employee involvement in customer value co-creation has demonstrated sufficient construct validity and reliability across different service contexts. Moreover, the results show that both customer orientation and perceived organizational support are positively associated with employee involvement in customer value co-creation, which, in turn, influences employees’ job satisfaction and job stress. In addition, firm cross-functional cooperation strengthens the relationships between perceived organizational support and employee involvement in customer value co-creation.

Future research from other service contexts and countries is needed to confirm the generalizability of the new scale and the findings.

The findings of the study will provide implications to service managers regarding where to focus their organizational resources and how to facilitate employee involvement in customer value co-creation.

This study takes an initial step to develop a scale of employee involvement in customer value co-creation and test the antecedents and consequences of employee involvement in customer value co-creation.

Relations between the People's Republic of China and Latin America have gradually expanded from commerce and finance to cover different aspects of security. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview over security cooperation between China and South America. Specifically, it analyses the motivations for security cooperation on both sides and its value added for Sino–South American relations.

The article describes four dimensions of security cooperation between China and South America: functional cooperation, defence diplomacy, long-term cooperation initiatives and arms sales. For each dimension of security cooperation, the main motivations on the two sides are discussed, together with the value added of security cooperation to the “comprehensive and cooperative partnership” China's policy papers on Latin America and the Caribbean have called for.

Security and defence considerations have not caused the development of Sino–South American security cooperation. Instead, it were the rapidly growing economic links from the 2000s on that facilitated China's broader political engagement with South America, including in the field of security. There are a number of important motivations that indicate security cooperation between China and South American states will further expand in the future.

Security cooperation should not only be practiced as an end in itself but also serve tangible outcomes to reduce insecurity.

In the context of Sino–Latin American relations, security cooperation has received relatively little attention beyond a comparatively small group of pundits despite the fact that military diplomacy has become increasingly important in bolstering China's growing international profile. This article makes an original contribution in discussing four dimensions of security cooperation between China and South America.

The external business environment of the organization is always changing at a rapid pace. For a firm to adapt to changing client requirements, it must implement the right business procedures and strategies. To improve competitive advantage, this study investigates the roles that supply chain partnerships, cross-functional integration, responsiveness and resilience play in achieving competitive advantages in Palestine.

Industrial institutions in Palestine constitute the study population. Data are collected by distributing surveys via Google Forms linked to manufacturers in industries such as the Leather and shoe Industry, metal industries, chemical industries, construction industries, textile industries, stone and marble industries, pharmaceutical industry, veterinary industry, food industry, plastic industry, paper industry, major advantages and disadvantages. The SEM-PLS approach is used to analyze the data.

The findings demonstrate that supply chain responsiveness, resilience and cooperation are all improved by cross-functional integration in inventory data integration and immediate operation. Supply chain partnerships improve the supply chain’s responsiveness, resilience and competitive advantage by involving partners in work teams and exchanging best practices. The enhancement of supply chain resilience and competitive advantage is influenced by the company’s capacity to act promptly in response to variations in demands.

This paper faces some limitations and it can be drawn as follows: To enhance supply chain risk management, the study continues to concentrate on manufacturing organizations that have internal integration. It also emphasizes the necessity of supply chain integration, which establishes direct connections with outside partners.

The findings of this study suggest some policy implications, as follows: To provide the manufacturing sector with a competitive edge, operations supervisors must be able to track and assess processes to ensure they are meeting demand. Firms that possess the ability to adjust to novel procedures or advancements in technology gain a competitive edge by guaranteeing consistent and high-quality delivery of products.

By implementing IT integration, this study theoretically and practically advances the understanding of the resource-based view of competitive advantages. This study focuses on providing insights into the nature of the relationship between supply chain partnership, cross-functional integration, responsiveness and flexibility and competitive advantages in the manufacturing sector in the Palestinian market.

The purposes of this paper are to provide first a detailed description of the use of interfirm cooperation by a large sample of Dutch firms of different sizes and from different industries, and second, to examine the governance role of financial managers in the management of cooperative arrangements.

Research questions are developed based on a review of previous literature and data were collected using a questionnaire administered to a large sample of Dutch firms.

The paper finds that the sample firms are generally well engaged in various types of interfirm cooperation, in particular in outsourcing arrangements and joint ventures. In addition, larger firms are on average involved in more types of cooperation than smaller firms are, and different cooperative activities and forms are frequently used in combination. On average, financial managers report to be actively involved in the management of interfirm cooperation, which ranges from monitoring yearly results, providing advice, supervising performance, to managing daily operations of the cooperation. In this management role, they mostly use frequent detailed financial and non‐financial performance information, which often not only relates to their own firm, but also to the partner firm.

This research provides evidence of the extensive use of interfirm cooperation in practice and identifies an important governance role of financial managers in the management of interfirm cooperation. An analysis of differences in this role across different types of cooperation and functional levels of financial managers is provided.

The findings provide new insights into firms' use of a broad range of interfirm cooperative activities and into the governance role financial managers in these activities. Consistent with prior studies that document an increasing propensity of firms to engage in cooperative arrangements, the results support that interfirm cooperation constitutes an important area for research in accounting. This paper provides several suggestions for future research aimed at improving researchers' and practitioners' understanding of the management of interfirm cooperation.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize and outline the social infrastructure that nurtures and strengthens cooperation in business networks promoting cultural tourism and thereby facilitates entrepreneurial learning. The role of the higher-education (HE) provider is emphasized on different levels of the value-creating framework.

To explore and analyze the benefits of cooperation in business networks promoting cultural tourism as perceived by entrepreneurs, participants in the fields of both culture and tourism in two workshops were observed. From the information produced in the workshops, ethnographically oriented data were selected.

Benefits that inspired cooperation among the members of the tourism business network were identified, which were categorized as functional, relational and symbolic. On the functional level, the actors involved, the entrepreneurs, considered it important to have an opportunity to meet and discuss in a stimulating atmosphere. The role of the HE provider at this stage was that of a facilitator, in other words, to set the scene. On the level of relational cooperation it was more important to foster relations between the network actors, and the provider’s role changed to that of a matchmaker. On the symbolic level, it is essential that all parties of the cooperation work together to find new business solutions based on common values. At this stage, the role of the HE provider is that of a co-creator.

As a case study, this research represents the local context of entrepreneurial cooperation in business networks promoting cultural tourism. Further study is needed to develop a framework that encompasses change in the traditional roles of the learning environment.

Teaching and training approaches derive from the contexts in which micro and small businesses and their networks learn. HE offers students a safe environment in which to experiment and innovate, thereby linking student academic work to “real-life” project performance.

Interaction/network theory is combined with the discussion on entrepreneurial learning.

This study aims to examine the marketing/R&D relationship under different relative dependence situations. Specifically, its basic objective is to analyse if the effect that the climate between these departments exerts on new product development performance is moderated by the dependence perceived by these areas.

The interfunctional climate was measured through six key variables of relationship marketing: cooperation, communication, trust, commitment, social satisfaction and conflict. To do this, the R&D directors of 178 Spanish innovative firms were surveyed. A sample of 345 products (177 successes and 168 failures) was been obtained.

The results derived from a multisample analysis allow the conclusion that in those situations of high dependence the creation of a satisfactory climate is specially important for the development of affective bonds, such as trust and commitment among the functional areas.

The novelty of the research lies in the use of the relationship marketing approach to investigate industrial intra‐functional relationships and their influence on a new product performance. Furthermore, the inclusion of dependence as a possible moderator of that influence represents an added value of the study.