Alistair Brandon-Jones

Competing through operations and supply: The role of classic and extended resource-based advantage

Purpose – The paper seeks to analyze the evolution of competitive advantage using both “classic” and “extended” resource‐based theory (RBT). The aim is to examine the different ways in which “classic” and “extended” resource‐based advantage develops and how they might combine to create long‐term advantage.Design/methodology/approach – A single case study method is used to examine the process by which competitive advantage has accumulated over a 50‐year period at Food Services Group Inc., a highly successful food service company based on the West Coast of the USA with an annual growth rate currently running at 10 percent.Findings – Preliminary conclusions suggest support for the sequential, iterative, and slow‐cycle development model associated with proprietary bounded resources and, the strategic resource‐rigidity paradox. The work also highlights preliminary evidence for a faster cycle development process possible with inter‐firm resources associated with extended resource‐based theory (ERBT) and, long‐r...

Measuring internal service quality: Comparing the gap-based and perceptions-only approaches

Purpose - This paper aims to build upon the debate in the service quality literature regarding both the theoretical and practical effectiveness of expectations data in the measurement of internal service quality (ISQ). Gap-based and perceptions-only approaches to measuring ISQ are tested and their respective benefits and limitations evaluated. Design/methodology/approach - The internal service context used in this study is the provision of e-procurement software, training, and user support in four organisations. The two approaches are evaluated in terms of reliability and validity, as well as pragmatic aspects of survey administration. Findings - The various tests carried out indicate that both the gap-measure and perceptions-only measure are reliable and valid, the latter being the marginally higher performer. Both approaches were found to have benefits and limitations, and so the empirical study, combined with contributions from the literature, generates some understanding of the internal service context in which the two approaches might be appropriate. Research limitations/implications - The survey was based on an internal e-procurement service; as such, the variables and dimensions selected to measure ISQ in this context inevitably limit the scope of the research. Practical implications For operations managers, the paper clarifies the basis on which they might choose between the two approaches to ISQ measurement. Originality/value - This study is the first to directly test and compare the relative merits of these two approaches to ISQ measurement. The paper also offers insights as to the operational contexts in which each approach might be appropriate.

The impact of user‐perceived e‐procurement quality on system and contract compliance

Purpose – Whilst e‐procurement has significant potential to reduce the purchasing costs of an organisation, the realisation of these savings requires user compliance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which user‐perceived e‐procurement quality (EPQ) (operationalised through the dimensions of professionalism, processing, training, specification, content, and usability) influences both system and contract compliance.Design/methodology/approach – User perceptions of EPQ were examined in four UK organisations using survey data from 274 respondents.Findings – Strong evidence was found of a positive relationship between user‐perceived EPQ and both system and contract compliance. System compliance was most strongly influenced by professionalism and content dimensions, whilst contract compliance was most strongly influenced by processing, specification, and content dimensions.Research limitations/implications – Data were collected from e‐procurement users in four organisations, which may limit...

Tools without skills: Exploring the moderating effect of absorptive capacity on the relationship between e‐purchasing tools and category performance

Purpose – The paper examines the moderating role of a purchasing functions 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 app...

A comprehensive assessment of measurement equivalence in operations management

This paper provides a comprehensive framework for treating equivalence both prior to data collection and during subsequent analyses, and assesses the extent to which equivalence is considered in survey research in six leading empirical Operations Management (OM) journals (Decision Sciences, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Operations Management, Management Science and Production and Operations Management). Measurement equivalence of latent variables in survey data is an important condition that should be met in order to meaningfully pool and/or compare data stemming from apparently heterogeneous sub-groups. We assess 465 survey articles from a six-year period from 2006 to 2011 and document these articles in relation to the four main stages of our comprehensive framework: identifying sources of heterogeneity; maximising equivalence prior to data collection; testing measurement equivalence after data collection; and dealing with partial and non-equivalence. We conclude that pooling of data from heterogeneous sub-groups is common practice in OM, but that awareness and testing of equivalence remains limited. Given these findings, we further elaborate the best practices detected in those few OM studies that do address equivalence in some way. We conclude that to improve the quality of OM survey research, authors, editors and reviewers should pay greater attention to equivalence, and we provide a pragmatic checklist of measurement equivalence issues across the four stages.

Bringing teaching to life: Exploring innovative approaches to Operations Management education.

Purpose – The aim of this review and of the papers in this special issue is to critically examine different approaches to teaching operations management (OM) in order to provoke and stimulate educators within the discipline.Design/methodology/approach – The papers within this special issue include empirical assessments of a problem‐based learning enterprise resource planning (ERP) simulation; a computer‐based learning tool for material requirements planning (MRP); a simulation of assembly operations; an operations strategy innovation game; an extension of the production dice game; an experiential teaching method in different class settings; and problem‐based assessment methods in OM. A variety of data are used to support these empirical studies, including survey, interview, and observational data.Findings – The papers within the special issue support the argument that OM is well‐suited to more applied methods of teaching focusing on the application of subject knowledge to real‐life situations through a va...

Examining the effectiveness of experiential teaching methods in small and large OM modules

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the preferences of students towards different teaching methods and the perceived effectiveness of experiential teaching methods in different operations management (OM) modules.Design/methodology/approach – Student perceptions of different teaching methods and various aspects of an experiential teaching method, in the form of a business simulation game, are examined using survey data from 274 respondents in four small post‐experience and two large pre‐experience OM modules.Findings – The papers analysis suggests that traditional and experiential teaching methods are both popular with OM students, whilst independent teaching methods are less well liked. Analysis also shows that students on both kinds of OM modules perceive most aspects of the experiential teaching method used in this study (The Operations Game) very positively.Research limitations/implications – This research study was confined to a particular type of experiential teaching method – a business simulation...

Tools without skills

Purpose – The paper examines the moderating role of a purchasing functions 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 app...

E-procurement quality from an internal customer perspective:construct development, refinement, and replication using a mixed methods approach

Purpose Despite significant investment in e-procurement by many organisations, perceived failings in the quality of such technologies and of the support provided to use them – termed here e-procurement quality – continue to generate resistance from internal customers who must assimilate e-procurement into their daily routines. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of e-procurement quality from an internal customer perspective and to develop, refine, and validate construct measures. Design/methodology/approach Research was undertaken in the UK and the Netherlands incorporating a literature review, a qualitative study with 58 interviews, a quantitative study with 274 survey respondents, and a replication study with 154 survey respondents. Findings Analysis reveals that e-procurement quality comprises five universally applicable dimensions: processing, content, usability, professionalism, and training. A sixth dimension, specification, appears to be applicable, but context specific. Originality/value The study represents one of the most extensive investigations of e-procurement quality to date and is the first to examine its underlying dimensional structure. The multi-item scales developed and validated using a mixed-methods process are suitable for theory building and testing, as well as providing useful diagnostic value to practitioners.

The role of strategic purchasing in dynamic capability development and deployment: A contingency perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on research into the impact of two sequential dimensions of strategic purchasing – purchasing recognition and purchasing involvement – on the development and deployment of dynamic capabilities. The authors also examine how such dynamic capabilities impact on both cost and innovation performance, and how their effects differ for service as opposed to manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors test hypotheses using structural equation modeling of survey data from 309 manufacturing and service firms. Findings From a dynamic capability perspective, the analysis supports the positive relationships between purchasing recognition, purchasing involvement, and dynamic capability in the form of knowledge scanning. The authors also find support for the positive impact of knowledge scanning on both cost and innovation performance. From a contingency perspective, data supports hypothesized differences caused by industry, whereby service-based firms experience stronger positive linkages in our model than manufacturing-based firms. Finally, emerging from the data, the authors explore a re-enforcing effect from cost performance to purchasing involvement, something that is in line with the dynamic capabilities perspective but not typically addressed in operations management (OM) research. Originality/value The research offers a number of theoretical and managerial contributions, including being one of a relative few examples of empirical assessment of dynamic capability development and deployment; examining the enablers of dynamic capability in addition to the more commonly addressed performance effect; assessing the contingency effect of firm type for dynamic capabilities; and uncovering a return (re-enforcing) effect between performance and enablers of dynamic capabilities.