Amelia S. Carr

Communication methods, information sharing, supplier development and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend understanding of supplier development theory by investigating the relationships among communication methods, information sharing within a firm, information sharing between firms, and support aimed at supplier development and the effects these relationships have on firm performance.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a random sample of 231 firms are used to test hypothesized relationships by employing structural equation modeling.Findings – The main findings indicate that traditional communication methods, information sharing within a firm, and information sharing between firms, and supplier development are significant factors for improving a buyers performance though their indirect and direct effects on firm performance vary.Research limitations/implications – The model tested in this study should be reinvestigated by employing better developed measures of advanced communication methods. Furthermore, when investigating the relationship b...

Supplier dependence: impact on supplier's participation and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding of the importance of supplier dependence on the buyers firm and its relationship to supplier training and supplier involvement in product development with respect to the suppliers performance.Design/methodology/approach – A random sample of 231 firms provided the data that were analyzed for this study. Using structural equation modeling, a sub‐set of the sample consisting of 166 manufacturing firms was used to test the five hypothesized relationships in the model.Findings – The main findings indicate that supplier dependence is a significant contributor to increasing supplier participation in buyer supported training and increasing supplier involvement in product development. Also, supplier training and supplier involvement are significant contributors to the suppliers operational performance.Research limitations/implications – The model tested in this study used a random sample of US manufacturing firms. Thus, future studies should inc...

RFID Technology: Implications for Healthcare Organizations

The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate the healthcare organization’s intention to use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for improving efficiency. This paper also intends to identify various factors that influence the adoption of RFID in the healthcare organization. This paper develops and tests seven different hypotheses. These hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling. Our results provide support for a number of relationships in the hypothesized model. These include direct relationships among the factors risk, resistance to change, supplier support and the factor perceived usefulness. However, the study did not find support for the relationship between the factors perceived ease of use and intention to use. The results provide support for several indirect relationships as well. These include indirect relationships between the factors perceived resistance to change, risk, suppliers’ support and perceived ease of use with the factor intention to adopt RFID technology in the healthcare organization. This research is grounded in the theory of reasoned action and applies the technology acceptance model (TAM) to the healthcare organization’s intention to use RFID technology.

Assessing logistics maturation through author concentration

Purpose – While most researchers would generally agree that the field of logistics has been maturing over recent decades, this maturation has not yet been empirically established. The purpose of this paper is to assess the maturity of research in the field by measuring author concentration in logistics journals over a sixteen‐year period.Design/methodology/approach – Research propositions of logistics author concentration are first developed from the extant literature. The propositions are then tested by assessing author concentration across 1,796 articles from five scholarly, peer‐reviewed logistics journals from 1992‐2007. The results are compared to similar studies of other academic business disciplines, including accounting, finance, management, and marketing. We also apply regression analysis to the time series data to verify changing author concentration trends.Findings – The results indicate that logistics publications generally have higher author concentration than other business disciplines, sugg...

The cross-functional coordination between operations, marketing, purchasing and engineering and the impact on performance

This paper is a study of the coordination capability between operations and other functional areas within the firm. The paper examines a number of relationships with respect to cross-functional coordination and performance. Using a random sample of 231 firms, five hypotheses are tested. Structural equation modelling is used to test the relationships depicted in the research model. The results indicate that firms can benefit from the cross-functional coordination between operations, marketing, engineering and purchasing.

Toyota production system for healthcare organisations: prospects and implementation challenges

The objective of this study is to document the implementation of the Toyota production system (TPS) in a Healthcare Organisation – Heartland Regional Medical Center – undertaken to meet accreditation standards and customer service goals. We record the challenges experienced and elaborate the effectiveness of knowledge-management (KM) procedures during TPS implementation. The study addresses an organisation-wide preparation for implementing TPS and the accreditation standards of the National Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Our observations are centred on the Quality Management Council which has been involved in carrying out improvements in patient care, service, and hospital administration. The study documents the effectiveness of KM approaches such as cross-functional coordination and subject-matter experts in the implementation of TPS. This is a single site case study, and the challenges observed and remedies pursued while implementing TPS may be specific to the site or unique to the healthcare industry, and may not be appropriate in other organisational contexts. The study highlights key strategies and tenets that managers can pursue for effective integration of TPS in a Healthcare setting. Our study implies the importance of the creation of missions and goals that effectively bond the top management and employees to quality and safety goals. The use of subject-matter experts, employee committees, cross-functional teams, and process champions documented will provide the template for TPS implementation.