David E. Cantor

Examining the role of stakeholder pressure and knowledge management on supply chain risk and demand responsiveness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the supply chain risk management literature by examining how stakeholders place pressure on the firm to engage in risk management activities. Design/methodology/approach – This paper utilizes a survey approach to test the nomological model. The analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling techniques. Findings – The results demonstrate that stakeholders place pressure on the firm to mitigate risk and that knowledge management (KM) and joint planning activities with suppliers serve as mediating roles in the model. The process-oriented model reveals that these factors influence the firms ability to be responsive to customer demand. Originality/value – The research represents one of the first papers to empirically test how stakeholder theory and KM contributes to risk mitigation activities. Additionally, the paper shows the impact of KM factors on risk mitigation activities. The paper attempts to explain from both a theoretical and empiri...

The role of individual and organizational factors in promoting firm environmental practices

Purpose – This study seeks to explore the roles of organizational support and environmental manager commitment on organizational environmental management practices.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of environmental managers was conducted to examine the role of organizational support and individual environmental commitment on key informant perceptions of environmental organizational practices including participation in extra‐organizational voluntary environmental programs, adoption of a company‐specific environmental management system (EMS), and involvement in ISO 14000 certification.Findings – Study findings demonstrate that high perceptions of organizational support for the environment affect the likelihood of an organizations implementation of environmental practices. Similarly, study findings indicate that higher levels of environmental commitment of the individual responsible for environmental management practices affects the likelihood of an organizations implementation of environmental practi...

Applying a voluntary compliance model to a proposed transportation safety regulation

Purpose – The objective of this paper is the development of a voluntary compliance model that is applied to the current and substantive governmental regulatory electronic on‐board recorder (EOBR) proposal in the workplace.Design/methodology/approach – This study is designed to qualitatively evaluate the responses of commercial drivers to the federal governments proposed EOBR safety technology. Results are based on the analysis of published comments made by commercial drivers to a US government online database, the Federal Docket Management System.Findings – Four major thematic categories emerged from the commercial driver comments are analyzed, including government control over workplace behavior; financial impact; technology readiness; and attribution issues –, e.g. misplaced responsibility for safety problems (generally on other drivers or outside parties). This paper links these concerns to a procedural justice model and discusses how procedural justice concerns can contribute to voluntary compliance ...

Supply chain risk mitigation competency: an individual-level knowledge-based perspective

Supply chain managers are responsible for making decisions regarding supply chain risk in order to mitigate the impact of supply chain disruptions. This study develops and tests a theoretical model that leverages the individual-level knowledge-based view perspective to understand the process through which risk mitigation orientation of the supply chain manager contributes to his/her absorptive capacity. A supply chain manager’s absorptive capacity, in turn, enhances his/her ability to effectively mitigate supply chain risk. Study findings demonstrate that supply chain managers with high-risk mitigation orientation have greater level of absorptive capacity which enhances their risk mitigation competency. This study represents the first development and testing of a model that examines individual-level knowledge management factors that affect supply chain risk mitigation competency. This research emphasises the importance of the individual supply chain manager in managing risk and illustrates how theoretical perspectives from the knowledge management, supply chain risk and organisational behaviour literature can be fruitfully adopted to explain behaviour in the field of supply chain risk management.

An Examination of How Supervisors Influence Their Subordinates to Engage in Environmental Behaviors

Employee engagement in environmental behaviors is an important topic in operations management. Drawing upon stakeholder, commitment, and organizational support theories, this study creates and tests an empirical model of how store managers (i.e., supervisors) influence their direct reports (i.e., subordinates) to become engaged in environmental behaviors. Based on a dataset derived from supervisors and their subordinates who are employed at the same grocery store location across a large retail grocery chain, we test our studys nomological model and find support for the linkages proposed. Key research and managerial implications are discussed

Environmental management rivalry and firm performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build and test theory regarding how rivalry in environmental management (EM) affects a focal firm’s environmental image and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach The theory is tested with an original panel data set of 2,776 focal-rival dyad pairs. Measures of environmental signals are developed from content analysis of corporate sustainability reports. Environmental performance data are drawn from the Newsweek US 500 Green Rankings database. Financial performance data are drawn from COMPUSTAT. Findings The main findings are that focal firm signals have a positive and significant impact on both focal firm environmental image and financial performance. Rival firm signals have a negative effect on focal firm environmental image. Surprisingly, rival firm signals have a positive impact on focal firm financial performance. Practical implications This paper can serve as a testament to the value of monitoring rival firm strategies and signaling to counter the impact of rival signals in the environmental domain. Environmental practices can be a source of competitive advantage for firms, and failure to compete in this space can place the firm at a competitive disadvantage. Originality/value This study makes several contributions to the EM literature. Leveraging competitive dynamics and the institutional viewpoints, this study builds theory with regard to how signals of competitive EM activity among a focal firm and its rivals affect environmental image and financial performance.

The Impact of Contract Manufacturing on Inventory Performance: An Examination of U.S. Manufacturing Industries

In recent years, a growing number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have transferred their manufacturing processes to specialized firms, known as contract manufacturers. In so doing, contract manufacturers can reduce an OEMs production costs and provide OEMs with flexibility in the production process. We examine another potential reason for the use of contract manufacturing—the potential for efficiency gains from inventory reductions. Employing econometric models and data representing manufacturing industries in the USA, we provide statistical evidence that contract manufacturing can lead to lower industry-wide inventory levels, after controlling for other relevant factors. Key managerial implications are derived from the analysis.

Content analysis in SCM research: past uses and future research opportunities

Purpose Content analysis is a methodology that has been used in many academic disciplines as a means to extract quantitative measures from textual information. The purpose of this paper is to document the use of content analysis in the supply chain literature. The authors also discuss opportunities for future research. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a literature review of 13 leading supply chain journals to assess the state of the content analysis-based literature and identify opportunities for future research. Additionally, the authors provide a general schema for and illustration of the use of content analysis. Findings The findings suggest that content analysis for quantitative studies and hypothesis testing purposes has rarely been used in the supply chain discipline. The research also suggests that in order to fully realize the potential of content analysis, future content analysis research should conduct more hypothesis testing, employ diverse data sets, utilize state-of-the-art content analysis software programs, and leverage multi-method research designs. Originality/value The current research synthesizes the use of content analysis methods in the supply chain domain and promotes the need to capitalize on the advantages offered by this research methodology. The paper also presents several topics for future research that can benefit from the content analysis method.