Donna Marshall

Strategic technology adoption: extending ERP across the supply chain

Purpose – This article proposes examining how small to medium‐sized organisations (SMEs) are responding to the challenge of harnessing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and internet technologies to enhance performance and improve competitiveness and aims to identify the barriers preventing organisations from harnessing these technologies.Design/methodology/approach – A case‐based research strategy was chosen. Four leading SMEs were interviewed to determine their approach to extended ERP and the barriers encountered. The primary data collection was based on structured in‐depth interviews with key respondents who were involved in the implementation of extended ERP and closely involved in day‐to‐day operations.Findings – While each of the SMEs had already taken some steps to extended ERP, they adopted a cautious approach to the future. In short, SMEs considering extended ERP should determine the impact on all organisations before proceeding and should also apply the lessons learned from their initial ERP im...

Buyer Supplier Perspectives on Supply Chain Relationships

Purpose – The paper aims to employ transaction cost theory and social exchange theory to compare how buyers and suppliers perceive relationship mechanisms. The paper also explains the antecedents and dynamics of relationship performance by comparing buyer and supplier perceptions of the same relationships. The paper specifically focuses on the issue of relationship success and test the hypothesis that the antecedents of perceived relationship success for buyers differ from those of suppliers within supply chain relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a study of the supply chain relationships of a major ICT company where matched pairs of buyers and suppliers were surveyed on the nature of their relationships. The survey instrument drew from previously published constructs on key relationship dimensions such as trust, commitment, power, communication, uncertainty and performance. A series of nested measurement models were then developed and tested for the two groups – buyers and su...

Environmental and social supply chain management sustainability practices: construct development and measurement

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and operationalise the concept of supply chain management sustainability practices. Based on a multi-stage procedure involving a literature review, expert Q-sort and pre-test process, pilot test and survey of 156 supply chain directors and managers in Ireland, we develop a multidimensional conceptualisation and measure of social and environmental supply chain management sustainability practices. The research findings show theoretically sound constructs based on four underlying sustainable supply chain management practices: monitoring, implementing systems, new product and process development and strategy redefinition. A two-factor model is then identified as the most reliable: comprising process-based and market-based practices.

Opposites attract: organisational culture and supply chain performance

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to expand the knowledge of buyer-supplier relationships by investigating the extent to which organisational cultural fit between a buyer and supply chain participants influences performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in a FMCG supply chain. A cultural dimensions questionnaire was used in a focal organisation (the buyer) and it identified best and poorest performing supply chain. The results were analysed using a series of ANOVAs within the respective supply chains. The findings were then triangulated via qualitative methods. Findings – The findings demonstrate that complementarity rather than congruence between the supply chain partners achieved successful performance outcomes. Organisations in the high-performing supply chain had significantly different cultural profiles, reporting significant statistical differences across all six cultural dimensions. Organisations in the low-performing supply chain had almost identical profiles across all six cultural dimensions with significantly lower mean scores across each dimension. Research limitations/implications – The deconstruction of organisational culture into its constituent dimensions in a supply chain provides insights for academics. Propositions are presented which provide a platform for further studies. Future studies could develop these findings by using a larger sample, over a longer period of time, and adding mediating variables that impact supply chain outcomes. Practical implications – Managers should pay attention to cultural evaluation within the supplier selection process as well as finance or strategic evaluations. A shared supply chain culture of norm-based trust and openness may yield better outcomes and reduced conflict and uncertainty throughout the supply chain. Originality/value – This is one of the first papers to deconstruct and measure organisational cultural fit empirically in a supply chain context.

Going above and beyond: How sustainability culture and entrepreneurial orientation drive social sustainability supply chain practice adoption

Purpose – This paper aims to examine what drives the adoption of different social sustainability supply chain practices. Research has shown that certain factors drive the adoption of environmental sustainability practices but few focus on social supply chain practices, delineate which practices are adopted or what drives their adoption. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine the facilitative role of sustainability culture to explain the adoption of social sustainability supply chain practices: basic practices, consisting of monitoring and management systems and advanced practices, which are new product and process development and strategic redefinition. The authors then explore the role played by a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation in shaping and reinforcing the adoption of social sustainability supply chain practices. A survey of 156 supply chain managers in multiple industries in Ireland was conducted to test the relationship between the variables. Findings – The findings show that sustainab...

Communication media selection in buyer-supplier relationships

Purpose – In successful purchasing relationships, effective communication is a key factor. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the choice of communication media is affected by different stages in the relationship development process and by different purchasing contexts: product and service purchasing.Design/methodology/approach – The study initially reviews the literature on inter‐organizational communication and purchasing relationships. In order to explore the research question, data were gathered through semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with purchasing managers, buyers and their suppliers in three product and three service purchasing relationships.Findings – The study identifies a relationship development framework that influences the communication media selection in two purchasing contexts. It confirms that communication media selection is affected by the communication needs of the participants, the stage of relationship development, and the purchasing context.Research limitations/impli...

The development of an outsourcing process model

This paper aims to develop a dynamic process view of outsourcing. In the research, a longitudinal, grounded theory approach was used, with iterative steps of reviewing the current literature and knowledge on outsourcing and, in parallel, empirically examining the processes occurring with three case companies. The case companies, all from the telecommunications industry, outsourced at least three activities, which were examined over the course of 4 years. The research provided a dynamic model of the outsourcing process as well as identifying key drivers and influences on the process.

The legitimacy of entrepreneurial mentoring

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings from longitudinal case studies of small firm mentoring relationships in Ireland. The rationale is to explore the gaps between the theory and practice of small firm mentoring. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a comparative case study design involving interviews, observation and secondary sources of evidence including business plans. Findings – In contrast to the literature the paper extends the role of mentors in the small firm context as offering direct and indirect support, which reduces uncertainty in order to increase legitimacy of the business entity. Research limitations/implications – The cases highlight a conflict between the broad theoretical scope of the mentor process vs a narrow role assumed by best practice. Practical implications – The research presents an opportunity to enhance the pragmatic vs paternalistic perspective of small firm mentoring. The authors argue that for mentoring theory to be useful then a mentor’s role-...

Old habits die hard: exploring the effect of supply chain dependency and culture on performance outcomes and relationship satisfaction

This study examines the effect of dependency and culture on relationship performance and satisfaction in an interdependent supply chain. Several studies have empirically tested the relationship between dependence and outcomes but none, to our knowledge, have included the multifaceted construct of organisational culture (OC) as a mediating variable. This study takes a theory-building, longitudinal case-study approach using mixed methods to understand the dynamic between dependence and culture and proposes that interdependence will lead to collaborative OCs over the long term (over five years), and this will positively influence relationship performance and satisfaction. However, our study finds that the rhetoric does not match the reality: interdependence in a supply chain relationship does not necessarily lead to a collaborative culture. It appears that firms use the term ‘collaborative’ as another term for risk management, are still wedded to transactional mechanisms rather than relational mechanisms and are opportunistic in their behaviour when the opportunity presents itself. We also find that collaborative culture is more apparent at the operational level but missing at the strategic level. When a true collaborative culture is absent, satisfaction and performance decline; when it is present, these increase. We propose that when a culture of true collaboration exists this is more stable over time but when this is missing the culture fluctuates between relational and transactional practices.

Self-interest or the greater good: How political and rational dynamics influence the outsourcing process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the influence of political goals and behaviour on the outsourcing decision process and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The research used an exploratory longitudinal case-based approach. Eight outsourcing projects in three telecommunications companies were analysed from the initial decision to the outcome of the case. Findings – The authors show how political goals and behaviours influence the outsourcing decision process and inductively develop four political goals: personal reputation, attainment, elimination and control. The authors also identify three dynamic outsourcing paths: the personal reputation path, which leads to successful outcomes; the short-term attain and eliminate path leading to unsuccessful outcomes; and the destabilised path, which leads to mixed outcomes. All of these can be tested in other empirical settings. Research limitations/implications – The implications for outsourcing literature are that political ...