E. van Heck

Designing and evaluating sustainable logistics networks

Consumers and legislation have pushed companies to re-design their logistic networks in order to mitigate negative environmental impacts. The objective in the design of logistic networks has changed, therefore, from cost minimization only, to cost and environmental impact minimization. The objective of this paper is to develop a framework for the design and evaluation of sustainable logistic networks, in which profitability and environmental impacts are balanced. In this paper, we review the main activities affecting environmental performance and cost efficiency in logistic networks, we show the advantages of using multi-objective programming (MOP) to design sustainable networks, we present the expected computational difficulties of using the MOP approach in the design of sustainable networks, and we introduce a technique, based on the commonalities between data envelopment analysis (DEA) and MOP, to evaluate the efficiency of existing logistic networks. The European pulp and paper industry will be used to illustrate our findings.

The adoption and impact of EDI in Dutch SMEs

Tests a recent model, developed by Iacovou et al. (1995), of the adoption and integration of electronic data interchange (EDI) systems. The model includes three factors as determinants of EDI adoption: perceived benefits, organizational readiness and external pressure. Factors were measured in 137 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands. Measuring instruments were developed and used in structured interview sessions with the managers of these small businesses. The responses from the 83 non-adopters support the validity of the model in predicting intent to adopt EDI. All three factors were found to be significant in the predicted direction. The responses from the 54 EDI adopters showed that the factors expected benefits and external pressure could significantly explain the adoption of EDI. However, external pressure seems to be the dominant factor to explain the adoption of EDI by small businesses. The results of the EDI adopters show also that there was no significant relationship between the level of integration of EDI (internally and externally), with the actual benefits adopters received from utilizing EDI. More integrated systems did not offer higher direct or indirect benefits.

The Emergence of Standards: A Meta-Analysis

This paper provides a list of factors that influence the outcome of standard battles. We have developed this list by performing a meta-analysis of 103 papers. An extensive literature study has revealed 31 factors which we have grouped under five categories: superior design, mechanisms, stakeholders, dominant agent, and strategy. We discuss the relations between the factors and we have applied the set of factors to an example of a standardization battle: the video case

Information Transparency in B2B Auction Markets: The Role of Winner Identity Disclosure

We study the impact of information transparency in B2B auctions. Specifically, we measure the effect of concealing winners’ identities on auction outcomes using a large-scale, quasi-natural field experiment. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that “the more information, the better,” we find that concealing winners’ identities leads to a significant increase in price by approximately 6%, and such effect holds true across both online and offline channels as well as different types of bidders. We further explore the mechanism that drives the observed effect. The empirical analysis suggests that the price increase may primarily stem from the disruption of imitative bidding which relies on the identification of fellow competitors. Our findings have important implications for the design of auction markets, especially multi-channel B2B markets.

Modularity in Three Dimensions: A Study of Mass Customization in the Dutch House Building Industry

Modularity is often considered as the major enabler of mass- customization. This paper introduces modularity in three business dimensions: products, processes and supply chains. The different aspects and opportunities of three-dimensional modularity are investigated in relation to successful mass- customization strategies. The central proposition of this paper is that a network of organizations will be more effective in pursuing a mass-customization strategy when all three dimensions are concurrently designed in a modular fashion. This proposition is validated within the Dutch house building industry, which is currently trying to mass-customize its products. In particular, we focus on an innovative project, called Dwelling on Demand, which is carried out in the city of Almere. This project is one of the first steps the Dutch housing industry takes towards more customer-influence on a serial basis. It is concluded from this project that a concurrent design in all three dimensions often leads to better mass- customization performances, while it assures a better fit between serving the customers’ requirements and the organizational network structure and capabilities.

Improve Yield in Public Transport - a Focus on ICT Capability

Critical to a public transport operation is the effective use of its inventory (e.g., seat capacity). However, so far most of the public transport operators have difficulties in bringing more yield into reality, while the airlines are enjoying the tremendous success with revenue management. What makes the difference? How can the public transport operators approach revenue management in an innovative way? Using the case of smart card adoption in Dutch public transport, this article makes an attempt to answer this question. Our finding suggests that the customer heterogeneity and the product heterogeneity alone do not qualify public transport operators for a revenue management. Instead, we argue that enhanced ICT capability and flexible pricing policies play an important role. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of revenue management and furthermore to advocate the yield improvement for the service operation and management, focusing on the customer-centric viewpoint