Guangming Cao

Collaborative supply chain practices and performance: exploring the key role of information quality

Purpose - This paper seeks to report the results of a study examining the importance of information quality for the efficacy of collaborative supply chain practices. Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire was sent to procurement managers throughout the supply chain within the German automotive industry. Regression analyses illustrate the differences in performance of collaborative practices under high and low information quality scenarios. Findings - The study illustrates that the impact of collaborative supply chain practices (i.e. information sharing, incentive alignment, joint-decision making) on performance varies significantly depending on the quality of information that is exchanged throughout the supply chain. Specifically, whilst information sharing improves operational performance when low and high quality information is exchanged, incentive alignment and joint decision making only improve operational performance when the information is of high quality. Originality/value - Although research on the performance impact of collaborative supply chain practices has advanced over the past decade, there is still a scarcity of research acknowledging the multidimensional nature of collaboration. Additionally, the importance of information quality for the success of collaborative practices has not been firmly established. The paper addresses this void in the literature by reporting results of an empirical study examining collaborative supply chains and practices within the German automotive industry. The paper will thus be beneficial to supply chain managers considering collaborative practices and will support further empirical research work in the collaborative supply chain research field.

A systemic view of organisational change and TQM

While total quality management (TQM) has been widely applied in the management of change, and is likely to remain a priority into the next century, failure rates at times above 75 per cent give cause for concern. The study on which this paper is based has reviewed TQM as an approach to change management. Four interrelated classifications of organisational change are presented: change as structure (or “functional change”), process, values, or power distribution. Of these, it is contended, TQM adequately addresses only process change, with incidences of failure closely correlated to the application of process‐based TQM techniques in change contexts characterised by structure, values or power. This study suggests that, for TQM to be applied successfully, either an approach is required which adequately addresses all types of change context (a so‐called “systemic” approach), or its application needs to be restricted to those contexts where process dominates.

A critique of BPR from a holistic perspective

Business process reengineering (BPR) is widely applied. However, its high failure rates give much cause for concern and call for more research, thus future BPR programmes might be implemented more successfully. Reports on one such research programme. Based on a holistic perspective, it critiques BPR as an approach to change management, in which four types of organisational change are classified: change in process, structure, culture, or power distribution. They are often seen to be interrelated, thus the management of the interaction is central. BPR, it is argued, is powerful in addressing process change, but incapable of dealing with other types of organisational change. Suggests that if BPR is to be applied successfully, either its usage needs to be restricted to change situations where process dominates, or a holistic approach is needed to help address adequately change situations where different types of organisational change are surfaced.

Exploring the Important Role of Organizational Factors in it Business Value: Taking a Contingency Perspective on the Resource‐Based View

Despite the importance to researchers and practitioners of how information technology (IT) contributes to organizational performance, there is an ongoing debate about the extent of IT business value (ITBV) and how to measure ITBV. Recently, a number of researchers have applied resource-based view (RBV) and contingency theory to investigating ITBV, with mixed results. Researchers have started to recognize that ITBV is closely associated with the synergies created from IT and a variety of complementary organizational factors, which might be an alternative way to explain these mixed results. Through a review of the literature, this paper assesses the current level of knowledge in ITBV research. It identifies that significant progress has been made in the research domain, but that in-depth inquiry into ITBV is still needed. Based on RBV and contingency theory, a research framework has been developed. The framework suggests that firms might be able to gain significant performance improvements if IT resources are in alignment with additional organizational factors (i.e. organizational strategy, organizational process, organizational culture, organizational structure). The authors believe that this framework will be valuable in assisting researchers and practitioners in understanding the complex ITBV process.

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.

Towards systemic management of diversity in organizational change

This article: Reflects critically upon the approaches to managing organizational change. It is argued that current approaches are normally single-method-led, dominated by reductionism and isolationism. Reviews how contemporary systems thinking manages methodological diversity, to inform managing organizational change. Develops a systemic framework, which includes a classification of four ideal types of diversity and four approaches in organizational change. Copyright

Adoption of business analytics and impact on performance: a qualitative study in retail

Abstract This paper describes a qualitative study aimed at understanding issues faced by retail firms when they start a project of implementing business analytics (BA) and understanding the impact of BA implementation on business performance. Our study is informed by prior literature and the theoretical perspectives of the Technology–Organisation–Environment (TOE) framework but is not constrained by this theory. Using case studies of nine retailers in the U.K, we have found support for the link between TOE elements and adoption. In addition, we have identified more interesting involvement of additional factors in ensuring how firms could maximise benefit derived from BA and traditional TOE factors that potentially could have additional impacts different from the ones. For example, there appears a link between adoption of BA and business performance (including performance in terms of environmental sustainability), and this link is moderated by the level of BA adoption, IT integration and trust.

Green supply chain management – food for thought?

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices on the performance of UK food retail small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A quantitative approach using a non-probability sampling of 84 participants was employed. Based on the literature review, five hypotheses were developed and tested using the partial least square-structural equation modeling (SEM-Smart PLS 2.03) approach. The reviewed literature revealed that key internal drivers (ID) and external pressures (EP) stimulate organizations to initiate GSCM practices in UK food retail SMEs. Though empirical findings strongly supported the statement that ID influence GSCM practices, they did not show a significant relationship between EP and GSCM practices. Literature also suggests that practicing GSCM can help improve the efficiency, brand image (BI) and profitability, and thus improve the overall firm performance which is also empirically proved. This study helps enrich existing theories on SCM and organizational performance. As to practical impact, this study should facilitate SMEs in GSCM practices and thus help green the economy. While the findings of this study have limited generalisability as the data were collected from UK SMEs only and the sample size was comparatively small, this research establishes a foundation for further study in this domain.

Systemic capabilities: the source of IT business value

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop, and explicate the significance of the need for a systemic conceptual framework for understanding IT business value. Design/methodology/approach – Embracing a systems perspective, this paper examines the interrelationship between IT and other organisational factors at the organisational level and its impact on the business value of IT. As a result, a systemic conceptual framework for understanding IT business value is developed. An example of enhancing IT business value through developing systemic capabilities is then used to test and demonstrate the value of this framework. Findings – The findings suggest that IT business value would be significantly enhanced when systemic capabilities are generated from the synergistic interrelations among IT and other organisational factors at the systems level, while the system’s human agents play a critical role in developing systemic capabilities by purposely configuring and reconfiguring organisational factors. Prac...

The Application of Systems Perspectives to Organisational Change in Electronic Commerce

the potential operational and strategic advantages from electronic commerce (EC) have been well documented in the literature, and managers are bombarded with various ideas as to how to manage EC. On the one hand, ibis offers alternatives and choices. On the other hand, this can be confusing since many of these recommendations tend to be conipeting with each other from various disciplinary angles. This paper, based on a systemic conceptual framework, understands EC as one of those cases where the way of clomg business is revolutionised: resulting in significant changes in organisational processes, structures, cultures and power distributions. These changes are often seen to be interrelated, thus the management of the interaction is central. This suggests that EC should be understood in terms of multiple perspectives in a coherent way. and managed by using multiple methods rather than a single approach.