Haozhe Chen

The relationship between strategic orientation, service innovation, and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine how a firms strategic orientation affects service innovation capability and the resulting impact on market performance.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administered to supply chain executives. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among the following constructs: customer orientation, competitor orientation, cost orientation, service innovation, and market performance.Findings – Although the relationship between cost orientation and service innovation is not supported, the relationships between customer orientation and competitor orientation and service innovation are supported. Additionally, the relationship between service innovation and market performance is supported.Research limitations/implications – This study is one of a limited number of studies which has empirically addressed service innovation. Additional research is needed to address the impact of a firms strategic orientation on product innovation capa...

Firm‐wide integration and firm performance

Purpose – This paper is intended to extend previous research by exploring the scope of integration and its impact on firm performance. In addition to, examining dyadic integrative relationships, the research also looks at firm-wide process-oriented integration. Design/methodology/approach – Literature on collaboration and integration was reviewed along with discussions with subject experts. The resulting survey was administered to supply chain executives. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships between the constructs of marketing/logistics collaborative activities, firm-wide cross-functional integration, and firm performance. Findings – This research shows that marketing/logistics collaboration does not have a direct impact on firm performance when firm-wide integration is considered. The results indicate that marketing/logistics collaboration increases firm performance through the mediation of firm-wide cross-functional integration. Additionally, dyadic collaboration needs the support of broader firm-wide integration to achieve better firm performance. Research limitations/implications – The paper presents an initial quantitative study on the scope of integration. Future research should examine other influential factors and explore the relationship between internal integration and external integration. Further, studies should also investigate the order in which firm processes should be integrated. Practical implications – The primary implication is that firms can follow a path starting with focused dyadic collaborative behaviors involving as few as two functional areas and move towards firm-wide integration of processes over time. Originality/value – This paper shows that functional level collaboration (logistics and marketing) is a precursor for firm-wide integration leading to increased firm performance.

Third‐party logistics provider customer orientation and customer firm logistics improvement in China

Purpose – Based on customer value theory, this paper aims to propose and test a conceptual model of the relationship between third‐party logistics (3PL) provider customer orientation and customer firm logistics improvement.Design/methodology/approach – The 3PL provider customer orientation is conceptualized as a higher, second‐order construct made up of four key logistics‐driven first‐order indicators: service variety, information availability, timeliness, and continuous improvement. A survey‐based approach is utilized to collect data from managers at 124 manufacturing customer firms in the Peoples Republic of China; structural equation modeling is performed to assess measures and test the hypothesized relationships.Findings – Chinese 3PL provider customer orientation significantly influences customer firm logistics improvement.Research limitations/implications – Findings are based on single source perceptual data from customer firm key respondents. Tests indicate that common method bias is not a problem...

Measuring process orientation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically develop a valid measurement scale for process orientation – a critical supply chain management (SCM) concept that warrants greater study.Design/methodology/approach – This study follows the measurement development approach proposed by Churchill. Data are collected from China. Various statistical analysis techniques, including confirmatory factor analysis through structural equation modeling, are utilized to ensure the validity and reliability of the newly developed measurement scale.Findings – A six‐item scale was developed for the construct of process orientation.Research limitations/implications – Because the research is conducted in one particular industry (electronics) and one country (China), future studies in different contexts are needed to validate or modify the resulted scale. The measurement scale developed in this paper can be used in future empirical SCM research to further investigate the mechanism and impacts of process orientation.Practi...

Technology emergence between mandate and acceptance: an exploratory examination of RFID

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on radio frequency identification (RFID) acceptance and examine three understudied drivers: a companys satisfaction with existing logistics technologies, its logistics technology readiness (technology optimism and technology innovativeness), and relationship hostage position. The proposed conceptual model also investigates the impacts of RFID acceptance and these three antecedents on the companys logistics performance.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from the members of three professional associations in the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships.Findings – According to the analysis results, a companys satisfaction with existing technology has negative impact on RFID acceptance, and technology readiness has positive impact on RFID acceptance. However, the relationship between a companys hostage position and RFID acceptance was found to be only partially significant. Also, the positive relatio...

Learning orientation, integration, and supply chain risk management in Chinese manufacturing firms

Supply chain risk management (SCRM) has become a differentiating competency as networks of interdependent organisations strive to manage and prevent supply chain disruptions. However, research examining cultural and behavioural factors that may improve SCRM practice is still scarce. Drawing on the knowledge-based view of the firm and using survey data from the Chinese electronics industry, this study examines the roles of learning orientation (LO) and supply chain integration (SCI) as complementary parts of a knowledge deployment process that facilitates SCRM. The study findings demonstrate that SCI partially mediates the relationship between LO and SCRM.

Machine scheduling with outsourcing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the use of outsourcing as a mechanism to cope with supply chain uncertainty, more specifically, how to deal with sudden arrival of higher priority jobs that require immediate processing, in an in-house manufacturers facility from the perspective of outsourcing. An operational level schedule of production and distribution of outsourced jobs to the manufacturers facility should be determined for the subcontractor in order to achieve overall optimality. Design/methodology/approach – The problem is of bi-criteria in that both the transportation cost measured by number of delivery vehicles and schedule performance measured by jobs’ delivery times. In order to obtain the problems Pareto front, we propose dynamic programming (DP) heuristic solution procedure based on integrated decision making, and population-heuristic solution procedures using different encoding schemes based on sequential decision making. Computational studies are designed and carried out by r...

Supply chain learning, integration, and flexibility performance: an empirical study in India

Purpose Supply chain flexibility has been acknowledged as a necessity in the context of constantly changing operational and service requirements in the global marketplace. However, limited research has focused on analyzing and empirically testing the dynamics of achieving enhanced flexibility performance. Drawing upon the knowledge-based view of the firm, the purpose of this paper is to address this research gap by introducing supply chain learning (SCL) and integration as key factors in the process. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected in India. Structural equation modeling technique was used as the main analysis method to test the proposed conceptual model on SCL, integration, and flexibility performance. Findings Research findings indicate that the supply chain integration construct (in its internal and external dimensions) mediates the proposed SCL-flexibility performance relationship. The analysis also confirms the positive relationship between cross-functional integration and inter-firm integration. Research limitations/implications Focusing on only one country may limit the generalizability of the findings. Also, cross-sectional data collection may not be the ideal approach for evaluating the impacts of SCL. Therefore, future research with longitudinal data and in different contexts is warranted to validate the research results of this study. Originality/value The proposed conceptual model adds to the limited existing knowledge body of SCL and links SCL, integration, and flexibility performance. It also provides a new venue for future research in this area.

Measuring Trust in an Inter-organizational Context

Trust has long been considered a critical interfirm relationship component. However, measuring trust in an inter-organizational context poses a great challenge because trust at individual and organizational levels often becomes intertwined. Thus, the focus of this study is to identify and discuss issues related to the measurement of mterfirm trust, including units and levels of measuring trust in supply chain relationships. However, the process of developing a good measurement scale of trust starts with sound conceptualization of it to which the measurement scale is validated. Therefore, this study also discusses issues in different definitions and dimensions of trust in existing studies. Several suggestions are made to develop a more valid and reliable trust measures for the advancement in the supply chain research.