Jayaram K. Sankaran

The impact of road traffic congestion on supply chains: insights from Auckland, New Zealand

Extant research into traffic congestion in relation to freight transportation and logistics is usually conducted in the context of economies (e.g. he USA) where road traffic congestion in a single region (e.g. Los Angeles County) will have negligible overall impact on supply chains. The Auckland region in New Zealand (NZ) represents an exception: it accounts for a third of NZ’s population but only about 2% of NZ’s landmass. (Only Athens in Greece and Buenos Aires in Argentina manifest similar population concentrations.) Therefore, road traffic congestion in the Auckland region is considered a national problem: in terms of lost income, time and pollution, congestion is estimated annually to cost the NZ economy about 1% of NZ’s GDP. The Auckland region, then, serves as a fertile context for uncovering rich, micro-level insight into the impact of road traffic congestion on manufacturers and distributors and their supply chains. We found congestion affects businesses in varied ways and degrees depending on the nature of the market for the company’s products, the nature of raw materials and finished products, the location of the factory/warehouse, etc. Congestion is often an amplifier of delays and costs, which themselves burgeon for a variety of reasons. These include business growth, increasing levels of service, urban sprawl and bio-security regulation. Since it is not always easy to isolate the impact of congestion on logistics costs, organisations are tempted to impute rising logistics costs to congestion more than is justifiable. In some cases, however, the same strategies that are employed to satisfy efficiently just-in-time replenishment by customers in small consignment sizes also blunt the impact of congestion.

The Enactment of Envy within Organizations Insights from a New Zealand Academic Department

This article focuses on uncovering the process bywhich envy, which Melanie Klein has described as the most negative of all emotions, is enacted in organizations, with special reference to peer evaluation mechanisms. The authors do so bydrawing upon the experiences of a high-achieving lecturer in a tertiaryeducational institution in New Zealand. The studyis framed in the context of a broader, long-term investigation into the “tall poppysyndrome” (which is an Australasian “modernism for envy, jealousyand covetousness”) that has been labeled “a notable anti-talent” with regard to the push toward knowledge-based economies in Australia and New Zealand. The authors also relate their findings to Kleinian thinking on envyand to extant literature on the use of peer ratings and scapegoating in groups.

Logistics in relation to strategy in dairying

The earliest known instance of scholarly writing on logistics (in 1901) is actually located in agribusiness. While case illustrations of productivity improvements in logistics in agribusiness have routinely featured in the academic literature since then, such efficiency gains are rarely cast in a broader, strategic perspective – a somewhat surprising omission. Consequently, this study seeks to clarify the relationship between logistics and generic business strategy in dairy organisations/industries by using the New Zealand dairy industry as a case in point. (The focus is more on operations than on distribution and service). We first clarify that the New Zealand dairy co‐operatives and the (export‐oriented) New Zealand dairy industry as a whole, have generally followed a strategy of cost leadership. We then review the various ways in which efficiency has been realised in logistics in the industry, and especially dwell on how the structure (e.g. co‐operative ownership, vertical integration) of the dairy industry has supported and/or hindered the focus on cost leadership. We also examine the extent to which our analysis of supply‐chain efficiency extends to other dairy organisations/industries.

On the Study of Settings Marked by Severe Superior-Subordinate Conflict

We discuss several issues related to the study of an organizational setting that is marked by severe conflict between superiors and subordinates. The discus sion is based on our experiences during fieldwork conducted in an Indian R&D team which manifested such conflict. We also relate our discussion to the reports of other researchers who have studied similar settings. We first argue that for studying such a conflictive setting, a multi-method, qualitative approach (incorporating participant observation, informal inter views, etc.) is more effective in important respects than a survey mode of inquiry involving the one-off administration of questionnaires and formal inter views. We then discuss several problematic issues in doing fieldwork success fully in a conflictive setting. These include having to establish rapport with organizational members, maintain confidentiality of the identities of key informants, remain neutral, and conduct informal interviews discreetly in the setting. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of the field experience for future researchers of conflictive settings.

Managing innovation in an emerging sector: the case of marine-based nutraceuticals

Biotechnology is turning a traditionally low-tech industry (food) into a high-tech industry (functional food/nutraceuticals). There is a real need to enhance managerial understanding by clarifying the nature of innovation processes in the functional food industry, including the role of research and development (R&D) and collaboration. The present investigation focuses on a particular segment of the functional food industry, viz. marine-based nutraceuticals. We find that various hurdles thwart the fullest realization of the business potential of marine bio-actives in the pharmaceutical space. However, the innovation of commercially viable marine-based nutraceuticals/cosmeceuticals is yet possible if the extraction route for supply is a feasible fall back option, should industrial-scale synthesis prove elusive. Effectiveness in innovation is facilitated by the collaboration of various disciplines including epidemiology, traditional/folkloric medicine, aquaculture/fermentation, natural products chemistry, toxicology, and relevant strands of medical, pharmacological, and clinical research. In this regard, the inter-disciplinary field of ethno-pharmacology rises to prominence. Universities and government research institutes may be well positioned to drive such collaboration and reap the benefits from problem definition in addition to problem solving. Toward this end, the findings from the present study are integrated into a phased approach toward the innovation of commercially viable marine-based nutraceuticals that is targeted at entrepreneurs in this field.

On solving large instances of the capacitated facility location problem

Abstract We present two sets of results pertaining to the solution of capacitated facility location problems that are large, especially with regard to the number of customers. One set of results relates to customer aggregation, while another set of results concerns the judicious selection of variable-upper-bounding (VUB) constraints to include in the initial integer-programming formulation. In many real-world instances of facility location problems, cities and towns define ‘customers’ and their ‘demands’. Such problems typically feature large metropolises that have numerous satellite townships whose total population is exceeded (often, greatly) by that of the associated metropolis. We argue that both sets of our results would be relevant in solving such problems. We discuss our computational experiences with reference to a real-world variant of the classical capacitated facility location problem that spurred the results reported here.

Value-Chain Innovation in Aquaculture: Insights from a New Zealand Case Study

We report a case study of value-chain innovation in a niche, export-oriented aquaculture industry, namely, Chinook/King salmon, that contrasts with the much more common Atlantic/Norwegian salmon. The firm in question is vertically integrated, thus offering a cradle-to-grave vista of innovation that spans production (i.e. farming), processing, marketing, and distribution. A major finding is the need for a delicate balance between the relative expenditures on production research and developmental research in integrated aquaculture firms, especially those that focus on niche species. Interaction effects between the two research strands complicate the trade-off: production research adds value at the fish farm by lowering the unit cost of production - and in turn facilitates new product development as it is easier to add value to a lower-cost product than a higher-cost product. From the case study findings, we synthesize a process model of value-chain innovation that is applicable for integrated aquaculture firms. We also induce several implications for the management of Research & Development and innovation in such firms.

A proportionality model of Markov manpower systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to construct a model of hierarchical manpower systems which follow proportionality policies in recruitment and promotion of their staff, ostensibly with a view to safeguard the career interests of their existing employees.Design/methodology/approach – The manpower systems are modeled as Markov systems, and their inherent characteristics and long‐term behavior are studied.Findings – Significantly it is shown that such proportionality systems do not compromise on flexibility in the long term, and can also provide an additional means of controlling the blend of manpower in the system. The theoretical results were tested with real‐world data, and a good degree of conformity was observed between the theoretical predictions and the actually observed behaviour.Practical implications – The model can also be applied to organizations which outsource a part of their work, the outsource workforce being notionally being considered as recruits to the system.Originality/value – Out...

Public- Versus Private-Sector Research and Development: A Comparative Analysis of Two Indian R&D Project Groups

The present study undertakes a comparative analysis of a government R&D team and an in-house R&D team of a listed company and analyzes how and why a public-sector R&D team failed where a comparable private-sector R&D team succeeded. The findings speak to the influence of sector/environmental context on the behavior of R&D project groups. The public R&D organization, to which the government R&D team belonged, was different from the private company on the dimensions of ownership, funding, and nature of the R&D product. These differences influenced the relative success of the private R&D team through differential processes for project selection and the recruitment of R&D personnel.

R&D Funding in India: An Empirical Study

Although the national expenditure on R&D in India (as a percentage of GNP) is comparable with that of such developed countries as Australia and Canada, there is increasing concern that the S&T capabilities of the country are not being fully utilised for accomplishing developmental plans. We report some of the findings of a sponsored project which examines R&D funding by government agencies in India.