Philip W. Bretherton

Relational factors that explain supply chain relationships

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the types of relationships that exist along the supply chain and the capabilities that are needed to manage them effectively. ---------- Design/methodology/approach: This is exploratory research as there has been little empirical research into this area. Quantitative data were gathered by using a self-administered questionnaire, using the Australian road freight industry as the context. There were 132 usable responses. Inferential and descriptive analysis, including factor analysis, confirmatory factor and regression analysis was used to examine the predictive power of relational factors in inter-firm relationships. ---------- Findings: Three factors were identified as having significant influence on relationships: sharing, power and interdependency. “Sharing” is the willingness of the organisation to share resources with other members of the supply chain. “Power” relates to exercising control based on experience, knowledge and position in the supply chain. “Interdependency” is the relative levels of dependency along the supply chain. ---------- Research limitations/implications: The research only looks at the Australian road freight industry; a wider sample including other industries would help to strengthen the generalisability of the findings. ---------- Practical implications: When these factors are correlated to the types of relationship, arms length, cooperation, collaboration and alliances, managerial implications can be identified. The more road freight businesses place importance on power, the less they will cooperate. The greater the importance of sharing and interdependency, the greater is the likelihood of arms length relationships. ---------- Originality/value: This paper makes a contribution by describing empirical work conducted in an under-researched but important area – supply chain relationships in the Australian road freight industry.

Contribution of cross‐functional teams to the improvement in operational performance

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of cross-functional teams in the alignment between system effectiveness and operational effectiveness after the implementation of enterprise information systems (EIS). In addition, it aims to explore the contribution of cross-functional teams to improvement in operational performance. ---------- Design/methodology/approach: The research uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, in a two-stage methodological approach, to investigate the influence of cross-functional teams on the alignment between system effectiveness and operational effectiveness and the impact of the stated alignment on the improvement in operational performance. ---------- Findings: Initial findings suggest that factors stemming from system effectiveness and the performance objectives stemming from operational effectiveness are important and significantly well correlated factors that promote the alignment between the effectiveness of technological implementation and the effectiveness of operations. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis has been used to find the structural relationships and provide explanations for the stated alignment and the contribution of cross-functional teams to the improvement in operational performance. ---------- Research limitations/implications: The principal limitation of this study is its small sample size. ---------- Practical implications: Cross-functional teams have been used by many organisations as a way of involving expertise from different functional areas in the implementation of innovative technologies. An appropriate use of the dimensions that emerged from this research, in the context of cross-functional teams, will assist organisations to properly utilise cross-functional teams with the aim of improving operational performance. ---------- Originality/value: The paper presents a new approach to measure the effectiveness of EIS implementation by adding new dimensions to measure it.

The Impact of Community Attachment on Host Society Attitudes and Behaviours Towards Visitors

This paper describes an empirical research project undertaken to address a significant gap in the tourism impacts literature. Noting that previous research has emphasised the importance of host, guest, and destination characteristics as significant influences over visitor experience quality, the paper proposes that one important relationship that emerges from that circumstance has been largely overlooked—local peoples attitudes towards life in their own communities. The paper analyses the views of 575 residents of three small city communities in three different countries, in an attempt to establish the nature of relationship between perceptions of life in those communities and attitudes towards temporary visitors. Results indicate that residents are generally able to distinguish between the appeal of community as a place to live and as a place to visit, and that the character of this distinction can present as a paradoxical contrast between a clear intention to recommend as a visitor destination, and a degree of ambiguity towards the prospect of increased visitor activity. These findings will be of value to those regional and local government agencies that are responsible for the long-term planning of visitor facilities, and for the enhancement of the visitor experience in a manner consistent with local resident support and endorsement.

Reconciling Expert Advice and Community Opinion in a Local Government Strategic Planning Process

This article proposes that the eventual outcomes of local government strategic policy deliberations can often reflect the interplay between “expert” administrative staff, democratically elected politicians, and the community they jointly serve. A multi-site case study approach, to examine the generation of local government strategy related to a niche economic activity concludes that broadly conceptualized opinion congruence can sometimes be threatened by substantial pockets of stakeholder vested interest. As such, “expert” and “political” opinion reflects a caution based on both historical experience and political expediency; while community opinion displays an optimism based on eager anticipation of an unknown future.

Community understanding of the impact of temporary visitors on incidental destinations

Influential changes in global economics have posed important survival and sustainability questions for small urban communities. In response, many such communities have turned to the tourism industry as a potential economic saviour, and have thus embarked on a developmental journey that has been exhaustively examined in the tourism literature of the past thirty years. However, this literature is all but unanimous in examining the benefits and costs of community tourism after the event, when those costs and benefits have become clearly evident and significantly entrenched. In seeking to evaluate the extent to which residents of four small cities are aware of potential costs and benefits, before the advent of any significant tourism activity, this paper analyses the content of 782 responses to a written survey procedure. Results indicate a generally realistic local awareness of the economic aspects of increased tourism activity, but an over-optimistic assessment of environmental impacts, societal impacts, and the ability of local stakeholders to successfully manage the process of tourism industry development.