Xiande Zhao

The impact of organizational culture on supply chain integration: a contingency and configuration approach

Purpose – This study aims to bridge the gap in understanding the effects of organizational culture on supply chain integration (SCI) by examining the relationships between organizational cultures and SCI. The extant studies investigating the antecedents of SCI focus mainly on environments, interfirm relationships and other firm-level factors. These studies generally overlook the role of organizational culture. The few studies that do examine the effects of organizational culture on SCI show inconsistent findings. Design/methodology/approach – By placing organizational culture within the competing value framework (CVF), this study establishes a conceptual model for the relationships between organizational culture and SCI. The study uses both a contingency approach and a configuration approach to examine these proposed relationships using data collected from 317 manufacturers across ten countries. Findings – The contingency results indicate that both development and group culture are positively related to a...

The impact of supply chain integration on firm performance

Purpose – This paper aims to provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of various supply chain integration (SCI) practices under different competitive strategies in terms of cost leadership and differentiation. Design/methodology/approach – Survey methodology was used to collect data from 604 Chinese manufacturers. Hierarchical linear regression was used to analyze the moderating effects. Findings – The results showed that competitive strategies significantly influenced the effectiveness of SCI practices, including internal, process and product integration. More specifically, internal integration significantly affected the financial performance of cost leaders, while process integration contributed more to the financial performance of differentiators. However, competitive strategies had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between SCI and operational performance. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the literature by exploring the effectiveness of various SCI...

Absorptive capacity and mass customization capability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of a manufacturer’s absorptive capacity (AC) on its mass customization capability (MCC). Design/methodology/approach – The authors conceptualize AC within the supply chain context as four processes: knowledge acquisition from customers, knowledge acquisition from suppliers, knowledge assimilation, and knowledge application. The authors then propose and empirically test a model on the relationships among AC processes and MCC using structural equation modeling and data collected from 276 manufacturing firms in China. Findings – The results show that AC significantly improves MCC. In particular, knowledge sourced from customers and suppliers enhances MCC in three ways: directly, indirectly through knowledge application, and indirectly through knowledge assimilation and application. The study also finds that knowledge acquisition significantly enhances knowledge assimilation and knowledge application, and that knowledge assimilation leads to kn...

Supply Chain Quality Integration: Antecedents and Consequences

This study extends quality management from an individual company perspective to a supply chain perspective. We propose a concept of supply chain quality integration (SCQI) that consists of internal, supplier, and customer integration for quality improvement, and develop a model that specifies the relationships among competitive hostility, the organization-wide approach to quality, three types of SCQI, and quality-related performance. We test the model using data collected from 291 high-performance manufacturing plants from ten countries. The results indicate that competitive hostility has a positive effect on the organization-wide approach to quality, and that both have positive effects on SCQI. In addition, internal quality integration significantly enhances external quality integration with both suppliers and customers. Further, internal quality integration significantly improves all quality-related performance (i.e., product quality, cost, delivery, and flexibility), and both supplier and customer quality integration significantly improve cost performance. Whereas customer quality integration significantly improves delivery performance and supplier quality integration significantly improves quality performance, only internal quality integration can improve flexibility performance. The findings reveal how different types of SCQI are related to quality-related performance and highlight internal quality integration as a core strategic resource for quality improvement. As such, they provide important managerial insights for supply chain quality managers to improve quality-related performance.

The effect of high-involvement human resource management practices on supply chain integration

Purpose – Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the purpose of this paper is to combine concepts from human resource management (HRM) and supply chain management (SCM) fields and explore the effects of high-involvement HRM practices on supply chain integration (SCI). Design/methodology/approach – Using empirical survey data collected from ten countries, the authors examine the specific effects of three dimensions of high-involvement HRM practices – employee skills, incentives and participation – on three types of SCI – internal integration, supplier and customer integration. The authors use structural equation modeling and the maximum-likelihood estimation method to test the proposed relationships. Findings – The results confirm the overall relevancy of HRM to SCI. However, several proposed links are not supported by the data collected. Originality/value – This study makes both theoretical and managerial contributions by empirically examining the interface between HRM and SCI. More specifically, it examin...

Effect of information sharing and process coordination on logistics outsourcing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test how integrative mechanisms, including information sharing and process coordination, influence logistics outsourcing, and how logistics outsourcing influence performance from an extended RBV perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The structural equation modeling (SEM) method is used to examine the proposed model, based on data collected from 361 companies in greater China. Findings – Integrative mechanisms are helpful for logistics outsourcing (basic, customized, and advanced outsourcing). Specially, information sharing contributes to customized and advanced outsourcing, but has no significant effect on basic outsourcing. In contrast, process coordination improves basic and advanced outsourcing, but insignificantly influences customized outsourcing. Besides, each type of logistics outsourcing has differently effects on 3PL users’ performance. This study contributes to 3PL theories and practices. Originality/value – This study empirically examines the antec...

Modes of service innovation: a typology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore different modes of service innovation by examining business model innovation alongside two traditional modes: product innovation and process innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors first empirically test a typology using archival data from 69 service innovation projects in a major mobile telecom company. The authors then extend the typology by investigating the interrelationships among service product, service process, and business model innovation based on empirical evidence from multi-mode service innovations. Finally, the authors study the patterns of modes in a networked environment. Findings – The results indicate that the typology is applicable and all three modes of service innovation exist in the sample. The authors find that all of the business model innovations involve external partnerships during the development process, while only a small proportion of service process innovations involve external partnerships. Originality/value – ...

The impact of social capital on mass customisation and product innovation capabilities

Social capital with customers has three dimensions: structural, relational and cognitive capital. We propose a research model on the joint effects of the three dimensions of social capital on mass customisation capability (MCC) and product innovation capability (PIC). The hypotheses are empirically tested using structural equation modelling and data collected from 276 manufacturing firms in China. The results show that the three dimensions of social capital contribute to MCC and PIC development through different mechanisms. In particular, cognitive capital has a significant impact on MCC; relational capital significantly influences PIC; and structural capital indirectly associates with both MCC and PIC. We also find that structural capital enhances both relational and cognitive capital. MCC improves PIC and fully mediates cognitive capital’s effect on PIC. The findings extend current understanding about the complex interrelationships among structural, relational and cognitive capital and how to develop MCC and PIC by investing in social capital.

The effect of IT and relationship commitment on supply chain coordination

Process coordination capability with both suppliers and customers improves supply chain performance.Existing an interactive relationship between the process coordination at supplier and customer sides.IT and inter-organizational relationship play significant but different enabling roles in leveraging firms supply chain coordination capability. This study investigates how information technology and relationship commitment, mediated by supply chain coordination, influence supply chain performance from a resource synergy perspective. The proposed model is tested using data collected from 617 manufacturing firms. Supply chain coordination with both suppliers and customers is found to enhance supply chain performance, and the effect of coordination with customers is higher. There is an interactive relationship between the supply chain coordination on the supplier and customer sides, indicating that synergizing supply chain coordination with suppliers and with customers improves supply chain performance. Furthermore, information technology and relationship commitment influence supply chain coordination.

Strategic orientations and mass customisation capability: the moderating effect of product life cycle

This study examines the influence of three strategic orientations (customer, competitor and innovation) on mass customisation (MC) capability via the organisational learning process known as customisation knowledge utilisation (CKU). The moderating effect of product life cycle (PLC) is also investigated. Using data collected from 204 manufacturers, we show that all three strategic orientations positively contribute to MC capability, both directly and indirectly through CKU. Further, our empirical findings suggest that the effects of customer, competitor and innovation orientation on MC capability are contingent on PLC. The effects of customer orientation on CKU and the effects of competitor orientation on CKU and MC capability are stronger when a product is in the maturity stage of its life cycle, whereas the effect of innovation orientation on CKU and MC capability are stronger in the growth stage. These findings suggest that to effectively improve MC capability, managers need to leverage external and internal orientations at different stages of the PLC.