Understanding Collaborative Dynamics: A Critical Review and Inductive Investigation

Collaboration has been a topic of discussion for over 20 years. Managers are consistently calling for better collaboration and researchers have argued that managing tightly coupled relationships creates a co-mingling of complementary competencies that establishes distinctive advantages for firms. Even though there have been a few exemplar companies that have been capable of truly developing these complementary competencies, few companies truly understand the dynamics of a collaborative capability. This dissertation reviews the theoretical conceptualization and operationalization of tightly coupled relationships and through an interpretive analysis, begins to provide clarity to the following questions: * Under what conditions are tightly coupled relationship strategies justified? * What are the elements that constitute effective relationship strategies? * How can these elements be dynamically configured to deliver superior value and firm performance? Essay 1 sets up the theoretical foundation for the dissertation through an in-depth review of the current collaboration/integration literature and delineates and summarizes contrasting dimensions in supply chain relational strategies. An orienting conceptual framework is developed to provide clear insights for the analysis that is conducted in essay 3. Essay 2 focuses on the ontological and epistemological aspects of hermeneutics and promotes the use of this methodology for future research in the supply chain field. Because this methodology is new to the supply chain field a full methodological guideline is described and explained. Through a hermeneutical analysis, Essay 3 evaluates the operationalization of tightly coupled relationships using interview data from a combination of 11 manufacturers and retailers who practice collaborative behavior. The literature review and the orienting conceptual framework from Essay 1 are used to set the stage for the hermeneutical analysis. From the analysis, a framework is developed for use in future research

How China’s demand uncertainty moderates the respondence of operational performance to supply chain integration in automotive industry

This study aims at examining the dynamic response of the relationship between supply chain integration (SCI) and operational performance (OP) to demand uncertainty (DU). Based on a wide spectrum data sample with 357 participants in the China automotive supply chains, threshold regressions are used to examine the dynamic moderating effects. DU was found to moderate supplier integration (SI)–OP and customer integration (CI)–OP relationship. Internal integration (II)–OP relationship did not response to DU. The SI–OP relationship turned from negative to positive as DU increases, and CI–OP relationship responded to DU reversely compare to SI–OP relationship. Scholars now know the moderating effect of DU is not static and monotonic. Both of direction and magnitude of the correlations between SI, CI and OP change when DU changes. Managers of automotive supply chain recognize that their integrations’ strength should be properly managed subject to the level of DU for propose of achieving optimal OP. This study extends the current literature by delivering a field study of China and introducing dynamic capability theory for the first time to examine a dynamic response model that represents the SCI–OP relationships with respect to the DU as a moderating factor

The Interaction Effects between Supply Chain Integration and IT Capabilities on Firm Performance

It is well touted that embedding information technology (IT) capabilities in supply chain processes would allow firms to derive competitive advantage. Yet the outcomes of such embeddedness vary greatly across companies. Investigating how a firm configures appropriate IT capabilities with supply chain integration (SCI) to achieve superior performance is of significance. Drawing upon the dynamic capabilities theory, we examine how SCI and IT capabilities jointly affect firm performance. We test the hypotheses of interest with data collected from 252 firms in China. The results of hierarchical regression analysis reveal that the interactive effects of SCI and IT capabilities on firm performance vary across different combinations of dimensions of SCI (i.e., information sharing and collaborative planning) and IT capabilities(i.e., IT infrastructure flexibility, IT assimilation capability, and top management’s IT knowledge). In addition, the dimensions of SCI and IT capabilities have differential effects on firm performance. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the current research are discussed

From Supply Chain Integration to Operational Performance: The Moderating Effect of Market Uncertainty

© 2017, Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management. This research examines the moderating effect of market uncertainty on the causal effects from supply chain integration to operational performance of a typical supply chain. Based on an extensive and critical literature review, two exploratory conceptual hypotheses have been developed for the nonlinear relationship between the supply chain integration and operational performance of the original equipment manufacturer, and how may that relationship be moderated by a specific construct of market uncertainty. Empirical survey instrument has been designed and applied to gather the data from a wide spectrum of automotive industry in China. Confirmative factor analysis and threshold regression analysis were used as the primary research methodology to test the hypotheses. We find strong support to the hypotheses from the empirical evidence, which leads to the finding that the relationship between the supply chain integration and operational performance is ‘nonlinear’, and the ‘nonlinearity’ can be significantly moderated by the market uncertainty as one of the key environmental factors for the supply chain. This study extends the current literature by contributing for the first time the discussion of an analytical model that represents the causal effects from supply chain integration to its operational performance with respect to the market uncertainty as a moderating factor

Why Supply Chain Collaboration Fails: The Socio-Structural View Of Resistance To Collaboration Strategies

Purpose The relational view posits that supply chain integration can be a source of competitive advantage. Few firms, however, successfully co-create value to attain supernormal relational rents. We therefore elaborate theory regarding the reasons why collaboration strategies fail. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a quasi-longitudinal, multi-case interview methodology to explore the reasons why collaboration strategies fail to deliver intended results. We interviewed managers at 49 companies in Period 1 and managers at 57 companies in Period 2. Fifteen companies participated in both rounds of interviews. Findings This paper builds and describes a taxonomy of relational resistors. We then explore how sociological and structural resistors reinforce each other to undermine collaborative behavior. Specifically, the interplay among resistors 1) obscures the true sources of resistance, 2) exacerbates a sense of vulnerability to non-collaborative behavior that reduces the willingness to invest in relational architecture, and 3) inhibits the development of essential relational skills and organizational routines. Originality/value This research identifies and describes the behaviors and processes that impede successful supply chain alliances. By delving into the interplay among relational resistors, the research explains the detail and nuance of inter-firm rivalry and supply chain complexity. Ultimately, it is the re-enforcing nature of various resistors that make it so difficult for firms have to realize relational rents

Structural differentiation and organisational learning capability as predictors of corporate venturing and business growth among SMEs in South Africa

In this ever-changing business milieu, growth is generally perceived positively for business as it is considered a measure of success and a key driver in the creation of wealth, employment, and economic development. This paper therefore investigates the relationship between structural differentiation, organisational learning capability, co-operative venturing and business growth from the perspective of SME managers. To this end, a unique conceptual model was developed and empirically tested. The survey method was adopted where a questionnaire was administered to SME managers within the Gauteng province of South Africa. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 25 and Smart PLS 3.0 to generate the sample profile and to test the proposed hypothesis, respectively. Organisational learning capabilities had a noticeably stronger impact on successful corporate venturing as compared to structural differentiation, suggesting that SMEs have to invest more resources toward improving employees’ knowledge of the job within their respecting roles within SMEs.http://www.ijbs.unimas.myhj2020Marketing Managemen

Understanding demand and supply paradoxes and their role in business-to-business firms

In this paper, we explore paradoxes firms face when managing demand and supply activities and managers' experience of coping with and transcending these paradoxes. Following an exploratory research approach and based on the analysis of interviews with executive managers, documents from, and observations of 19 business-to-business (B2B) firms, we develop empirically grounded propositions. We first find and explain three major demand and supply paradoxes, namely collaboration-competition, concord-conflict, and integration-differentiation. We then expand on the handling mechanisms B2B firms employ to respond to these paradoxes. We find that B2B firms that understand, balance, and transcend demand and supply paradoxes achieve greater synergy between demand and supply activities and leverage both demand and supply approaches as overarching guiding principles for their strategy. Our study informs B2B marketing and marketing strategy by exploring the nature and role of paradoxes that shape the relationships between demand and supply activities. In doing so, it also offers an empirical account of the discrepancy between the theory and practice of demand and supply integration

Re-evaluating supply chain integration and firm performance: linking operations strategy to supply chain strategy

This paper aims to explore the performance implications of supply chain integration (SCI) taking a strategic perspective. Thus, this paper is set to provide answers to the following research questions: Does a higher degree of SCI always lead to greater firm performance improvements? As the answer to this question is likely to be no, the authors explore the performance implications from a strategic perspective: Is the SCI–performance relationship contingent on a company’s competitive priorities (i.e. operations strategy)? The authors explore their questions through multiple quasi-independent data sets to test the impact of SCI on firm performance. Furthermore, the authors provide a more nuanced conceptual and empirical view to explore the previously uncovered contradictory results and contingent relationship challenging the “more integration equals higher firm performance” proposition. The results only provide partial support for the proposition that more integration is always beneficial in the supply chain context. The authors also identified that the impact of SCI on financial performance is contingent on a company’s competitive priorities. This study provides a much-needed comprehensive assessment of the SCI–performance relationship through critically re-evaluating one of the most popular propositions in the field of supply chain management. The results can be extrapolated beyond the dyad, as the authors conceptualise integration simultaneously from an upstream and downstream perspective.N/

Developing a diagnostic heuristic for integrated sugarcane supply and processing systems.

Doctoral Degrees. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Innovation is a valuable asset that gives supply chains a competitive edge. Moreover, the adoption of innovative research recommendations in agricultural value chains and integrated sugarcane supply and processing systems (ISSPS) in particular has been relatively slow when compared with other industries such as electronics and automotive. The slow adoption is attributed to the complex, multidimensional nature of ISSPS and the perceived lack of a holistic approach when dealing with certain issues. Most of the interventions into ISSPS often view the system as characterised by tame problems hence, the widespread application of traditional operations research approaches. Integrated sugarcane supply and processing systems are, nonetheless, also characterised by wicked problems. Interventions into such contexts should therefore, embrace tame and/or wicked issues. Systemic approaches are important and have in the past identified several system-scale opportunities within ISSPS. Such interventions are multidisciplinary and employ a range of methodologies spanning across paradigms. The large number of methodologies available, however, makes choosing the right method or a combination thereof difficult. In this context, a novel overarching diagnostic heuristic for ISSPS was developed in this research. The heuristic will be used todiagnose relatively small, but pertinent ISSPS constraints and opportunities. The heuristic includes a causal model that determines and ranks linkages between the many domains that govern integrated agricultural supply and processing systems (IASPS) viz. biophysical, collaboration, culture, economics, environment, future strategy, information sharing, political forces, and structures. Furthermore, a diagnostic toolkit based on the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was developed. The toolkit comprises a diagnostic criteria and a suite of systemic tools. The toolkit, in addition, determines thesuitability of each tool to diagnose any of the IASPS domains. Overall, the diagnostic criteria include accessibility, interactiveness, transparency, iterativeness, feedback, cause-and-effect logic, and time delays. The tools considered for the toolkit were current reality trees, fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs), network analysis approaches, rich pictures (RP), stock and flow diagrams, cause and effect diagrams (CEDs), and causal loop diagrams (CLDs). Results from the causal model indicate that collaboration, structure and information sharing had a high direct leverage over the other domains as these were associated with a larger number of linkages. Collaboration and structure further provided dynamic leverage as these were also part of feedback loops. Political forces and the culture domain in contrast, provided lowleverage as these domains were only directly linked to collaboration. It was further revealed that each tool provides a different facet to complexity hence, the need for methodological pluralism. All the tools except RP could be applied, to a certain extent, across both appreciation and analysis criteria. Rich pictures do not have causal analysis capabilities viz. cause-and-effect logic, time delays and feedback. Stock and flow diagrams and CLDs conversely, met all criteria. All the diagnostic tools in the toolkit could be used across all the system domains except for FCMs. Fuzzy cognitive maps are explicitly subjective and their contribution lies outside the objective world. Caution should therefore be practiced when FCMs areapplied within the biophysical domain. The heuristic is only an aid to decision making. The decision to select a tool or a combination thereof remains with the user(s). Even though the heuristic was demonstrated at Mhlume sugarcane milling area, it is recommended that other areas be considered for future research. The heuristic itself should continuously be updated with criteria, tools and other domain dimensions

Integrative Practices in Supply Chains: Building Relationships for Competitiveness in Dynamic Environments

Firms are increasingly relying on their supply-chain relationships to compete in an era of globalization and change. To this end firms integrate various processes and business activities with their supply chain partners. Supply chain integration (SCI) literature studies the performance benefits of such integration under different business conditions. Existing SCI research takes a black-box view of integration where different integrative practices are studied as one integration construct. This black-box view has limited applications because it masks the differences in SCI practices. In this dissertation we answer the following questions: what are the different elements that comprise the integration construct? What are the important differences between these elements in their relationships with performance and with environmental dynamism? We follow a rigorous and reproducible qualitative analysis procedure to identify the constructs that makeup the black-box of integration. We define the new elements of integration and generate measurement scales for them that are pre-tested using Q-sort. We then empirically verify our new conceptualization of integration by collecting survey data from manufacturers in North America. The survey results are analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to yield reliable and valid measurement scales. The survey data is used to analyze the performance impact of the various integration elements. We find that basic communication elements are no longer order-winners and cannot be a source of increased profitability. We also find that operational excellence elements and knowledge generation elements both increase profits but only the knowledge generation elements are able to increase competitive advantage over rivals. These results provide an explanation for the inconsistent findings in the literature on the integration performance relationship. We also test how environmental dynamism impacts the relationships between the elements of integration and performance. Our results show that knowledge generation elements are more useful in highly dynamic conditions, while operational excellence elements are more useful in stable conditions. This dissertation makes significant contributions in providing conceptual synthesis and extension of theory as well as empirical verification of new insights. Our work is relevant to practitioners as it can assist them in making relationship level decisions regarding integration under various business conditions