THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE COMPETENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF IT ALIGNMENT

Scholars have proposed that IT enables organizational agility by extending the reach and richness of firm knowledge and processes. However, this relationship is still open to debate. Based on the dynamic capabilities perspective, this paper proposes a model to investigate how employee competence (i.e., IT competence of business people and business competence of IT professionals) affects organizational agility through IT alignment. Data analysis results show that IT alignment fully mediates the influence of IT competence of business people and partially mediates the influence of business competence of IT professionals on organizational agility. In addition, the two kinds of competence are also positively interacting with each other to enhance IT alignment. We summarize with implications and suggestions for future research

SECONDARY CRISIS COMMUNICATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: THE ROLE OF CORPORATE RESPONSE AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE IN PRODUCT-HARM CRISIS

Because of a large number of customers using social media, firms have embraced social media as a useful communication tool during product-harm crises. However, current knowledge on the relationships between corporate crisis response, customer secondary crisis communication, and customer purchase intention remains limited. Based on an economic view, this study proposes a model to examine how corporate crisis response affects customer secondary crisis communication and finally influence purchase intention in social media context. In addition to the direct effects, this study investigates the moderating effect of social influence in the above relationships based on social influence theory. The empirical results show that corporate crisis response could decrease customer secondary crisis communication, thus lessening the negative impact on customer purchase intention in the social media context. The findings further confirm the moderating role of customers’ perceived social influence in the above relationships. We conclude with implications and suggestions for future research

Multi-Plant Production and Transportation Planning Based on Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper proposes a methodology for developing a coordinated aggregate production plan for manufacturers producing multiple products at multiple plants simultaneously, in a centralized environment via data envelopment analysis (DEA). Based on demand forecast of the planning horizon, the central decision maker (DM) specifies the optimal combination of input resources required by the optimal output targets for each plant to keep the supply and demand in balance, and the accompanying transportation trips and volumes among distribution centers (DCs) or warehouse facilities. In this paper, we focus on an integrated production-transportation problem since production and transportation are two fundamental ingredients in the whole operation chain. We deal with multiple products manufactured in multiple plants.The proposed mixed integer DEA models minimize both production costs and transportation costs. The capacity constraint for each plant is enforced by using the production possibility set theory. Finally, we validate our models by a numerical example and sensitivity analysis

Energy and Environmental Efficiency of China’s Transportation Sector: A Multidirectional Analysis Approach

With the rapid economic development, the transportation sector becomes one of the high-energy-consumption and high-CO2-emissions sectors in China. In order to ensure efficient use of energy and to reduce CO2 pollution, it is important to gain the best performance standards in China’s transportation sector. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been accepted as a popular tool of efficiency measurement. However, previous studies based on DEA are mainly restricted to the radial expansions of outputs or radial contractions of inputs. In this paper, we present a nonradial DEA model with multidirectional efficiency analysis (MEA) involving undesirable outputs for the measurement of regional energy and environmental efficiency of China’s transportation sector during the period 2006–2010. We not only evaluate the energy and environmental efficiency level and trend of China’s transportation sector but also investigate the efficiency patterns of 30 regions and three major areas of China. Additionally, we identify the energy saving potential and CO2 emissions reduction potential for each province and area in China in this study

Energy and Environmental Efficiency of China's Transportation Sector: A Multidirectional Analysis Approach

With the rapid economic development, the transportation sector becomes one of the high-energy-consumption and high-CO 2 -emissions sectors in China. In order to ensure efficient use of energy and to reduce CO 2 pollution, it is important to gain the best performance standards in China's transportation sector. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been accepted as a popular tool of efficiency measurement. However, previous studies based on DEA are mainly restricted to the radial expansions of outputs or radial contractions of inputs. In this paper, we present a nonradial DEA model with multidirectional efficiency analysis (MEA) involving undesirable outputs for the measurement of regional energy and environmental efficiency of China's transportation sector during the period 2006-2010. We not only evaluate the energy and environmental efficiency level and trend of China's transportation sector but also investigate the efficiency patterns of 30 regions and three major areas of China. Additionally, we identify the energy saving potential and CO 2 emissions reduction potential for each province and area in China in this study

The Effects of Supply Chain Finance on Organizational Performance: A Moderated and Mediated Model

Abstract Purpose- This paper draws on the dynamic capabilities approach, and aims to empirically investigate the impact of supply chain finance (SCF) on firm performance (e.g. operational risk and operational performance), the critical effect of environmental dynamism (ED) as moderator and supply chain risk (SCR) and a mediator in the relationship between SCF and OP. Design/methodology/approach –This study is based on empirical data collected from a survey of 210 companies and their supply chains in mainland China. Structural equation modeling is used to test our proposed relationships. Findings – The findings show that SCF significantly mitigates the SCR, which subsequently has a significant positive effect on organizational performance (e.g., cost performance and operational performance). The findings also show that when environmental dynamism (ED) is high, the relationship between SCF and SCR is stronger and vice versa. Moreover, supply chain risk (SCR) mediates the relationship between supply chain finance (SCF) and organizational performance (OP). Hypothesis regarding the moderating effect of environmental dynamism (ED) on the paths joining supply chain finance (SCF) and supply chain risk (SCR) was also supported. Supply chain risk (SCR) has a significant negative effect on organizational performance (OP). However, hypothesis regarding the effect of environmental dynamism (ED) on supply chain risk (SCR) was not supported. Research limitations/implications- This study has some limitations. First, we conducted our research with Chinese organizations. This may result in low generalizability in other contexts. In addition, we employed survey method and cross-sectional data design in this study, which may generate the potential issue of common method bias (CMB). However, the findings of this study will help organizations across China and other emerging economies to adopt SCF as a secure financing mechanism to enhance working capital and mitigate risk. In addition, our paper provides some new managerial insights for decision makers in organizations, while exploring different factors such as supply chain finance (SCF), supply chain risk (SCR), and environmental dynamism (ED), and their effect on organizational. Originality/value- This study has greatly developed a general SCF adoption model that helps to guide empirical research investigating the critical impact of SCF on firm performance

The Impact of Platform Encroachment on the Manufacturer’s Financing Strategy

Manufacturers with limited funds often seek financial help from outside, usually banks or platforms. However, introducing store brand products (platform encroachment) makes platforms form a competitive and cooperative relationship with manufacturers. To investigate how platform encroachment affects the optimal production decisions and the manufacturer’s financing strategy, this paper establishes a stylized model to capture the strategic interaction between a manufacturer, a platform and a bank. The manufacturer sells a national brand product directly through the platform, which owns a competitive store brand product. By analyzing the equilibrium results, we show that although platform encroachment may reduce the manufacturer’s financing cost, product competition always makes the manufacturer bear more losses. In addition, our results also show that the manufacturer is always willing to adopt the platform financing strategy if the platform does not encroach. However, under platform encroachment, the bank financing strategy may be a better choice for the manufacturer, as long as the commission rate is low enough. Moreover, the platform financing strategy is the Pareto-dominant strategy when the commission rate is high. Finally, we verify the accuracy and robustness of the conclusions of the basic model through numerical analysis and extension. Using the results we derive, we explain the market practices and provide valuable guidelines for manufacturers to choose financing strategies under platform encroachment

SECONDARY CRISIS COMMUNICATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: THE ROLE OF CORPORATE RESPONSE AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE IN PRODUCT-HARM CRISIS

Abstract Because of a large number of customers using social media, firm