The Industrial Dynamics of Order Rationing, Shortage Gaming, and Retail Promotions Demand Shock: A Discrete Event Simulation Experiment

This research investigates the impact of order rationing strategies, shortage gaming responses, and retail promotions demand shock on the long-term system performance of the inventory ordering and fulfillment process between competing retailers and a shared upstream manufacturer. The research addresses a need to understand the horizontal dynamics of competition for supply inventory among interconnected entities within business systems. It also expands understanding of the interactions between various manufacturer order rationing strategies and retailer shortage gaming responses, in the context of supply capacity constraints arising from a retail promotions demand shock. A discrete event simulation based on a US major appliance supply chain was developed. Results from the simulation experiment indicate a strong impact from order rationing strategies and shortage gaming responses on long-term outcomes such as demand variance, order fill rates, opportunity loss, and inventory carrying cost. In contrast, a single retail promotions demand shock has limited long-term impact on system performance. Overall, the findings suggest that both vertical and horizontal entities within business systems are significantly impacted by each entity’s actions within the inventory ordering and fulfillment feedback loop. Also, interactions between manufacturer order rationing strategies, retailer shortage gaming responses, and retail promotions demand shock are complex, particularly when considered over time. There are both positive and negative impacts relative to each entity within the inventory ordering and fulfillment feedback loop

Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Scale of Entrepreneurial Risk Perception

International audienceThe article proposes a multidimensional scale used to improve the assessment of risk perception within an entrepreneurial setting, focusing on the risk perception of newly created ventures. Although there has been evidence found to indicate the multidimensionality of risk, entrepreneurial scholars typically use unidimensional measurements. Risk perception can influence decision making differently according to the types of risks considered. Entrepreneurial risk can be broken into two categories: risk of failure and risk of missed opportunity.<br/

Integrating the emotional intelligence construct: the relationship between emotional ability and emotional competence

This paper posits that the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has not advanced as quickly and adroitly as it could have because of a lack of validity studies that combine the two most prevalent models, emotionality ability (EA) and emotional competency (EC). Although prior EI validations studies exist, none have examined the relationship between the primary EA and EC measurement tools – the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test and the Emotional Competency Inventory – University Edition, respectively – at the sub-trait levels with a population of undergraduate and MBA students. Findings indicate that there is no direct relationship between the total item scores and limited relationships among sub-trait scores. The paper concludes by issuing a call for research that conceives of EI as both an ability and a constellation of behaviors, and measures EI with a combination of knowledge, reasoning, self-report, and other-report, to provide a more holistic and encompassing examination that would foundationally contribute to unlocking the construct’s potential

The psychological contract of volunteer workers and its consequences

The psychological contract of workers has been a subject of recent interest, in both academic and practitioner organizational literature. While this attention has developed across fields, and several typologies of contracts have been developed, there are many parts of this construct that are not well understood. Among these are the predictors of the psychological contract, the outcomes of the psychological contract, the violation or fulfillment of the psychological contract, and the generalizability of the psychological contract to volunteer organizational members. In this dissertation, I look specifically at the motives of volunteer workers, the consequences of organizational justice and organization commitment, violation of the contract by the organization and by the worker, and the generalizability of the psychological contract to volunteer workers in an organization. Two studies, one field and one lab, are used to assess these relationships. Results indicate that volunteers and paid employees, regardless of motives, do not differ in their psychological contracts when they are in the same organization performing significantly similar work. In terms of consequences, relationships were found between the psychological contract and its fulfillment or violation with organizational commitment and organizational justice. Specifically, relations were found between: transactional psychological contracts and both distributive justice and continuance commitment; benefits psychological contracts and continuance commitment; good faith and fair dealings psychological contracts and distributive, interactional, and procedural justice as well as affective commitment; and intrinsic job characteristics psychological contracts and distributive, interactional, and procedural justice. Not all findings are consistent across both studies. The results have two implications. The first, that volunteers and paid employees do not differ in their psychological contracts, points to the importance of the work environment in determining psychological contracts. The second issue, the relationships between specific aspects of the psychological contract, organizational justice, and organization commitment, establishes the separateness and relatedness of these constructs. Future research will address other predictors of psychological contracts, the fulfillment or violation of specific contracts, and their effect upon job attitudes that impact worker productivity

Software, shareware and freeware: Multiplex commitment to an electronic social exchange system

We observe the behavior of 37 authors of shared (i.e., non-commercial) software for the Apple Newton in terms of multiplex commitment (committed to multiple related targets) and the helping behaviors directed at these multiple related targets. The behavior of these shared software authors show a pattern of commitment to related targets consistent with our expectations of multiplex commitment and relationships to two helping behaviors (the number of shared software programs produced, and the degree of sacrifice expected with that shared software). The related targets of commitment were the users of the software, other shared software authors, and the newsgroup that served as the electronic social exchange system, but not the FTP site that enabled the exchange or the Listserv that served as an additional electronic social exchange system

Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Scale of Entrepreneurial Risk Perception

International audienceThe article proposes a multidimensional scale used to improve the assessment of risk perception within an entrepreneurial setting, focusing on the risk perception of newly created ventures. Although there has been evidence found to indicate the multidimensionality of risk, entrepreneurial scholars typically use unidimensional measurements. Risk perception can influence decision making differently according to the types of risks considered. Entrepreneurial risk can be broken into two categories: risk of failure and risk of missed opportunity.<br/