Antecedents and performance consequences of international outsourcing

The outsourcing of intermediate products to international suppliers is believed to improve firm performance. We investigate this claim and test key dimensions of the decision to outsource internationally using survey data on 200 manufacturing firms located in the Netherlands. We find that most international outsourcing is intra-regional in nature. Furthermore international outsourcing is a consequence of a firm‟s ability to search and evaluate foreign suppliers, which is co-determined by its size, multinationality, and frequency of cross-border communications. Finally, no performance effects were observed for international or global outsourcing. We conclude international outsourcing is a balancing act between lower production costs abroad and lower transaction costs locally

Effect of perceived default risk and accounting information quality on the decision to grant credit to SMEs

ABSTRACT: The present study analyses the influence that perceived default risk and accounting information quality have on the process of credit granting to SMEs. Empirical evidence was obtained from a survey of 471 bank loan officers in Spain, in which they were asked to answer questions relating to audited and not-audited firms. Through a Structural Equations Modeling (SEM) approach, the results confirm that the likelihood that the loan officers are more willing to provide access to credit to SMEs, and to do so in more favourable conditions, is negatively influenced by perceived default risk and positively influenced by the general perception about accounting information quality. Besides, we find that information quality is an antecedent of perceived risk, so that the latter becomes the central element of the research model. Additionally, the perceptions of the decision-makers regarding all the analysed variables are better for the audited SMEs than for the unaudited ones

Supply Chain Intelligence

This chapter provides on overall picture of business intelligence (BI) and supply chain analytics (SCA) as a means to support supply chain management (SCM) and decision-making. Based on the literature review, we clarify the needs of BI and performance measurement in the SCM sphere, and discuss its potential to enhance decision-making in strategic, tactical and operational levels. We also make a closer look in to SCA in different areas and functions of SCM. Our findings indicate that the main challenge for harnessing the full potential of SCA is the lack of holistic and integrated BI approaches that originates from the fact that each functional area is using its own IT applications without necessary integration in to the company’s overall BI system. Following this examination, we construct a holistic framework that illustrates how an integrated, managerially planned BI system can be developed. Finally, we discuss the main competency requirements, as well as the challenges still prohibiting the great majority of firms from building smart and comprehensive BI systems for SCM.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

What makes outsourcing effective - a transaction-cost economics analysis

This study extends the discussion of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and outsourcing to the selection of governance mechanisms for an effective outsourcing transaction. Specifically, our objective is to provide a better understanding as to how firms follow up on their outsourcing decisions to enhance manufacturing competitiveness through the governance mechanism, such as contract and relational adaptation (buyer-supplier cooperation). A TCE-based outsourcing model is developed to depict the relationships among key TCE variables, transaction attributes, governance mechanisms, and manufacturing competitiveness. Based on the data collected from 969 manufacturing plants in 17 countries, we found significant mediated effects from contractual clauses and relational adaptation. Firms in our sample rely on either or both types of governance mechanisms to safeguard uncertainties and opportunism inherent in outsourcing, which enhances manufacturing competitiveness. The important managerial and research implication is that, for making an outsourcing decision, it is insufficient to merely examine the transaction attributes without recognising how various forms of governance mechanisms can be implemented to enhance outsourcing effectiveness

Game—Introduction to Reverse Auctions: The BucknellAuto Game

A reverse auction is a common way of executing supply chain sourcing. This article presents a spreadsheet-based game, the BucknellAuto game, that simulates the bidding process in a reverse auction. Students play the seller role and vie for the buyer’s demand request by bidding against the automated competitors. The BucknellAuto game allows students to experientially learn not only the competitive bidding process of the reverse auction but also the implications of the auction parameters on the bidding competitiveness. The BucknellAuto game serves as a pedagogical tool for efficiently and effectively introducing the reverse auction to undergraduate students in a fun and interactive way