Information’s Role in Supply Chain Integration Efforts of the Indian Manufacturing Firm Under Environmental Uncertainty: The Supply Chain Flexibility Impact

Managers recognize that supply chain management (SCM) practices can improve operational efficiency (Monczka and Morgan, 1998). Supply chain management initiatives, including better communication often result in more responsive organizations. Indian companies are trying to become more competitive following the liberalization of the Indian economy by employing new approaches like SCM to be more efficient and competitive (Saad and Patel, 2006). Therefore, our study examines the impact of environmental uncertainty on the firm’s information sharing abilities and the information quality available and its subsequent impact on supply chain integration, and ultimately, supply chain flexibility in India. Given that the Indian small scale manufacturing sector plays a vital role in the continued economic development of the country, we elected to restrict our study to this sector. We contracted with a market research firm (GfK Mode) in Kolkata, India to collect our data and had 100 manufacturing executives participate in the study. Using SmartPLS, we evaluated the data and our SEM model to better understand the issues facing manufacturers operating in the complex and growing small scale manufacturing sector. The results provide useful insights since they indicate that environmental uncertainty is an important influencer of information sharing but not information quality. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the quality of exchanged information among supply chain partners has a strong positive impact on supply chain integration. The results reinforce the fact that under environmental uncertainty, companies turn to their supply chain partners (through improved supply chain integration) to enhance the flexibility of their supply chains (Swamidass and Newell, 1987; Vickery et al., 1999; Sanchez and Perez, 2005). In conclusion, this research contributes to an improved understanding of SCM related factors that impact small scale manufacturing in India. Thus, in order to be flexible, it is important for the firm to have internal collaboration with different functional departments as well as external collaboration with its key suppliers, especially in a time of market uncertainties (Vickery et al., 1999). Additional research is still needed and we hope our study serves as a launching pad for more SCM research in emerging markets like India

Reconceptualization of information technology flexibility for supply chain management: an empirical study

IT flexibility is an increasingly important factor in today's dynamic business environment. However, earlier research lacks 1) an integrated framework that corresponds to diverse processes for supply chain management and 2) an explanation of how IT flexibility affects firms’ performance in the supply chain context. To fill these gaps, our study theorised a research model by integrating disparate streams of IT flexibility research with three types of IT flexibility, namely, operational, transactional, and strategic, and tested both the direct and indirect effects of the three IT flexibility types on firm performance. Our theoretical model uses an extended resource-based view to highlight the role of IT flexibility in managing interdependent firm relationships in supply chains. Using a partial least squares approach to structured equation modelling analysis on 162 questionnaires from supply chain practitioners, we found two significant relationships: (1) transactional IT flexibility affects operational IT flexibility, and (2) operational IT flexibility affects strategic IT flexibility. Transactional IT flexibility also affects strategic IT flexibility, thus playing a pivotal role in the effectiveness of the other two flexibility types. In addition, it was identified that transactional and operational flexibilities affect firm performance indirectly, via process integration capability, while strategic flexibility directly affects firm performance. By classifying diverse IT flexibility attributes into three types, a comprehensive and explicit concept of IT flexibility in inter-organisational relationships is attained, which allows practitioners to target key resource investments to realise the full potential of IT in the supply chain

Tagli al Ministero dell'Ambiente e al Ministero per i beni e le attivit\ue0 culturali

Managers need to understand the role the Internet plays in customer\u27s purchasing patterns and take advantage of this phenomenon. For this study, 292 Norwegians responded to the researchers survey regarding Internet shopping. The purpose of this research was as follows: 1. to apply, examine, and test the technology acceptance model (TAM) in the context of Internet shopping sites, 2. to understand the relationship between the TAM, involvement, and affinity with the computer in the context of Internet shopping sites, and 3. to examine these constructs and relationships in an international environment. While most of their hypotheses were supported, two conflicting results indicate additional research is needed regarding the validation and usefulness of TAM in an international setting. Opportunities abound for future research. Yet their study is one of the first to combine involvement and computer affinity with the Technology Acceptance Model in an international setting

Consumers' Online Information Search: Gen Yers' Finding Needles in the Internet Haystack

There exists a paucity of research attention afforded to understanding consumer information search behavior on the Internet, vis-a-vis existing information search models such as an interactive, consumer experience in the offline realm. Thus, the present study investigates whether the factors inculcated within traditional cognitive processing models remain significant in the online information setting. Grounded in the contributions of Punj and Staelin (Citation1983) and Srinivasan and Ratchford (Citation1991) in the context of offline information search, this study proffers an empirical model of consumer online information. The empirical findings reveal that Perceived Risk and Perceived Cost do not significantly contribute to the consumer online information Search Effort. Rather, both of these conventional antecedents and Enjoyment significantly impact the satisfaction of young consumers' online information search endeavors. We recommend further studies to examine consumer information search behavior in other contexts (e.g., mobile phones) across countries