The role of interpersonal relationships in supply chain integration : a thesis by publications presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Chapter 2 was published as: Wang, B., Childerhouse, P., Kang, Y., Huo, B., & Mathrani, S. (2016). Enablers of supply chain integration: Interpersonal and interorganizational relationship perspectives, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 116(4), 838-855. https://doi-org.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/10.1108/IMDS-09-2015-0403 Chapter 3 was published as: Wang, B., Kang, Y., Childerhouse, P., & Huo, B. (2018). Service supply chain integration: the role of interpersonal relationships, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 118(4), 828-849. https://doi-org.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/10.1108/IMDS-02-2017-0062 Chapter 4 was published as: Wang, B., Kang, Y., Childerhouse, P., & Huo, B. (2018). Interpersonal and inter-organizational relationship drivers of supply chain integration, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 118(6), 1170-1191. https://doi-org.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/10.1108/IMDS-05-2017-0216Purpose –This research aims to explore the role of inter-personal relationships within a supply chain integration context. Firstly, it proposes a conceptual model addressing the interrelationships between interpersonal relationships, inter-organizational relationships, and supply chain integration. Secondly, it investigates the influence of interpersonal relationships on supply chain integration. Lastly, it examines how interpersonal relationships influence interorganizational relationships to enable supply chain integration. Methodology/approach – Based on a comprehensive literature review, the study first proposes a series of propositions and establishes a conceptual framework to illustrate the relationship between interpersonal relationships, inter-organizational relationships, and supply chain integration. Then, the study applies an exploratory/investigational approach of multiple case studies and empirically examines how interpersonal relationships affect inter-organizational relationships and supply chain integration. Findings – The study proposes that interpersonal relationships can indirectly and positively influence supply chain integration, mediated by inter-organizational relationships. Personal affection acts as a relationship initiator, and personal credibility serves as a gatekeeper while personal communication works as a facilitator and plays more important roles than personal affection and credibility. Also, interpersonal relationships can initiate and enhance interorganizational relationships to enable supply chain integration. In the formative stage of supply chain integration, personal affection and credibility play key roles, whereas personal communication becomes more significant during the operational stage. Originality/value – The study advances supply chain integration literature by extending the focus from that of firm level to the level of individuals, and introduces interpersonal relationship dimensions to explore inner mechanisms of supply chain integration. It demonstrates that interpersonal relationships are able to initiate and motivate firm level integration, which modifies the presumption that firm level relationships are predominantly established first in Western cultural contexts. It also sheds light on applying theoretical lenses in supply chain integration. It extends social exchange theory from relationships between parties that are on the same level to different levels of interpersonal and inter-organizational relationships. Meanwhile, it applies resource dependency theory by addressing how interpersonal relationships influence dependence levels on supply chain partners to form firm level relationships. Furthermore, it extends resource orchestration theory by suggesting that inter-organizational relationships and interpersonal relationships can be orchestrated to achieve supply chain integration capabilities. Implications –The study provides insights for practitioners who have limited “hard” firm level resources. Managers should be aware of the significance and characteristics of interpersonal relationships, and decide when and how to deploy both interpersonal and interorganizational relationships as resources during the integration process. In the formative stage, managers should utilise boundary spanners with good personal credibility. More physical contact with counter-partners should be encouraged to foster personal affection, thus initiating the formation of inter-organizational relationships. In the operational stage, personal communication should be strengthened to facilitate the supply chain integration process. On the other hand, managers should mitigate the conflict between primary business interests and subordinate interpersonal friendships

On Technology Transfer to an Asymmetric Cournot Duopoly

This note studies the transfer of a cost-reducing innovation from an independent patent-holder to an asymmetric Cournot duopoly that has different unit costs of production. It is found that royalty licensing can be superior to fixed-fee licensing for the independent patent-holder.Cournot duopoly

New Zealand Building Project Cost and Its Influential Factors: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Construction industry significantly contributes to New Zealand's economic development. However, the delivery of construction projects is usually plagued by cost overruns, which turn potentially successful projects into money-losing ventures, resulting in various other unexpected negative impacts. The objectives of the study were to identify, classify, and assess the impacts of the factors affecting project cost in New Zealand. The proposed research model was examined with structural equation modelling. Recognising the lack of a systematic approach for assessing the influencing factors associated with project cost, this study identified 30 influencing factors from various sources and quantified their relative impacts. The research data were gathered through a questionnaire survey circulated across New Zealand construction industry. A total of 283 responses were received, with a 37% response rate. A model was developed for testing the relationship between project cost and the influential factors. The proposed research model was examined with structural equation modelling (SEM). According to the results of the analysis, market and industry conditions factor has the most significant effect on project cost, while regulatory regime is the second-most significant influencing factor, followed by key stakeholders' perspectives. The findings can improve project cost performance through the identification and evaluation of the cost-influencing factors. The results of such analysis enable industry professionals to better understand cost-related risks in the complex environment

A Unified Framework for Mutual Improvement of SLAM and Semantic Segmentation

This paper presents a novel framework for simultaneously implementing localization and segmentation, which are two of the most important vision-based tasks for robotics. While the goals and techniques used for them were considered to be different previously, we show that by making use of the intermediate results of the two modules, their performance can be enhanced at the same time. Our framework is able to handle both the instantaneous motion and long-term changes of instances in localization with the help of the segmentation result, which also benefits from the refined 3D pose information. We conduct experiments on various datasets, and prove that our framework works effectively on improving the precision and robustness of the two tasks and outperforms existing localization and segmentation algorithms.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures.This work has been accepted by ICRA 2019. The demo video can be found at https://youtu.be/Bkt53dAehj

Product market relationships and cost of bank loans: evidence from strategic alliances

This paper examines the effects of strategic alliances on non-financial firms’ bank loan financing. We construct several measures to capture firms’ alliance activities using the frequency of alliance activities, the prominence of the alliance partner and the relative networking position in the overall alliance network. We find that firms with active alliance involvement experience a lower cost of debt from banks. We also document that allying with a prestigious partner (ie S&P 500 firms) can provide an endorsement effect and benefit the borrowers by reducing the price of bank loans. Moreover, a borrowing firm positioned at the centre of an alliance network enjoys a lower cost of bank loans. Finally, we find that borrowing firms with alliance experience are less likely to use collateral and covenants in their loan contracts.cost of bank loans; strategic alliances; product market relationships

Characterization of N-butyl Cyanoacrylate (NBCA) Glue Polymerization for the Embolization of Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (AVMs)

Brain AVMs are abnormal connections between arteries and veins. Endovascular glue embolization with NBCA is an accepted form of treatment. The reported complication rates of NBCA embolization varies widely from 2-15%, and timing of polymerization plays a major role. Polymerization time was measured for mixtures of lipiodol/NBCA of 50/50, 70/30, 60/40. The influence of pH, temperature and presence of biological catalysts on polymerization time was investigated in-vivo. PVA-C, silicone and endothelium surfaces were compared. High-speed video analysis of glue injection through a microcatheter was performed. Polymerization rate increases with pH and temperature. A hydrophilic surface such as PVA-C better mimics endothelium. Biological substrates including endothelium and blood products dramatically increase the polymerization rate. Characterization of coaxial flow shows dripping to jetting transition with significant wall effect. The determinants of NBCA polymerization rate are multifactorial and dependent mainly upon the presence of biological substrates coupled with flow-related wall interaction