International Journal of Operations and Production Management

Purpose This paper aims to empirically explore the evolution of servitization and how platforms affect the transition between the stages of servitization. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an in-depth case study of a Chinese manufacturer (i.e. Haier) using a longitudinal design. Three rounds of data collection were conducted between 2014 and 2020. The authors carried out 50 semi-structured interviews and 11 workshops to collect data from senior and middle managers of Haier and its business partners. Findings The authors found that Haier’s servitization journey includes three stages (i.e. product-oriented solution, integrated solution and smart connected solutions) that evolve in the target of the services and the digital components of the solutions. Haier has also developed three types of platforms (i.e. service platform, supply chain platform and platform ecosystem) to support the implementation of servitization. The empirical evidence reveals that platforms can address the complexities that emerged when Haier implements the different stages of servitization as well as enable Haier to transition from one stage of servitization to the next. Originality/value This study enhances the current understanding of the evolution of servitization and the roles of digital technologies in the transition between the stages of servitization. It also provides empirical evidence regarding how the platform approach enables the development of servitization. By clarifying the interplay between servitization and platforms, this study provides guidelines for managers on how to develop platforms to both advance and benefit from servitization.

Wenhui Fu

Min Zhang

Xiande Zhao

Fu Jia

International Journal of Operations & Production Management

Interplay between servitization and platforms: a longitudinal case study

服务化与平台化的相互作用：一项纵向案例研究

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine combinations of contract clauses in order to ascertain which combinations correlate to high operational performance (OP). Design/methodology/approach Two hypotheses were formulated from contracting theory and tested on data collected from 45 projects. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was used and validated with multiple regression and simulation. Findings The hypotheses were tested to determine whether combinations of classical, relational, and/or associational contract clauses correlate to high OP. The results show that whereas high OP correlates to combinations of relational and associational contract clauses, classical and relational clauses should not be combined. Research limitations/implications Directions are proposed to guide future research in order to produce a more nuanced testing of contractual complementarity. Practical implications The managerial implications of the findings include a more thorough understanding of the use of contract clauses and of which clauses managers should combine to achieve high OP. Originality/value This study contributes to the theory of contractual incompleteness and complementarity, specifically in the context of project contracting. The analysis produced two theoretical implications: first, that better performing contracts are created when combining relational and associational contract clauses; and second, that in projects, relational and classical contract clauses are not complementary with regards to realizing high OP.

Maria Kapsali

Jens K. Roehrich

Pervaiz Akhtar

Effective contracting for high operational performance in projects

项目中高效运营绩效的有效合同管理

Purpose Drawing on the transactional cost economics (TCE) perspective, we aim to investigate the effects of the balance and imbalance between contractual and relational governance on a firm's bridging responses to supply chain disruptions. By adopting the institutionally contingent perspective, we further examine the moderating effect of cultural distance on the relationship between governance mechanisms and bridging responses. Design/methodology/approach Based on data collected from 183 firms in China, we use polynomial regression and response surface analyses to test our research model. Findings The bridging responses increase along with an increasing balance level between contractual and relational governance and decrease along with an increasing imbalance level between contractual and relational governance. Moreover, the positive effect of balance between contractual and relational governance is strengthened by a large cultural distance. We also find that a large cultural distance amplifies the negative effect of the combination of high relational governance and low contractual governance yet weakens that of the combination of high contractual governance and low relational governance. Originality/value Our study provides nuanced insights into the effects of the balance and imbalance between contractual and relational governance on bridging responses and into the cultural boundary conditions under which these effects vary.

Hua Liu

Shaobo Wei

Leveraging interorganizational governance for bridging responses to supply chain disruptions: a polynomial regression analysis

利用跨组织治理弥合供应链中断应对措施：多项式回归分析

Presents the result of a survey of US firms examining the effect of operations strategies on organizational performance. Seven commonly used operations strategies were considered. Eleven criteria were used to measure organizational performance. The results suggest that companies which are using various operations strategies have higher performance than those which are not using those strategies. While using more than one strategy improves organizational performance, the benefits become marginal after several successive additions. This suggests that for an organization to be competitive, it only has to employ a few appropriate and effective strategies. Also, except for just‐in‐time strategy, large firms are more likely to employ various operations strategies than their smaller counterparts.

Nazim U. Ahmed

Ray V. Montagno

Robert J. Firenze

Operations strategy and organizational performance: an empirical study

运营战略与组织绩效：一项实证研究

Purpose – Environmental sustainability literature provides extensive evidence that business organizations, societies, and governments all have a stake in green operations management. Despite the importance of a firm's effort to alleviate environmental damages and provide economic benefits to organizations, little is known about the external institutional drivers that enable firms to adopt internal proactive environmental strategies. This purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which an internal proactive environmental strategy (eco‐design) and external institutional drivers (government regulations and incentives, customer pressures) motivate firms to adopt eco‐deigns that influence environmental performance.

Suhaiza Hanim Mohamad Zailani

Tarig K. Eltayeb

Chin‐Chun Hsu

Keah Choon Tan

The impact of external institutional drivers and internal strategy on environmental performance

外部制度驱动与内部战略对环境绩效的影响

Purpose To conceptualise the labour supply chain and its relationship with product supply chains. In doing so, we call for research that follows the flow of labour to advance the field of operations and supply chain management (OSCM) towards decent work in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides a real-time case study of modern slavery in the wine, apple and poultry supply chains in Southern Brazil with interviews including workers, farmers and a multitude of stakeholders. Findings By following the flow of labour, we uncover how temporary workers are used to manage product seasonality, and the role of hidden actors such as labour providers and charities. We show that different product supply chains tend to mimic each other and share the same pool of temporary workers to ensure flexibility at low cost, while exploiting workers. Originality/value For decades the OSCM field has used frameworks that follow the product to improve efficiency and traceability. Yet, labour flows across product supply chains remain untraceable. Our research calls for a dynamic perspective on labour to set the basis for an emerging research agenda on the interplay of product and labour flows in supply chains to advance decent work.

Leonardo Marques

Alice Erthal

Andrew Crane

Impact pathways: “follow the labour”. the labour supply chain and its impact on decent work in product supply chains

影响路径：“跟随劳动力”。劳动力供应链及其对产品供应链中体面工作的影响

Purpose Geopolitical disruptions significantly impact the management of temporary healthcare supply chains (HSCs). Common across geopolitical disruptions is the interruption to the flow of supplies, calling for organizations to reconfigure their existing supply chains or set up temporary ones. We theoretically and empirically investigate how temporary HSCs are designed to ensure a resilient flow of vital healthcare products during a geopolitical disruption. Design/methodology/approach We investigated two different temporary HSCs – potable water and blood products – that experienced geopolitical disruptions. We purposefully sampled HSCs in deployed medical care where healthcare providers operate in resource-austere, politically volatile environments and timing and access to specialist expertise, medical equipment and medicines are critical. We built on rich datasets, including archival data, 12 expert workshops and 41 interviews. Findings The nature of temporary HSCs (e.g. urgency of demand and time-limited need) and product characteristics (e.g. perishability and strict storage conditions) lead to complexity in designing resilience for temporary HSCs. In contrast to permanent supply chains, temporary HSCs have limited flexibility and redundancy. Collaboration and agility are predominant strategies for enhancing resilience for temporary HSCs. Practical implications The study uncovers an urgent need for radical changes in how managers and policymakers responsible for HSC address resilience. During geopolitical disruptions, managers and policymakers need to review healthcare regulations across nations and prioritize by activating high levels of information- and knowledge-sharing between nations. Originality/value This study addresses an underresearched area of investigation by theoretically combining and empirically investigating the supply chain strategies employed by organizations to build up resilience in temporary HSCs.

Linh Duong

Helen S. Sanderson

Wendy Phillips

Victor Uwalaka

Achieving resilient supply chains: managing temporary healthcare supply chains during a geopolitical disruption

实现韧性供应链：在地缘政治动荡期间管理临时医疗供应链

Purpose Pressure to address drug shortages is increasing, and calls for cross-national stockpiling solutions are on the rise. This paper argues that cross-national stockpiling presents an important opportunity for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) research to help improve medicine access in the short- and long-term. Design/methodology/approach To substantiate our claims for future research, we conducted an empirical analysis of shortage co-occurrence on twelve EU member-states, reviewed practice reports and academic literature, and held extensive discussions with pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders. Findings We show that the potential for cross-national stockpiling is unmistakably there and that, although OSCM research has touched upon important facets of cross-national stockpiling, many open questions still require novel research. Originality/value We present opportunities for impactful research along various dimensions, including understanding barriers and stakeholder behavior, quantifying cost-effectiveness and potential knock-on effects, analyzing the positive and negative implications of product standardization and determining novel equitable mechanisms for allocation and financing cross-national stockpiles.

Harwin De Vries

Stef Lemmens

Thomas Breugem

Max Olivier

Impact pathways: improving medicine access through cross-national stockpiling

影响路径：通过跨国储备提高药品可及性

Purpose While top management teams (TMTs) play an important role in shaping firms’ strategic choices and performance outcomes, studies on green innovation have rarely considered the influence of the TMT demographics of firms and their suppliers. Drawing upon upper echelon theory, this study investigates the impact of buyer–supplier TMT misalignment on green innovation performance, along with potential moderators of this effect. Design/methodology/approach The empirical setting is Chinese-listed manufacturing firms that are present in both the Chinese Research Data Services Platform (CNRDS) database and the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) database. The study employs panel data regression methods on a dyadic dataset of 530 paired buyer–supplier firm-year observations over the period 2008–2019. Findings Buyer–supplier TMT misalignment in terms of functional background and educational level is negatively associated with buyer green innovation performance. This negative effect can, however, be mitigated by TMT tenure and long-term incentives in buyer firms. Originality/value By introducing the notion of TMT background misalignment to the supply chain, this study advances the understanding of relational TMT demographics in predicting organizational performance and extends upper echelon theory.

Yang Yang

Yan Jiang

Linyue Chen

Buyer–supplier TMT background misalignment and green innovation performance: the moderating roles of TMT tenure and incentives

买方-供应商高管团队背景错位与绿色创新绩效：高管团队任期和激励的调节作用

Purpose Various economic, strategic and sociopolitical factors drive the decisions related to the location of global supply chain partners. Yet, research on how sociopolitical factors affect these decisions is not that prevalent. We contribute to this line of research by evaluating the changes in global supply base concentration accounted for by three key sociopolitical factors – populism, state fragility and political constraints – that magnify or attenuate the effects of institutional risks, uncertainties and volatility. Design/methodology/approach Apart from hypothesizing the negative effects of populism and state fragility, political constraints are conjectured to significantly attenuate these negative effects. The proposed hypotheses were motivated using the tenets of institutional economics theory and tested using a comprehensive dataset compiled from six widely used secondary data sources. The panel data spanning 2003–2018 focused on a sample of global US-listed companies with worldwide suppliers. Findings Our results supported three of the four hypotheses. Specifically, the direct effects of populism and state fragility were found to be significant, suggesting that they reduced the number of suppliers in the country. However, political constraints did not moderate the effect of populism on global supply base concentration, while they negatively moderated the effect of the state fragility index. This result showcases the overpowering effect of populism on a country’s market environment. Originality/value Supply chain scholars resoundingly acknowledge the need for more research on the effect of broader sociopolitical factors on global supply chain management. Responding to this call, we evaluate the direct and contingent effects of populism, state fragility and political constraints on global supply base concentration. Our choice of these factors was based on their representation of most of the critical institutional environments prevalent in various countries. One surprising result we found was that populism was found to be pervasive even in countries with strong checks and balances, suggesting its paramount importance to practicing management. Overall, by unraveling the interesting effects of these multidimensional sociopolitical factors, our study makes a valuable contribution to not only theory but also practice.

Antony Paulraj

Aneesh Datar

Azusa Nakamura

Chandrasekararao Seepana

Navigating sociopolitical waters: exploring the influence of key factors on global supply base concentration

导航社会政治水域：探索关键因素对全球供应链集中度的影响

Abbreviation	IJOPM
Journal Impact	6.98
Quartiles(Global)	MANAGEMENT(Q1)

ISSN	0144-3577, 1758-6593
h-index	163

Publication Information	Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 1995，Proportion of original research papers: 98.28%，Self Citation Rate:16.90%， Gold OA Rate: 19.61%

International Journal of Operations and Production Management

Journal Citation Format

A journal article with 1 author

A journal article with 2 authors

A journal article with 3 authors

A journal article with 5 or more authors

Books Citation Format

Thesis Citation Format

Web sites Citation Format

Patent Citation Format

Staying up late manually editing references? ivySCI automatically matches journals and helps you generate references with a single click.

Share Submission Experience