Anne Friedrich, Anne Lange and Ralf Elbert
This study identifies and characterizes configurations of generic business models for logistics service providers (LSPs) in the context of industrial additive manufacturing (AM)…
Abstract
Purpose
This study identifies and characterizes configurations of generic business models for logistics service providers (LSPs) in the context of industrial additive manufacturing (AM). A literature-based framework of the AM service supply chain (SC) is developed to embed the generic configurations in their SC context.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an exploratory research design, 17 interviews were conducted with LSPs, LSPs' potential partners and customers for industrial AM services.
Findings
Six generic configurations are identified, the LSP as a Manufacturer, Landlord, Logistician, Connector, Agent and Consultant. The authors outline how these configurations differ in the required locations, partners and targeted customer segments.
Practical implications
The current discussion of reshoring and shorter, decentralized AM SCs confronts LSPs with novel challenges. This study offers guidance for managers of LSPs for designing business models for industrial AM and raises awareness for LSPs' resource and SC implications.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the scarce literature on AM business models for LSPs with in-depth empirical insights. Based on the six identified configurations, this study sets the ground for theorizing about the business models, in particular, the value creation, value proposition and mechanisms for value capture of the business models. In addition, this study suggests how the generic configurations fit the features of specific types of LSPs.
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Anne Friedrich, Anne Lange and Ralf Elbert
This study extends and refines the current knowledge on emerging supply chain designs (SCDs) for industrial additive manufacturing (AM) and manufacturing firms' rationales in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study extends and refines the current knowledge on emerging supply chain designs (SCDs) for industrial additive manufacturing (AM) and manufacturing firms' rationales in selecting them.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an exploratory research design, a multiple-case study is conducted in the context of industrial AM. It focuses on two key dimensions of SCD, the geographic dispersion and governance structure. Four cohesive AM SCD configurations are characterized and form the basis for exploring the rationales for the SCD decision of manufacturing firms.
Findings
The findings indicate that manufacturing firms' SCD for industrial AM depends on the trade-off between economies of scale in a centralized setting and the market potential from customer proximity realized by decentral AM. Furthermore, the control of suppliers and the reevaluation of manufacturing firms' core competencies guide the governance choice. Many of the identified rationales currently drive manufacturing firms toward in-house AM at a centralized location or distributed AM in a secure, firm-owned network.
Practical implications
The arguments for the AM SCD choices are illustrated. They provide guidance for managers of manufacturing firms when implementing industrial AM.
Originality/value
The study reveals and enhances the understanding of why the extant academic expectation of decentralized and outsourced AM is not sufficiently reflected in current industry practice. Thereby, the study provides a basis for elaborative decision-support research on AM SCDs.
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This study aims to verify whether the reduction factors for the post-fire performance of Grade 10.9 bolts stated in an earlier study at the TU Darmstadt are also valid for shear…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to verify whether the reduction factors for the post-fire performance of Grade 10.9 bolts stated in an earlier study at the TU Darmstadt are also valid for shear and combined tension and shear.
Design/methodology/approach
Tests on Grade 10.9 bolt sets under combined tension and shear were carried out. The tested bolts were heated and cooled without being stressed by an additional mechanical load before being tested.
Findings
The test results show that the reduction factors can also be adopted for bolts under combined tension and shear, but the tension-shear-ratio has an influence on the load bearing capacity.
Originality/value
The post-fire performance of high-strength bolts is of special interest when a building structure is evaluated after an event of fire. In contrast to conventional structural steel, high-strength bolts do not recover their original strength and material properties.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the success of the 50 EURO STOXX companies as measured by the earnings before taxes (EBT) and the percentage…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the success of the 50 EURO STOXX companies as measured by the earnings before taxes (EBT) and the percentage of female members on their supervisory boards.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies on data extracted from the annual reports of the 50 EURO STOXX companies in 2015 and from financial websites.
Findings
The paper provides the existence of a weak correlation between companies’ performance as measured by EBT and the percentage of women on supervisory boards.
Research limitations/implications
This study has two main limitations: first, a single key performance indicator was used to measure firms’ success; and second, the study offers insights related only to the year 2015. The analysis could be extended over a larger time span while some other variables could be considered in a more holistic approach.
Practical implications
The paper raises awareness that there is much to be done with regard to the presence of women on boards, and readers, investors and business owners gain an insight on the business environment and women active on European corporate boards.
Originality/value
By concentrating on the companies of the EURO STOXX 50 Index, the study offers a good image of the European business environment.
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Sila Kaya-Capocci, Orla McCormack, Sibel Erduran and Naomi Birdthistle
The social aspects of nature of science (NOS) have become more eminent but entrepreneurial perspectives of NOS continue to be neglected. Entrepreneurship is relevant to NOS and…
Abstract
Purpose
The social aspects of nature of science (NOS) have become more eminent but entrepreneurial perspectives of NOS continue to be neglected. Entrepreneurship is relevant to NOS and science education due to its role in scientific enterprises and its importance as a 21st-century skill required in all subjects, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. Due to the impact of initial teacher education (ITE) and the science curriculum on Initial Science Teachers' (ISTs) understanding, the paper aims to explore the impact of including entrepreneurship in NOS with ISTs.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative study investigated the changes in three ISTs by examining their understanding of entrepreneurship within NOS and their perspectives on the inclusion of entrepreneurship in the science curriculum following an intervention. The results were analysed through thematic and network analysis (NA).
Findings
The results indicated that following an intervention, ISTs developed a more holistic understanding of entrepreneurship in NOS and could see the benefits and rationale for including entrepreneurship in the science curriculum. However, certain concerns remained.
Originality/value
Although entrepreneurship may contribute to NOS by promoting scientific development, enhancing interest in science and developing a holistic understanding of science, a thorough review of the relevant research literature suggests that studies investigating entrepreneurship in NOS are rare. The current paper fills this gap by exploring Irish ISTs' perspectives on positing entrepreneurship in NOS. The study suggests conducting further research on the integration of entrepreneurship in the science curriculum and its impact on ITE.
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Aino Tenhiälä, Anne Linna, Monika von Bonsdorff, Jaana Pentti, Jussi Vahtera, Mika Kivimäki and Marko Elovainio
The aim of this paper is to study age-related differences in how perceptions of two forms of organizational justice, i.e. procedural and interactional justice, are related to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to study age-related differences in how perceptions of two forms of organizational justice, i.e. procedural and interactional justice, are related to short (i.e. non-certified) spells and long (i.e. medically certified) spells of sickness absence.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a study on a large sample of Finnish public sector employees (n=37,324), in which they matched employees' 2004 survey data with their records-based sick absences in 2005 and 2006.
Findings
The results suggest that age moderates the association between perceptions of procedural justice and long sickness absences after controlling for gender, tenure, occupational group, work unit, job demands and health behaviors. When older employees experienced a high level of procedural justice, they were 12 percent less likely to miss work due to medically certified illnesses. Overall, older employees were less likely to take short, non-certified sickness absences from work. Finally, the results suggest that high-quality relationships with supervisors can prevent both short and long spells of sickness absence at all ages
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature on age-related differences in the effects of psychosocial workplace conditions (organizational justice) on employee behavior (absenteeism).
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The purpose of this study is to examine how financial analysts deal with cybersecurity information in their investment analysis process and whether they find cybersecurity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how financial analysts deal with cybersecurity information in their investment analysis process and whether they find cybersecurity disclosures in companies’ financial reports useful.
Design/methodology/approach
Investment managers/financial analysts and chief information security officers (CISOs) at seven institutional investors were interviewed.
Findings
Not all financial analysts consider cybersecurity risk in their investment analyses. Those who do look at company strategy, how the company integrates cybersecurity into its processes and whether it has certified its cybersecurity information. The financial analysts use this qualitative information to adjust the results of their quantitative analysis. They do not find boilerplate or cursory cybersecurity information in financial reports to be useful. In fact, they view it as unreliable and prefer drawing on other information sources to assess the company’s cybersecurity risk.
Practical implications
The results of this study highlight to securities regulators that reported cybersecurity information is of limited usefulness. Regulators are challenged to revisit their disclosure requirements. Companies wishing to improve the usefulness of their cybersecurity information should provide more company-specific information.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to look at financial analysts’ perception of cybersecurity-related information. It complements findings from prior market studies by adding new insights into the way influential market participants deal with this information in their investment analysis process.
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Lilian Julia Trechsel, Clara Léonie Diebold, Anne Barbara Zimmermann and Manuel Fischer
This study aims to explore how the boundary between science and society can be addressed to support the transformation of higher education towards sustainable development (HESD…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how the boundary between science and society can be addressed to support the transformation of higher education towards sustainable development (HESD) in the sense of the whole institution approach. It analyses students’ learning experiences in self-led sustainability projects conducted outside formal curricula to highlight their potential contribution to HESD. The students’ projects are conceived as learning spaces in “sustainability-oriented ecologies of learning” (Wals, 2020) in which five learning dimensions can be examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an iterative, grounded-theory-inspired qualitative approach and sensitising concepts, 13 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted exploring students’ learning experiences. Interviews were categorised in MAXQDA and analysed against a literature review.
Findings
Results revealed that students’ experiences of non-formal learning in self-led projects triggered deep learning and change agency. Trust, social cohesion, empowerment and self-efficacy were both results and conditions of learning. Students’ learnings are classified according to higher education institutions’ (HEIs) sustainability agendas, providing systematised insights for HEIs regarding their accommodative, reformative or transformative (Sterling, 2021) path to sustainable development.
Originality/value
The education for sustainable development (ESD) debate focuses mainly on ESD competences in formal settings. Few studies explore students’ learnings where formal and non-formal learning meet. This article investigates a space where students interact with different actors from society while remaining rooted in their HEIs. When acting as “change agents” in this hybrid context, students can also become “boundary agents” helping their HEIs move the sustainability agenda forward towards a whole institution approach. Learning from students’ learnings is thus proposed as a lever for transformation.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) level of participation in human resource development activities during a labor shortage. Drawing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) level of participation in human resource development activities during a labor shortage. Drawing on human capital theory, it examines whether SMEs’ profiles, determined according to their participation in different types of training activities, relate to perceived benefits of training, barriers to participation in training and learning culture.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies latent profile analysis (LPA) to 10 training practices of 427 SMEs in Quebec, Canada.
Findings
The LPA distinguished four profiles of SMEs, reflecting differing capacities for mobilizing training resources during a labor shortage. These four profiles show differences with regard to perceived training benefits, barriers to participation in training and learning culture.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to focus on the specific ability of SMEs to invest in their human capital in the unique and recent context of a labor shortage.
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Guido Grunwald, Jürgen Schwill and Anne-Marie Sassenberg
This paper aims to analyze the requirements for stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships in times of sustainability crisis. Referring to the COVID-19…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the requirements for stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships in times of sustainability crisis. Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic as a sustainability crisis that has sensitized consumers and other stakeholders to corporate responsibility for social and sustainability issues, a conceptual framework for stakeholder integration is developed from which implications for designing the potential, process and result quality are derived.
Design/methodology/approach
In this conceptual paper, design options for stakeholder integration are derived from open innovation and service management research. Specific crisis-related determinants of stakeholder integration are derived from current corporate social responsibility (CSR) and crisis research taking into account the opportunities and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design options and crisis-related determinants are then combined to a conceptual framework for stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis. Based on this framework, research propositions are derived that provide insights into the design of the potential, process and result quality of stakeholder integration.
Findings
This paper shows that the COVID-19 pandemic can be viewed as a sustainability crisis, which places special entrepreneurial demands on stakeholder integration in sustainability project partnerships. The pandemic offers potential for integrating a large number of stakeholders and has emphasized the need for integrating a broad range of stakeholders. Higher skepticism of stakeholders toward companies' CSR engagement in the pandemic has raised stakeholder demands for early integration. Higher skepticism and CSR involvement have rendered active forms of integration even more relevant, which, however, should still be adapted to the respective stakeholder prerequisites. The pandemic has increased the need for constant and comprehensive exchange of data on project results between stakeholders and the project leading organization. Measurement of target achievement can be promoted by establishing stakeholder commitment with regard to the target measures on the collective and relationship levels of the partnership. Finally, the pandemic has reinforced the need for more dialogical forms of communicating sustainability project results.
Originality/value
Solving problems and exploiting opportunities in times of crisis require a high degree of entrepreneurship and creative leadership in order to gain new ideas and overcome resource deficits. Sustainability project partnerships in which various stakeholders contribute resources and knowledge to collaborate on idea development and finding solutions to sustainability issues are suitable for this. However, previous approaches to stakeholder integration in open innovation and service management research largely neglect the crisis context and only a few are related to sustainability. In CSR and crisis research, stakeholder-related approaches to coping with crises tend to be underrepresented, and the comprehensive concept of stakeholder integration has so far hardly been considered as an approach to crisis management. By taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic as a sustainability crisis, this paper provides new impulses for the integration of stakeholders in sustainability project partnerships in times of crisis. Recommendations for the design of the potential, process and result quality are derived, which provide insights for project leaders and stakeholders alike. In addition, implications for public policymakers are derived, who are assigned an increasingly active role in the pandemic and who can contribute to the success of sustainability project partnerships by setting suitable framework conditions. The developed concept can be expanded to include further company-related determinants and offers a starting point for empirical analysis in the still underexplored research fields of sustainability-oriented relationship marketing and sustainability crises.