Arif Khan K, B. Bakkappa, Bhimaraya A. Metri and B.S. Sahay
The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical distribution practices of agile supply chains and provide a comprehensive framework that can be used to improve the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical distribution practices of agile supply chains and provide a comprehensive framework that can be used to improve the responsiveness of supply chains. The research is carried out in the context of different manufacturing industries and provides empirical evidence that agile supply chain distribution enhances organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employed survey research, using a sample of 128 manufacturing companies.
Findings
The paper explores the critical distribution practices of supply chains that make supply chains agile. Collaborative distribution, order commitment, distribution flexibility and inventory management are the key SCM distribution practices associated with agile supply chains, and have significant impact on organisational performance.
Research limitations/implications
Data were collected from a single node/respondent of a supply chain. Further research could be carried out using mutiple node data of each supply chain to make the research more meaningful and generalisable.
Practical implications
The findings may be used to gauge the competitive capabilities of SCM distribution and to guide organisations to measure and improve supply chain responsiveness and organisational performance.
Originality/value
The paper provides evidence regarding the impact of the critical distribution practices of agile supply chains on performnace.
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Arif Khan K and Rajesh K. Pillania
The purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensions of strategic sourcing and determines its relationship with organisational supply chain agility and performance. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensions of strategic sourcing and determines its relationship with organisational supply chain agility and performance. It classifies manufacturing firms based on their level of supply chain agility and test the diffrences in firms' performnace across the clusters so obtained.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employes survey method and data is collected from 128 manufacturing companies in India. Valid and reliable measures of strategic sourcing, supply chain agility and organizational performance are developed. Factor structure and initial validity is determined and K‐Means cluster analysis is applied for clustering firms based on their level of supply agility. Multiple regression and ANOVA is used for hypotheses testing.
Findings
Strategic suplier partnership, sourcing flexibility, supplier evaluation and trust in supply chain members are the key dimensions of strategic sourcing. Result shows the significant effect of strategic sourcing and its diemnsions on supply chain agility and firms' performance.
Research limitations/implications
Data is collected from single node/respondent of supply chain and further research can be carried out by using mutiple node data of each supply chain to make the research more meaningful and generalisable.
Practical implications
Findings are useful to develop and measure the competitive capabilities of strategic sourcing and guide the organisations to enhance supply chain responsiveness and organisational performance.
Originality/value
The paper provides strategic diemnsions of sourcing and their measurement scales. Provide evidence regarding the impact of strategic sourcing on agility of supply chains and performnace.
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This study aims to differentiate crime-related characteristics (such as the number of cases filed against current convictions and criminal history) based on the criminal thinking…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to differentiate crime-related characteristics (such as the number of cases filed against current convictions and criminal history) based on the criminal thinking prevailing among convicts. However, because of the low reliability of subscales and poor structural validity of indigenous and translated versions of international instruments, a new instrument criminal attitude measure (CAM) was extracted to measure criminal thinking patterns among convicts incarcerated in central prisons of Punjab.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional research design was used. Data was collected from 1,949 male convicts (extracting mutually exclusive data from 649 respondents for EFA and 1,300 respondents for confirmatory factor analysis [CFA]). Both data samples were collected from convicts incarcerated in the nine (all) central jails of Punjab, Pakistan.
Findings
The results of this study showed poor model fit for both the indigenous criminal thinking scale and the translated version of criminogenic cognition scale. CAM was extracted through principal component analysis and proposed as a 15-item questionnaire with five factors extracted through varimax rotation. Those five factors are power orientation, mollification, entitlement, mistrust toward authorities and short-term orientation. The results of CFA for CAM confirmed the proposed five-factor structure for the construct. Findings based on MANOVA further found that CAM differentiates between the thinking patterns of recidivists, convicts with multiple charges filed against them in current convictions and convicts with a familial criminal record. The findings of this study showed that CAM is a practical, valid and reliable instrument for measuring criminal thinking among convicts.
Research limitations/implications
In this study, using the survey method was inevitable because of the restrictions imposed by the granted permission. However, this time duration was extended because of the courtesy of the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of each jail. This study is focused on a male sample only, and the findings cannot be generalized to females. The phenomena proposed (based on large data sets) in this study can further be elaborated using qualitative research designs and methods (using a small sample with an in-depth study). So, it is also suggested to test this new instrument on a comparative study between prisoners and non-prisoners to explore whether scale can differentiate between these two groups.
Practical implications
A short-scale and easy-to-administer instrument was developed for assessing major criminogenic needs among convicts for prison management, i.e. assigning barracks, allocating treatment and also detecting changes in attitude after imprisonment.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study to explore and validate the construct of criminal attitudes among convicts using both the EFA and CFA. A small and valid instrument facilitates the measurement of criminogenic needs among prisoners. Data was collected from all central jails in Punjab. This study explored comparatively less researched crime characteristics in a relatively large sample.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of triple-A supply chain and marketing strategy alignment on the performance by collecting and analyzing data from the textile…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of triple-A supply chain and marketing strategy alignment on the performance by collecting and analyzing data from the textile industry in Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach
A research model is proposed which describes the impact marketing strategy alignment, triple-A supply chain on supply chain performance and organizational performance. The proposed research model and hypotheses were tested using correlation analysis and structural equation modeling based on data collected from 153 companies working in the Egyptian textile industry.
Findings
The results of the study support that organizational performance is positively associated supply chain performance. Also supply chain performance is directly affected by triple-A supply chain and marketing strategy alignment.
Research limitations/implications
The data used in this study were collected from 153 companies working in the Egyptian textile industry. The generalization of the study results may be limited by the size of the sample.
Originality/value
This study provides a useful working model in the textile industry. The results suggest successful implementation of triple-A supply chain and marketing strategy alignment will help in improving the supply chain performance, which in turn improves organizational performance.
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Developing agility and innovativeness as dynamic capabilities are important for firms to sustain their competitive advantage in today’s global economy. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Developing agility and innovativeness as dynamic capabilities are important for firms to sustain their competitive advantage in today’s global economy. The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a framework to investigate how the supply chain agility and innovativeness are achieved through IT integration and trust in members of supply chain and how these, in turn, can enhance firms’ competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs a survey method and data are collected from senior managers working in the supply chain or IT area. The model and hypotheses are tested utilizing data from 204 usable Taiwan manufacturing firms via structural equations modeling methodology.
Findings
The study demonstrates that both IT integration and trust in supply chain members significantly enhance supply chain agility and innovativeness, which in turn positively affect firm’s competitive advantage. The results indicate that IT integration and trust are antecedents and major joint partnership resources for improving supply chain agility and innovativeness.
Research limitations/implications
Data are collected from manufacturing industry in Taiwan and single respondent from each firm, the generalizability of current findings to other industries or countries should require additional investigation.
Practical implications
The study suggests that a firm should focus on IT integration and trust in supply chain members to achieve supply chain agility and innovativeness. To take advantage of supply chain agility and innovativeness, through maximizing firm’s competitive advantage, firms should continually adapt to the fast changing business environment and search for creative ways to satisfy new market needs.
Originality/value
Given the attention paid to supply chain agility and innovativeness in terms of importance to responding to business uncertainty and competitiveness, and more recently, as important capabilities in managing supply chain management, this paper investigates how IT integration and trust can contribute to supply chain agility and innovativeness. Provide evidence regarding the impact of IT integration and trust on agility of supply chains, innovativeness and competitive advantage.
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Ferry Jie, Kevin A. Parton and Rodney J. Cox
The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated modelling framework that links management action to supply chain processes and then to competitive advantage.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated modelling framework that links management action to supply chain processes and then to competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey responses about supply chain management in the Australian beef processing industry, regression analysis was used to develop a model simultaneously explaining the links from management action to supply chain processes and on to competitive advantage.
Findings
A relatively simple regression model was established that should be widely applicable in agri‐food processing industries. In the context of our example industry, the results suggest that there is a strong link from some supply chain practices to competitive advantage, with trust and information quality being important drivers of the process.
Research limitations/implications
Being based on a survey approach, a limitation is that that the results show managers' perceived influences on supply chain performance, not the influences observed by the researchers.
Practical implications
The regression method provides an easy way of summarising the links between supply chain practices and competitive advantage. This method may be generally applicable across agri‐food industries, particularly those with many small and medium‐size food enterprises.
Originality/value
This research provides a new method of integrating various aspects of supply chain management and competitive advantage. The method has the great advantage of parsimony.
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Mair Khan, T. Salahuddin, Muhammad Malik Yousaf, Farzana Khan and Arif Hussain
The purpose of the current flow configurations is to bring to attention the thermophysical aspects of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Williamson nanofluid flow under the effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the current flow configurations is to bring to attention the thermophysical aspects of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Williamson nanofluid flow under the effects of Joule heating, nonlinear thermal radiation, variable thermal coefficient and activation energy past a rotating stretchable surface.
Design/methodology/approach
A mathematical model is examined to study the heat and mass transport analysis of steady MHD Williamson fluid flow past a rotating stretchable surface. Impact of activation energy with newly introduced variable diffusion coefficient at the mass equation is considered. The transport phenomenon is modeled by using highly nonlinear PDEs which are then reduced into dimensionless form by using similarity transformation. The resulting equations are then solved with the aid of fifth-order Fehlberg method.
Findings
The rotating fluid, heat and mass transport effects are analyzed for different values of parameters on velocity, energy and diffusion distributions. Parameters like the rotation parameter, Hartmann number and Weissenberg number control the flow field. In addition, the solar radiation, Joule heating, Prandtl number, thermal conductivity, concentration diffusion coefficient and activation energy control the temperature and concentration profiles inside the stretching surface. It can be analyzed that for higher values of thermal conductivity, Eckret number and solar radiation parameter the temperature profile increases, whereas opposite behavior is noticed for Prandtl number. Moreover, for increasing values of temperature difference parameter and thermal diffusion coefficient, the concentration profile shows reducing behavior.
Originality/value
This paper is useful for researchers working in mathematical and theoretical physics. Moreover, numerical results are very useful in industry and daily-use processes.
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Mehboob Ali, F. Sultan, Waqar Azeem Khan, M. Shahzad, Hina Arif and M. Irfan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the heat transportation rate by using Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model. Furthermore, homogeneous-heterogeneous reaction is also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the heat transportation rate by using Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model. Furthermore, homogeneous-heterogeneous reaction is also deliberated in the modeling of concentration expression.
Design/methodology/approach
The nonlinear PDEs are reduced to ODEs via implementation of applicable transformations. Numerical scheme bvp4c is used to obtain convergent solutions.
Findings
The main findings are to characterize the generalized Fourier’s heat flux and homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions in 3D flow of non-Newtonian cross fluid.
Originality/value
It is to certify that this paper is neither published earlier nor submitted elsewhere.
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Kanza Abid, Zafar Iqbal Shams, Muhammad Suleman Tahir and Arif Zubair
The presence of heavy metals in milk causes many acute and chronic physiological dysfunctions in human organs. The present study aims to investigate the heavy metals in cow's and…
Abstract
Purpose
The presence of heavy metals in milk causes many acute and chronic physiological dysfunctions in human organs. The present study aims to investigate the heavy metals in cow's and buffalo's milk of two major cities, Karachi and Gujranwala, Pakistan to estimate metal intake by humans from this source.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 48 milk samples from 2 cities were drawn from animals' udder to avoid contamination. Each sample was digested with nitric acid at 105 oC (degree Celsius) on a pre-heated electric hot plate to investigate the metals by atomic absorption spectroscopy (flame type). Air-acetylene technique analyzed chromium, cadmium and lead, and the hydride method analyzed arsenic in the milk samples.
Findings
The results revealed the highest mean lead concentration (19.65 ± 43.86 ppb) in the milk samples, followed by chromium (2.10 ± 2.33 ppb) and arsenic (0.48 ± 0.73 ppb). Cadmium was not detected in any sample, assuming cadmium's occurrence was below the detection level. The concentrations of all the metals in the samples of the two cities do not differ statistically. Lead concentrations in the buffalo's milk were higher than in cow's milk (p < 0.05). However, the concentrations of arsenic and chromium between buffalo's and cow's milk do not differ statistically. The present study reveals a lower level of metals in the milk than those conducted elsewhere. The mean concentrations of all the metals met the World Health Organization's (WHO) safety guidelines (1993).
Research limitations/implications
Although cadmium causes toxicity in the human body, cadmium could not be measured because cadmium's concentration was below the detection level, which is 1 ppb.
Practical implications
This study will help reduce the toxic metals in our environment, and the sources of heavy metals, particularly from the industrial sector could be identified. The feed and water consumed by the milking animals could be carefully used for feeding them.
Social implications
This study will help reduce the diseases and malfunction of human organs and organ systems since these heavy metals cause toxicity and carcinogenicity in humans. Arsenic and chromium cause cancer while lead causes encephalopathy (a brain disease).
Originality/value
The study reports heavy metal concentrations in the two attributes of four independent variables of raw milk samples that were scarcely reported from Pakistan.
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Irfan Ullah, Muhammad Ansar Majeed, Hong-Xing Fang and Muhammad Arif Khan
This study aims to investigate how the presence of female CEOs (FCEOs) affects investment efficiency in emerging economy, where female participation in business activities is…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how the presence of female CEOs (FCEOs) affects investment efficiency in emerging economy, where female participation in business activities is limited.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the impact of CEO gender on investment efficiency by using investment efficiency measures proposed by Biddle et al. (2009), Chen et al. (2011) and Chen et al. (2013).
Findings
The findings suggest that FCEOs are associated with high level of investment efficiency. FCEOs improve corporate governance, streamline management and reduce inefficient investment decisions. In addition, FCEOs focus more on curbing underinvestment than overinvestment when making investment decisions. Furthermore, high financial reporting quality (FRQ) strengthens the effect of FCEOs on investment efficiency. The results suggest that FCEOs do not ameliorate the investment efficiency of state-owned enterprises.
Originality/value
This study enhances our understanding of the effects of FCEOs on corporate investment decisions in a male-dominated society. Efficient use of resources is vital from corporate and societal perspectives. Emerging economies are characterized by the unstable political and economic environment and low participation of females in decision-making. Hence, these economies require efficient utilization of resources. This study also sheds light on the role of FCEOs in curtailing underinvestment in emerging economies. It proves that FRQ is important in emerging economies because it strengthens the governance role of FCEOs.