Interactions between manufacturing and marketing departments often determine the competitiveness and profitability of a firm. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems address…
Abstract
Interactions between manufacturing and marketing departments often determine the competitiveness and profitability of a firm. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems address integration issues of business functions; and benefits contributed by ERP implementation found in the literature are similar to those achieved through the integration of manufacturing and marketing functions. Uses a research model based on contingency theory and socio‐technical theory to study the effects of ERP implementation on marketing and manufacturing integration. A study of four companies in the electronic industry shows that internal organizational and external factors affect the interaction between manufacturing and marketing and results in performance improvement. Provides a new perspective of the factors that impact the effectiveness of ERP systems.
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Virpi Turkulainen and Mikko Ketokivi
Conventional wisdom has it that cross‐functional integration is a “must”. The purpose of this paper is to take an information‐processing approach to integration and elaborate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Conventional wisdom has it that cross‐functional integration is a “must”. The purpose of this paper is to take an information‐processing approach to integration and elaborate the conventional wisdom by theoretical examination of both the concept of integration as well as theoretical and empirical elaboration of its link to operational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop six propositions on how cross‐functional integration affects performance and test the propositions in an international sample of 266 manufacturing plant organizations in nine countries.
Findings
The results strongly suggest that disaggregation of performance is important, because the effects of cross‐functional integration on performance are contingent: even though the effects of achieved integration on several dimensions of operational performance are positive, the performance effect varies from one dimension to the next. This is an important finding given that performance has typically been treated at an aggregate level in prior research on the performance effects of integration.
Originality/value
Although most research on integration has focused on the performance implications in particular, theoretical work on the nature of the integration‐performance relationship is required. In this paper, the authors argue the benefits of cross‐functional integration to be fundamentally context‐dependent and elaborate the link between integration and performance by developing the definition of the concept of integration further, as well as by disaggregation of performance, to its constituent dimensions.
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Severina Cartwright, Juneho Um and Iain Davies
The purpose of this study is to theoretically hypothesise and empirically explore the relationships between operations and supply chain management (O&SCM) and marketing/sales…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to theoretically hypothesise and empirically explore the relationships between operations and supply chain management (O&SCM) and marketing/sales (OMS) collaboration, social media (SM) usage, organisational resilience and performance. This paper considers how collaboration through SM can enhance organisational resilience capability and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted among 395 organisations in the UK. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The empirical findings of this study support the significant mediating role of O&SCM–OMS collaborative activities through internal and external SM for better organisational resilience, capability, cost efficiency, customer-focused and business performance. This also extends to exploring differences based on product versus service industries.
Originality/value
Through empirical research, the findings contribute to the theoretical development and managerial guidance on O&SCM–OMS collaboration and resilience capability by emphasising the strategic deployment of SM across functions through the lens of contingency theory and resource-based view.
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Davide Aloini, Riccardo Dulmin and Valeria Mininno
This paper attempts to provide an empirical cross‐industrial study on critical success factors impacting on “price” and “process” performance in business‐to‐business (B2B…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper attempts to provide an empirical cross‐industrial study on critical success factors impacting on “price” and “process” performance in business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐reverse auction design.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an online survey to a panel of academic experts and practitioners, the paper presents the empirical validation of a previous conceptual model using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach.
Findings
Results demonstrate that a multi facet construct consisting of six main dimensions impacts on e‐auction performance. Moreover, these dimensions differently impact on price and process performance.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the complexity of the framework, the sample size and the qualitative nature of experts' observations, results should be seen as more indicative than conclusive and therefore generalization should be additionally tested.
Practical implications
Findings provide useful information for the formulation of managerial decisions in designing the auction event/process and supporting the definition of different negotiation strategies.
Originality/value
This article is a first attempt to test a conceptual framework on critical factors impacting on e‐reverse auction performance in a B2B context. A lot of conceptual papers try to systematize the numerous variables affecting e‐auction success and their complex relationships into a single comprehensive framework; nevertheless there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting these models especially in the B2B context.
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Kwadwo N. Asare, Jane McKay-Nesbitt and Anne LeMaster-Merrick
This chapter reports on the pilot of an innovative approach to business education that was instituted at a small university in the United States. In the program, students were…
Abstract
This chapter reports on the pilot of an innovative approach to business education that was instituted at a small university in the United States. In the program, students were divided into three learning cohorts. Each group was encouraged to learn as a community while taking three integrated classes. Teams competed within their cohort and cohorts competed against other cohorts. Students took introductory managerial accounting, introductory computer information systems and introductory management in the first semester and financial management, operations management and an introductory marketing course in the second semester. The program was designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice by helping students gain a better appreciation of how business functions are integrated. After the first semester, an anonymous survey revealed some useful insights that could be incorporated to enhance such programs. The structure of the program, its benefits, limitations and insights from the survey are reported in this chapter.
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Muhammad Mustafa Kamal and Zahir Irani
This paper aims to focus on systematically analysing and synthesising the extant research published on supply chain integration (SCI) area, given the significance of SCI research…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on systematically analysing and synthesising the extant research published on supply chain integration (SCI) area, given the significance of SCI research area. More specifically, the authors aim to answer three questions: “Q1 – What are the factors (e.g. both driving and inhibiting) that influence SCI?”, “Q2 – What are the key developments (e.g. both in research and industry) in SCI area?” and “Q3 – What are the approaches employed/discussed to integrate supply chains?”. Over the past decade, SCI has gained increasing attention in the supply chain management (SCM) context, both from the practitioners’ perspective and as a research area. In realising the global transformations and competitive business environment, a number of organisations are collaborating with their supply chain (SC) partners, to conduct seamless SC operations.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic and structured literature review is carried out to observe and understand the past trends and extant patterns/themes in the SCI research area, evaluate contributions and summarise knowledge, thereby identifying limitations, implications and potential directions of further research. Thus, to trace the implementation of SCI practices, a profiling approach is used to analyse 293 articles (published in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2013) extracted from the Scopus database. The Systematic Review Approach proposed by Tranfield et al. (2003) was followed to analyse and synthesise the extant literature on SCI area.
Findings
The analysis presented in this paper has identified relevant SCI research studies that have contributed to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the SCI and SCM area. Each of the 293 papers was examined for achieving the aim and objectives of the research, the method of data collection, the data analysis method and quality measures. While some of the papers provided information on all of these categories, most of them failed to provide all the information, especially for Q2 and Q3 that resulted in 23 and 21 papers, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
This study would have benefited from the analysis of further journals; however, the analysis of 293 articles from leading journals in the field of operations and SCM was deemed sufficient in scope. Moreover, this research has implications for researchers, journal editors, practitioners, universities and research institutions. It is likely to form the basis and motivation for profiling other database resources and specific operations and SCM-type journals in this area.
Practical implications
This systematic literature review highlights a taxonomy of contextual factors driving and inhibiting SCI for researchers and SC practitioners to refer to while researching or implementing SCI. It also exemplifies some areas for future research, along with the need for researchers to focus on developing more practical techniques for implementing SCI and improving organisational performance.
Originality/value
The prime value and uniqueness of this paper lies in analysing and compiling the existing published material in relation to Q1, Q2 and Q3, including examining other variables (such as yearly publications, geographic location of each publication, type of publication, type of research methods used), which lacks in the recent published five SCI literature review-based articles (by Kim, 2013; Leuschner et al., 2013; Alfalla-Luque et al., 2013; Parente et al., 2008; Fabbe-Costes and Jahre, 2007). This has been achieved by extracting and synthesising existing publications using “Supply Chain Integration” keyword. This paper provides a critique of the conceptual and empirical works in SCI discipline and offers research agendas that can stimulate future researchers to carefully explore the topic.
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Diane H. Parente, Ray Venkataraman, John Fizel and Ido Millet
The rapid growth of online auctions underscores the need to analyze the mechanism of online auctions and to establish a theoretical research framework based on the business models…
Abstract
The rapid growth of online auctions underscores the need to analyze the mechanism of online auctions and to establish a theoretical research framework based on the business models adopted by successful organizations. While the theoretical and empirical research bases for traditional auctions are well established, current understanding of online auctions is still very limited. A broad conceptual model is developed that can form the basis for future research in online auctions. A review of prior research and use systems theory and empirical analysis is presented to identify the potential antecedents to online auction success. Then dimensions of the input, process, and output factors are discussed to develop the conceptual model. The conceptual model provides an impetus and direction for future research into online auctions, taking advantage of existing tradition but also forming the basis for the development and testing of research hypotheses that will expand the frontiers of knowledge in online auctions.
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Diane H. Parente, John D. Stephan and Randy C. Brown
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether managers can acquire strategic skills using management education methods in lieu of experience. It demonstrates that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether managers can acquire strategic skills using management education methods in lieu of experience. It demonstrates that experienced‐based pedagogical methods can be effective in developing traditional skills or “hard” skills and “soft” skills such as interpersonal communication, which then facilitate the acquisition of strategic skills.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses data from questionnaires and achievement scores from capstone classes to determine whether exposure to an experiential technique called large‐scale simulation can lead students to acquire traditional, soft and strategic managerial skill sets.
Findings
The results show that soft and traditional skills are complementary and together lead to better acquisition of strategic skills and also imply that mastering soft skills may enhance the mastery of traditional skills.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of the research stems from the use of students as research subjects. While this limits generalizability, it is important to remember that many such students go on to be successful managers in large and small organizations, partly due to their educational background. Replicating these findings with graduate and executive students is required.
Practical implications
A key practical implication is that organizations may be able to effectively supplement their own experienced‐based developmental efforts for their managerial personnel with course‐based learning.
Originality/value
The paper's findings support an option for many firms, although this has not received much direct empirical support. Additionally, the results support the increasing emphasis placed on soft skills, suggesting that development of strategic skills may help managers grasp the bigger‐picture implications.
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Celeste Jose Zanon, Alceu Gomes Alves Filho, Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour and Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour
The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that can help managers to overcome barriers to alignment of operations strategy at the interface with marketing.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that can help managers to overcome barriers to alignment of operations strategy at the interface with marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This objective required the application of a procedure based on strategic consensus and a deeper analysis, such that the delimitation of the study in a single case was mandatory. The strategic processes of interfacing involve managerial attributes that are subject to the influence of human aspects and, therefore, the research method used a qualitative approach. The protocol design included the following data sources: interviews, document reviews and researcher observations. The categorisation was made based on the theoretical references, the frequency of observations, common responses and information from documents.
Findings
The balance between intra‐functional trade‐offs, joint research on the competitive context, reflections on the understanding of customer needs and operational performance, and understanding of inter‐functional trade‐offs were the main factors verified. They effectively support decisions associated with interface processes and promotes the integration of these processes. They can generate inputs that enable managers to achieve an appropriate balance among alternatives in light of various trade‐offs.
Practical implications
These factors make possible new connections between strategic processes in the context of operations and marketing functions. The formations of these strategies are aligned through a better understanding of both threats and opportunities by means of a joint analysis of the competitive context. The presented findings can be used to develop a clear definition of strategic objectives of operations and a more appropriate treatment of market needs.
Originality/value
The findings from the research can be considered as new elements for promoting alignment in the formation process of the operations strategy. Little research to date has examined the operations‐marketing strategic interface of companies in the context of strategic consensus.