Paloma Miravitlles, Laura Guitart-Tarrés and Ana Nuñez-Carballosa
The purpose of this study was to approach issues such as what type of value chain activities are carried on by the subsidiaries of multinationals located in Spain, where and how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to approach issues such as what type of value chain activities are carried on by the subsidiaries of multinationals located in Spain, where and how their resources and capabilities are generated and how these are transferred within the multinational. Creating resources and capabilities within a subsidiary of a multinational company enables it to gain competitiveness and therefore greater power of decision within the corporation.
Design/methodology/approach
This research conducts a descriptive analysis of the value chain in Spanish subsidiaries. A population of 1,072 firms has been identified. To gather primary data, a questionnaire was designed based on international value chain and resources and capabilities literature.
Findings
Analysis of the data gathered from 125 subsidiaries has enabled researchers to map out the profile of the value chain in these companies. The results indicate that the principal source of resources and capabilities is the subsidiary itself. Moreover, the experience built up over time is basic to the creation of skills in all the activities in the value chain.
Practical implications
This is a matter of the subsidiaries identifying new opportunities to attain a new position or broaden their existing one.
Social implications
Subsidiaries should benefit from favourable local policies to help them develop and strengthen their capabilities to obtain major international competitiveness.
Originality/value
Although numerous studies assess the country's foreign direct investment flows, works concentrating on the presence of foreign capital in Spain are scarce. The growing interest in the international literature on the subsidiary as a unit of analysis makes this study interesting.
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José Ma Castán Farrero, Laura Guitart Tarrés and Catalina Bolancé Losilla
This paper is the outcome of a study carried out in a nine‐cell flexible manufacturing unit which produces components for Diesel engine injection pumps. The study involved the…
Abstract
This paper is the outcome of a study carried out in a nine‐cell flexible manufacturing unit which produces components for Diesel engine injection pumps. The study involved the monitoring and recording of the various types of failure which led to interruptions in production. The objective of the study was to design a maintenance system for the optimal management of replacement stocks, both from the technical and economic point of view. The design of this programme was based on matching a given statistical distribution (Weibull’s distribution, exponential, normal, log‐normal, or gamma) to the time between failures. By means of this fit, the basic system parameters were determined: average lifetime, failure rate, mean time between failures, mean time between inspections. Knowledge of these variables permits us to determine the frequency of inspections in relation to the level of reliability we require of the system. This information also enables us to establish a programme to determine which elements require inspection, the frequency of these inspections and the operations that need to be carried out.
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Ana Núñez‐Carballosa and Laura Guitart‐Tarrés
Companies consider logistics outsourcing for strategic reasons, and build close‐knit relationships with third‐party logistics (3PLs) providers. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies consider logistics outsourcing for strategic reasons, and build close‐knit relationships with third‐party logistics (3PLs) providers. The purpose of this paper is to analyse logistics outsourcing in Spain from the viewpoint of 3PLs.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper suggests three propositions and conducts a case study of four 3PLs in Spain, chosen because of their market coverage and their range of services.
Findings
The results identify the main reasons why companies choose to outsource logistics, what kind of relationship they build with providers, and how much involvement in the management of their supply chain they seek from providers.
Practical implications
Most companies in Spain continue to outsource mainly on the basis of costs, and do so tactically. However, the option of developing an alliance with a 3PL provider is not always more economical, as cost reduction is due more to optimisation of the supply chain than to outsourcing itself. Based on the experiences of the four 3PLs providers under analysis, the paper makes a set of recommendations for senior management in the sector.
Originality/value
The research helps to fill an existing gap in the study of logistics outsourcing in Spain because it analyses logistics outsourcing from the perspective of the 3PLs provider and not from the viewpoint of the outsourcing organisation, as the vast majority of the studies conducted in Spain have done to date.
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Milena Gómez-Cedeño, José María Castán-Farrero, Laura Guitart-Tarrés and Jorge Matute-Vallejo
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that human resource management (HRM) has an impact on supply chain management (SCM), which in turn has a significant impact on customer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that human resource management (HRM) has an impact on supply chain management (SCM), which in turn has a significant impact on customer satisfaction (CS) and organisational performance (OP), playing a mediating role in the relationship between HRM and SCM outcomes (SCMO).
Design/methodology/approach
The model is first validated and the hypotheses formulated are tested using the partial least squares structural equation model (SEM), based on five constructs: HRM, SCM implementation (SCMI), SCMO, customer satisfaction and organisational performance, taken from an existing model tested previously in a different geographical context. To do this, a survey was conducted and 231 valid responses were obtained.
Findings
The empirical results reveal that HRM had significant direct and indirect impacts on SCMO, and SCMI, which in turn played a mediating role in the relationships between HRM and SCMO. CS also played a mediating role in the relationships between SCMO and OP. This finding suggests that the successful implementation of SCM not only directly improves SCMO, but it also indirectly increases CS and OP.
Research limitations/implications
A firm’s human resource practices need to be aligned with its SCM to foster the involvement of the members of the supply chain (SC), promote the integration of the SC and, consequently, ensure better business outcomes.
Originality/value
The study provides an original analysis not only in terms of the measurement of the relationship between HRM and SCM, but also with regard to its examination of the mediating effects, thus shedding light on the mechanisms by which these relationships are produced, and how this impacts CS and OP. This has allowed us to obtain more insightful results than those reported in the literature to date.