Renata Moreno, Leonardo Marques and Rebecca Arkader
In recent years, “servitization” has been studied extensively; however, as studies of the impact of servitization on firm performance offer mixed results, the conditions under…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, “servitization” has been studied extensively; however, as studies of the impact of servitization on firm performance offer mixed results, the conditions under which the relationship between servitization and performance becomes more significant are contested in the literature. These mixed results have led to the term “service paradox.” The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study investigates servitization in the assembly industry based on a multi-country survey covering 539 industry plants in 22 countries.
Findings
The study contributes to the research on servitization by adding a contextual perspective to this relationship, taking into account level of development of the country in which a firm is located. Besides confirming the correlation between the servitization and performance, our study unveils a counter-intuitive result: a medium level of development of the country in which a firm is based corresponds to a stronger relationship between servitization and firm performance, whereas higher levels of development seem to diminish the increase in performance.
Social implications
This study balances out the focus in servitization on advanced economies and help to unveil its benefits in developing countries. Fostering servitization in developing economies can lead to social impact resulting from job shifts from manufacturing to service and the correlated implications for workers’ training and higher motivation experienced in service-based jobs.
Originality/value
Our study unpacks the “service paradox” and indicates that industry plants in developing countries can still harness the benefits of being first-movers, whereas, in developed countries, servitization may have become an order qualifier rather than a factor of differentiation.
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This paper deals with the perspective of autoparts suppliers in the Brazilian automotive industry on advances and barriers to renewed buyer‐supplier relations under lean…
Abstract
This paper deals with the perspective of autoparts suppliers in the Brazilian automotive industry on advances and barriers to renewed buyer‐supplier relations under lean production practices, as uncovered by a comprehensive case study research. Suppliers perceived advances in the relationships as far as operational issues were concerned, but less so in terms of strategic issues. They also identified both organizational, firm‐specific barriers and environmental barriers originating in the peculiarities of the local economic and business environment. These results are discussed in view of the dyadic relationship with buyers, leading to the identification of elements that help to formulate an explanation for the recent path of buyer‐supplier relations in the Brazilian automotive industry.
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Kleber Figueiredo, Rebecca Arkader, Cesar Lavalle and Maria Fernanda Hijjar
This article deals with the evolution of customer service practices in grocery products distribution in Brazil (1994‐2001), based on a longitudinal survey of grocery retailers…
Abstract
This article deals with the evolution of customer service practices in grocery products distribution in Brazil (1994‐2001), based on a longitudinal survey of grocery retailers. Data were collected on retailers’ expectations on four relevant dimensions of customer logistics service provided by manufacturers, as well as on their perceptions of logistics service performance of the typical supplier and the best supplier. The evolution of the gaps between retailers’ expectations and manufacturers’ perceived distribution performance was investigated, as well as a trend in terms of an increase or decrease in customer satisfaction with service provided by suppliers in such dimensions. Results indicate that retailers typically tend to be satisfied with the service provided by their suppliers. In addition, there may be an adjustment of distribution performance to expectations of retailers and to the provision, in some cases, of service above customer expectations.
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Andreas Größler, Bjørge Timenes Laugen, Rebecca Arkader and Afonso Fleury
The vast majority of literature relating to operations management originates from studies in developed markets. Emerging markets are increasingly important in global business…
Abstract
Purpose
The vast majority of literature relating to operations management originates from studies in developed markets. Emerging markets are increasingly important in global business. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to analyze differences in outsourcing strategies between manufacturing firms from emerging markets and from developed markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on statistical analyses of a large data set of manufacturing firms obtained from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS).
Findings
The findings suggest that companies that outsource internationally focus on achieving cost benefits, while companies that outsource domestically focus on achieving capacity flexibility. In addition, the reasons to outsource were found to be independent of the location of firms in both emerging and developed markets. However, within the group of firms from emerging markets, strategies seem to differ according to whether firms are domestically owned or are subsidiaries of companies from developed markets.
Practical implications
The decisions of firms to outsource do not differ much whether the firms are located in developed‐ or in emerging‐market economies. Firms outsource domestically when they want to increase their capacity flexibility; they outsource internationally when looking for cost advantages.
Originality/value
The value of the paper is that it illuminates an important contemporary phenomenon based on analyses on data from a large‐scale international survey encompassing firms both in developed and in emerging markets.
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Giovani J.C. da Silveira and Rebecca Arkader
To explore the paths by which coordination investments with suppliers and customers relate to improvements in delivery speed, delivery reliability, and manufacturing lead‐time.
Abstract
Purpose
To explore the paths by which coordination investments with suppliers and customers relate to improvements in delivery speed, delivery reliability, and manufacturing lead‐time.
Design/methodology/approach
Regression analysis of data on supply chain coordination investment and delivery performance from 243 manufacturers from 13 countries.
Findings
Results provide evidence of direct relationships between supplier coordination investment and manufacturing lead‐time, and between customer coordination investment and delivery speed and delivery reliability. Moreover, they suggest that customer investment mediates the relationship between supplier investment and delivery reliability, and that supplier investment mediates the relationship between customer investment and manufacturing lead‐time.
Practical implications
To achieve sustainable improvements in multiple aspects of performance, management may need to invest in coordination with partners both upstream and downstream in the supply chain.
Originality/value
This appears to be the first study to provide evidence of both direct and mediated relationships between supplier and customer coordination investment, and delivery performance.
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Peter Wanke, Rebecca Arkader and Maria Fernanda Hijjar
To investigate the relationship between the choice of integrated or functional logistics providers by Brazilian shippers and: the type of their manufacturing process structure…
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the relationship between the choice of integrated or functional logistics providers by Brazilian shippers and: the type of their manufacturing process structure, and the level of sophistication of their logistics function, as well as the impact on that choice of possible interactions between these two characteristics of the shippers.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in a comprehensive survey on the use of 3PL service providers in Brazil using a sample of 93 large Brazilian shippers; The analysis tests three research questions on the individual and combined relationships of logistics sophistication, measured on a logistics sophistication index (LSI), and process type (according to Goldratt's V‐A‐T classification for materials flow analysis) with the choice of type of 3PL provider; the methods of analysis were cluster and logistics regression analysis.
Findings
The paper finds: support for an association of sophisticated logistics functions and a preference for integrated 3PLs; support for an association between the A‐type production process structure and preference for integrated 3PLs; and of V and T types for functional 3PLs. However, it also finds that shippers with type T process structure and more sophisticated logistics tend to favor integrated 3PLs.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation is that logistics performance is not considered; future studies may further refine the proposed framework for segmentation.
Practical implications
The paper advocates the use of models by providers to segment their customers, and better understanding by shippers of prevailing trends in logistics outsourcing according to their process structure and characteristics of their logistics function.
Originality/value
The paper unveils significant relationships between shipper sophistication of logistics function, manufacturing process structures, and the choice of type of 3PL. It also proposes a new framework for segmenting the 3PL service provider market in terms of sophistication of the logistics function and the logistics task implied by the type of operation.
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Ziaul Haque Munim, Dhanavanth Reddy Maditati, Sebastian Kummer and Hans-Joachim Schramm
This study aims to explore the gaps concerning the organizational operant resources (OORs) of logistics service providers (LSPs) expected in outsourcing relationships. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the gaps concerning the organizational operant resources (OORs) of logistics service providers (LSPs) expected in outsourcing relationships. The study considers the views of both manufacturing firms (M-firms) and LSPs in India and DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) seeking gaps within and across regions.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employed a survey targeting executives from large M-firms and LSPs in both India and DACH. The perceptions about the importance and improvement expectations of 17 OORs are analyzed. A modified version of importance-improvement analysis (A-B), a novel comparative A-B analysis (CABA) method, has been proposed to identify the importance and improvement gaps in OORs between M-firms and LSPs within and across India and the DACH region.
Findings
There are more gaps between M-firms and LSPs in India compared to DACH. Cross-country comparisons reveal that LSPs in India and DACH have similar perceptions concerning the OORs, but M-firms in India have significantly higher improvement expectations than those in DACH.
Research limitations/implications
This study proposes an analytical approach that enables managers to identify improvement areas and better align with their outsourcing relationship partners. It also highlights aspects that need to be considered while entering emerging markets such as India.
Originality/value
The analysis approach using CABA is novel. Also, among the cross-country studies, this is the first to compare outsourcing relationships in India with the DACH region while involving both users' and service providers' perspectives.
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Robert Klassen and Sara Hajmohammad
In operations and supply chain management, time is largely one-dimensional – less is better – with much effort devoted to compressing, efficiently using, and competitively…
Abstract
Purpose
In operations and supply chain management, time is largely one-dimensional – less is better – with much effort devoted to compressing, efficiently using, and competitively exploiting clock-time. However, by drawing on other literatures, the purpose of this paper is to understand implications for the field of operations management if we also emphasize how humans and organizations experience time, termed process-time, which is chronicled by events and stages of change.
Design/methodology/approach
After a brief review, the limitations of the recurrent time-oriented themes in operations management and the resulting short-termism are summarized. Next, sustainability is offered as an important starting point to explore the concept of temporality, including both clock- and process-time, as well as the implications of temporal orientation and temporal conflict in supply chains.
Findings
A framework that includes both management and stakeholder behavior is offered to illustrate how multiple temporal perspectives might be leveraged as a basis for an expanded and enriched understanding of more sustainable competitiveness in operations.
Social implications
Research by others emphasizes the importance of stakeholders to competitiveness. By recognizing that different stakeholder groups have varying temporal orientations and temporality, managers can establish objectives and systems that better reflect time-based diversity and diffuse temporal conflict.
Originality/value
This paper summarizes how time has been incorporated in operations management, as well as the challenges of short-termism. Sustainability forms the basis for exploring multiple perspectives of time and three key constructs: temporal orientation, temporality, and temporal conflict. A framework is proposed to better incorporate temporal perspectives as a basis for competitiveness in operations and supply chain management.