Xiaohong Liu and Alan C. McKinnon
Although well established in North America and Europe, the study of supply chain management (SCM) is still at a relatively early stage in its development in China. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Although well established in North America and Europe, the study of supply chain management (SCM) is still at a relatively early stage in its development in China. The transformation and rapid growth of the Chinese economy has, nevertheless, created major supply chain challenges for the country making SCM a very fertile area of business research. In Western countries, research on SCM is now mature and underpinned by a solid body of theory. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which research on SCM in China has also developed a theoretical basis.
Design/methodology/approach
The research involved a systematic review of 150 papers published in 18 journals in the fields of SCM, logistics, operations management and marketing during the period 2004-2014. A three-step process was adopted to select appropriate journals, identify relevant articles and classify them in terms of their theoretical content.
Findings
The study has confirmed that, because of its unique economic, political and cultural setting, supply chain development in China has presented new research challenges. Many examples were found of researchers conducting quasi-experiments to test the applicability of established theories to Chinese supply chains while others have tried to develop new ones that are more closely aligned with the Chinese economy and management practices. Researchers have exhibited a heavy reliance on existing theories, with relatively few attempting to customise them to the Chinese context or to construct new ones.
Research limitations/implications
Given the broad scope of SCM, it is possible that the journal and paper selection processes have accidentally screened out relevant papers. The total sample of papers is, nevertheless, large for an explorative study of this type and should, therefore, give an overall impression of the level of theory development in Chinese SCM research.
Practical implications
This study provides a general framework within which to assess the application and development of theories in the Chinese SCM context. It is principally concerned with three components: the SCM phenomena studied, the Chinese business environment and the theoretical contribution of the research. The paper is targeted more at an academic audience than practitioners, though provides an overview of the research so far undertaken on SCM in China that should be of wider interest.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kind to review China-based SCM research systematically from the perspective of theory development. It should support the evolution of SCM theory not only in China but also more generally.
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Zonghuo Li, Wensheng Yang, Xiaohong Liu and Hassan Taimoor
This paper aims to investigate the impact of retailer innovation investment and its spillover’s effect on competitive dual-channel supply chain pricing and optimization strategy…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact of retailer innovation investment and its spillover’s effect on competitive dual-channel supply chain pricing and optimization strategy, and explore the coordination mechanism considering decision maker’s bargaining ability.
Design/methodology/approach
The Cournot and Stackelberg game methodology are made use of for the duopoly decentralized and joint decision-making model. The bargaining theory with different negotiation ability was used to analysis the coordination mechanism. Then this paper validates the model by simulation techniques.
Findings
The results enlightened some interesting facts, the increase in innovation demand coefficient spur rise in channel pricing, innovation investment level, supply chain profit and consumer welfare. The rise in innovation spillover coefficient leads to increase in online channel pricing, supply chain profit and consumer welfare. Due to the innovation spillover effect, retailer has to maintain channel competitiveness either through low price or high innovation investment strategies. In addition, online channel pricing, supply chain profit and consumer welfare in joint decision-making scenario is greater than that of decentralized decision-making scenario, while the difference in retailer channel pricing depends on parameters value. The increase in retailer’s joint negotiation factor leads to decrease in channel pricing and innovation investment level. Furthermore, there existence of an optimal innovative investment cost sharing proportion threshold indicates the achievement of dual-channel supply chain coordination. A refinement equilibrium can be achieved through Robinstein bargaining game. A larger interest discount factor leads to decrease in profit.
Originality/value
The research provides a theoretical reference for dual-channel supply chain pricing and coordination strategy under channel competition environment. The research can develop innovative investment strategies for retailers and implement response strategies for manufacturers.
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Xiaohong Liu, Ying Kei Tse, Shiyun Wang and Ruiqing Sun
Organisational learning plays a critical role for firms to keep abreast of a supply chain environment filled with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). This…
Abstract
Purpose
Organisational learning plays a critical role for firms to keep abreast of a supply chain environment filled with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). This study investigates the extent to which supply chain learning (SCL) affects operational resilience under such circumstances.
Design/methodology/approach
This study developed a research framework and underlying hypotheses based on SCL and information processing theory (IPT). An empirical test was carried out using secondary data derived from the “Supply Chain Policy” launched by the Chinese government and two large related conferences.
Findings
SCL positively relates to operational resilience, and several moderators influence the relationship between them. The authors argue that digital-technological diversity could weaken the role of SCL in operational resilience, whereas customer concentration, and participating in a pilot programme could enhance the effect of SCL.
Practical implications
Firms should embrace the power of SCL in building resilience in the VUCA era. Meanwhile, they should be cautious of a digital-technological diversification strategy, appraise the customer base profile and proactively engage in pilot programmes.
Originality/value
This research develops the SCL construct further in the context of China and empirically measures its power on operational resilience using a unique dataset. This contributes to the theorisation of SCL.
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Xiaohong Liu and Alan C. McKinnon
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which theory-driven supply chain management (SCM) research is of practical relevance. It does this on the basis of empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which theory-driven supply chain management (SCM) research is of practical relevance. It does this on the basis of empirical research in China.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-pronged approach was adopted. First, 57 theory-driven SCM studies based in China published in ten leading journals between 2006 and 2015 were surveyed. Second, a questionnaire survey of Chinese managers identified their practical concerns and assessed their alignment with the content of the academic papers.
Findings
Some academic research on SCM does probe industry-relevant problems. From an academic perspective, this confirms that theory-driven SCM research can be of practical value. Overall, however, the survey found that much of the SCM research works do not translate into actionable knowledge for practitioners. Academic research in this field could pursue a more pragmatic path and enhance its practical utility. Two critical components of this path, “practical observation” and “practical verification,” are highlighted.
Research limitations/implications
As the literature review was confined to ten leading journals, relevant papers in other journals were possibly excluded. The research was confined to China and so the results are not necessarily generalizable to other countries.
Practical implications
Chinese academics and practitioners could collaborate in defining research agendas and directions. This would help researchers direct their theory building to issues of relevance to business.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the relevance of theory-driven SCM research from academic and practitioner perspectives in China. It shows how this research might have greater impact on business practice.
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Xiaohong Liu, Ruiqing Sun, Shiyun Wang and Yenchun Jim Wu
In recent years, the rapid growth of big data has presented immense potential for business applications as well as raised great interest from academia. In response to this…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, the rapid growth of big data has presented immense potential for business applications as well as raised great interest from academia. In response to this emerging phenomenon, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive literature review of big data.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric method was used to analyze the articles obtained from the Scopus database published between 2013 and 2018. A sample size of 4,070 articles was evaluated using SciVal metrics.
Findings
The analysis revealed an array of interesting findings as follows: the number of publications related to big data increased steadily over the past six years, though the rate of increase has slowed since 2014; the scope of big data research is quite broad in regards to both research domains and countries; despite a large volume of publications, the overall performance of big data research is not well presented as measured by the field-weighted citation impact metric; collaboration between different institutions, particularly in the form of international collaboration and academic–corporate collaboration, has played an important role in improving the performance of big data research.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide a holistic view of the big data research. The insights obtained from the analysis are instrumental for both academics and practitioners.
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Xiaohong Liu, Yue Du, Jiasen Sun, Rui Yang and Feng Yang
To dilute the financial difficulties in agricultural production and operation, the Chinese government has actively explored and developed rural supply chain finance (RSCF) service…
Abstract
Purpose
To dilute the financial difficulties in agricultural production and operation, the Chinese government has actively explored and developed rural supply chain finance (RSCF) service systems. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze the performance of RSCF systems in China.
Design/methodology/approach
To evaluate the performance of RSCF systems in China, this study proposes a two-stage data envelopment analysis model. Compared with other models, the model proposed in this study considers not only the technical gap between RSCF systems but also the maximization of intermediate output to conform to the practice of RSCF.
Findings
Based on the empirical analysis, this study draws the following four conclusions. First, the overall efficiency of China's RSCF systems is low, and there remains great potential for improvement. Second, the technology gap ratio index score and meta-frontier efficiency of RSCF systems in Central China are the lowest in all regions, indicating that the technical level of RSCF systems in Central China is the lowest. Third, the relationship between rural residents' disposable income and the efficiency of RSCF systems is U-shaped, and the efficiency of RSCF systems in the high-income group is far greater than that of other income groups. Finally, the main reason for the lack of efficiency in RSCF seems to lie in management and technology.
Originality/value
This study divides all RSCF systems into four types according to management potential and technical potential, and recommend corresponding improvement suggestions for different kinds of RSCF systems.
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Ying Kei Tse, Shiyun Wang, Xiaohong Liu and Chun Ho Wu
Blockchain has been considered as a disruptive technology and every industry stands to benefit from it. According to Deloitte, increasing number of managers claim that their firms…
Abstract
Purpose
Blockchain has been considered as a disruptive technology and every industry stands to benefit from it. According to Deloitte, increasing number of managers claim that their firms will suffer loss in competitive advantage if they do not adopt blockchain. Despite this motivation, insufficient knowledge on how can blockchain add value inhibits the commitment to its adoption. To better understand the possible influence of blockchain, two dimensions (exploitation and exploration) of blockchain initiatives are distinguished. This research aims to examine the impact of ambidextrous blockchain initiatives on firms' operational efficiency, as well as the moderating role of unabsorbed slack and environmental munificence.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, secondary panel data were collected from multiple sources to test the proposed hypotheses. Content analysis was adopted to operationalise ambidextrous blockchain initiatives from firms' official announcements.
Findings
The authors find that firms' ambidexterity in blockchain initiatives have significantly positive impact on operational efficiency. Furthermore, when firms have lower unabsorbed slack or in more munificent environments, they may benefit from managing a balance between exploration and exploitation.
Originality/value
This research offers some insightful theoretical and managerial implications of ambidextrous blockchain initiatives. The findings of this study contribute to blockchain literature by providing theory-driven empirical research.
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Bangdong Zhi, Xiaohong Liu, Junlin Chen and Fu Jia
The purpose of this paper is to employ an emerging phenomenon in China concerning collaborative carbon emission reduction (CCER) to investigate: first, the coordination of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to employ an emerging phenomenon in China concerning collaborative carbon emission reduction (CCER) to investigate: first, the coordination of suppliers and manufacturers within supply chains to reduce carbon emissions, and second, the role of governmental policy in facilitating this process.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws upon evolutionary game theory to develop an evolutionary game model for CCER for suppliers and manufacturers within supply chains. This includes a detailed analysis of the evolutionary direction and process in different areas, both with, and in the absence of, governmental subsidies.
Findings
The results demonstrate that CCER is path dependent and that its evolutionary process is influenced by the following four factors: the initial status within supply chains; the cost; the additional benefit; and the investment risk related to CCER. The research also reveals that the reward provided by manufacturers is rational over the long term, due to the excessive cost of incentives potentially preventing the implementation of CCER.
Originality/value
This study represents the first attempt to investigate CCER within supply chains through the application of an evolutionary game-theoretic model. The investigation of multiple factors in the model will deepen understanding of the collaborative role required for the carbon emission reduction.
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Xiaohong Liu, Cheng Qian and Shenghui Wang
This paper draws on the perspective of social networks to examine when 3PLs initiate low-carbon supply chain integration (LCSCI) in decarbonising supply chains.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper draws on the perspective of social networks to examine when 3PLs initiate low-carbon supply chain integration (LCSCI) in decarbonising supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was conducted on a sample of 348 Chinese 3PLs. Stepwise regression was adopted to analyse the data.
Findings
It is found that LCSCI has a positive effect on firm performance. From the social network perspective, a larger scope of outsourcing increases 3PLs' embeddedness, which increases their chance of success in initiating LCSCI, especially for 3PLs with higher decarbonisation capabilities. Interestingly, although the pressure from government regulation can also motivate LCSCI, it is less effective for 3PLs with higher decarbonisation capabilities because they can be too embedded in the network to freely adapt to regulations.
Research limitations/implications
This study has investigated 3PL-initiated LCSCI only from the view of 3PLs. A dyadic approach which includes the perception of customers would be desirable.
Practical implications
The results highlight the critical role of 3PLs as supply chain orchestrators in decarbonising supply chains, and the effectiveness of LCSCI as a competitive strategy of 3PLs. Coercive pressures from government regulations are not constraints but resources for 3PLs in initiating LCSCI, especially in markets where the 3PLs have insufficient decarbonisation capabilities.
Originality/value
This study contributes to theories on 3PLs' interorganizational low-carbon initiatives, LCSCI, and the paradox of social networks in supply chains.
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Jess Browning and Seung-Hee Lee
The Incheon Region has numerous assets that fall within a Pentaport model.' These include the Incheon International Airport, the Port of Incheon, a coastal industrial park, free…
Abstract
The Incheon Region has numerous assets that fall within a Pentaport model.' These include the Incheon International Airport, the Port of Incheon, a coastal industrial park, free economic zones, a leisure port, and Songdo new town designed to be the future Silicon Valley of Korea. This paper looks at how Northeast Asia trade flows between China and Korea might be enhanced by application of the Pentaport model in making the Incheon region a North East Asian Hub. It looks also at their trade and logistics systems as well as their water borne commerce. It proposes an integrated transportation system for the Yellow Sea Region being beneficial to the economies of the Northeast Asia. It also stresses that innovative technologies for ships, terminals and cargo handling systems should be introduced to develop a competitive short sea shipping system in the region and cooperation among the regional countries will be essential to achieve the final goal. The potential of methods of container shipping is discussed as it might apply to short sea shipping in the Yellow Sea Region that could greatly facilitate Incheon's situation with respect to the broader region in application of the Pentaport model.