Emerging Discourse Incubator: Research at the Intersection of Supply Chain Management and Public Policy and Government Regulation
The above research has featured in our Spotlight series. We talked to Jessica L. Darby about her research with David J. Ketchen Jr. Brent D. Williams and Travis Tokar entitled “The implications of firm‐specific policy risk, policy uncertainty, and industry factors for inventory: A resource dependence perspective”
“The risk created by government policymaking can be daunting, but little is known about the extent to which this risk is disruptive to business in general and to supply chain operations in particular. Because government is a powerful and omnipresent entity, scholars and executives alike could benefit from greater understanding of how firms react to risk emanating from the policymaking process. To help address this gap, we use resource dependence theory to develop hypotheses concerning the accumulation of inventory by firms to buffer against their exposure to potential policy changes and how such a link might be moderated by macro‐level and industry‐level factors. Data from 19,634 firm‐year observations reveal that firms accumulate more inventory as a buffer against policy risk under conditions of high policy uncertainty and high industry dynamism. Overall, our findings support the predictions of resource dependence theory and refine understanding of supply chain responses to macro‐level uncertainty by demonstrating the contingent influence of government policy. In doing so, our study provides a foundation for future research to explore the intersections between government actions and supply chain activities and offers insights for managers and policymakers about how to factor government into their decision calculi.”
The full article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12229
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12229
The above research has featured in our Spotlight series. We talked to Rejaul Hasan, Marguerite Moore and Robert Handfield about their research entitled “Addressing Social Issues in Commodity Markets: Using Cost Modeling as an Enabler of Public Policy in the Bangladeshi Apparel Industry”
“Global apparel brands that source production from less developed countries are increasingly exposed to risks that arise from human rights violations. Despite widely publicized factory safety failures, reactionary regulatory efforts remain inadequate. This situation is commonly attributed to unyielding downward price pressure imposed on factories by Western brands. To address this problem, this research develops a comprehensive cost model for low‐cost apparel production following a total cost of ownership approach. Comprehensive production data for cotton T‐shirts from nine Bangladeshi factories provide the basis for model construction. The model reveals that materials generate the bulk of production costs (77%) for a T‐shirt, in contrast to worker wages which generate only 2 percent of the total production cost per unit (e.g., 16 cents out of a $8USD retail price). The TCO provides fundamental insights, grounded in real data, to guide policy and regulation among stakeholders in high‐risk, low‐cost supply chains. Based on the research context, results are considered through the lens of agency theory to provide managerial implications for relevant stakeholders.”
The full article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12228
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12228
Original Articles
This research will feature in an upcoming Spotlight series
“When faced with potential resource scarcities, purchasing managers have to make decisions regarding how to react to such scarcity threats. This can be challenging as there is often uncertainty surrounding the potential scarcity. Buyers’ mitigation decisions are impacted by their perceptions, which may lead to potentially ineffective mitigation responses. Resource dependence theory as well as supply chain literature emphasize the importance of collaborating with supply chain partners to secure access to scarce resources. However, behavioral research argues that the scarcity mindset causes individuals to behave more competitively, rather than collaboratively. This research examines the extent to which buyers’ perceptions of scarcity threats affect the decision to act altruistically towards the major supplier as well as to choose to collaborate with a major supplier in order to mitigate the scarcity. The research uses a scenario‐based role‐playing experiment with respondents serving as purchasing managers. The research demonstrates the complexity of resource scarcity management and illustrates that when faced with resource scarcity, buyers are actually less prone to collaborate with critical resource suppliers. This effect is robust, regardless of the level of relational capital present in the buyer–supplier relationship and regardless of individual factors, such as work experience and previous purchasing experience.”
The Full Article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12242
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12242
The Article above has also appeared in our Spotlight Series, in which the article authors discuss their research, the background and theory to the article. Additionally they discuss how their research and findings could impact future research.
We talked to Niels Pulles and Raymond Loohuis about their research entitled “Managing buyer‐supplier conflicts: the effect of buyer openness and directness on a supplier's willingness to adapt”
“Conflict has received much attention in the supply chain management literature, as it appears to be an inevitable aspect of buyer–supplier relationships. While previous studies mainly focused on preventing or mitigating conflict, this study examines the micro‐processes of buyer–supplier conflicts and the mechanisms that facilitate functional conflict processes. Specifically, we examine how a buyer’s conflict expression in the way disagreements are conveyed influences a supplier’s willingness to adapt its internal processes in favor of the buyer. By means of a multi‐method, sequential research design, combining insights from a case study and a scenario‐based experiment, we found that expressions of entrenchment by the buyer negatively affect supplier adaptation. In addition, a buyer that is direct, while at the same time expressing openness to the supplier’s position, is shown to positively influence supplier adaptation. We also demonstrate the mediating effects of the supplier’s emotions in these relationships. Our findings contribute to the supply chain literature by demonstrating the relevance of conflict expression in enabling adaptive processes. In addition, our insights into the interplay between different expression dimensions extend conflict expression theory.”
The Full Article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12240
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12240