http://hdl.handle.net/2097/12060 2013-06-19T20:10:44Z 2013-06-19T20:10:44Z Yang, Chen-Lung Lin, Ru-Jen Krumwiede, Dennis Stickel, Elizabeth Sheu, Chwen http://hdl.handle.net/2097/15904 2013-06-12T21:07:38Z 2013-06-12T00:00:00Z

Efficacy of purchasing activities and strategic involvement: an international comparison Yang, Chen-Lung; Lin, Ru-Jen; Krumwiede, Dennis; Stickel, Elizabeth; Sheu, Chwen The purchasing function plays a strategic role in a company’s ability to compete. As globalization continues to increase, what becomes interesting is the effect that national culture may have on purchasing activities and, ultimately, manufacturing competitiveness. This study examines the effects of purchasing activities and the purchasing function’s involvement with corporate strategy on manufacturing competitiveness as it is affected by national differences. In particular, we are interested in the research question: Do purchasing theories built on samples from mainly North American and Western European countries apply in other countries with different cultural contexts? The statistical results provide evidence that the engagement and efficacy of purchasing activities and strategic involvement within companies vary by national culture. Moreover, a particular cultural dimension, Long-term orientation, is significantly related to the efficacy of purchasing activities and strategic involvement. This finding has important implications from the perspective of purchasing decision-making in global operations. Specifically, top managers from different nations could adopt and implement similar purchasing activities, but those activities could lead to different outcomes depending on the culture. The paper concludes by reviewing research limitations and suggests further examination of operations management theories.

2013-06-12T00:00:00Z Olson, David L. Chae, Bongsug K. Sheu, Chwen http://hdl.handle.net/2097/15340 2013-03-06T20:16:50Z 2013-03-06T00:00:00Z

Relative impact of different ERP forms on global manufacturing organizations: an exploratory analysis of a global manufacturing survey Olson, David L.; Chae, Bongsug K.; Sheu, Chwen There are many types of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, ranging from very large and very functional vendor products such as provided by SAP and Oracle, through in-house systems, and smaller vendor products. Thus there is a substantial range of enterprise computing support available for manufacturing organizations and their manufacturing planning and control. The Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) has collected a systematic survey of manufacturing organizations around the world, providing a picture of manufacturing operations. We have taken GMRG data and organized it around seven levels of ERP functionality, and analyzed this data in terms of effectiveness in terms of how ERP systems are used in global manufacturing firms, their role in accomplishing manufacturing planning and control, the relationship between ERP forms and data management practices, the satisfaction firms have across ERP forms, and finally relative perceived benefits and costs across ERP forms.

2013-03-06T00:00:00Z Swilley, Esther Goldsmith, Ronald E. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/15213 2013-01-16T17:50:28Z 2013-01-16T00:00:00Z

Black Friday and Cyber Monday: understanding consumer intentions on two major shopping days Swilley, Esther; Goldsmith, Ronald E. U.S. Retailers consider two major holiday shopping days as their most profitable—the Friday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the Monday after Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday. Understanding consumer attitudes and intentions toward shopping in the mall or online at these times may aid retailers in their holiday marketing activities. This study uses data from a survey of 225 U.S. consumers to examine attitudes and behaviors of shoppers for these two shopping occasions. The results indicate that consumers enjoy shopping on Black Friday, yet were more likely to shop on Cyber Monday owing to its greater convenience. Retail managers will have a better opportunity to market on these two days with an understanding of consumer intentions for these major shopping occasions based on these findings.

2013-01-16T00:00:00Z Yang, Chenlung Wacker, John G. Sheu, Chwen http://hdl.handle.net/2097/14761 2013-05-28T18:45:32Z 2012-09-26T00:00:00Z

What makes outsourcing effective - a transaction-cost economics analysis Yang, Chenlung; Wacker, John G.; Sheu, Chwen This study extends the discussion of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and outsourcing to the selection of governance mechanisms for an effective outsourcing transaction. Specifically, our objective is to provide a better understanding as to how firms follow up on their outsourcing decisions to enhance manufacturing competitiveness through the governance mechanism, such as contract and relational adaptation (buyer-supplier cooperation). A TCE-based outsourcing model is developed to depict the relationships among key TCE variables, transaction attributes, governance mechanisms, and manufacturing competitiveness. Based on the data collected from 969 manufacturing plants in 17 countries, we found significant mediated effects from contractual clauses and relational adaptation. Firms in our sample rely on either or both types of governance mechanisms to safeguard uncertainties and opportunism inherent in outsourcing, which enhances manufacturing competitiveness. The important managerial and research implication is that, for making an outsourcing decision, it is insufficient to merely examine the transaction attributes without recognising how various forms of governance mechanisms can be implemented to enhance outsourcing effectiveness.

2012-09-26T00:00:00Z