Abstract

Quality management has received increasing attention in supply chain management. The concept of supply chain quality integration (SCQI) is used to explain how a focal manufacturer integrates with its upstream suppliers and downstream customers for quality improvement. Although the contingent effects of SCQI on quality-related performance have been studied, SCQI patterns and their relationships with performance remain unknown. Using data collected from 317 manufacturers across 10 countries, this study adopts a configuration approach to identify SCQI patterns and their relationships with quality-related performance. Five SCQI patterns composed of different levels of supplier, internal, and customer quality integration are identified. We describe these SCQI patterns in terms of the strength and balance of manufacturers’ quality integration. The ANOVA results show that quality-related performance varies according to different SCQI patterns. Interestingly, product quality is not distinguishable across SCQI patterns. Delivery performance is improved in patterns with a high level of balance of quality integration. The cost of quality is lower in patterns with a high level of customer quality integration. Flexibility is achieved in patterns with high balance and strength of quality integration. This study contributes to the supply chain management and quality management literature, and provides suggestions for managers to adopt different SCQI configurations to improve different types of quality-related performance.

Keyword

High performance manufacturing ;  Quality performance ;  Supply chain quality integration ;  Taxonomy

Abstract

Although international business scholars have begun to recognize the division of entrepreneurial labor between MNEs and SMEs, there is a fragmented understanding of the different forms MNE–SME cooperation can take. We develop a typology that takes into account not only complementarity of capabilities but also, crucially, the compatibility of intent between MNEs (exploration vs. exploitation) and SMEs (international vs. domestic orientation). The framework offers a novel way to understand the forms and dynamics of MNE–SME cooperation. We also show how it can be applied more broadly, by considering its application to societal challenges, such as achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Keyword

Sustainable Development Goals ;  global value chain ;  global innovation ;  SME internationalization ;  interorganizational relationships ;  MNE-SME cooperation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to propose practical recommendations in accordance with the strategic roles played by research and development (R&D) in multinational companies (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach This study applies a qualitative method to investigate the talent management (TM) practices implemented in MNCs’ R&D units. Findings The findings identify four R&D strategies and four sectors of TM practices. Furthermore, there exists an alignment between R&D strategies and TM practices. Research limitations/implications This paper has several limitations. This qualitative research is exploratory, and larger samples or quantitative methods are needed to ensure the wider applicability of the findings. When possible, longitudinal studies yield superior results in revealing the evolving strategic roles of R&D subsidiaries and their TM practices. The authors used China as the research context, and similar studies in other emerging countries with active R&D activities are required to further validate or complement the findings in this study. Practical implications This study has some practical implications for companies with regard to aligning their TM practices with R&D strategies. Originality/value R&D units play an increasingly significant role in MNCs and TM is a key issue. However, there is a lack of TM research focusing on R&D employees by taking strategies into account.

Keyword

Talent management ;  R&D strategies ;  qualitative research ;  China

Abstract

In the literature on monetary economics, there is the ‘inflationary bias’ result which predicts that the rate of inflation will be biased towards a higher level under discretionary monetary policy than under a rule‐based policy regime. It is established that a credible nominal target can eliminate this ‘inflationary bias’. In this paper, we examine the case of nominal GDP targeting, which is a rule‐based monetary regime. Depending on the degree of conservativeness by the central bank, we show in a stylized model the choice of different combination of inflation and real GDP targets can still result in an ‘inflationary bias’, and there also exists the possibility of a ‘dis‐inflationary bias’.

Keyword

monetary policy ;  nominal GDP targeting ;  central bank ;  conservatism ;  inflationary bias ;  E52 ;  E58

Abstract

Drawing from social exchange theory, this article explores the founder–successor relationship quality as a mediated pathway in examining the effects of founder–successor value congruence on successor’s willingness to take over the business. Based on survey data from 102 founder–successor dyads, polynomial regression analysis shows that when both a founder and a successor have high value congruence in family prosperity, the relationship quality will be enhanced, which leads to higher successor’s willingness. When there is value incongruence between a founder and a successor, the successor’s family prosperity value has a more important impact on the founder–successor relationship and successor’s willingness.

Keyword

family prosperity ;  founder–successor relationship ;  social-exchange theory ;  successor willingness ;  value congruence

Abstract

Supply chain quality management has received increasing attention from researchers and practitioners in recent years. However, the knowledge about the effects of a manufacturer's design and production capabilities on supply chain quality management is limited. In this study, we propose a model to investigate the effects of mass customization and product modularity on supply chain quality integration (i.e. internal, supplier, and customer quality integration) and the impact of supply chain quality integration on competitive performance. We use data collected from 317 global manufacturers to empirically test the conceptual model. The results show that mass customization and product modularity directly improve internal quality integration, and product modularity also improves internal quality integration indirectly through mass customization. Product modularity improves supplier quality integration directly, and both mass customization and product modularity improve supplier quality integration indirectly through internal quality integration. Mass customization improves customer quality integration both directly and indirectly through internal quality integration, and product modularity improves customer quality integration indirectly through mass customization and internal quality integration. We also find that supplier quality integration directly enhances competitive performance, and internal quality integration enhances competitive performance both directly and indirectly through supplier quality integration. Our findings contribute to production and quality management literature and practices.

Keyword

Competitive performance ;  Mass customization ;  Product modularity ;  Supply chain quality integration

Abstract

It has been recognized that previous experiences can provide different types of feedback. However, it has not been systematically explored why firms are more likely to learn effectively from certain types of experience than others. From a feedback-based learning perspective, we argue that it is useful not only to focus on feedback valence (success or failure experiences) but also to examine feedback saliency (the magnitude of the experience’s influence). Based on a sample of acquisitions by U.S. firms, our results indicate that a firm’s success experience drives up the premium that it pays for a subsequent acquisition, whereas a failure experience reduces this subsequent premium. Moreover, we find that the magnitude of the effects of the four types of experiences—small failure, big failure, small success, and big success—does not follow a symmetrical pattern of inverse effects.

Keyword

acquisition experience ;  acquisition premium ;  feedback-based learning ;  feedback saliency ;  feedback valence

Abstract

This paper contributes to a multidimensional perspective on the speed of SME internationalization. It examines the influence of entrepreneurial characteristics – experience, rationales and innovation strategies – on multiple dimensions of internationalization speed. Findings from a sample of 180 SMEs show that earliness, speed of deepening, and speed of geographic diversification can be viewed as three different strategic alternatives and that each dimension is predicted by a different set of entrepreneurial antecedents. Earliness of internationalization is associated with entrepreneurs’ international business experience and their perception of opportunities abroad as well as preference for an innovation strategy characterized by ambidextrous innovation. Speed of deepening is related to entrepreneurs’ international business experience, their orientation towards differentiation vis-à-vis competitors, and commitment to innovation and a strategy focusing on exploration. These results indicate the importance of distinguishing between different forms of innovation. Speed of geographic diversification is predicted only by entrepreneurs’ orientation towards differentiation vis-à-vis competitors.

Keyword

Earliness ;  Entrepreneurship ;  Internationalization ;  SMEs ;  Speed of deepening ;  Speed of geographic diversification

Abstract

This study investigates the joint effects of business and political ties, cognitive capital, and institutional support on product innovation performance in China and India. The hypotheses are empirically tested using bootstrap and multiple group structural equation modeling methods, and data collected from 300 Chinese and 200 Indian manufacturers. The results reveal that cognitive capital mediates business ties’ impacts on product innovation performance in both China and India and that institutional support mediates the effects of business and political ties on product innovation performance only in China. The study also finds that political ties increase institutional support in India and that the effect of cognitive capital on product innovation performance is significantly stronger in India than in China. This study clarifies the mechanisms through which business and political ties enhance product innovation performance and generalizes the results in two emerging markets. The cross-country comparison sheds light on the influences of cultural and institutional environments on such mechanisms and provides insights into how to utilize managers’ business and political ties for product innovation in China and India.

Keyword

Business ties ;  China ;  Cognitive capital ;  India ;  Institutional support ;  Political ties ;  Product innovation performance

Abstract

有关研究表明,在供应链中企业的质量风险管理对企业质量绩效存在影响,但很少有文献对它们之间的关系进行实证研究。文章把供应链质量风险管理划分为风险转移、风险分担、风险规避和风险处理四个维度,通过对319家中国制造企业调查的有效问卷进行分析,分别探究了它们与企业质量绩效之间的关系,同时考虑供应链领导者支持的调节作用。研究结果显示,风险转移、风险分担和风险规避都对企业质量绩效有显著的正向影响,且供应链领导者支持对于风险分担和企业质量绩效之间的关系具有显著的正向调节作用。

Keyword

企业质量绩效 ;  供应链质量风险管理 ;  供应链领导者支持