Suchergebnisse

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which various dimensions of supply chain performance (SCP) can be improved through increased levels of process orientation across different core operational processes. This study aims to provide simple guidelines which are practical for business managers.


Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was developed based on the literature review and it was tested using an empirical study. Various factor analysis techniques are used to construct different components of the research model and test the hypotheses.


Findings
This study provides two main categories of findings. First, based on the exploratory analysis several constructs were developed. Second, using structural equation modeling the relationships among the constructs were examined. The findings suggest that managers need to take a targeted approach in increasing the levels of process orientation in order to achieve particular SCP goals.


Research limitations/implications
The result of this study is not indented to be generalized to all businesses; however, the methodology is flexible enough to be utilized in different industries and business scenarios.


Practical implications
The present study provides specific recommendations for business managers seeking to enhance various aspects of their organizational SCP. The research model can be used for future empirical as well as case studies.


Originality/value
This is the first comprehensive empirical study that separately measures business process orientation with respect to four core supply chain processes (planning, sourcing, making, and delivering) and assesses the impact of each core process on various dimensions of supply chain performance.

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate empirically how broadband has been implemented at the business level and what are the potential adoption benchmarks. Several recent studies have called for the development of frameworks of broadband adoption, particularly at the business level, to help policy makers, communities and businesses with their strategic decision-making process.Design/methodology/approach– This paper opens the discussion by presenting concerns and challenges of Internet adoption. Internet adoption is viewed as the current challenge facing businesses, communities and governments. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) techniques are used to create, analyze and develop Internet adoption models.Findings– Based on the Internet usage data from a number of states across the USA, measurement models are developed using EFA and CFA. The findings indicate that for our sample, a three-factor model is the most appropriate for the representation of Internet adoption in the tourism sector, while a five-factor model can best describe Internet adoption in the sample of manufacturing organizations.Research limitations/implications– The availability of data on Internet usage at the business/organizational level is one of the main constraints. Industry/community-specific data can also provide valuable insights about the Internet adoption and support the development of industry/community-specific adoption models.Practical implications– The findings and the employed research method can be used by businesses, communities and government managers and policy makers as benchmarks to examine broadband adoption based on gap-opportunity criteria.Originality/value– This is the first study that provides Internet adoption models based on an empirical study at the business level. The benefits of broadband Internet have been investigated by many researchers in the past decade. There seems to be a consensus among practitioners and scholars about the role of broadband Internet in gaining competitive advantage. However, there have not been any previous studies that investigate how broadband has been implemented and what the potential adoption benchmarks at the business level are.

PurposeIn the past few years, process orientation (PO) as an integral part of enterprise system (ES) implementation has been the center of attention among practitioners and academics. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the role of PO in ES implementation through an empirical study of Canadian and US firms.Design/methodology/approachA comparative analysis of ES implementation was performed based on the data collected from a sample of large Canadian and US firms. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with constructs of the research model. Moreover, path analysis approach was employed to conduct comparative analysis across the two samples.FindingsThe findings indicate that PO significantly reduces the challenges of ES implementation. Moreover, PO has been shown to have a positive effect on the successful implementation and utilization of ES under certain conditions. However, the level of PO at different phases is observed to have diverse effects on different aspects of ES implementation as a result of opposite forces of change. In addition, the path analysis confirms the validity of measurement of PO at three phases of ES implementation.Research limitations/implicationsNo database of managers who have been involved in all three phases of ES implementation exists; hence, the respondents are asked to answer the questionnaire only if they are involved in all three phases of ES implementation. This places a limitation on the respond rate.Originality/valueThis paper is the first paper that measures PO at three phases of ES implementation and explores the effect of PO on different dimensions of ES implementation. This approach provides a novel insight into understanding of the role of PO in ES implementation. This paper offers two major contributions toward a further understanding of the business processes in organizations. The first contribution of this paper is the development of measurement systems for assessing the level of PO and various dimensions of ES implementation. The second major contribution of this paper is unveiling the role of PO in ES implementation through the comparative analysis across Canadian and US firms.