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PurposeDrawing on normal accident and high-reliability organizational theories, this study examines the impact of magnitude and likelihood of disruptions on surgical procedure performance. More importantly, the authors investigate the moderating role played by information exchange and risk management infrastructure in mitigating the negative effect of disruption on performance.Design/methodology/approachA nationwide multi-respondent survey was administered to operating room personnel to collect information on their experiences with disruptions experienced in surgeries. The survey data are analyzed to examine the relationship between operational disruptions and procedure performance. Additionally, the moderating roles of risk management infrastructure and information exchange on the relationship between disruptions and performance are investigated. The results obtained from the empirical analysis are validated using data from an ethnographic investigation of surgeries at a major hospital.FindingsThe results show that both the magnitude and the likelihood of a disruption adversely impact procedure performance. Interestingly, the authors find that risk management infrastructure and information exchange play different roles in mitigating the effect of disruptions on performance. The authors find that while risk management infrastructure helps mitigate the effect of magnitude of service disruptions, information exchange helps reduce the effects of likelihood of disruptions. The findings lend strong support to the theoretical assertions. By means of the participant–observer data collected from over 100 surgeries as part of the ethnographic investigation, the authors validate the key findings. The findings suggest that disruptions are common occurrences in surgical settings, but their performance impact may be lessened or altogether avoided with the proper information and risk management mechanisms in place.Originality/valueThis survey research extends the understanding of risk management by considering a context that is highly prone to disruptions. The authors adopt existing constructs pertaining to supply chain disruptions within this context and find new insights. The findings of the study show differential roles played by information exchange and risk management infrastructure in mitigating disruptions. This nuanced understanding provides directions for aligning efforts towards risk mitigation in surgical settings in a more focused way. This study supplements findings from survey data analysis with an examination of data collected by means of ethnographic investigation.

ABSTRACTBuying and supplying organizations rely on each other for developing better products in an efficient manner, which explains the popularity of involving suppliers in new product development (NPD). However, such involvement is not always successful, partially due to the challenges of structuring a buyer–supplier team to manage joint dependence and dependence asymmetry. This study adopts an organizational dependence view to examine how three types of intergroup structures—administrative (formalization and centralization), task (task interdependence), and physical (colocation)—influence project performance and buyer learning in NPD projects. Furthermore, adopting a contingency theory perspective, we study whether the national context moderates the effects of intergroup structures on project outcomes. We adopt a two‐group structural equation modeling approach to test hypotheses with survey responses from a sample of NPD projects in the United States (US) and China. Results show different ways in which intergroup structures influence project performance and buyer learning in the two culturally, economically, and institutionally distinct countries. We discuss the implications of these new findings and present directions for future research.

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how firms, operating in mature and growing industries, can improve the alignment of their operations strategy to fit situations characterized by varying rates of industry growth and technological changes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors enhance the operations strategy typology presented by Lei and Slocum by incorporating an enhanced set of competitive priorities and supporting structure/infrastructure requirements into their four cell matrix. They then introduce a stage‐based model of environmental dynamism and complexity that can foster major transitions in operations strategy.FindingsIndustry growth and technological change interact to create alternative environments with varying levels of dynamism and complexity requiring realignment of operations strategy. With increasing rates of technological change, the authors emphasize an urgent need to include innovation as a competitive priority (along with cost, quality, delivery and flexibility) to proactively adapt operations strategy to fit changing environments. It is also necessary for managers to ensure a fit between their competitive priorities and the development of supporting structures/infrastructures to ensure effective implementation of competitive operations strategy.Originality/valueOperations strategy literature has not focused attention on the basic goals and capabilities needed to implement or adapt to today's dynamic environments. This study adds innovation as a competitive priority and improves our understanding of adaptation of operations strategy to alternative environments created by the interaction of industry growth and technological change. Specifically, by focusing on competitive priorities and supporting capabilities in dynamic environments, the authors provide directions for implementing changes to operations strategy.

PurposeHealthcare networks are becoming ubiquitous, yet it is unclear how hospitals with varying quality capabilities would fare by being affiliated with large healthcare networks. The purpose of this paper is to first consider the deductive configuration perspective and distinguish high and low quality hospitals by using clinical and experiential quality as two dimensions of quality capability. Next, it examines the impact of healthcare network size on operating costs of hospitals. Additionally, the paper investigates the interaction effect of hospital demand and healthcare network size on operating costs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a dataset that was created by combining five separate sources. Cluster analysis technique is used to classify hospitals into four groups – holistic quality leaders (high clinical and experiential quality capability), experiential quality focusers (low clinical quality capability and high experiential quality capability), clinical quality focusers (high clinical capability and low experiential quality capability), and quality laggards (low clinical and experiential quality capability). The authors test the research hypotheses by means of regression analyses after controlling for several contextual characteristics.FindingsThe results show that affiliation with large healthcare networks reduces operating costs for quality laggards, but increases these costs for experiential quality focusers and clinical quality focusers. The hypothesized positive relationship between healthcare network size and costs is not supported for holistic quality leaders. The authors find that clinical quality focusers and holistic quality leaders can complement higher utilization levels in their operations due to increased demand and healthcare network size to reduce their operating costs per day.Originality/valueThere has been increasing evidence suggesting that hospitals must carefully manage both clinical and experiential quality. By focusing on both clinical and experiential quality, unlike experiential quality focusers and clinical quality focusers, holistic quality leaders are not adversely affected by the size of their network. The results suggest that experiential quality focusers and clinical quality focusers should either embrace holistic quality management or restrict the size of their networks to maintain their quality level and to reduce coordination costs.

ABSTRACTFood banks are humanitarian aid organizations that collect, organize, and deliver food to nonprofit member agencies and also to individuals to help alleviate the society's hunger problem. The supply chain of food banks is characterized by private sector companies, individual donors and governmental agencies providing monetary support and food inventory on the supply side, and the member agencies such as food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and volunteers delivering support on the demand side. Within the purview of this supply chain, food banks strive to improve their performance, which is commonly measured in terms of the amount of food delivered to the communities in need. Food banks rely on managerial talent that is relatively more constrained than the private sector and also use a voluntary workforce for attaining their performance goals. Considering the unique yet pertinent role of human assets in food banks to manage their supply chain integration initiatives, we employ an intellectual capital framework to analyze the human, organizational, and social capital antecedents of supply chain integration in food banks. Specifically, we suggest that intellectual capital drives supply chain integration in humanitarian organizations. Moreover, we propose specific relationships between the dimensions of intellectual capital. A carefully crafted survey is used to inform our results. The results indicate that human capital significantly impacts social capital, which, in turn, drives all supply chain integration dimensions. We discuss the implications of our findings for managing intellectual capital in the not‐for‐profit sector and offer directions for future research.

ABSTRACTControl over suppliers is a core issue for a buying firm. Despite the amount of research on the topic, how much of its supply network (i.e., scope of control) a buying firm should control, so as to increase supply network performance, is a question that has not received adequate research attention. The study addresses this research question by considering the supply network as a complex adaptive system and developing an empirically informed agent‐based simulation model using the NK fitness landscape framework, to examine how varying levels of scope of control influence supply network performance. We also investigate the direct effect of two supply network complexity dimensions (i.e., number of firms and level of supply interactions) on supply network performance and the moderating effect played by the scope of control. Results show that the relationship between scope of control and supply network performance follows an inverted‐U shape. Furthermore, we find that the complexity dimensions negatively affect supply network performance with the performance decrease depending on the scope of control. Based on these findings, we formulate different control strategies to mitigate the negative influence of complexity.

ABSTRACTThis study proposes an analytical approach combined with a behavioral experiment for a joint examination of the competitive and cooperative (i.e., coopetitive) relationship between a buyer and a supplier. Specifically, the article considers the scenario in which the buyer and the supplier invest in strategic capabilities to increase their relative bargaining power. The article examines how dynamic investments in strategic assets are influenced by the locus of bargaining power and by the underlying context (synergistic vs. adversarial) of the interfirm relationship. The dynamic evolution of bargaining power is also examined. A dynamic game model is considered to examine the evolution of investment strategies in critical resources and to investigate the issues of bargaining power in a buyer–supplier dyad. Equilibrium expressions for the investment strategies of the buyer and the supplier are presented and their implications for buyer–supplier relationships are examined. The behavioral experiment complements the analytical model and examines the correspondence between optimal behavior suggested by the analytical model and the boundedly rational behavior of decision makers in an experimental context. The results from the model and behavioral experiments suggest that the strategies are a function of the risk‐adjusted returns obtained from investments. The experiment shows that, in a synergistic relational context when the buyer maintains bargaining power, the investment shifts of the buyer and the supplier accord well with theoretical predictions. In an adversarial relational context, the results of the experimental study do not correspond well with that predicted by the theoretical model. The implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are presented.

ABSTRACTIn this article, we examine how the firms embedded in supply networks engage in decision making over time. The supply networks as a complex adaptive system are simulated using cellular automata (CA) through a dynamic evolution of cooperation (i.e., "voice" decision) and defection (i.e., "exit" decision) among supply network agents (i.e., firms). Simple local rules of interaction among firms generate complex patterns of cooperation and defection decisions in the supply network. The incentive schemes underlying decision making are derived through different configurations of the payoff‐matrix based on the game theory argument. The prisoner's dilemma game allows capturing the localized decision‐making process by rational agents, and the CA model allows the self‐organizing outcome to emerge. By observing the evolution of decision making by cooperating and defecting agents, we offer testable propositions regarding relationship development and distributed nature of governance mechanisms for managing supply networks.

PurposeAims to conceptualize flexible logistics programs and information connectivity as two important aspects of logistics flexibility and to examine the role of information connectivity in making flexible logistics programs successful.Design/methodology/approachA hierarchical regression model is used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggest that flexible logistics programs are strongly related to all performance dimensions, and that information connectivity fully mediates the relationship between flexible logistics programs and asset productivity and partially mediates the relationship between flexible logistics programs and delivery competence.Research limitations/implicationsFuture theoretical research can develop a detailed conceptualization of logistics flexibility. In this paper, the constructs are developed utilizing an exploratory factor analysis approach. Future research utilizing confirmatory factor analysis approach will allow a better validation of the performance constructs. The paper also considers that studies that link flexible logistics program, information connectivity and performance in a structural equations modeling framework will further enrich one's understanding. In this framework, flexible logistics programs can be considered as a latent variable comprising several individual resource level flexibility measures.Practical implicationsThis research highlights the need for organizational structure, role dependencies and a proactive preparedness in terms of managerial policies. The concept of special programs for accommodating changing customer requirements exemplifies the importance for a firm to be aware of shifting demand characteristics and the ability to tailor service delivery accordingly.Originality/valueAn examination of the research questions sheds some light on logistics flexibility as a critical component of logistics capability. With this study logistics flexibility is characterized in terms of flexible logistics programs and information connectivity and hypotheses are tested that link these aspects with performance. It is believed that this enhances and enriches the existing logistics literature and presents avenues for further investigation. Meanwhile, testing the link presents managerial insights for prudent decision making. An investigation of the role of information connectivity provides directions for firms to align their information system strategies with their flexibility‐oriented planning decisions.