ALBERT

Description: In this paper, we examine the relationship between justice dimensions (procedural, distributive, and interactional justice) and conflict (task and relationship) in buyer–supplier relationships. We develop a nuanced understanding of how justice dimensions reduce task and relationship conflict in buyer–supplier relationships. In addition, we hypothesize that task conflict mediates the relationship between justice dimensions and relationship conflict. We also hypothesize that the effect of justice dimensions on conflict is contingent on the buyer–supplier cultural distance and the degree of autonomy provided to the supplier. Based on primary data on buyer–supplier relationships, our results show that procedural and interactional justice dimensions are more important than distributive fairness. Furthermore, managers can reduce the relationship conflict by mitigating task conflict, which has not been asserted in the buyer–supplier relationship literature. Our results suggest that supplier autonomy and cultural distance, as contextual variables, influence the relationship between interactional justice and conflict dimensions, but they do not influence the relationship between procedural or distributive justice and conflict dimensions. We discuss the relative importance and role of the three justice dimensions in mitigating relational conflicts in buyer–supplier relationships, and implications of our results to theory as well as practice.

Description: Integrating insights from organizational information processing theory and social categorization theory, we examine how top management team (TMT) tenure diversity affects team performance. We propose a theoretical framework that examines how these two conflicting processes occur simultaneously within diverse TMTs by arguing that TMT tenure variety influences information processing while TMT tenure separation influences the social categorization process. We argue for the presence of nonlinear relationships between tenure variety, tenure separation, and team performance. Furthermore, we propose that these relationships are moderated by the level of TMT behavioral integration. Based on a sample of 357 senior managers from 126 firms in China, we find that both TMT tenure variety and TMT tenure separation have opposing and nonlinear relationships with TMT performance, and the relationship between TMT tenure separation and TMT performance is moderated by the level of TMT behavioral integration. Our results help clarify the conflicting conclusions of previous TMT tenure diversity research. Our findings suggest that the effect of diversity depends on the type of diversity as they affect different processes. Our findings also explain how the opposing effects of both information processing and social categorization can occur simultaneously in the TMT. Furthermore, the effects of both processes are not linear while the level of diversity variety and diversity separation can affect the marginal effects. Finally, TMT behavioral integration processes affect how tenure diversity plays its role in team performance.

Description: The issue of scheduling interrelated activities is important and of particular concern to design managers. One tool that helps us to solve this issue is the design structure matrix (DSM) which can explicitly represent the information dependencies among interrelated activities. Based on the DSM method, this study presents effective approaches for sequencing interrelated activities with the goal of minimizing total feedback length, which is a good approximation for reducing project completion time. First, we prove two new properties of the problem, and develop an insertion-based heuristic. Second, the proposed heuristic is further improved by combing it with simulated annealing and genetic algorithm. Computer experiments show that our approaches outperform existing heuristics, in that with similar settings, our approaches often produces better solutions.

Description: This paper's novelty is the modeling of competition in production quantity and product-launch timing, which has been silent regarding the impact of these interdependent decisions on firm survival. We rigorously address the competitive interplay between a startup and an established rival by developing a game-theoretic model that captures the startup's vulnerability to failure through maximizing its survival likelihood. We allow the established rival to behave strategically by anticipating the startup's timing and production decisions prior to making its own production decision. We propose that unless the market-entry investment is low, a survival-maximizing startup should wait to launch its product, and do so with a larger production output than the established rival, when delaying the product launch enables the startup to charge a high price. Insights on the established firm involve the benefit from behaving strategically, which is when competing with either a survival-maximizing or profit-maximizing startup. If the market-entry investment is large, comparing a survival-maximizing startup with a profit-maximizing startup suggests that the former produces at a larger scale than the latter when either startup competes with an established rival, which in turn is forced to reduce its production level.

Description: Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a strategic and holistic approach for the management of information, processes, and resources supporting the entire product lifecycle from concept to disposal. Several systems are available to manage data and information during the lifecycle. A PLM system does not have to be considered as a unique solution, but as a set of software supporting different perspectives and activities related to the lifecycle management. A full comprehensive implementation of PLM systems is rare. Since PLM reflects the peculiarities of processes and data structures, implementation differences are evidently observable among companies. The design of methods and tools supporting an assessment of PLM implementation inside a company can enable a correct definition of PLM strategies and goals. Based on these premises, the paper aims to specify a methodology for carrying out a gap analysis of PLM with the scope of discovering existing technological and methodological gaps, and planning actions for improvement. The proposed methodology implements a visual and lean reference model, and an assessment questionnaire for data collection. Lesson learned and feedback from three industrial applications are also described and discussed.

Description: This paper develops two duopoly game models to explore price decisions and the channel benefit of decentralization for two supply chains, and investigates the channel structure decisions in the presence of fixed marketing and manufacturing costs. We give the price decisions and discuss price distortion. Under the downward decentralization model, our analysis reveals that first, symmetric decentralization improves supply chain profit only when the fixed marketing costs are high or product substitutability is high; second, decentralization improves channel profit, and symmetric decentralization (i.e., both manufacturers use decentralization) is an equilibrium if the fixed marketing (or unit production) costs are sufficiently high and the market scales are sufficiently small; and third, the presence of fixed marketing costs and asymmetry of supply chains support the existence of asymmetric equilibrium. Under the upward decentralization model, we find that symmetric outsourcing emerges when the fixed manufacturing cost or the unit production cost is low while both market scale and product substitutability are large in the supplier-led setting, the channel profit under downward decentralization is higher than that under symmetric outsourcing only if product substitutability is high, and the sourcing strategy largely depends on the specific game sequence.

Description: Despite substantial research that advocates the “right” portfolio of new product development initiatives for the firm, one important aspect has been overlooked: Creating a portfolio of new product development initiatives is not equivalent to choosing from a menu of initiatives. Rather, these initiatives are defined by and within the organization. Thus, portfolio selection rests upon two challenges: 1) the cross-functional nature of collaborative tasks; and 2) the role of explicit and implicit incentives on innovative outcomes. This paper explores how these factors ultimately determine the initiatives an organization pursues. We abstract a new product development organization as two functional managers who report to senior management and analyze the strategic interactions between all three stakeholders. Senior management decides whether to empower the functional managers to define the initiative and how to reward them contingent on the outcome. We evaluate how the asymmetry of information regarding each function's capability, and the explicit and implicit rewards and penalties imposed on the functional managers affect the upfront resource allocation. We find a profound effect of the information asymmetry: the set of initiatives the firm deems profitable is reduced, thus impeding the organization's potential to innovate. To counter such a shortcoming, senior management may optimally misalign the objectives of the stakeholders.

Description: Some developed countries have enacted extended producer responsibility regulations that facilitate the diffusion of environmental supply chain cooperation (ESCC) practices among manufacturers. Developing countries, such as China, have adopted similar but generally flexible and voluntary regulations and policies. Using exchange theory with a focus on regulatory aspects as the theoretical lens, this paper develops propositions to examine if awareness of voluntary environmental regulatory policies is different among manufacturers as well as the relationship to ESCC practices adoption. Results from cluster analysis and multivariate analysis of variance for 308 responses identify three categories of Chinese manufacturers with respect to their awareness of environmental regulatory policies. These three categories include savvy, attentive, and nescient manufacturers. It was found that manufacturers characterized with higher environmental regulatory awareness tend to implement ESCC practices more intensively. Hierarchical regression analysis was further used to examine the relationship between awareness of regulatory policies and ESCC practices. Awareness of domestic regulatory policies has positive effects on green purchasing only for savvy manufacturers. Regression results show a nonlinear relationship between awareness of domestic regulatory policies and customer cooperation with environmental concerns, from slightly positive for nescient manufacturers and slightly negative for attentive manufacturers to significantly positive for savvy manufacturers.

Description: Although research in the supply chain area inherently involves the study of supply networks, the majority of existing work is limited to utilizing a dyadic approach in examining relationships between buyer and supplier firms. However, real-world supply networks are characterized by a complex network of interfirm relationships and not just dyads. Thus, it is important to examine how structural relationships among supply chain partners impact the performance of firms using a network analytic lens. This paper examines the influence of structural characteristics of a firm's supply network on its performance. Using a dataset of 114 firms consisting of firm-level variables drawn from multiple sources in the electronics industry, we investigate two important structural characteristics of the supply network—structural prominence, depicting the centrality of a firm's position in the supply network, and density, characterizing the interconnectedness among firms in a supply network. Using a robust regression approach, we find that both the structural prominence of firms and the density of the supply networks, along with the interaction between them, positively influence the performance of firms as measured by the firm's asset utilization, cost performance, and operational efficiency. We discuss both theoretical and practical implications of our findings, and relate the results to managerial significance.

Description: This paper presents a contingency model that examines the external links between the business environment and supply chain strategies, and the internal links between supply chain strategies and supplier management practices. The research model theorizes that flexibility and low-cost oriented supply chain strategies should fit with the underlying business environments, and, in turn, supplier management practices (i.e., long-term relationships, supplier assessment, and integration) should fit with the chosen supply chain strategies. The dataset to test the research model was drawn from a survey of managers from 232 Australian manufacturing firms, and comparative path analyses were employed to assess the fit among different business environments, supply chain strategies, and supply chain practices. The findings show that dynamic environment has a better fit with flexibility strategy than low-cost strategy, while competitive environment surprisingly does not show a stronger fit to low-cost strategy than flexibility strategy. Additionally, the results show that while supplier assessment is important for both flexibility and low-cost oriented strategies, long-term relationship and logistics integration are more important for flexibility strategy than for low-cost strategy. The implications for theory and practice are discussed in the paper.

Description: Despite the increased research attention directed to the importance of knowledge protection in collaborative business partnerships, such as IT offshore outsourcing, the extant literature offers conflicting views on whether knowledge protection inhibits project performance. Based on the transaction cost theory and the psychological contract theory, this study investigates how outsourcer knowledge protection affects project performance through partnership quality from the view of the vendors. Hypotheses were proposed and examined using data from 180 IT offshore outsourcing projects. This study finds that knowledge protection reduces partnership quality and project performance. Furthermore, a vendor's relational contract schema strengthens the negative effect of outsourcer knowledge protection on partnership quality, while a vendor's transactional contract schema weakens the negative effect. This study extends our understanding regarding the effects of knowledge protection on project performance and has important implications for outsourcing project management.

Description: Motivated by industrial practices, we explore in this paper the optimal supply chain scheduling problem in garment manufacturing with the consideration of coordination and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. We consider the case in which a garment manufacturer receives orders from multiple retailers, and needs to determine the optimal order set to take and the corresponding optimal production schedule. We model the problem as a flowshop scheduling problem, uncover its structural properties, and prove that the problem is NP-hard in the ordinary sense only. We contribute by first developing a practical and effective pseudopolynomial dynamic programming algorithm to find the globally optimal solution in reasonable time; second, proposing an implementable method to achieve win–win supply chain coordination; and third, showing the good performance of RFID technology deployment. We further determine the critical threshold value of the order number with which the total manufacturing capacity must be increased if companies in the supply chain wish to improve their profits.

Description: Global Product Development (GPD) networks have evolved to satisfy the unique requirements essential to the successful adoption of corporate outsourcing and offshoring during development processes. Having reviewed the relevant literature associated with GPD, this paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of organizational considerations taken by GPD networks during their transitional processes. A retrospective case study analysis was conducted with 17 Italian companies classified into six GPD configurations (named the “Chess matrix”). Each classification was based on both developmental localization (local versus global) and product development process fragmentation; development activities are either entirely performed within the same development lab, eventually with the contribution of support/adaptive units, or they are split among development units. Using this classification system, an evolutionary model was adopted to illustrate the dynamic paths companies follow when transitioning toward new GPD configurations. With this framework and categorization process, it was deduced that three main variables drove each of the 17 companies: 1) market needs; 2) market extension; and 3) internal needs. These variables were determined based on the GPD approach each company adopted in pursuit of a stable profitable configuration that was achieved by either deliberately remaining in a certain configuration or by employing an evolutionary GPD development configuration. In recognizing that there is not a singularly optimal stable configuration, it is essential to recognize and identify the individual drivers being pursued by each enterprise when implementing specific configurations. Further research will be devoted to more extensively elaborate the paths within a larger sample of companies to identify unrevealed paths and drivers that move companies in their product development globalization efforts.

Description: This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

Description: Technological innovation drives economic growth, and the pioneering activity of scientists and engineers produce technological innovation. We provide a mathematical model of pioneering strategic choice by adopting a perspective familiar to microeconomics, but less common in the engineering management literature. Instead of focusing on the specific features of a pioneer's technology, we focus on the malleability of the profit equation involved. By considering the arguments of the profit function (i.e., entry and variable costs and potential market demand) as strategic levers, we derive propositions that identify the ranges of actions (lever pulling) available to managers to protect (and even increase) entrepreneurial rents in a simple yet robust partial equilibrium case. For each lever, we show that there are several value ranges (intervals) and that the pioneer's incentives vary across these intervals. In addition, for each lever, we identify the existence of nontrivial profit discontinuities that change the pioneer's incentives in surprising ways and lead to counterintuitive strategic choices. Lastly, we show that for some range of each lever's values, welfare-improving transfer payments are possible and, therefore, pioneers and policy-makers both have an incentive to bargain. As in the case of patents, these transfers encourage the introduction of new technologies.

Description: The multiobjective permutation flow shop scheduling problem with sequence dependent setup times has been an object of investigations for decades. This widely studied problem from the scheduling theory links the sophisticated solution algorithms with the moderate real world applications. This paper presents a novel multiobjective discrete artificial bee colony algorithm based decomposition, called MODABC/D , to solve the sequence dependent setup times multiobjective permutation flowshop scheduling problem with the objective to minimize makespan and total flowtime. First, in order to make the standard artificial bee colony algorithm to solve the scheduling problem, a discrete artificial bee colony algorithm is proposed to solve the problem based on the perturbation operation. Then, a problem-specific solution builder heuristic is used to initialize the population to enhance the quality of the initial solution. Finally, a further local search method are comprised of a single local search procedures based on the insertion neighborhood structures to find the better solution for the nonimproved individual. The performance of the proposed algorithms is tested on the well-known benchmark suite of Taillard. The highly effective performance of the multiobjective discrete artificial bee colony algorithm-based decomposition is compared against the state of art algorithms from the existing literature in terms of both coverage value and hypervolume indicator.

Description: This paper investigates the difference in bullwhip effects in online and offline retail supply chains, offering insights into how frequent price discounts in e-commerce influence the bullwhip effect in the online retail supply chain. We consider a two-level online retail supply chain with a manufacturer and an online retailer in which the demand faced by the retailer is price sensitive and based on the price discount. Assuming that the online retailer employs an optimal order-up-to inventory policy with an optimal minimum mean-squared error forecasting technique, we derive the expression of the bullwhip effect in the online retail supply chain and make analysis and comparison. Finally, we develop a dual-channel supply chain model to directly observe the impact of price discounts in e-commerce on the bullwhip effect. The results suggest that price discounts in the online retail market generally amplify the bullwhip effect in the online retail supply chain, but in certain conditions, the bullwhip in the online supply chain may be smaller than that in the offline supply chain. We also find that the relationship between the lead time and the bullwhip effect in the online supply chain presents a distinctive feature contrary to the conclusions of previous studies. Based on the analysis, we develop important managerial insights regarding online retail supply chains.

Description: Pressents the introductory editorial for this issue of the publication.

Description: In response to fast-growing and rapidly changing global markets, launching new products faster than competitors does not only assist enterprises in acquiring a larger market share, but also in reducing development lead time. However, owing to the intrinsically uncertain properties of new product development management, manufacturing companies often struggle with the dilemma of whether to increase product variety or control manufacturing complexity. This paper proposes a novel two-phase method to assist an enterprise in achieving a customer collaborative product design. In the first phase, quality function deployment, which is based on fuzzy multicriteria decision making and suppliers’ budget constraints, is presented to maximize customers’ satisfaction. In the second phase, an effective approach is proposed to determine the appropriate sequence of several coupled activities with the minimum total feedback time in a design structure matrix. Finally, a real case is used to illustrate the overall applicability of the approach. The optimization results show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method over other reported methods in the literature.

Description: This paper proposes a mathematical model and new solving algorithm for scheduling of a distributed production network with heterogeneous parallel factories distributed in the different geographical places. In this problem, two subproblems must be solved, i.e., 1) assigning jobs to appropriate factory and 2) scheduling jobs on parallel machines in each factory. We also assume that after initial assignment, for better balancing in machines’ loading in the different factories, each job can be shifted among factories. After modeling the problem as mixed integer linear programming, with proposing a new method for solution representation, we propose a novel solving algorithm namely anarchic particle swarm optimization to minimize makespan of jobs. This algorithm is inspired by an anarchic society whose members behave anarchically to improve their situations. By such anarchic particles, the algorithm can prevent falling in local optimum traps. The obtained results of mixed integer linear programming solved by CPLEX are compared with the proposed algorithm, a genetic algorithm and a noncooperative local scheduling for small-sized instances. At the end, the effectiveness of anarchic particle swarm optimization, standard particle swarm optimization, and genetic algorithm are examined on the test problems which contained up to 500 jobs.

Description: Testing is a critical activity in product development. The academic literature provides limited insight about overlapping between upstream testing and downstream design tasks, especially in considering the qualitative differences between activities that are overlapped. In general, the existing literature treats two overlapped sequential activities as similar, and suggests optimal overlapping policies, techniques, and time–cost assessment. However, this case study-based research identifies that the overlapping of upstream testing with downstream design activities has different characteristics than the overlapping of two design activities. This paper first analyzes the characteristics that affect the overlapping of upstream testing and downstream design activities, and then proposes a method to reduce the time of rework in cases where the upstream testing is overlapped with subsequent redesign phases.

Description: Scholars and practitioners have recently shifted their attention from traditional closed internal innovation to open innovation (OI). Building on both the resource-based view and the network perspective, we explore the roles of three types of informal ties (i.e., business, government, and university) in driving inbound and outbound OI, and further examine such effects contingent on market dynamism. Empirical results from our study of 260 Chinese firms show that all three types of informal ties positively affect inbound innovation openness, whereas only business ties facilitate outbound innovation openness. In addition, market dynamism strengthens the relationship between university ties and inbound innovation openness, but weakens the effect of business ties on inbound innovation openness. These findings indicate the salience of informal ties in increasing innovation openness and the contingent role of external market conditions. The findings contribute to the understanding of the drivers of innovation openness, and help clarify the differences between inbound and outbound OI.

Description: This paper introduces the procedure and results of the dependence modeling for a complex supply chain management (SCM) system using the design structure matrix (DSM). The elements of the DSM are determined by the functional analysis of the overall SCM system. Population of the matrix results from utilizing the biperspective group decision method, which evaluates the degree of dependence between the influencing and the dependent components. More specifically, this is accomplished by separately eliciting the opinions of the two parties and systematically obtaining the converged assessment. A case study for dependence modeling of an SCM system of a leading aircraft manufacturer is presented. From the obtained model, we can better understand the cross-functional interactions among the components of an SCM system and corresponding behaviors. Thus, this paper analyzes the gaps between the degrees of dependence perceived by the two parties and provides some discussions on how the analysis results can be used to improve the operation of the system.

Description: This paper analyzes a duopoly-like situation in the wet shaving industry featuring an innovation leader and a follower. In this, the leader claims to have filed “interlocking” patents. The explorative case study examines how the leader filed said patents and how their structures have affected potential value appropriation. In fact, the market leader has claimed technical elements in multiple patents, while the patents themselves do not legally overlap. This analysis will also cover triggers and boundary conditions that facilitate or limit such claim compositions. Finally, the market leader has seemingly been able to successfully appropriate value from its strategy. This study will contribute to the literature on value appropriation, the interplay between corporate engineering and intellectual property functions, as well as the economics literature on patent thickets.

Description: These instructions give guidelines for preparing papers for this publication. Presents information for authors publishing in this journal.

Description: Supply chain security (SCS) breaches (a form of supply chain risk) are distressing supply chains and they have the potential to engender acute pain on the society at large. To counteract such breaches, international bodies, nations, societies, industries, and firms have instituted several countermeasures in the form of standards and respective practices. Given that not all incidences/breaches can be averted, the risk management literature advocates that firms should adopt practices that can thwart incidences/breaches and practices that can provide a swift response once an incident/breach is detected in order to contain damages, ease the pain, and restore operations. Resting on the risk management literature and interactions with professionals, we classify SCS management practices into four categories based on their intent (i.e., detection, prevention, response, and mitigation) and operationalize each via multiple indicators. We then test the relative efficacy of these practices to explain SCS performance using responses from 462 firms operating in the United States and Italy.

Description: Advertisement, IEEE.

Description: Provides a listing of the editorial board, current staff, committee members and society officers.

Description: Presents the table of contents for this issue of the publication.

Description: Pressents the introductory editorial for this issue of the publication.

Description: The multiobjective permutation flow shop scheduling problem with sequence dependent setup times has been an object of investigations for decades. This widely studied problem from the scheduling theory links the sophisticated solution algorithms with the moderate real world applications. This paper presents a novel multiobjective discrete artificial bee colony algorithm based decomposition, called MODABC/D , to solve the sequence dependent setup times multiobjective permutation flowshop scheduling problem with the objective to minimize makespan and total flowtime. First, in order to make the standard artificial bee colony algorithm to solve the scheduling problem, a discrete artificial bee colony algorithm is proposed to solve the problem based on the perturbation operation. Then, a problem-specific solution builder heuristic is used to initialize the population to enhance the quality of the initial solution. Finally, a further local search method are comprised of a single local search procedures based on the insertion neighborhood structures to find the better solution for the nonimproved individual. The performance of the proposed algorithms is tested on the well-known benchmark suite of Taillard. The highly effective performance of the multiobjective discrete artificial bee colony algorithm-based decomposition is compared against the state of art algorithms from the existing literature in terms of both coverage value and hypervolume indicator.

Description: Provides a listing of the editorial board, current staff, committee members and society officers.

Description: Technological innovation drives economic growth, and the pioneering activity of scientists and engineers produce technological innovation. We provide a mathematical model of pioneering strategic choice by adopting a perspective familiar to microeconomics, but less common in the engineering management literature. Instead of focusing on the specific features of a pioneer's technology, we focus on the malleability of the profit equation involved. By considering the arguments of the profit function (i.e., entry and variable costs and potential market demand) as strategic levers, we derive propositions that identify the ranges of actions (lever pulling) available to managers to protect (and even increase) entrepreneurial rents in a simple yet robust partial equilibrium case. For each lever, we show that there are several value ranges (intervals) and that the pioneer's incentives vary across these intervals. In addition, for each lever, we identify the existence of nontrivial profit discontinuities that change the pioneer's incentives in surprising ways and lead to counterintuitive strategic choices. Lastly, we show that for some range of each lever's values, welfare-improving transfer payments are possible and, therefore, pioneers and policy-makers both have an incentive to bargain. As in the case of patents, these transfers encourage the introduction of new technologies.

Description: This paper investigates the difference in bullwhip effects in online and offline retail supply chains, offering insights into how frequent price discounts in e-commerce influence the bullwhip effect in the online retail supply chain. We consider a two-level online retail supply chain with a manufacturer and an online retailer in which the demand faced by the retailer is price sensitive and based on the price discount. Assuming that the online retailer employs an optimal order-up-to inventory policy with an optimal minimum mean-squared error forecasting technique, we derive the expression of the bullwhip effect in the online retail supply chain and make analysis and comparison. Finally, we develop a dual-channel supply chain model to directly observe the impact of price discounts in e-commerce on the bullwhip effect. The results suggest that price discounts in the online retail market generally amplify the bullwhip effect in the online retail supply chain, but in certain conditions, the bullwhip in the online supply chain may be smaller than that in the offline supply chain. We also find that the relationship between the lead time and the bullwhip effect in the online supply chain presents a distinctive feature contrary to the conclusions of previous studies. Based on the analysis, we develop important managerial insights regarding online retail supply chains.

Description: This paper proposes a mathematical model and new solving algorithm for scheduling of a distributed production network with heterogeneous parallel factories distributed in the different geographical places. In this problem, two subproblems must be solved, i.e., 1) assigning jobs to appropriate factory and 2) scheduling jobs on parallel machines in each factory. We also assume that after initial assignment, for better balancing in machines’ loading in the different factories, each job can be shifted among factories. After modeling the problem as mixed integer linear programming, with proposing a new method for solution representation, we propose a novel solving algorithm namely anarchic particle swarm optimization to minimize makespan of jobs. This algorithm is inspired by an anarchic society whose members behave anarchically to improve their situations. By such anarchic particles, the algorithm can prevent falling in local optimum traps. The obtained results of mixed integer linear programming solved by CPLEX are compared with the proposed algorithm, a genetic algorithm and a noncooperative local scheduling for small-sized instances. At the end, the effectiveness of anarchic particle swarm optimization, standard particle swarm optimization, and genetic algorithm are examined on the test problems which contained up to 500 jobs.

Description: Testing is a critical activity in product development. The academic literature provides limited insight about overlapping between upstream testing and downstream design tasks, especially in considering the qualitative differences between activities that are overlapped. In general, the existing literature treats two overlapped sequential activities as similar, and suggests optimal overlapping policies, techniques, and time–cost assessment. However, this case study-based research identifies that the overlapping of upstream testing with downstream design activities has different characteristics than the overlapping of two design activities. This paper first analyzes the characteristics that affect the overlapping of upstream testing and downstream design activities, and then proposes a method to reduce the time of rework in cases where the upstream testing is overlapped with subsequent redesign phases.

Description: Scholars and practitioners have recently shifted their attention from traditional closed internal innovation to open innovation (OI). Building on both the resource-based view and the network perspective, we explore the roles of three types of informal ties (i.e., business, government, and university) in driving inbound and outbound OI, and further examine such effects contingent on market dynamism. Empirical results from our study of 260 Chinese firms show that all three types of informal ties positively affect inbound innovation openness, whereas only business ties facilitate outbound innovation openness. In addition, market dynamism strengthens the relationship between university ties and inbound innovation openness, but weakens the effect of business ties on inbound innovation openness. These findings indicate the salience of informal ties in increasing innovation openness and the contingent role of external market conditions. The findings contribute to the understanding of the drivers of innovation openness, and help clarify the differences between inbound and outbound OI.

Description: In response to fast-growing and rapidly changing global markets, launching new products faster than competitors does not only assist enterprises in acquiring a larger market share, but also in reducing development lead time. However, owing to the intrinsically uncertain properties of new product development management, manufacturing companies often struggle with the dilemma of whether to increase product variety or control manufacturing complexity. This paper proposes a novel two-phase method to assist an enterprise in achieving a customer collaborative product design. In the first phase, quality function deployment, which is based on fuzzy multicriteria decision making and suppliers’ budget constraints, is presented to maximize customers’ satisfaction. In the second phase, an effective approach is proposed to determine the appropriate sequence of several coupled activities with the minimum total feedback time in a design structure matrix. Finally, a real case is used to illustrate the overall applicability of the approach. The optimization results show the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method over other reported methods in the literature.

Description: Advertisement, IEEE.

Description: These instructions give guidelines for preparing papers for this publication. Presents information for authors publishing in this journal.

Description: This paper introduces the procedure and results of the dependence modeling for a complex supply chain management (SCM) system using the design structure matrix (DSM). The elements of the DSM are determined by the functional analysis of the overall SCM system. Population of the matrix results from utilizing the biperspective group decision method, which evaluates the degree of dependence between the influencing and the dependent components. More specifically, this is accomplished by separately eliciting the opinions of the two parties and systematically obtaining the converged assessment. A case study for dependence modeling of an SCM system of a leading aircraft manufacturer is presented. From the obtained model, we can better understand the cross-functional interactions among the components of an SCM system and corresponding behaviors. Thus, this paper analyzes the gaps between the degrees of dependence perceived by the two parties and provides some discussions on how the analysis results can be used to improve the operation of the system.

Description: Supply chain security (SCS) breaches (a form of supply chain risk) are distressing supply chains and they have the potential to engender acute pain on the society at large. To counteract such breaches, international bodies, nations, societies, industries, and firms have instituted several countermeasures in the form of standards and respective practices. Given that not all incidences/breaches can be averted, the risk management literature advocates that firms should adopt practices that can thwart incidences/breaches and practices that can provide a swift response once an incident/breach is detected in order to contain damages, ease the pain, and restore operations. Resting on the risk management literature and interactions with professionals, we classify SCS management practices into four categories based on their intent (i.e., detection, prevention, response, and mitigation) and operationalize each via multiple indicators. We then test the relative efficacy of these practices to explain SCS performance using responses from 462 firms operating in the United States and Italy.

Description: Presents information on the Engineering Management Society conferences.

Description: This paper analyzes a duopoly-like situation in the wet shaving industry featuring an innovation leader and a follower. In this, the leader claims to have filed “interlocking” patents. The explorative case study examines how the leader filed said patents and how their structures have affected potential value appropriation. In fact, the market leader has claimed technical elements in multiple patents, while the patents themselves do not legally overlap. This analysis will also cover triggers and boundary conditions that facilitate or limit such claim compositions. Finally, the market leader has seemingly been able to successfully appropriate value from its strategy. This study will contribute to the literature on value appropriation, the interplay between corporate engineering and intellectual property functions, as well as the economics literature on patent thickets.

Description: This paper studies a robotic mobile fulfillment system (RMFS) featured by robots transporting movables shelves to order pickers. The RMFS can increase productivity, reduce costs, increase order picking accuracy, and improve operational flexibility. We build queue network models to describe the RMFS with two protocols in sharing robots for pickers, propose the corresponding algorithms, conduct numerical analyses, and evaluate the performance of the RMFS by calculating the throughput time. We then calculate the optimal number and the velocity of robots, and provide the effective design rules for the RMFS.

Description: The allocation of limited yet costly police resources is a daily dilemma for police commanders. More than 50% of police department costs go into patrolling operations, which include responding to emergencies and maintaining police presence in patrolling areas. This research aims to address the managerial challenges and tradeoffs that police commanders face when designing patrolling strategies: lessening the economic burden of crime prevention and maintaining high levels of public safety. The proposed framework is implemented through a mathematical framework and simulation to obtain the best patrolling strategies for the Seattle Police Department, and the simulation results show that patrol performance can be improved using the proposed framework.

Description: This study considers a two-echelon supply chain with one supplier and one retailer for products with seasonal demand. The effects that information sharing has on coordination and benefits of the supply chain are investigated. In order to better forecast the seasonal demand, the supplier initiates the information sharing process by offering incentives to the retailer which are proportional to the degree of information sharing. Since the variance in the supplier's inventory would marginally decrease as the degree of information sharing increases, the benefits gained by the supplier due to information sharing are thus a convex function. This can be used to obtain the optimal degree of information sharing with the aim of maximizing profits, which is a tradeoff between the benefits gained and costs incurred by information sharing. In this study, the seasonal demand is described by a SARMA time series model. Bayesian analysis is employed to investigate the value of information and determine the optimal degree of information sharing. Constructive properties are derived to provide managerial insight for effective decision making. The results of sensitivity analyses show that the correlations of demand for successive periods and estimation errors would both have great effects on the benefits gained by information sharing.

Description: Many firms across the world are discovering and benefiting from the ability to identify, recover, and reuse industrial by-products from other firms in traditionally unrelated industries. We examine how the formation of a by-product synergy between two firms, in different industries, and its environmental impact, are influenced by factors such as the by-product trading price, the fixed costs of synergy formation (e.g., innovation cost), and the distinct characteristics of the two markets in which potential partners operate. We show that an incentive compatible region, which ensures a profit increase for both firms, can be characterized by an interior region of the by-product trading price, and the incentive compatible region may enlarge or shrink with the firms share of the fixed cost. Second, we find that when the firms are willing to share the synergy formation cost, higher volatility of either market could better incentivize the formation of the by-product synergy. Third, we find conditions when there exists a set of prices that are both incentive compatible and environmentally efficient.

Description: Learning is ubiquitous in the modern scheduling environment. While the deterministic scheduling problems with known processing time and learning rate have been extensively studied, limited work exists to address the problems with both learning effect and uncertainty. In this paper, the single-machine scheduling problem with random nominal processing time and/or random job-based learning rate is studied, with the objective of minimizing the expected total flow time and expected makespan. Several optimal policies are obtained: first, the shortest expected processing time is optimal when only the nominal processing time is random; second, when the job-based learning rate is random, the optimal policy can be obtained by solving an assignment problem with random assignment cost. Computational study is conducted to offer insights on the behavior of optimal policy. The expected value of perfect information (EVPI) is calculated as the difference between the expected objective value found by the optimal policy, and the expected objective value with perfect information. EVPI offers a practical way for decision makers to quantify the incentive and benefit of reducing uncertainty for the addressed problem. The results show that the performance of optimal policy will be negatively impacted by high variation of random parameters.

Description: While a variety of “product” modularity measures have been proposed and empirically used, little comparative research has been conducted on the characteristics and efficacy of such measures. This study explores how the use of diverse modularity measures affects the analysis of the “mirroring” hypothesis. Particularly, this study analyzes the relationship between “product” modularity measures and the degree of: 1) buyer–supplier integration in new product development; 2) supply chain configuration. The empirical results suggest which of the analyzed measures of modularity are preferable, question the overall utility of such measures to really understand the organizational implications of complex technological systems, and point to alternative measurement approaches.

Description: Degree of parallelism is an important factor in workflow process management, because it is useful to accurately estimate the server costs and schedule severs in workflow processes. However, existing methods that are developed to compute degree of parallelism neglect to consider activities with uncertain execution time. In addition, these methods are limited in dealing with the situation where activities in multiple concurrent workflow processes use shared resources. To address the limitations, we propose a new approach to analyzing degree of parallelism for concurrent workflow processes with shared resources. Superior over the existing methods, our approach can compute degree of parallelism for multiple concurrent workflow processes that have activities with uncertain execution time and shared resources. Expectation degree of parallelism is useful to estimate the server costs of the workflow processes, and maximum degree of parallelism can guide managers to allocate severs or virtual machines based on the business requirement. We demonstrate the application of the approach and evaluate the effectiveness in a real-world business scenario.

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Description: The Internet and technology have changed how products are sold and delivered to consumers. Today, the most significant growth in online retailing comes from multichannel retailers that sell products both in stores and over the Internet. Recently, these retail/e-tail organizations have attempted to leverage their “brick” locations by allowing customers to pick up or return orders purchased online at retail store locations. Such options let online customers avoid both long carrier lead times and high shipping costs. However, these options come at a cost to the retailer. This paper develops a mathematical model for analytically examining the cost and value of providing in-store pickup and return options in multi-echelon retail/e-tail organizations. In this light, the model determines the optimal subset of a retailer/e-tailer's stores that should be set up to handle in-store pickups and online returns under stochastic channel demands. Computational results show that optimizing the set of pickup and return locations can reduce system cost by up to 20% on average over arbitrarily enabling all stores with Internet pickup/return capabilities, and firms can substantially increase customer value while maintaining cost minimization as an important selection criterion in choosing pickup and return locations.

Description: Scholars have argued that dynamic capability can influence firm performance through a variety of means and mechanisms. However, the empirical test of the relationship between dynamic capability, marketing capability, and operations capability on firm performance has remained scant. We contribute to resolving this issue by proposing a research model that links dynamic capability with marketing and operations capabilities on new product development performance specifically and firm performance generally. First, the model suggests that marketing capability and operations capability act as mediating mechanisms that transmit the positive influences of dynamic capability to new product development performance specifically and firm performance generally. Second, the model proposes the relationship between marketing capability, operations capability, and firm performance (new product development performance) be stronger if firms have adequate dynamic capability. Drawing on a dataset of multiyear longitudinal survey data of Chinese high-tech firms, we find support for the proposed model. The findings help us better explain the different ways in which dynamic capability affect performance.

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Description: Social commerce, a powerful combination of customer-oriented social computing technologies and new commercial features, is having an increasing impact on e-commerce, potentially generating substantial economic benefits. Drawing on socio-technical theory, this study establishes a research framework to help understand the social and technical factors affecting consumers’ intention to purchase on social commerce sites. Our results demonstrate that familiarity, user experience, learning and training, and social commerce constructs all have a positive effect on consumers’ perceptions of ease of use and usefulness, thereby enhancing their trust and intention to purchase. For systems designers and engineers, our results highlight the importance of social commerce features for building consumers’ trust of social commerce sites and supporting their intention to purchase.

Description: Technology projects today are being increasingly executed in project sourcing structures that span country boundaries. However, the performance implications of such offshoring efforts are often ambiguous vis-à-vis those that are executed within country boundaries. Further, little is known about project execution capabilities that may be central to improving the performance of offshore technology projects. This study attempts to shed light on the above issues using data from technology projects distributed within and across country boundaries. The study findings are twofold. First, a comparative analysis of project performance across 702 technology projects reveals that projects executed offshore realize significantly lower performance related to quality and technical goals compared with projects executed within country boundaries. Second, a subsequent in-depth analysis of the offshore technology projects in the sample highlights the enabling but differential performance effects of project execution capabilities. Specifically, we find that while risk management planning capability is central to improving project adherence to schedule and budgetary goals, agile project management capability is central to improving project adherence to quality and technical goals in technology projects executed offshore. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings, implications for technology research and practice, limitations, and directions for future research.

Description: In postemergency contexts such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), one of the crucial challenges that rural hospitals face is maintaining a pharmacy with essential medications and supplies. There is a negative humanitarian impact when hospitals do not have medications for treatable diseases; hospitals incur financial losses when too much medication is ordered and expires. Moreover, the cost of transporting medications and providing on-site supervision to remote hospitals is an extremely expensive endeavor. Sometimes, the transportation costs can exceed the cost of the medications. Using as a case study, the province of Bandundu, in the DR Congo, we attempt to determine the feasibility (in terms of problem complexity and potential savings) of a synchronized routing problem for medication delivery and on-site supervision visits. We propose a capacitated vehicle routing problem formulation handling several novel requirements: activity-wise synchronization, precedence, and two activity frequencies. We implement a new heuristic procedure with a geospatially enabled database to solve the problem. Administrators can use a web-based tool to view the results as interactive maps. Preliminary results suggest that a synchronized solution allows rural hospitals to increase accessibility to medical services to rural populations by increasing delivery frequencies from 4 months to 1 month.

Description: The dynamics of knowledge transfer is an important topic for engineering managers. In this paper, we study knowledge boundaries—barriers to knowledge transfer—in groups of experts, using topic modeling, a natural language processing technique, applied to transcript data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Circulatory Systems Advisory Panel. As predicted by prior theory, we find that knowledge boundaries emerge as the group faces increasingly challenging problems. Beyond this theory, we find that knowledge boundaries cease to structure communications between communities of practice when the group's expert ability is insufficient to solve its task, such as in the presence of high novelty. We conjecture that the amount of expert knowledge that the group can collectively bring to bear is a determining factor in boundary formation. This implies that some of the factors underlying knowledge boundary formation may aid—rather than hinder—knowledge aggregation. We briefly explore this conjecture using qualitative exploration of several relevant meetings. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for organizations attempting to leverage their expertise given the state of their collective knowledge.

Description: Only a few firms possess all of the information technology (IT) resources required to compete effectively in today's dynamic business environment. Consequently, firms face critical challenges in developing their IT governance by integrating, building, and reconfiguring IT resources available internally and externally to achieve a competitive advantage. However, prior studies have mostly examined IT governance only from an internal (e.g., IT organization design) or external (e.g., IT outsourcing) perspective. Therefore, how the internal and external IT governance of firms simultaneously lead to firm performance remains unclear. To address this research gap, we conceptualize internal and external IT governance from the extended resource-based view, propose three alignments between both types of governance, and hypothesize their effects on distinctive firm performance. We then empirically test these hypotheses using 213 Korean firms that have implemented IT outsourcing. Results show that a hierarchy-based alignment (i.e., between internal and external hierarchy governance) optimizes the operational efficiency of firms, a market-based alignment (i.e., between internal and external market governance) offers the greatest advantage in terms of market growth, and a network-based alignment (i.e., between internal and external network governance) leads to the best innovation performance. Furthermore, our post hoc test also reveals some unexpected alignments (e.g., between internal market and external hierarchy governance) that positively influence firm performance, which call for new areas of discussion with alternative theoretical perspectives. This study guides practitioners in choosing outsourcing alignments by comprehensively analyzing the effects of various alignments on distinctive outcomes.

Description: We examine how product suppliers can effectively implement brand-and-original equipment manufacturing dual business models by investigating the synergy and tensions generated during different phases of implementation, and providing strategies for increasing synergy and reducing tensions. We conduct a longitudinal case study of an electronic supplier's various products. We find that during the seeking phase of a dual business model, synergy is generated by signal effect and tension by inconsistent identity. During the fulfilling phase, synergy comes from organizational learning and resource pooling, and tension from heterogeneity management and resource investment prioritization. During the harvesting phase, synergy originates from balanced long-short term outcomes and tension from market conflict. We also find that during implementation, the suppliers adopted smart power strategies that combined hard and soft power. Hard power deliberately increases synergy and soft power subtly reduces inherent tensions. Hence, the benefits of a dual business model can be realized. We add insight to the business literature on how product suppliers adopt smart power strategies in order to gain returns on engineering efforts during the implementation of dual business models.

Description: The paper develops an integrated technology-push and market-pull framework, a value chain model for crossing the valley of death (VOD—the gap between laboratory and market) for emerging technologies based on primary and secondary data analyses, and a survey conducted on European research and development projects. The study uses a case of micro- and nano-manufacturing technology (MNT), and confirms the existence of the VOD through the survey data analysis. A mixed-methods approach was adopted that investigated the business and technical challenges to the commercialization of MNT. A notable finding is that the emerging MNT often does not have a direct link with market demand, and the result suggests that an intermediary role between advanced technology and market demand should be integrated to act as a co-ordinator for overcoming the VOD. The paper also examines how an intermediary is crucial to escape the VOD within the value chain of the interdependent relationships between actors.

Description: Large construction and infrastructure projects are a billion-dollar business, but few studies have addressed the integrated operations in this unique domain of the construction supply chain (CSC). The comparison between the CSC and a conventional supply chain enables us to examine its framework and establish a quantitative optimization model for the CSC. To introduce the integrated operations concept into the CSC, many uncertainties need to be first dealt with, for which a multiobjective uncertain optimization model is developed. As the optimization of the owner and fabricator's costs and the service level are the main objectives, a hybrid genetic algorithm with fuzzy-random method is developed to solve the optimization model. An integrated multiobjective purchasing and production planning model is then constructed and applied to a hydropower construction project in Southwest China. The results illustrate that efficient integrated operations are critical for the CSC performance. The optimization results also indicate that considering of uncertain rush orders and delay times can be vital for optimum CSC performance. With this proposed method, construction managers can quickly respond to changing uncertain demand. This paper has highlighted that project managers need to collaborate with other stakeholders to ensure optimal CSC performance.

Description: Discursive strategy is important in engaging users when an organization-wide strategic change, such as an enterprise system (ES), is introduced. Although some information system (IS) studies have suggested the use of discursive framing, little is known about how such framing is conducted. Hence, our study aims to conceptualize discursive framing strategies by taking into account user diversity. A qualitative case study of China's largest food conglomerate, with its diversified subsidiaries, is presented. Specifically, the pre-implementation phase of an ES implementation is examined. Based on a spatiotemporal analysis of the IS context that could give rise to user diversity, this paper makes two contributions. It addresses a gap in the literature by conceptualizing discursive framing strategies in managing user diversity during ES pre-implementation and it extends organizational discourse analysis through a spatiotemporal analysis of users’ IS context. We conclude with guidelines for managers to anticipate and overcome potential conflicts, and offer suggestions for future research.

Description: In order to maximize the value of an organization's data assets, it is important to keep data in its databases up-to-date. In the era of big data, however, constantly changing data sources make it a challenging task to assure data timeliness in enterprise systems. For instance, due to the high frequency of purchase transactions, purchase data stored in an enterprise resource planning system can easily become outdated, affecting the accuracy of inventory data and the quality of inventory replenishment decisions. Despite the importance of data timeliness, updating a database as soon as new data arrives is typically not optimal because of high update cost. Therefore, a critical problem in this context is to determine the optimal update policy for database systems. In this study, we develop a Markov decision process model, solved via dynamic programming, to derive the optimal update policy that minimizes the sum of data staleness cost and update cost. Based on real-world enterprise data, we conduct experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed update policy in relation to benchmark policies analyzed in the prior literature. The experimental results show that the proposed update policy outperforms fixed interval update policies and can lead to significant cost savings.

Description: Governments and large private satellite operators face a strategic decision for multipayload satellite programs: whether to use large consolidated satellites with multiple payloads or constellations of a few smaller spacecraft (here a “distributed” system). One advantage of the latter is that it allows faster replacement of failed payloads and more efficient insertion of new technologies. The costs and the benefits of each option are a function of a myriad of uncertain factors, including the sequence of decisions that have to be made during the lifetime of the program. We present a general model based on decision and risk analysis to support the choice between these two satellite architectures for a long-term program in Earth's orbit. This model is built on probabilistic risk analysis of satellite vehicles and includes the operational decisions that may have to be made later, such as the construction and launch of new satellites, either because one fails or because a new technology has become available. The value of each architecture is based on that of the data that the satellite system provides when it is operated according to an optimal policy. We compute the value of each satellite architecture, reflecting the uncertainties involved and the decision maker's risk attitude in optimal management decisions. This model thus yields the sensitivity of both satellite architecture and operational decisions to factors such as risk aversion and the anticipated rate of technology advancement. We find that in many circumstances, more risk-averse decision makers may prefer distributed satellite architectures and the flexibility that they provide, even at a potentially higher initial cost. We also show that distributed systems tend to be preferred when the payload technology is expected to improve rapidly over time.

Description: Motivated by the practices of product design and production outsourcing, we develop a game-theoretic model of a dyadic supply chain to study the joint decisions on product line design and outsourcing. We derive equilibrium decisions on product quality levels and identify the conditions under which the manufacturer outsources production. We first study the case of symmetric outsourcing where the manufacturer outsources both high-end and low-end products, and obtain the following managerial insights. Symmetric outsourcing tends to enlarge product differentiation within a product line, quality levels under symmetric outsourcing are lower than those under symmetric insourcing when the manufacturer's marginal quality cost is medium, and the size of the product line decreases with both the subcontractor's production cost under outsourcing and the manufacturer's production cost under insourcing. When allowing asymmetric sourcing where the manufacturer outsources one product and insources another product, we find that the sourcing strategy reverses the effect of the manufacturer's nonquality cost on quality levels where nonquality cost represents marginal production cost independent of quality level, and asymmetric sourcing may be taken when the manufacturer's nonquality cost is low and symmetric outsourcing should be taken when the manufacturer's nonquality cost is high.

Description: While many studies suggest that integration is positively associated with improved quality of care, others assert that this may not be so. The inconsistent success of integration to improve performance is not limited to healthcare operations, but is prevalent in operations and engineering management in general. We suggest that this inconsistency exists because many integration studies examine technical components of integration, but not human components of integration. We use recent works on the theory of human systems integration to explain how the technical components of a system, examined through formal integrative practices and informal integrative practices, and the human components of a system, examined through belief in integration and understanding of integration, interact to influence quality of care. In a study of 34 hospital departments, we found strong support for the interaction between the technical and human components, such that formal integrative practices are associated with higher quality of care when understanding of integration is high rather than low as we theoretically suggest. Unexpectedly, our results also suggest that not all integration practices influence quality of care; we discuss the implications of these findings for practice and future research applications.

Description: This paper studies the environmental and social trade-offs of remanufacturing for product+service firms under competition. We use an analytical model and a behavioral study that together incorporate demand cannibalization from multiple customer segments across the competing firms’ product lines. We measure firms’ profits, consumer surpluses, environmental impacts, and environmental costs along the products lifecycles in the resultant equilibria with and without remanufacturing. We show that competition intensifies the tension between increased profit and worsened environmental impact from market expansions caused by remanufacturing identified by prior research in the case of monopoly. However, bringing in the social dimension leads to an overall positive assessment: remanufacturing creates additional consumer surplus, which compensates for the cost of the environmental impact. In other words, we found strong support that remanufacturing is beneficial for the society.