Center for Sustainable Logistics and Supply Chains (CSLS)

Abstract

Manufacturing firms face complex after-sales challenges, including spare part shortages. While additive manufacturing (AM) offers a solution by minimizing costs and complexity, not all firms adopt AM equally, and research on differences in AM adoption in the context of spare part shortages is surprisingly scarce. To close this knowledge gap, we apply the awareness-motivation-capability (AMC) perspective. Our comparative case study of AM applications in 17 firms identifies three approaches how firms adopt AM—the corrective, preventive, and anticipatory approach. We find that the specific configuration of contextual factors related to a spare part shortage determines the approach firms follow. Using the AMC perspective, we discover and explain why firms differ in adopting AM despite suitable spare part characteristics and similar contexts. Through uniquely analyzing spare part shortages, our study contributes to AM research by challenging the assumption that economic justification is the sole driver of AM adoption and instead revealing that it is a context-dependent process, with awareness and motivation serving as critical yet underexplored antecedents.

Abstract

Several low- and middle-income countries’ emergency transportation systems (ETSs) do not have a centralized emergency number. Instead, they have many independent ambulance providers, each with a small number of ambulances. As a result, ETSs in these contexts lack coordination and ambulances. Using a free-entry equilibrium model, we show that in such decentralized systems, the probability that any given call can be served by at least one ambulance, that is, its coverage, is at most 71.54%, regardless of the ETS’s profitability. We examine three business models that can address the ETS’s lack of coordination and ambulances: (i) a competitor-only business model, where an entrepreneur enters the ETS and acquires ambulances to compete with existing providers; (ii) a platform business model, where an entrepreneur coordinates existing providers; and (iii) an innovative platform-plus business model, where an entrepreneur combines (i) and (ii): setting-up a platform and acquiring platform-owned ambulances. We also examine a government-run platform that takes no commissions from providers. Using a game-theoretic approach, we find that it is optimal for all platform models to incentivize all providers to join. However, only the government-run platform may incentivize providers to acquire additional ambulances. Furthermore, a government-run platform offers higher coverage than a platform-plus only when the platform’s power to coordinate ambulance providers is moderate. Our results can help entrepreneurs and policymakers in LMICs navigate various tradeoffs in improving their countries’ ETS.

Abstract

To maintain future supplier competition, manufacturers may support financially distressed suppliers by sourcing from them, even if they are less efficient than competitors, and by procuring larger quantities from them at higher prices. We analyze these strategies in a model in which a manufacturer decides for one of two available suppliers, supplier bankruptcy risk is endogenous, and financial distress can lead to internal or external reorganization. Following bankruptcy, the remaining supplier may serve as a backup option. Our research identifies settings in which the manufacturer should support the distressed supplier. We also find that in some cases, a nondistressed supplier may charge price premiums due to its competitor's distress, while in other cases, it may use predatory pricing to drive its competitor into bankruptcy. We complement our results with a small case study and show how our model can explain patterns observed in industry.

Abstract

The transition toward the circular economy requires stakeholders to collaborate along value chains. Yet, such collaborations are considerably challenging. Given the paradigmatic change, stakeholders face high levels of uncertainty and also need to align on a common way forward. We extend research on interorganizational sensemaking and the circular economy by exploring the process of interorganizational alignment in a European consortium of over 150 companies representing the value chain for flexible packaging with the objective to transform the value chain from linear to circular. We find that the interorganizational sensemaking process unfolds across three levels—organization, value chain, and ecosystem—which provide different reference frames for the process. We provide insights into how these frames, power dynamics, and identity considerations influence this process. Our findings highlight the importance of considering interdependencies between stakeholders and a collective reconceptualization of the established value chain to successfully transition toward a circular one.

Abstract

Information sharing is a key enabler for a circular economy. Information on the treated products and on the operations of other actors helps firms to keep products and materials in the loop. Current research on information sharing in the circular economy is fragmented across multiple research disciplines and lacks integration. With this study, we synthesize past research on information sharing in the circular economy and provide a basis for future research. We conduct a systematic literature review of 84 peer-reviewed articles. Through a qualitative content analysis, we provide a framework that brings together interdisciplinary research and highlights the six main topics studied. Furthermore, we showcase two main perspectives on the topic: (i) a technical perspective that mainly focuses on making the necessary information available to all actors and (ii) a supply chain perspective that studies the impact of information sharing. We argue that for increased circularity: (i) interorganizational information sharing between business areas like manufacturing and recycling must be improved, (ii) access to information for all circular economy actors must be facilitated, and (iii) incentives for CE information sharing must be created. Finally, we suggest avenues for future interdisciplinary research to fulfill these requirements.

Abstract

The study of freight transport has been subject to a long-term paradigm shift since the 1970s as the movement of freight has increasingly been researched as an integral part of logistics systems and supply chains. It has also benefited from the development of logistics and supply chain management as a business activity and academic discipline. This paper outlines the history of this 'logistification' of freight transport research, examining its impact on the modelling of freight flows and its relevance to a series of major transport policy issues, and discusses the methodological implications of this reorientation and diversification of the field.

Abstract

Companies that seek to improve their operational performance by adopting new practices often report disappointing adoption rates. The literature concerning practice adoption has tended to focus on efficacy and legitimacy drivers at the organizational level. However, there exists convincing evidence that practice adoption largely depends on the commitment of those managers involved in the adoption of a given practice. Thus, we investigate what prompts operations managers to commit to practice adoption. We draw on the theory of planned behavior to explore the cognitive foundations of 76 operations managers' commitment to new operational practices. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we identify three belief configurations associated with high levels of commitment—“the Follower,” “the Pragmatist,” and “the Reformer.” We contribute a behavioral operations perspective to the literature on practice adoption by providing an individual-level and configurational view of managerial commitment to change.

Abstract

Scholarly and managerial interest in corporate sustainability has increased significantly in the past two decades. However, the field is increasingly criticized for failing to effectively contribute to sustainable development and for its limited impact on managerial practice. We argue that this criticism arises due to a fundamental ambiguity around the nature of corporate sustainability. To address the lack of concept clarity, we conduct a systematic literature review and identify 33 definitions of corporate sustainability. Adopting the Aristotelian perspective on definitions, one that promotes reducing concepts to their essential attributes, we discern four components of corporate sustainability. These components offer a conceptual space of inquiry that, while being parsimonious, offers nuanced understanding of the dimensions along which definitions of corporate sustainability differ. We discuss implications for research and practice and outline several recommendations for how advancements in construct clarity may lead to a better scholarly understanding of corporate sustainability.

Abstract

Mixed methods systematically combine multiple research approaches—either in basic parallel, sequential, or conversion designs or in more complex multilevel or integrated designs. Multilevel mixed designs are among the most valuable and dynamic. Yet current multilevel designs, which are rare in the mixed methods literature, do not strongly integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches for use in one study. This lack of integration is particularly problematic for research in the organization sciences because of the variety of multilevel concepts that researchers study. In this article, we develop a multilevel mixed methods technique that integrates qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). This technique is among the first of the multilevel ones to integrate qualitative and quantitative methods in a single research design. Using Miles and Snow’s typology of generic strategies as an example of organizational configurations, we both illustrate how researchers may apply this technique and provide recommendations for its application and potential extensions. Our technique offers new opportunities for bridging macro and micro inquiries by developing strong inferences for testing, refining, and extending multilevel theories of organizational configurations.