Offshoring Business Process Services and Governance Control Mechanisms: An Examination of Service Providers from India

As emerging markets increasingly rely on service businesses through offshore outsourcing, we examine the role of governance control mechanisms in improving performance among business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers in India. Using data collected from 205 emerging market‐based BPO service providers in India, we examine the antecedents and consequences of establishing governance control mechanisms in BPO service providers. Specifically, we examine how structural (use of contracts with the client), administrative (effective allocation and demarcation of responsibilities within the firm), and relational (collaboration and information sharing with the client) mechanisms drive the performance of a BPO service provider operating in an emerging market. We also examine how key task‐related (task connectivity and task security) and client‐related (end customer orientation and global control) antecedents influence the use of different governance control approaches in this environment. Our analysis finds that both task connectivity and task security significantly impact use of structural and administrative mechanisms, whereas end customer orientation is significantly associated with the strength of the relational mechanisms governing the emerging market‐based BPO service provider and its client. Further global control significantly influences the strength of the structural mechanisms between the client and the BPO service provider. Finally, the three mechanisms have a complementary influence in driving the BPO service provider's performance.     

Profit Seeking vs. Survival Seeking: An Analytical Study of Supplier's Behavior and Buyer's Subsidy Strategy

Supplier default is common in emerging markets. Suppliers under the threat of default have different objectives from profit‐seeking companies. This paper analytically tests how profit‐seeking or survival‐seeking behavior, single‐period or two‐period consideration, and buyer's subsidy influence the supplier's and buyer's final utilities. The results show that under single‐period consideration, the supplier's survival‐seeking strategy in fact drives more start‐ups or small suppliers out of business when the competition becomes severe; under two‐period consideration, no matter which strategy (profit‐seeking or survival‐seeking) the supplier selects, the second‐period price and profit are always higher than those of the first period. Furthermore, we find that providing subsidy is an effective way for buyer to keep suppliers’ competition at a certain level on the behalf of buyer's interest. By numerically estimating the benefits associated with the cost of subsidy, we provide a basis for understanding the cost–benefit analysis of buyer's subsidy strategy.     

The Effect of Single Rater Bias in Multi‐Stakeholder Research: A Methodological Evaluation of Buyer‐Supplier Relationships

As the global competitive landscape intensifies, firms have looked to their supply chain organizations to improve cost, visibility, and cycle time performance across functions, products, and markets. As a result, the scope of supply chain related operations have increasingly cut across organizational boundaries. To understand and capture such cross‐organizational activities, researchers have broadened the focus of their studies and included multiple stakeholders in their analysis (e.g., integration, sustainability, and buyer‐supplier relationships). However, multi‐stakeholder research has also increased the complexity and effort required to conduct studies across organizational boundaries. Unfortunately, many studies that use multi‐stakeholder constructs fail to fully address their multi‐sided nature during both construct conceptualization and data collection. Several studies suggest that neglecting the multi‐sided nature of certain constructs can affect the research validity and reliability and may invalidate research inferences and results, although such concerns have not been empirically demonstrated. The current study addresses this gap by performing a series of tests using data from 105 matched pairs of buyers and their suppliers to illustrate key methodological considerations for conducting multi‐stakeholder research. This study also offers practical guidance regarding assumptions routinely made in single rater research and proposes when single rater data may be appropriate for multi‐stakeholder research.     

敏捷供应链供需协调绩效关联分析与实证研究

回顾了供应链协调管理与协调绩效评价的研究现状,分析了供应链协调绩效因子之间的相互关系,建立了一系列的供需协调绩效的关联关系的理论假设命题和一个综合分析模型,并且通过企业的问卷采样,对假设与模型进行了实证研究,验证了有关分析结论与假设命题.     

Outsourcing: decision-making methods and criteria during design and engineering

Research to date for decision-making on outsourcing has almost exclusively focussed on strategic and operational levels. Consequently, we know relatively little about decision-making on outsourcing during design and engineering, i.e. the tactical level; that also means that the characteristics of design and engineering – incomplete and inaccurate information and progressive availability of data – are not incorporated in existing frameworks and methods at that level. To fill this gap, a first-of-its-kind framework, based on an extensive appraisal of the literature, is validated; to that purpose, a Delphi survey was undertaken gauging the opinions of two homogeneous groups of academic and industry experts. The analysis of the survey affirms the assumptions made about the role of the progressive availability of data during decision-making on outsourcing. The results from this study should not only inform further research into decision-making during design and engineering but potentially the framework might also have validity for purchasing at the tactical level and strategic decision-making on outsourcing.     

Development of supplier relationship including cost of defectives in the cyclic production

In the supply chain situation, a decision regarding supplier relationship is of high importance. This usually happens on the basis of supplier company parameters. In order to satisfy the demands, a buyer company often expects the supplier company to expedite their operations, i.e., to enhance the related production rate. In this context, presently the focus of this article is on the cyclic production environment at the supplier company premises. Any practical production process is expected to generate defective products also along with the normal usable products. After an estimation of this and the costs concerning defectives, it needs to be modelled in the cyclic manufacturing. This article incorporates specifically the cost of defectives along with the other relevant costs. After developing an interest in the inclusion of these costs, the supplier company is categorised. A contribution of this article is the development of supplier relationship in the discussed environment.     

Developing a supplier selection system through integrating fuzzy AHP and fuzzy DEA: a case study on an auto lighting system company in Taiwan

Supplier selection plays a very important role in supply chain management. This study intends to develop a novel performance evaluation method, which integrates both fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method and fuzzy data envelopment analysis (DEA) for assisting organisations to make the supplier selection decision. Fuzzy AHP method is first applied to find the indicators’ weights through expert questionnaire survey. Then, these weights are integrated with fuzzy DEA. We use α -cut set and extension principle of fuzzy set theory to simplify the fuzzy DEA as a pair of traditional DEA model. Finally, fuzzy ranking using maximising and minimising set method is able to rank the evaluation samples. A case study on an internationally well-known auto lighting OEM company shows that the proposed method is very suitable for practical applications.     

Supplier code of conduct–state-of-the-art and customisation in the electronics industry

In the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), one efficient way to improve the ethical behaviour of a company is the implementation of a code of conduct. When focused on suppliers, this code is referred to as the supplier code of conduct (SCoC). Specific, application-oriented research on SCoCs is rare. The main goals of the present article are to define the state-of-the-art in SCoCs and to show how this review can be used in industrial practice when defining a company-specific SCoC. This article uses the electronics industry as an example. The state-of-the-art review of the content of the SCoCs is structured in five main categories of issues: labour standards, health and safety, environment, ethics and compliance. The practical relevance of this review is demonstrated by applying it in the development of a customised SCoC for a company as a part of the company's corporate risk management activities. This review uses the content analysis of SCoCs based on the website disclosures of the Forbes Fortune 2000 (Technology Hardware & Equipment) companies; which yielded 24 SCoCs. The application was done in an action research framework with a partner company, and the results were verified with the help of a focus group consisting of 10 companies.     

供应商网络形态构念及实证研究

依据嵌入性理论,从结构嵌入、关系嵌入、认知嵌入和规范嵌入4个层面,对制造企业供应商网络形态构念进行理论分析,归纳并初步提取制造企业供应商网络形态构念的主要要素.在此基础上结合企业访谈,开发供应商网络形态构念的测量工具.以中国制造企业为研究对象,进行大样本问卷调查,利用SPSS软件对回收的有效问卷进行探索性因子分析,得出供应商网络形态构念的5个维度,利用SPSS和AMOS软件对由该5个维度组成的供应商网络形态测量量表进行检验.研究结果表明,供应商网络形态测量量表具有较好的信度和效度,供应商网络形态由认知一致性、组织之间关系、协调机制、网络位置和网络结构5个维度组成.研究开发的供应商网络形态测量量表实现了对供应商网络形态构念的定量测量,为制造企业供应商网络形态的研究提供可借鉴的测量工具,有利于对制造企业设计和管理供应商网络问题进行更深入和广泛的研究.     

The Role of Contract Negotiation and Industry Structure in Production Outsourcing

Despite the spread of cost‐driven outsourcing practices, academic research cautions that suppliers' cost advantage may weaken manufacturers' bargaining positions in negotiating outsourcing agreements, thereby hurting their profitability. In this study, we attempt to further understand the strategic impact of low‐cost outsourcing on manufacturers' profitability by investigating the contractual form of outsourcing agreements and the industry structure of the upstream supply market. We consider a two‐tier supply chain system, consisting of two competing manufacturers, who have the option to produce in‐house or to outsource to an upstream supplier with lower cost. To reach an outsourcing agreement, each manufacturer engages in bilateral negotiation with her supplier, who may be an exclusive supplier or a common supplier serving both manufacturers. Our analysis shows that wholesale‐price contracts always mitigate the competition between manufacturers regardless of whether they compete with price or quantity. In contrast, two‐part tariffs intensify the competition when the manufacturers compete with quantity, but soften it when they compete with price. As a result, when outsourcing with two‐part tariffs, the manufacturers may earn lower profits than they would from in‐house production, although the suppliers are more cost efficient. This suggests that managers have to be wary about the downside of using coordinating contracts such as two‐part tariffs when pursuing low‐cost outsourcing strategies. Our analysis also sheds some light on the profitability of using an exclusive supplier for outsourcing. When outsourcing with wholesale‐price contracts, the competing manufacturers are better off outsourcing to an exclusive supplier. However, when outsourcing with two‐part tariffs, the manufacturers may earn higher profits by outsourcing to a common supplier than to an exclusive one when the manufacturers' bargaining power is sufficiently strong (weak) under quantity (price) competition.