EIS—A guide for executives

Although the use of executive information systems (EIS) is increasing, many senior executives have such mixed feelings about them that there is an ‘EIS paradox’. Information managers and software suppliers believe this is because senior executives are intimidated by information technology, but this does not hold up to scrunity. The EIS paradox occurs because of failure to explain coherently how EIS fit with other aspects of the organizational database and what EIS can and cannot do for a senior executive and his or her organization. This article is designed to close the ‘information gap’ about EIS specifically for senior executives. The change in terminology from ‘data processing’ to ‘information technology’ is symptomatic of a change in the way in which computers are used. Rather than being the mere province of the data professional, information technology as exemplified by EIS can be applied to tasks where judgement and selectivity are required. The crucial point about EIS is, however, that computing can complement and increase managerial qualities of imagination and intelligence but not replace them.     

基于Supply-hub的2个供应商单制造商批量协调问题研究

考虑一个由2个供应商和单制造商组成的装配型供应链,分析并建立了制造商、Supply-hub和2个供应商的平均成本函数,提出了分别由制造商和2个供应商负责Supply-hub营运及成本时的生产与订货批量模型。研究结果表明:当由制造商负责时,供应商距离Supply-hub越远,制造商的生产批量越大,且Supply-hub中的零部件补货批量相比供应商负责时更大;当由供应商负责时,制造商的生产批量不随供应商的远近而变化,供应商的零部件生产批量也不变。此外,在适用Supply-hub的条件下,相比由制造商负责,由2个供应商负责Supply-hub的运营并分担其成本时,整个供应链的总成本更低,2个供应商与制造商之间可以通过合理分配使2个供应商与制造商的营运成本均有所降低,从而实现整个供应链系统的Pareto优化。     

Joint supplier selection and scheduling of customer orders under disruption risks: Single vs. dual sourcing

This paper presents a stochastic mixed integer programming approach to integrated supplier selection and customer order scheduling in the presence of supply chain disruption risks, for a single or dual sourcing strategy. The suppliers are assumed to be located in two different geographical regions: in the producer's region (domestic suppliers) and outside the producer's region (foreign suppliers). The supplies are subject to independent random local disruptions that are uniquely associated with a particular supplier and to random semi-global (regional) disruptions that may result in disruption of all suppliers in the same geographical region simultaneously. The domestic suppliers are relatively reliable but more expensive, while the foreign suppliers offer competitive prices, however material flows from these suppliers are more exposed to unexpected disruptions. Given a set of customer orders for products, the decision maker needs to decide which single supplier or which two different suppliers, one from each region, to select for purchasing parts required to complete the customer orders and how to schedule the orders over the planning horizon, to mitigate the impact of disruption risks. The problem objective is either to minimize total cost or to maximize customer service level. The obtained combinatorial stochastic optimization problem will be formulated as a mixed integer program with conditional value-at-risk as a risk measure. The risk-neutral and risk-averse solutions that optimize, respectively average and worst-case performance of a supply chain are compared for a single and dual sourcing strategy and for the two different objective functions. Numerical examples and computational results are presented and some managerial insights on the choice between the two sourcing strategies are reported.     

CEO Incentives and Customer‐Supplier Relations

This study explores how suppliers adjust their relation‐specific investments (RSI) in response to the different risk‐taking incentives provided by the customer firm to its CEO, during normal and transition periods. We investigate this relation using 17,553 customer–supplier transactions over the 1993–2013 period. We find strong evidence consistent with the risk‐taking argument. Specifically, we find that an increase in the risk‐taking incentives of customer CEOs leads to a decline in suppliers’ RSI in normal periods, but an increase in RSI during transition periods. We employ the FAS‐123R mandate to show that an exogenous reduction in customer CEO's incentive pay increases suppliers’ RSI. We reaffirm the effect with the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act as a secondary quasi‐natural experiment. Finally, we examine several scenarios that either amplify or attenuate the observed relation, based on factors such as financial constraints, distress, growth opportunities, industry competition, and other firm characteristics. Our study contributes to the literature that examines the interplay between corporate policy and product market relationships.     

Does a Supplier's Operational Competence Translate into Financial Performance? An Empirical Analysis of Supplier–Customer Relationships

We conduct an empirical investigation of how a supplier's operational competence, as reflected by outcomes in the areas of quality, cost, delivery, flexibility, and new product development, translates into financial gains from a key customer. In contrast to previous research directed at the firm level, this study focuses on the supplier–customer relationship level. Using survey data from 158 suppliers in the manufacturing industry, we perform structural equation modeling to map out the paths from operational competence to financial performance—via dependencies and cooperative behaviors between suppliers and their customers. This study is the first scholarly attempt to examine the link between suppliers’ operational competencies and financial performance in interorganizational relationships. It is also an early investigation into operational competence as a source of bi‐lateral dependence. Our findings show that the supplier's operational competences increase its customer's dependence by enhancing the value of its products/services. However, the resulting increase in the supplier's power is not leveraged to shape relationship behaviors or capture value from its customer. In contrast, the customer's existing power as a major buyer plays an important role in shaping cooperative behaviors and affecting the supplier's financial performance from the customer relationship.     

多部件采购外包的两阶段均衡投标策略

本文考虑一个由单个制造商和多个供应商群体组成的供应链——该制造商需要采购多个部件,对于每个部件在市场上均存在多个供应商。不同于传统的从各供应商群体分别采购各个部件,制造商考虑将所有部件的采购整体外包给某个供应商。在第一阶段,制造商使用一级价格密封投标的逆向拍卖来确定赢得整体采购合约的供应商。接下来,第一阶段投标的获胜者生产其所能供应的部件,并使用逆向拍卖向第一阶段中未获胜的其他竞标者采购其余部件。我们分析了供应商在两个阶段的均衡竞价策略,并比较了制造商在亲自逐件采购和外包整体采购两种情况下的期望采购成本。我们证明了在两种机制下制造商的总的期望采购成本相等。     

Context matters: how internal and external factors impact servitization

Abstract

The study investigates how internal and external context factors impact a manufacturer’s servitization process (i.e. the strategic transformation from competing through products towards competing through services). A theoretical framework was developed that integrates a multi-stage conceptualisation of servitization with a focus on the wide range of internal and external context factors that support or oppose the transformation. The study draws on the collective experiences of 25 senior executives from 17 servitizing small- and medium-sized manufacturers, using a focus group-based enquiry method. The findings recognise servitization as a multi-stage transformation process with each stage being exposed to different context factors. The findings identify a wide range of context factors and show how their specific impact varies depending on the manufacturer’s servitization stage. Several theoretical and practical implications are provided.     

The supplier selection problem with quantity discounts and truckload shipping

To minimize procurement expenditures both purchasing and transportation costs need to be considered. We study a procurement setting in which a company needs to purchase a number of products from a set of suppliers to satisfy customer demand. The suppliers offer total quantity discounts and transportation costs are based on truckload shipping rates. The goal is to select a set of suppliers so as to satisfy product demand at minimal total costs. The resulting optimization problem is strongly NP-hard. We develop integer programming based heuristics to solve the problem. Extensive computational experiments demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed heuristics and provide insight into the impact of instance characteristics on effective procurement strategies.     

Moving HRD from the periphery to the centre for transformation of an Indian public sector bank: Keynote address, 4th Asian conference of the academy of HRD

The transformation of Bank of Baroda, one of the largest commercial banks in the public sector in India, into a highly customer centric, technology driven and an innovative entity in retail and SME (small and medium enterprises) segments represents one of India's most remarkable success stories and one of the quickest turnarounds ever in public sector banking.

Known as an important player in commercial banking with international operations for several decades, the bank was gradually declining in recent years. In an environment of competition within the public sector as also due to entry of private banks with latest technology and young staff, the bank plunged into an unprecedented spiral of failing to innovate and adopt new technology.

Drastic action was required to regain its leadership position in the public sector space. Over the next one and a half years, the bank was back in reckoning and was firing on all cylinders. It retained its core business on track with a bang, restored its image as the most vibrant player among public sector banks (PSBs) through wide-ranging initiatives such as a logo change, hiring a cricketing icon as brand ambassador, heightened credit growth, improving the work culture, initiating many customer-centric initiatives and restoring the customer base, derisking the treasury portfolio, and winning several accolades and awards.

Today, Bank of Baroda has embarked upon more wide-ranging changes and a new vision to change the bank from a ‘vanilla banking’ entity to a ‘multi-specialist bank’. The author, who joined the bank as a HR specialist and eventually rose to become CEO of the bank, extensively used his HRD knowledge and academic background to initiate changes to harness energy in the bank's 40,000 staff to drive organization change.

Achieving a successful outcome seems to be far more difficult for a public sector bank with a legacy culture, high degree of unionization, poor compensation and aging staff. In spite of these constraining factors, the paper argues that it is through mobilizing the passion of people that leadership can transform organizations and put them on high growth trajectory.     

Netchising: The Next Global Wave?

Companies have long taken ‘going global’ to mean having a physical presence at locations everywhere. It has meant executives in transit and bricks-and-mortar facilities on the ground. Based on extensive field interviews with executives at 35 different MNCs, our research shows that an increasing number of companies are succeeding overseas without massive foreign investment by adopting the global business model we call netchising. This new business model relies on the Internet for procurement, sales, and maintaining customer relationships, and non-equity partnership arrangements to provide direct customer interfaces and local adaptation and delivery of products and services. Netchising offers potentially huge benefits over traditional exporting or foreign direct investment approaches to globalization.     

Arbeitsfähig bleiben – Balance halten – Einsichten gewinnen

In today’s fast paced, interconnected, and mercilessly competitive business world, senior executives have to push themselves and others hard. In order to succeed, leaders have to live the paradox of closely attending to and following others as deeply as they lead. They have to listen well to others, understand their concerns, give them personal support, and at the same time motivate them for results or take decisions on their behalf. This article explores how executive coaching together with the provision of supervision for coaches can help restore and maintain balance and so provide quality assurance for organisations. Some of the work that these coaches and supervisors do is simply noticing the shadow sides that leaders have forgotten about or for many reasons prefer not to consider. It is the coach’s (and supervisor’s) task to bring back awareness of vulnerability or neediness, corruptibility or hubris, depending on the highly personal contents of the leader’s shadow.     

具有遗憾值约束的鲁棒供应链网络设计模型研究

考虑不确定性环境,研究战略层次的供应链网络鲁棒设计问题,目标是设计参数发生摄动时,供应链性能能够保持稳健性。基于鲁棒解的定义,建立从上游供应商选择到下游设施选址-需求分配的供应链网络设计鲁棒优化模型;提出确定遗憾值限定系数上限和下限的方法,允许决策者调节鲁棒水平,选择多种供应链网络结构;通过模型分解与协调,设计了供应链节点配置的禁忌搜索算法。算例的计算结果表明了禁忌搜索算法具有良好的收敛特性,以及在处理大规模问题上的优越性;同时也反映了利用鲁棒优化模型进行供应链网络设计,可以有效规避投资风险。     

How are Methodologies and Tools Framing Managers' Strategizing Practice in Competitive Strategy Development?

Criticisms have been levelled at the use of traditional strategic tools such as SWOT, PEST and BCG in contemporary business environments. In light of these criticisms, the objective of this research is to understand how senior executives engage with methodologies and tools as they develop competitive strategy. Within a broader strategy‐as‐practice approach, we use an activity theory framework to capture strategizing insights of senior executives in the UK responsible for competitive strategy. Our sample includes executives leading manufacturing organizations embedded in networks and CEOs reported in the financial press as adopting innovative business models. Our data suggest there is no one preferred practice approach by these highly regarded executives. Rather, methods and tools are adapted as they are contextualized in alternative practices. Three dominant strategizing practice models emerged from the data reflecting alternative applications of methodologies and tools. The first model captures routinized behaviour adopted by those who view their future as predictable, and an extension of the current environment. The second model posits reflective interaction between the strategist, organizational processes, culture, relationships and practice, and the final model shows an imposed engagement with strategizing methodologies and tools that bypass the organization's collective structures. These practice models suggest strategy leaders' activities depend upon their interpretation of the operating environment.     

On the fair optimization of cost and customer service level in a supply chain under disruption risks

This paper presents a new decision-making problem of a fair optimization with respect to the two equally important conflicting objective functions: cost and customer service level, in the presence of supply chain disruption risks. Given a set of customer orders for products, the decision maker needs to select suppliers of parts required to complete the orders, allocate the demand for parts among the selected suppliers, and schedule the orders over the planning horizon, to equitably optimize expected cost and expected customer service level. The supplies of parts are subject to independent random local and regional disruptions. The fair decision-making aims at achieving the normalized expected cost and customer service level values as much close to each other as possible. The obtained combinatorial stochastic optimization problem is formulated as a stochastic mixed integer program with the ordered weighted averaging aggregation of the two conflicting objective functions. Numerical examples and computational results, in particular comparison with the weighted-sum aggregation of the two objective functions are presented and some managerial insights are reported. The findings indicate that for the minimum cost objective the cheapest supplier is usually selected, and for the maximum service level objective a subset of most reliable and most expensive suppliers is usually chosen, whereas the equitably efficient supply portfolio usually combines the most reliable and the cheapest suppliers. While the minimum cost objective function leads to the largest expected unfulfilled demand and the expected production schedule for the maximum service level follows the customer demand with the smallest expected unfulfilled demand, the equitably efficient solution ensures a reasonable value of expected unfulfilled demand.     

Strategic Cognition of Operations Executives

The nature of operations executives’ strategic cognition, as the antecedent to their choices about operations strategy, remains underexplored in the literature. This mixed‐methods study examines executives’ thinking about supply chain strategy through the lens of managerial cognition. Our qualitative study at a pharmaceutical distributor, which examined 25 executives’ outlook on the future of the turbulent U.S. healthcare sector and their suggestions for adapting the company's supply chain strategy to that future, suggests that an executive's strategic cognition can be defined by its regulatory focus—whether the executive envisions the future environment in terms of opportunities or threats—and the level of optimism in regards to the envisioned future. We propose a typology that predicts the strategic choices of operations executives based on four types of cognition: pioneering, pushing, protective, and provocative. It describes whether an executive's strategic choices target traditional or novel sources of revenue, and if they seek to influence either the firm's structure and practices or its environment. Our empirical test of the typology using quantitative data collected in a survey of senior operations executives supports the study's propositions associating three of the four types of cognition with their respective preferred strategic choices.     

上市公司高层管理人员监控的有效性研究

政府作为国有企业的出资人和国有产权的代理人,将政府机构控股转移到国有企业控股,并通过法规和准则来加强公司治理,以此来提高对上市公司监控的有效性。由此,使用公司业绩作为上述2项措施发挥监控作用的替代变量,实证分析其对上市公司监控的有效性。研究结果表明,国有企业控股公司比政府机构控股公司更能监控高层管理人员;同时,高层管理人员的变更对公司业绩有较高的敏感性,但公司治理机制并没有对公司高层管理人员变更与公司业绩的敏感性产生重大影响。在我国,上市公司由于业绩欠佳而更换高层管管理人员时,对控股股东的激励比公司治理机制更重要。     

Real‐Time Revision of Order Quantities with Capacity Constraint: A Single Period Model

Manufacturing firms would like to maximize customer satisfaction by providing them with what they need when they need it. This, however, would mean continual variations in production quantities, and component orders from suppliers. A flexible manufacturing system can help alleviate costs related to modification of production quantities. The capacity of such a system, however, has to be limited because of high investment cost. Further, unless there is a long‐term relationship, suppliers may levy a high surcharge for last minute changes in order size. We model a hybrid control policy comprising an advance (pre‐production) order size agreed upon with suppliers, and a provision for real‐time order revision at a given rate of surcharge. We show that a rank‐order of products can be used for real‐time revisions, and that a strong buyer‐supplier relationship that keeps these surcharges low can actually help increase profits for both parties. We study issues such as compatibility between JIT and flexibility, and the impact of market conditions on overall profitability.     

Electronic markets in support of procurement processes along the automotive supply chain

Since the introduction of the internet, firms have continued to seek ways to use these public networks to gain competitive advantage. The procurement function is beginning to take on greater strategic importance as these networks started providing firms wider opportunities such as choices of suppliers. This aims not only to reduce procurement costs, but also to build stronger relationships with suppliers to improve quality and flexibility in meeting customer demand. This type of linkage of firms with their suppliers when the product manufactured is complex and supply-chain is heavily tiered, such as the case of the automobile industry, creates challenges to any electronic market or exchange that is aiming to support such a system. Based on discussions with some key individuals in an automotive supply chain and an in-depth analysis of a supply-chain segment, this paper explores the role electronic markets may have to play, if they are to support the procurement processes of various agents along the supply chain.     

Incentive issues in performance-based outsourcing contracts in the UK defence industry: a simulation study

Traditional outsourcing literature has claimed gains for the customer in terms of quality and costs. However, such gains are illusory in outsourcing of high-risk, complex tasks. The use of contracts and governance mechanisms for handling complex procurements is essential in obtaining rewards from outsourcing. Powerful incentives and risks are normally used in industrial service contracts to transfer risks to measure compliance with performance measures. The availability contracts for complex engineering services provision are forms of outsourcing contracts that transfer resources from government to external service providers on a substantial scale. The change moves the contractor role from creating resources to managing resources. Such role change mandates collaboration with customers and suppliers in supply/value chains. The management task is then perceived in terms of linking and optimising alignments rather than increasing service levels. Incentive design is one mechanism for linking the coordination of resources required in availability contracting to the business model. This article studies the impacts of agreed contract type and incentive mechanism on the customer and service provider profits using agent-based discrete event simulation model under multiple risk sharing scenarios.     

Multinational alliances: A note on the perception of technology executives

Multinational alliances in the 1980s came into vogue as one of the prominent instruments of corporate strategies. In the process of forging alliances, especially in the technologyintensive firms, senior technology executives such as directors of R & D often play a vital advisory role. This short paper reports the findings of survey of American technology executives. Among the findings two are noteworthy in the conceptualizations of multinational alliances: Alliances are viewed as a means to solving a firm's strategic problems, and as offering mutual learning opportunities, rather than win-win possibilities for firms entering the alliances.