Resource specificity in intergenerational inequality: The case of education, occupation, and income

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to enhance understanding of the sources of relational rents in supply chains and the nature of their relationships with performance. Using the relational view framework and contingency perspective, the study develops a model and hypotheses to understand the nature of the relationships of collaboration and resource specificity with operational performance under technology context contingencies. Design/methodology/approach – Data for testing the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model were collected through a survey of managers in the Hoover’s database of manufacturing firms. The survey sample included 115 responses from a wide variety of manufacturing forms. Findings – Findings support the conventional wisdom relating collaboration and operational improvements. Notably, technological turbulence has a differential interactive influence on collaboration and resource specificity in predicting operational performance. In the former, the strength of the performance relationship is enhanced, while in the latter, it diminishes. Product complexity enhances the collaboration–operational performance linkage. The results, however, have to be further corroborated by more confirmatory analysis in future research. Research limitations/implications – The research findings are not conclusive but of an exploratory initial evidence, as stepwise regression analysis has its limitations. Additionally, while the study specifically focused on demand-side collaboration aspects, supply chain management envelops upstream and internal collaboration as well. Investigating the performance implications and the interactive dynamics among all three partnerships in the supply chains provides a richer understanding of supply chain partnerships. Besides, more comprehensive insights could be obtained by modeling the interactive effects of other factors in the operating context. Practical implications – Firms derive performance benefits from close collaboration with downstream partners because the operational enhancements from such relationships have customer service implications. Besides, the results provide a framework to managers for understanding the technology context conditions that may be best suited for leveraging collaborative initiatives and idiosyncratic investments in pursuit of operational performance improvements. Originality/value – Much of the evidence on the rent generation capabilities in supply chain partnerships is still anecdotal and extant empirical research lacks adequate explanation. Another critical shortcoming in extant literature is research on the disentangled interactive influence of operating context factors on the supply chain sources of rent (i.e. capabilities)–performance relationships. The study contributes by addressing these issues.

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Performance impact of supply chain partnership strategy-environment co-alignment

International Journal of Operations & Production Management ◽

10.1108/ijopm-09-2015-0586 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 37 (7) ◽

pp. 927-949 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Prashant Srivastava ◽

Karthik N.S. Iyer ◽

Mohammed Y.A. Rawwas

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Financial Performance ◽

Customer Service ◽

Strategic Partnership ◽

Critical Question ◽

Performance Impact ◽

Content Type ◽

Technological Turbulence ◽

Resource Complementarity ◽

Resource Specificity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enhance understanding on supply chain partnership strategy-environment context co-alignment and its relationship with performance. Using the environment-strategy-performance view framework and the supporting relational perspective, the study develops a model and hypotheses to understand how supply chain partnership strategy as a response to co-align with operating context elements may impact operational and overall firm performance. Additionally, the study investigates the interrelationships among partnership strategy elements. Design/methodology/approach Data for testing the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model was collected through a survey of managers in the Hoover’s database of US manufacturing firms. The survey sample included 115 responses from a wide variety of manufacturing forms. Findings Findings support the conventional wisdom relating collaboration to operational and financial performance. While product complexity associates with the “building block” resources, resource complementarity and resource specificity, technological turbulence relates significantly with only resource specificity. Interestingly, competitive intensity associates differentially with the resources – positive with resource specificity and negatively with resource complementarity. The results also reveal mediating influences of resource specificity and collaboration. Research limitations/implications The research findings have to be considered in context. The moderate size, wide industry/firm diversity and robust research design notwithstanding, and the cross-firm nature can potentially obscure causal linkages. Besides, more comprehensive insights could be obtained by modeling the co-alignment of strategy with other factors in the operating context such as industry munificence, and market unpredictability. Practical implications Firms derive operational and financial performance benefits from close collaboration with partners since the operational enhancements from such relationships have customer service implications. Besides, the synergistic interrelationships among strategic partnership resources and their eventual impact on operational and financial performance is highlighted suggesting that firms develop a proper mix of unique and complementing set of resources and leverage them through collaborative behaviors. Importantly, the results provide a framework for managers to understand the criticality of aligning their resources with contextual elements to realize enhanced operational efficiencies, customer service, and financial benefits. Originality/value Much of the evidence on the rent generation capabilities in supply chain partnerships is still anecdotal and extant empirical research lacks adequate explanation. Thus this study offers an initial strategic response framework for an appropriate co-alignment of partnership resources with environmental context factors to realize operational benefits and overall financial performance. The framework answers the critical question: does a supply chain partnership strategy that matches “fit” or co-aligns with its critical operating environment context realize better performance? Additionally, it unravels the interrelationships among strategic partnership resources.

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Intergenerational Inequality: A Sociological Perspective

The Journal of Economic Perspectives ◽

10.1257/089533002760278695 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 31-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 167

Author(s):

Robert Erikson ◽

John H Goldthorpe

Keyword(s):

Intergenerational Transmission ◽

Intergenerational Mobility ◽

Sociological Perspective ◽

Intergenerational Inequality

When economists are concerned with the inheritance of inequality, they typically focus on the intergenerational transmission of income or wealth. In contrast, sociologists are more likely to analyze intergenerational mobility between (and immobility in) different class positions.

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