scholarly journals Resilience in interorganizational networks: dealing with day-to-day disruptions in critical infrastructures

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell J. van den Adel ◽  
Thomas A. de Vries ◽  
Dirk Pieter van Donk
Keyword(s):  
Information Exchange ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Infrastructures ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Interorganizational Network ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
Boundary Information ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Critical infrastructures (CIs) for essential services such as water supply and electricity delivery are notoriously vulnerable to disruptions. While extant literature offers important insights into the resilience of CIs following large-scale disasters, our understanding of CI resilience to the more typical disruptions that affect CIs on a day-to-day basis remains limited. The present study investigates how the interorganizational (supply) network that uses and manages the CI can mitigate the adverse consequences of day-to-day disruptions. Design/methodology/approach Longitudinal archival data on 277 day-to-day disruptions within the Dutch national railway CI were collected and analyzed using generalized estimating equations. Findings The empirical results largely support the study’s predictions that day-to-day disruptions have greater adverse effects if they co-occur or are relatively unprecedented. The findings further show that the involved interorganizational network can enhance CI resilience to these disruptions, in particular, by increasing the overall level of cross-boundary information exchange between organizations inside the network. Practical implications This study helps managers to make well-informed choices regarding the target and intensity of their cross-boundary information-exchange efforts when dealing with day-to-day disruptions affecting their CI. The findings illustrate the importance of targeting cross-boundary information exchange at the complete interorganizational network responsible for the CI and to increase the intensity of such efforts when CI disruptions co-occur and/or are unprecedented. Originality/value This study contributes to our academic understanding of how network-level processes (i.e. cross-boundary information exchange) can be managed to ensure interorganizational (supply) networks’ resilience to day-to-day disruptions in a CI context. Subsequent research may draw from the conceptual framework advanced in the present study for examining additional supply network-level processes that can influence the effectiveness of entire supply networks. As such, the present research may assist scholars to move beyond a simple dyadic context and toward examining complete supply networks

Sustainable supply network management

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1164-1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Marques
Keyword(s):  
Network Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diffusion Processes ◽  
Knowledge Diffusion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise how the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature has discussed knowledge dynamics across the extended supply network, particularly in the contemporary context of fragmented, globally dispersed supply networks. Design/methodology/approach A systematic approach to reviewing the literature is applied, covering 20 years, starting with 267 references, and narrowing down to 88 articles specifically addressing knowledge diffusion processes across the extended supply network. Findings This study shows that vertical ties limited to direct suppliers or third-party monitoring of global suppliers are both insufficient. Lack of co-opetition is an impediment to knowledge diffusion. And the debate of whether or not global dispersion is an impediment to knowledge diffusion seems inconclusive. More importantly, there is a lack of network-level studies mapping the diversity of actors in supply networks. Research limitations/implications First, future SSCM research should shift from an operational focus to strategic knowledge diffusion. Second, the scope of SSCM should expand from linear buyer–supplier relationships to multi-tier and multilateral studies. Special focus should be placed on the literature on social network to support processes that look at the drivers of effective large-scale, global diffusion of sustainability. Originality/value This review contends that it is paramount to set a new research direction captured in a new definition of “sustainable supply network management”. Future research should overcome the barriers of data collection at the network level in order to contribute to the field’s current challenges, which clearly lies in globally dispersed and complex supply network, not dyads or linear chains.

scholarly journals Network isolators inhibit failure spreading in complex networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Kaiser ◽  
Vito Latora ◽  
Dirk Witthaut
Keyword(s):  
Complex Networks ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Power Transmission ◽  
Power Grids ◽  
Cascading Failure ◽  
Critical Infrastructures ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Supply Networks ◽  
Water Transmission ◽  
Complete Collapse

AbstractIn our daily lives, we rely on the proper functioning of supply networks, from power grids to water transmission systems. A single failure in these critical infrastructures can lead to a complete collapse through a cascading failure mechanism. Counteracting strategies are thus heavily sought after. In this article, we introduce a general framework to analyse the spreading of failures in complex networks and demostrate that not only decreasing but also increasing the connectivity of the network can be an effective method to contain damages. We rigorously prove the existence of certain subgraphs, called network isolators, that can completely inhibit any failure spreading, and we show how to create such isolators in synthetic and real-world networks. The addition of selected links can thus prevent large scale outages as demonstrated for power transmission grids.

Collaborative firms managing perishable products in a complex supply network: an empirical analysis of performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Pérez Mesa ◽  
Emilio Galdeano-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Perishable Products ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sales Channels ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Supplier Relationship

Purpose – This purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence of how cooperation is related to suppliers’ performance, a relationship that is thought to be affected by the type of customer and the extent to which the market is diversified. It analyzes horticultural exporting firms in southeastern Spain, which are the main suppliers of European markets. Together with their primary customers (large-scale retail companies such as Carrefour, Tesco and Aldi), these firms constitute a complex supply network composed of a variety of agents and sales channels. This network will be studied from the perspective of the supplier–supplier relationship that is critical to their survival. Design/methodology/approach – Starting with a detailed description of Europe’s vegetable supply chain, a hierarchical regression is used with an index of cooperation intensity, moderated by retail sales and market concentration. The authors test the hypotheses using panel data on a set of 118 horticultural marketing firms in southeast Spain for the period 2009-2011. Findings – Cooperation strategies are shown to have positive effects on performance (market creation, promotion, quality, training, joint supply purchases and research ventures). Moreover, the retail channel and market diversification are observed to have a positive effect on the relationship between cooperation and the supplier’s performance. They demonstrate that active cooperation strategies have a greater bearing on performance in those firms whose primary customers are retailers. This circumstance provides evidence of the synergies and benefits that may arise when the supplier integrates the retailer in the supply chain, but which do not arise with other types of customers. Research limitations/implications – Although this study refers to a specific sector (fruits and vegetables) and the statistical results are limited, they provide insights that may assist in understanding how other perishable produce-related industries work: such industries share many common features. Practical implications – A more stable relationship between suppliers and retailers in the perishable produce market will render the supply firm more cooperative, competitive and profitable. Increased performance does not arise from the better conditions and improved sales power offered by the customer but instead from the adaptability of the supplier. Likewise, market diversification drives the supply firm toward a cooperative strategy, making it more profitable and competitive. As a practical norm, market diversification alone will not have positive results on performance unless the firm proves capable of enhancing its capacity for cooperation. Social implications – Proper management of the agricultural produce supply chain has repercussions on all of the members of that chain, although special emphasis should be placed on producers and consumers. The availability of food, its quality and its safety depend on management during the production phase. Along these lines, and more specifically for the consumer, this work is relevant because the sector analyzed accounts for 40 per cent of the vegetables consumed in Europe. Originality/value – This article defends the supplier–supplier relationship as the starting point for the analysis of a supply network. In certain sectors, the suppliers’ ability both to solve their clients’ problems and to be profitable is conditioned on maintaining the network and, therefore, the basic focus must center on analyzing their relationships, always including the customer, who has a direct or indirect influence on those relationships. Previous research has not comprehensively addressed this issue, let alone that of a sector with agile and perishable products in which, due to its nature, decision-making about market destinations and sales channels is the order of the day.

How “The Three Rules” guide strategy and investment decisions at Deloitte Consulting LLP

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Moffatt
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
First Case ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Thought Leadership

Purpose – This case example looks at how Deloitte Consulting applies the Three Rules synthesized by Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed based on their large-scale research project that identified patterns in the way exceptional companies think. Design/methodology/approach – The Three Rules concept is a key piece of Deloitte Consulting’s thought leadership program. So how are the three rules helping the organization perform? Now that research has shown how exceptional companies think, CEO Jim Moffatt could address the question, “Does Deloitte think like an exceptional company?” Findings – Deloitte has had success with an approach that promotes a bias towards non-price value over price and revenue over costs. Practical implications – It’s critical that all decision makers in an organization understand how decisions that are consistent with the three rules have contributed to past success as well as how they can apply the rules to difficult challenges they face today. Originality/value – This is the first case study written from a CEO’s perspective that looks at how the Three Rules approach of Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed can foster a firm’s growth and exceptional performance.

scholarly journals Supply chain resilience in a developing country context: a case study on the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 486-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Tukamuhabwa ◽  
Mark Stevenson ◽  
Jerry Busby
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Resilience

Purpose In few prior empirical studies on supply chain resilience (SCRES), the focus has been on the developed world. Yet, organisations in developing countries constitute a significant part of global supply chains and have also experienced the disastrous effects of supply chain failures. The purpose of this paper is therefore to empirically investigate SCRES in a developing country context and to show that this also provides theoretical insights into the nature of what is meant by resilience. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, a supply network of 20 manufacturing firms in Uganda is analysed based on a total of 45 interviews. Findings The perceived threats to SCRES in this context are mainly small-scale, chronic disruptive events rather than discrete, large-scale catastrophic events typically emphasised in the literature. The data reveal how threats of disruption, resilience strategies and outcomes are inter-related in complex, coupled and non-linear ways. These interrelationships are explained by the political, cultural and territorial embeddedness of the supply network in a developing country. Further, this embeddedness contributes to the phenomenon of supply chain risk migration, whereby an attempt to mitigate one threat produces another threat and/or shifts the threat to another point in the supply network. Practical implications Managers should be aware, for example, of potential risk migration from one threat to another when crafting strategies to build SCRES. Equally, the potential for risk migration across the supply network means managers should look at the supply chain holistically because actors along the chain are so interconnected. Originality/value The paper goes beyond the extant literature by highlighting how SCRES is not only about responding to specific, isolated threats but about the continuous management of risk migration. It demonstrates that resilience requires both an understanding of the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes and an understanding of the embeddedness of the supply network. Finally, this study’s focus on the context of a developing country reveals that resilience should be equally concerned both with smaller in scale, chronic disruptions and with occasional, large-scale catastrophic events.

Succeeding in an increasingly Agile world

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Denning
Keyword(s):  
Customer Value ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Value Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Leaders ◽  
Immense Potential ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Management Thinking

Purpose As Agile management thinking spreads to every part and every kind of organization, including their competitors, corporate leaders need to take steps to ensure they get and keep a good seat at the Agile table. Design/methodology/approach The author’s first hand research finds that firms are learning the hard way that software process and value innovation requires a different way of running the organization to be successful. The whole firm has to become nimble, adaptable and able to adjust on the fly to meet the shifting whims of a marketplace driven by dynamic changes in customer value. Findings The Agile way of working is provoking a revolution in business that affects almost everyone. Agile organizations are connecting everyone and everything, everywhere, all the time. They are capable of delivering instant, intimate, frictionless value on a large scale. Practical implications Examples of the new way of running organizations are everywhere apparent. It’s not just the five biggest firms by market capitalization: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. It’s also firms like Airbnb, Etsy, Lyft, Menlo Innovations, Netflix, Saab, Samsung, Spotify, Tesla, Uber and Warby Parker. Social implications A new kind of management was needed to enable this new kind of worker -- a fundamentally different way of running organizations. Agile is economically more productive and a better fit with the new marketplace. And it had immense potential benefit for the human spirit. It could create workplaces that enabled human beings to contribute their full talents on something worthwhile and meaningful – creating value for other human beings. Originality/value Continuing the management practices and structures of the lumbering industrial giants of the 20th Century is no longer a viable option for today’s firms. To survive, let alone thrive, leaders today must recognize that Agile is not something happening in software alone.

International relationships and resilience of New Zealand SME exporters during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Fath ◽  
Antje Fiedler ◽  
Noemi Sinkovics ◽  
Rudolf R. Sinkovics ◽  
Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Model Transformation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Contingency Planning ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relationship Strength ◽  
Managerial Action ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to empirically investigate how small- and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) have engaged with international network partners during COVID-19 and how the crisis has changed network relationships and resilience depending on pre-COVID relationship strength and, secondarily, on opportunity outlook in a market. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on 14 qualitative interviews with managers of New Zealand SMEs from diverse industries and four with industry experts. Rather than generalization, the aim of this exploratory paper is to identify contingency factors, which, under duress, strengthen or break business relationships. Findings Four main patterns emerge from the data, with respect to how SMEs engaged with network partners depending on the nature of their prepandemic relationships and the extent to which their markets had been affected by the pandemic. During crisis, weak ties either break or remain weak, forcing firms to create new, potentially opportunistic, relationships. Strong ties increase resilience, even under a negative outlook, as network partners support each other, including through the development of new ties. Strong ties can also accelerate business model transformation. Research limitations/implications Future large-scale research is needed to test the generalizability of the authors’ findings. Practical implications The findings of this paper indicate lessons for business continuation management and future preparedness for major disruptions. Specific insights may help stimulate managerial action to accelerate contingency planning and policy to support SMEs. Originality/value This paper is an early study on how weak and strong ties influence SME resilience during crisis.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems: a systematic review

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parisa Maroufkhani ◽  
Ralf Wagner ◽  
Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems ◽  
Science Index ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
Local Decision Makers ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems is fragmented, and yet, no studies have paid attention to integrating the available studies. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review of contributions related to entrepreneurial ecosystems.Design/methodology/approachThis literature review evaluates studies that are covered in the Web of Science index.FindingsIn addition to the recent state of research (covering industries, geographical scopes, methodologies, etc.), this study provides an extension of Isenberg’s (2011) model of entrepreneurial ecosystems.Research limitations/implicationsA new avenue arises for both conceptual and empirical research by emphasizing crowdsourcing as a contributing element for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Future studies can evaluate the effectiveness of different types of crowdsourcing profoundly to make sure whether creating a promising ecosystem all types of crowdsourcing have a similar value or impact.Practical implicationsFor public policy and local decision-makers, both collaboration opportunities and interaction interfaces between the stakeholders of the entrepreneurial need to be reconsidered in the design of entrepreneurial ecosystems.Social implicationsHigher degrees of collaboration, information exchange and innovation are likely to yield favorable entrepreneurship environments.Originality/valueNovelty of this study arises from integrating crowdsourcing theory in the systematic review of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Beyond national culture difference

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1476-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhipeng Cui ◽  
Junying Liu ◽  
Bo Xia ◽  
Yaxiao Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Cultural Intelligence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Construction ◽  
Culture Difference ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeInternational construction joint ventures (ICJVs) have been widely used as a temporary arrangement in many projects all over the world, especially in megaprojects. Within ICJVs, the national culture difference between partners affects their cooperation significantly. However, prior research has provided contradictory empirical evidence regarding these impacts. To address this problem, the purpose of this paper is to introduce cultural intelligence that judges an individual’s capability to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings as a moderating variable.Design/methodology/approachMultiple regression analysis and moderated multiple regression were undertaken to test proposed hypotheses. A questionnaire survey was conducted with international construction practitioners who had experiences of managing or participating in ICJVs.FindingsThe result of multiple regression analysis revealed that difference in national culture has significant negative effects on information exchange, shared problem solving and flexibility when asking for changes, thus effecting cooperation within ICJVs. Meanwhile, cultural intelligence of members can weaken these negative influences.Practical implicationsFirst, given that national culture difference affects negatively on the cooperation within ICJVs, it needs to be regarded as one of vital resources of risk which should be prevented and managed when attending ICJVs; Second, managers should build a series of mutually agreeable regulations and rules to lessen the negative effect of national culture difference; Third, it is recommended that ICJV management teams contain as many work-experienced members as possible and members within ICJVs, especially new staff, receive cross-cultural training termly to facilitate the cooperation between partners.Originality/valueThis research reveals the moderating effects of cultural intelligence on the relationship between national culture difference and cooperation in ICJVs as well as provides practical implications for ICJV managers to deal with national culture difference and reduce its negative impact on cooperation within ICJVs.

Strategies for sustainable services in academic libraries

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 298-307
Author(s):  
Dianne Cmor
Keyword(s):  
Staff Development ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Services ◽  
Technological University ◽  
Structured Communication ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore distinctive yet simple strategies for sustainability in academic libraries focussing on structured communication templates for stakeholders, pre-planned daily programming, and regularized, self-sustaining staff development. Design/methodology/approach Case study of unique strategies implemented at Nanyang Technological University Libraries. Findings Each of the three strategies has been successfully launched though they are at various stages of maturity. The first two strategies (structured communication templates and daily programming) have been implemented quite recently, whereas the staff development programme has been running for some time. Findings indicate that sustainability in all of these cases is directly linked to good planning which either minimizes daily, weekly or monthly work, and/or helps to clarify goals and focus action. Practical implications These strategies are feasible, transferable, malleable, and impactful such that other academic libraries with varying staffing structures can adopt and adjust them to their local needs. Originality/value Implementing simple sustainable services and strategies can have real impact and can provide alternatives to large-scale projects that may be too resource intensive for many to undertake on a regular basis.

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