1,721,149 research outputs found
SMEs’ international strategic decision-making speed. A purchasing perspective
No full textResearch on strategic decision-making is of great importance and has grown impressively (Elbanna, Thanos, & Papadakis, 2014). However, very few studies related to strategic decision-making process (SDMP) have been tailored on Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Tunisini, Bocconcelli & Pagano, 2011), as the majority of these have been focused to large/multinational firms (Quintens, Pauwels, & Matthyssens, 2006). At the same time, few studies (Francioni, Musso & Cioppi, 2015) attempt to combine the field of analysis of SDMP with that of international strategy, especially with reference to import activities. Finally, just one study (Kaufmann & Gaeckler, 2015) analyzed decision-making speed in purchasing.
Therefore, the main purpose of our study is to provide theory and testing to elucidate the role of decision-maker’s speed during global sourcing decision-making (GSDM) processes. In order to achieve this goal, the research focus will examine the behavior of Italian small manufacturing companies
Global sourcing decision-making process: Evidence from Italian Industrial Districts
No full textIn recent years, great attention has been paid to the global sourcing (GS). Indeed, GS has been investigated under several perspectives, such as the main determinants for engaging in GS activities (Steinle & Schiele, 2008; Wang et al., 2011; Quintens et al., 2006; Nassimbeni, 2006; Bozarth et al. 1998), barriers to GS (Nassimbeni, 2006; Wang et al., 2011; Christopher et al., 2011) and the main orientation leading to GS (Samli et al., 1998). Academic literature has paid considerable attention also to GS consequences (Petersen et al., 2000). Other contributions examined firms’ approaches to sourcing abroad (Bozarth et al., 1998; Camuffo et al., 2006; Trent & Monczka, 2003) and development of specific procedures in learning processes (Andersen et al. 2009). Different studies also examined the organizational dimension, such as centralization of GS (Arnold, 1999), organizational mechanisms to manage knowledge flows (Gelderman & Semejin, 2006), set up of international procurement offices (Goh & Lau, 1998). Some contributions also investigated the possible relationship between GS and development of specific supply management competencies (Closs & Mollenkopf, 2004), and between GS and human resources management issues, such as selection of GS managers (Harvey & Richey, 2001).
Nevertheless, according to Stanczyk and colleagues (2015), less studies have been focused on the decision-making process as a whole, and in particular on the influences of the behavioral aspects of decision-making, such rationality and politics, on global sourcing decision-making (GSDM) processes. Moreover, very few studies related to SDMPs have been tailored on SMEs belonging to an industrial cluster (Camuffo et al, 2006; Tunisini et al., 2011), as the majority of these have been focused to large/multinational firms (Quintens et al. 2006).
Based on the above discussion, this paper aims to fill this gap in the literature analysing how cluster-based small companies are affected by behavioral aspects during global sourcing decision-making (GSDM) processes. In order to achieve this goal, the research focus will examine the behaviour of Italian small companies active in the furniture sector and belonging to industrial district.
The research process is in progress. However, to achieve our research objectives, we will adopt a quantitative research method. In detail, we will carry out a quantitative survey of Italian small and mid-size furniture companies. Firms will identified from a list obtained from Aida, a database containing information on about 1 million companies in Italy. However, we will select only firms with the following characteristics:
• Headquarters in Italy;
• No more than 250 employees, according to the European Union’s SMEs definition.
• Producing furniture products;
• Belonging to an industrial district;
• Contact information available, including an email address, and telephone number.
Data will be collected through interviews with internal informants selected among owners, top managers and functional managers with knowledge over international sourcing strategies and practices. Interview material will be complemented by company documents and secondary relevant sources
The mediating role of speed in the global sourcing decision process
Full text linkThe principal aim of this study is to provide theory and testing to elucidate the role of decision-maker's decision process and speed during the global sourcing decision-making process (GSDP). In order to achieve this goal, we examine the behavior of a sample of 202 decision-makers belonging to Italian SMEs in the manufacturing sector. Our main finding suggests that faster decisions during the GSDP process lead to superior financial and non-financial performance of the selected supplier. Moreover, we find support for dual processing theory wherein rationality and intuition of the GSDP are associated with increased supplier performance both directly and through their effects on decision speed. Results are discussed in terms of the GSDP, SME and strategic decision-making literatures and practical implications for managers in SMEs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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