Operations Management Research

This paper reports on empirical research focused on temporal trends related to the inventory performance of U.S. retailers between 1982 and 2012. Prior research, which reported on temporal trends of inventory performance, investigated only inventory turnover, resulted in somewhat conflicting results, and did not account for the impact of either firm size or net margin on inventory performance. This research accounts for the impact of both firm size and net margin and examines trends of both inventory turnover and inventory to assets. Results related to inventory turnover reconciled the conflicting reports from previous research, showed a significant impact of firm size to trends, and revealed a positive relationship between inventory turnover and net margin. Results related to the inventory to asset ratio revealed an unexpected relationship with gross margin, no relationship with net income or sales surprise, and a decreasing temporal trend. These results suggest that inventory to asset ratio may be a poor measure of inventory performance.

Since the last decade, transportation and distribution systems have experienced significant growth and development. Designing distribution systems utilizing electric vehicles is one of the main issues in this field. Accordingly, this research provides a novel solution method for a two-echelon distribution system using electric vehicles. At the first level, the required products are sent from a central depot to satellite stations. At the second level, these products are distributed among different customers. In routing electric vehicles, battery capacity and visiting charging stations are taken into consideration. In this regard, a mathematical model is developed for the electric vehicle routing at both levels. To solve the model, a newly developed meta-heuristic algorithm is proposed as Improved Moth-Flame Optimization (IMFO) Algorithm. The evaluation of IMFO indicates that, in small and medium-scale test problems, this algorithm has errors of about 1.2%. It also performs better than the classic moth-flame algorithm as well as the genetic algorithm on large-scale test problems. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis of the demand and time window parameters shows that a rise in demand leads to a sharp increase in the cost of the distribution system, but the opening of the time window can help to reduce costs.

In the last few years, companies have paid growing attention to the management of their supply chain at a global level. The need for better suppliers, international competition and research of specific competences have forced companies to improve their ability to cope with suppliers and customers located in different countries around the world. This paper aims to provide an overview of how manufacturing companies use global supply chains and how their behaviour changes over time. Longitudinal data from a sample of companies from the last two editions of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) are used. A contingent analysis of manufacturing localization and globalization is also considered in order to identify factors influencing supply chain globalization strategies.

Conversations on digital technologies and their use in a circular economy (CE) have proliferated in recent years. The ability to fully use circular resources has become possible with the development of advanced and digital manufacturing technologies. However, there is currently only a limited amount of research that looks at the impact of digital technology on the establishment of a circular economy in a supply-chain context. This study seeks to examine the effect of technological innovation on CE practises, intending to assess their relationship to environmental and economic performance. The authors developed a conceptual framework based on the comprehensive literature review and employed a quantitative method to evaluate the theoretical framework. This research uses survey data of 290 respondents from the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) located in China and Pakistan to explore a model that explains the link between technological innovation, CE practices and performance. The SMART PLS 3.3.3 version was utilized for data analysis. The test findings reveal that technological innovation is positively associated with CE practices and that leads to economic and environmental performance. The findings may assist policymakers and business professionals in taking the appropriate steps to successfully implement and operate circular economy practices. With this connection, this research emphasized that SMEs should integrate their CE practices with digital technology solutions to attain long-term financial and environmental goals.

The turbulent environment like COVID-19 has forced many firms to the brink of collapse. It has a devastating impact on the supply chain management and its sustainability. Many firms were forced to close due to unavailability of raw materials, essential ingredients, and labor shortage. Not many firms were capable of efficiently handling such disruptive situation. There is not much study on appropriate supply chain strategy for such turbulent situation. The practitioners as well as academic researchers are interested to know how to deal with such situation and remain sustainable for any such future crisis like COVID-19. In this background the aim of this study is to examine the determinants that impact the supply chain sustainability during turbulent situation. The study investigates how firm capability and government regulation impact the supply chain sustainability during turbulent environment. With the help of literature review, dynamic capability theory and contingency theory, a theoretical model has been developed. Later the model has been validated using PLS-SEM technique with 315 usable responses from employees of different firms in India engaged in supply chain management process. The study finds out that firms’ capabilities, leadership team support and contingency plan play vital role to formulate appropriate supply chain strategy which in turn positively impacts supply chain sustainability during turbulent environment. The study also finds that there is a moderating role of government regulation impacting supply chain management during the turbulent environment.

Does the company attach importance to research and development (R&D) investment in its operations? Is stock liquidity detrimental to corporate innovation and thus damages the company’s sustainable development capabilities? We estimate the relationship between between stock liquidity and firms’ sustainable innovation capability on China’s stock market by OLS method and difference in difference (DID) method. The traditional conclusion is: the higher the stock liquidity, the weaker the enterprise's sustainable innovation level, especially in state-owned enterprises. The DID estimation using the share-trading reform and the policy of large and small-sized non-tradable share shows that: stock liquidity will affect the sustainable innovation level of the enterprise positively. The reasons for this mechanism are the supervision mechanism in the operation of the enterprise, the effect of the balance of the ownership structure and the improvement of corporate governance. The conclusions are that the improvement of ownership concentration promotes this positive relationship, and the behavior of institutional investors does not have a significant impact. These findings also provide new insights into the relationship between corporate management and shareholder investment behavior on the level of innovation.

The inopportune organization of spice supply chains (SSCs) results in aided risks, resource wastages, and sustainability issues. Nevertheless, practitioners and academicians alike must investigate spice supply chain management (SSCM) in terms of long-term sustainability. This study draws on the available literature to compile a collection of characteristics and maintain sustainable spice supply chain management techniques which come up with associated risks and relevant obstacles. Existing studies claim that due to a lack of resources, the associated risks are the root of poor SSCM performance. As a result, the goal of this study is to identify the primary risk variables using qualitative data; nevertheless, the attributes must be converted into a scale that is comparable. The fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) was used to obtain valid and reliable attributes from qualitative data, while the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL) was used to address uncertainty and interrelationships simultaneously. FDM results suggest that there are eighteen critical risk variables and seven risks threatening effective SSCM. FDEMATEL results reveal qualitative data translated into crisp, comparable values in order to investigate causal linkages between variables and confirm the compatibility of the theoretical structure with industry realities. The findings show fluctuation in the Price (C8), diseases and pests (C20), human contamination (C23), spice adulteration (C24), and loss of food quality, and quantity (C36) are all important risks and sub-risks in these causative interrelationships. The primary risks involved in enhancing SCM include Financial Risk (A5), Ergonomic Risk (A8), and Operation and Management Risk (A10). The study recommends that industry professionals use future marketing tools to protect themselves from price changes which allow them to assess supply and demand circumstances and manage price risks over distance and time. Spices are the key contributors to earning a sizable amount of foreign currency through export in a developing country. It suggests to policymakers, regulatory organizations, and practitioners to develop regulations, raise farmer understanding about pest control, impose stiff penalties on vendors and businesses proven to be involved in spice adulteration, and develop a sustainable fertilizer distribution system. These corresponding action plans for improving the SSC sector and comparing it with agro-food and short-supply chains are investigated. This study contributes to theory by utilizing FDM and FDEMATEL methods for addressing the uncertainty and interrelationship among associated risks that hinder SCM from attaining sustainability.