infonet-economy

The hyper-specialization of firms and the changing roles of customers towards active contributors in value creation makes the integration of resources from multiple small actors a critical factor for firm success. Unfortunately, the mechanisms by which firms can integrate the resources of these numerous small actors are not well understood in the strategic management literature so far. We utilized a multiple case study approach of nine virtual power plants to unveil these mechanisms of resource integration. We find that the practices of resource integration are contingent on the degree of resource interaction and organizational interaction between the actors and that four distinct patterns of resource integration can be distinguished and we thereby develop an emerging framework for resource integration in alliance portfolios.

Das Center for Aviation Competence (CFAC-HSG) an der Universität St. Gallen ist eine unabhängige Institution, welche Aufklärungsarbeit im Bereich der Aviatik leistet und damit das Image der Luftfahrt fördern will. Ein wichtiges Mittel der Aufklärungsarbeit sind wissenschaftliche Publikationen. Deshalb soll mit diesem ersten Band eine neue Schriftenreihe unter dem Titel «CFAC – Schriften zur Luftfahrt» begründet werden. Die Luftfahrt wird geprägt durch supranationale Regulierungen. Nationale Behörden haben nur wenige Möglichkeiten, in diesem Bereich selbst regulierend einzugreifen. Umso bedeutender ist es deshalb, wie supranationale Regulierungen national umgesetzt werden. Mit der Umsetzung sind unter Umständen Wettbewerbswirkungen für die Akteure der Luftfahrt verbunden. Diese Problematik wird mit dem ersten Band der Schriftenreihe aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln untersucht. Dabei soll gleichzeitig grundlegendes Fachwissen bezüglich internationalen Organisationen und Normen in der Luftfahrt vermittelt werden. Für weitere Bände dieser Schriftenreihe ist damit der Grundstein gelegt.

Das Working Capital Management bei Eisenbahnverkehrsunternehmen unterliegt einigen Besonderheiten. Nicht nur weisen die einzelnen Geschäftseinheiten unterschiedliche Geschäftslogiken auf, sondern besitzen auch unterschiedliche Kostentreiber und WCM-spezifische Herausforderungen. Vor diesem Hintergrund analysiert dieser Beitrag das Working Capital Management von 76 europäischen Eisenbahnunternehmen auf Konzern- und Divisionsstufe. Grundlage der Benchmark-Studie bildet eine an der Universität St. Gallen durchgeführte Projektinitiative zur Ermittlung des adäquaten Nettoumlaufvermögen-Niveaus von diversifizierten Eisenbahnunternehmen.

Die HEMRO AG erarbeitet gemeinsam mit Studierenden der Universität St.Gallen (HSG) innovative Ansätze und Lösungskonzepte im Bereich Digitalisierung und Industrie 4.0 und geht damit einen entscheidenden Schritt in die vierte industrielle Revolution.

Due to increasing market competition, the purchasing and the measurement of the quality of goods and services can be considered as an essential task within a company. While goods purchasing and evaluation is a well-known process, research on acquisition and evaluation of business services still barely exists. Although the importance of service quality aspects seems obvious, existing approaches mainly consider monetary evaluation criteria. The following work provides a systematic approach in order to increase the understanding of business service evaluation, using case study research from five Swiss multinational companies. Additionally, a literature review provides insights into existing evaluation procedures. A contingency approach is used as the theoretical basis to address differences in the applied evaluation approach regarding the service type and the point of a service consumption. Results provide insights into different evaluation scopes; revealing different requirements and varying accuracy depending on the service type and the person responsible for the evaluation. Conclusively, the results and their limitations are discussed in regard to their managerial and theoretical contribution.

One of the most important factors of successful supply chain finance (SCF) programmes is the improvement of software and technology solutions that allow businesses to come together in partnership and speed up cash flows throughout the supply chain. Blockchain technology (BCT) promises to change the way individuals and corporations exchange value and information over the internet, and it seems to thus be perfectly positioned to enable new levels of collaboration among supply chain actors. The first commercial application projects are already gaining traction, as technology giant IBM recently announced that it is teaming with one of the largest logistics service providers of the world—Maersk Line—to create a new solution to digitize the global, cross-border supply chain through BCT; China-based Dianrong and FnConn (a Foxconn subsidiary) have also announced the creation of a blockchain platform for SCF. These solutions aim to reduce complexity and make data sharing secure, accurate and efficient. Several startups are engaged in the area of blockchain-based letters of credit, bills of lading, factoring and reverse factoring to target the “trillion-dollar” SCF market. Quite known are the startups Skuchain (https://www.skuchain.com/), Gatechain (http://gatechain.com/), Wave (http://wavebl.com/) and Hijro (https://hijro.com/). In the traditional letter of credit and factoring or reverse factoring, processing the compliance check is often still done manually by comparing the different paper-based trade finance documents, which causes cognitive exhaustion and high labour costs. Contrarily, string-comparison in a digital document or cross-referencing entries (e.g., destination of the bill of lading is referenced in the letter of credit) based on smart contracts would reduce costs. This is where BCT comes into play.

This book aims to discover possible opportunities from the application of this fascinating new technology to SCF financing solutions, particularly in approved payables financing. In a first step, the principal barriers and pain points in delivering the financing solutions are identified. Then, a possible blockchain-driven supply chain model is defined. This framework will provide a basis for discussion on the relevant uses of the technology that could open up opportunities in the SCF space. The findings indicate that the blockchain and distributed ledgers technologies could deliver substantial benefits for all parties involved in a SCF transaction, promising to expedite the processes and lower the overall costs of financing programmes. Furthermore, this book contributes suggestions for future research on the topic of SCF and blockchain.

Der vorliegende Beitrag beleuchtet alternative Formen der Logistik, die neben einem funktionsorientierten Eigenbetrieb oder einer "klassischen" Fremdvergabe von Einzelleistungen (z.B. Transport, Umschlag und Lagerung) aus Sicht eines verladenden Unternehmens bestehen. Unterschieden werden die Kontraktlogistik, die Logistik GmbH sowie das Joint Venture mit einem Logistikdienstleister. Über ein vierstufiges Vorgehen werden Prozessveränderungen in der Logistik, die durch die Überführung in die alternativen Betreibermodelle entstehen, systematisch mit Bilanz- sowie Erfolgsgrössen verknüpft und anschliessend in eine Geldflussrechnung überführt. Es zeigt sich, dass den drei Formen verschiedene Free Cash Flow-Verläufe zugrunde liegen, die je nach Ausgangssituation des verladenden Unternehmens mit unterschiedlichen Anknüpfungspunkten der Finanzierung einhergehen.

One of the most important factors of successful supply chain finance (SCF) programmes is the improvement of software and technology solutions that allow businesses to come together in partnership and speed up cash flows throughout the supply chain. Blockchain technology (BCT) promises to change the way individuals and corporations exchange value and information over the internet, and it seems to thus be perfectly positioned to enable new levels of collaboration among supply chain actors. The first commercial application projects are already gaining traction, as technology giant IBM recently announced that it is teaming with one of the largest logistics service providers of the world—Maersk Line—to create a new solution to digitize the global, cross-border supply chain through BCT; China-based Dianrong and FnConn (a Foxconn subsidiary) have also announced the creation of a blockchain platform for SCF. These solutions aim to reduce complexity and make data sharing secure, accurate and efficient. Several startups are engaged in the area of blockchain-based letters of credit, bills of lading, factoring and reverse factoring to target the “trillion-dollar” SCF market. Quite known are the startups Skuchain (https://www.skuchain.com/), Gatechain (http://gatechain.com/), Wave (http://wavebl.com/) and Hijro (https://hijro.com/). In the traditional letter of credit and factoring or reverse factoring, processing the compliance check is often still done manually by comparing the different paper-based trade finance documents, which causes cognitive exhaustion and high labour costs. Contrarily, string-comparison in a digital document or cross-referencing entries (e.g., destination of the bill of lading is referenced in the letter of credit) based on smart contracts would reduce costs. This is where BCT comes into play.

This book aims to discover possible opportunities from the application of this fascinating new technology to SCF financing solutions, particularly in approved payables financing. In a first step, the principal barriers and pain points in delivering the financing solutions are identified. Then, a possible blockchain-driven supply chain model is defined. This framework will provide a basis for discussion on the relevant uses of the technology that could open up opportunities in the SCF space. The findings indicate that the blockchain and distributed ledgers technologies could deliver substantial benefits for all parties involved in a SCF transaction, promising to expedite the processes and lower the overall costs of financing programmes. Furthermore, this book contributes suggestions for future research on the topic of SCF and blockchain.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize and analyze what is known regarding activity-based costing (ABC) applications in the context of supply chain management (SCM). We present a reference framework for practical implications and areas for future research in intra-firm and inter-organizational environments.

Design/methodology/approach – The findings underlie a systematic review methodology. Research gaps and guidance for further publications are derived from the reference framework based on ABC and SCM literature.

Findings – The review illustrates four main areas for further research: (i) determination of the role of management accounting in SCM (including supply chain finance), (ii) integration of time-driven ABC with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and automatic data collection, (iii) analysis of inter-organizational management tools in supply chains in multiple negotiation rounds, and (iv) standardization of cost accounting data in supply chains.

Practical implications – The review provides practitioners with three main recommendations: (i) ABC applications require a solid data basis, organizational readiness, commitment from senior management, and an ABC management philosophy, (ii) open book accounting for inter-organizational cost information-sharing purposes needs institutional arrangements and economic incentive systems, and (iii) sharing costs and benefits among supply chain members requires a change of managers’ mind-set.

Originality/value – This paper reveals practical implications and provides new directions for research based on the reference framework. The paper contributes to the interdisciplinary topic between SCM and management accounting by providing a structured overview of 87 peer-reviewed articles from 1992 to 2016.

Keywords Systematic literature review, Supply chain costing, Supply chain finance, Inter-organizational cost management
Paper type Literature review

Die gängigen Verfahren zur Einkaufserfolgsmessung bieten durchaus Ansatzpunkte für etwaige Manipulationen. Der vorliegende praxisorientierte Beitrag greift diese Thematik auf und stellt zunächst wesentliche Ursachen für die Anfälligkeit vor: Informationsasymmetrien, Machtasymmetrien sowie Intransparenz und Kontrollmangel. Es wird weiterhin gezeigt, dass Anreizsysteme und Compliance Management aktiv bei einer Lösungsfindung einzubeziehen sind. Um die Manipulationsanfälligkeit der Einkaufserfolgsmessung einzudämmen, sind zuerst klare Rahmenbedingungen im Bereich der Ziele und Anreizsysteme sowie im Compliance Management zu schaffen. Im Anschluss lassen sich mittels gezielter Maßnahmen einzelne Problemfelder eindämmen.