What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Historically, management theory has ignored the constraints imposed by the biophysical (natural) environment. Building upon resource-based theory, this article attempts to fill this void by proposing a natural-resource-based view of the firm—a theory of competitive advantage based upon the firm's relationship to the natural environment. It is composed of three interconnected strategies: pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development. Propositions are advanced for each of these strategies regarding key resource requirements and their contributions to sustained competitive advantage.

A natural resource-based view of the firm

The vehicle routing problem

Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA

Survey: Covering problems in facility location: A review

http://www.joydivisionman.com/vita/aei2.pdf

Ant colony optimization techniques for the vehicle routing problem

Crowdsourcing Last Mile Delivery: Strategic Implications and Future Research Directions

Logistics has evolved from a description-based discipline to one based upon theoretical grounding from other business disciplines to define, explain, and understand complex interrelationships, resulting in the identification of the discipline's primary domain and major concepts—the “what's” of logistics. General theories, however, lack the domain specificity critical to understanding the inner workings within key relationships—the how's, why's, and when's—that drive actual outcomes. Middle-range theorizing (MRT) enables researchers to focus on these inner workings to develop a deeper understanding of the degree to and conditions under which logistics phenomena impact outcomes as well as the mechanisms through which such outcomes are manifested. This study seeks to spur logistics research at the middle-range level by presenting a context and mechanism-based approach to MRT, outlining a process with guidelines for how to theorize at the middle range, and providing a template and examples of deductive and inductive MRT.

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New Frontiers in Logistics Research: Theorizing at the Middle Range

Purpose – This research aims to provide a theoretical framework for exploring how firms can respond to the growing threat of natural resource scarcity. Specifically, the role of closed‐loop supply chain management is examined as a means for creating resource advantages that can lead to marketplace competitive advantages.Design/methodology/approach – The research extends previous theoretical research, integrating natural resource scarcity and closed‐loop supply chain management for the first time. Resource‐advantage theory is employed as the theoretical lens for the research model and propositions.Findings – The findings deepen understanding of the forces that create natural resource scarcity conditions in the supply chain, and highlight the need for higher order closed‐loop capabilities that have the ability to mitigate natural resource scarcity.Research limitations/implications – The theoretical model and six research propositions suggest relationships between natural resource scarcity, closed‐loop capab...

Natural resource scarcity and the closed‐loop supply chain: a resource‐advantage view

orld population growth and increased consumption stemming from economic leveling are leading to scarcity of a number ofnatural resources on a global scale. Scarcity of critical natural resources such as oil, water, food, and precious metals has thepotential to greatly impact commercial activity as the twenty-ﬁrst century progresses. The challenge of continuing to provide neededgoods and services in the face of these constraints falls to supply chain managers, who are ultimately responsible for delivering utilityto customers. Unfortunately, there has been almost no research focused on supply chain strategies aimed at mitigating natural resourcescarcity’s (NRS) potential eﬀects. The current research positions NRS as a supply chain risk and proposes an NRS typology based onkey resource attributes. Supply chain mitigation strategies to counter each resource status are oﬀered, with an overall objective ofimproving supply chain performance. The study recommends future research aimed at further developing theory and methods forcountering NRS based on resource, systems and behavioral theories. In addition, this study has critical implications for practitionersfaced with the growing threat of NRS in their supply chains.Keywords: natural resources; supply chain management; population growth; supply chain risk; sustainabilityThree convergent societal forces described in both popularand academic literatures jeopardize global commercial activ-ity. First, human population growth and migration challengeindustries’ abilities to link demand for essential goods and ser-vices with adequate supply. Second, global Internet pervasive-ness has led to worldwide consumerism, ﬂattening nationaldemand curves. Third, and consequently, natural resourcesneeded to sate future product demand are rapidly depleting(i.e., Biswas 2005; Diamond 2005; Lahart et al. 2008;Eccleston 2009; Friedman 2009; Pullman et al. 2009). Accord-ingly, supply chain managers should consider natural resourcescarcity (NRS) a critical supply chain risk factor for theforeseeable future.Economists and physical scientists (i.e., Hotelling 1931;Barnett and Morse 1963; Nelson and Honnold 1976; Koberg1987; Krautkraemer 1998; Baumgarten et al. 2004;Kronenberg 2008)

John E. Bell

Papers

Ant colony optimization techniques for the vehicle routing problem

Crowdsourcing Last Mile Delivery: Strategic Implications and Future Research Directions

New Frontiers in Logistics Research: Theorizing at the Middle Range

Natural resource scarcity and the closed‐loop supply chain: a resource‐advantage view

A Natural Resource Scarcity Typology: Theoretical Foundations and Strategic Implications for Supply Chain Management