Showing papers by "HEC Montréal published in 2007"

Stewardship vs. Stagnation: An Empirical Comparison of Small Family and Non‐Family Businesses*

Abstract: Two major perspectives can be construed in the literature concerning the nature of family owned businesses (FOBs). The first implies that these enterprises have unique charac- teristics of stewardship. FOB owners are said to care deeply about the long-term prospects of the business, in large part because their family's fortune, reputation and future are at stake. Their stewardship is said to be manifested by unusual devotion to the continuity of the company, by more assiduous nurturing of a community of employees, and by seeking out closer connections with customers to sustain the business. The second perspective is less flattering. It proposes that FOBs are unusually subject to stagnation: they are said to face unique resource restrictions, embrace conservative strategies, eschew growth, and be doomed to short lives. This paper develops and examines the merits of the two perspectives, neither of which has been systematically articulated or researched. It does so in an empirical study of only small firms that are owned and managed by their founder. Within this sample, it compares firms that are FOBs, that is, family owned and managed, with non-FOBs, that is, owned and managed by a founder with no other relative involved in the business. The findings show significant support for all three aspects of the stew- ardship perspective of FOBs, and no support for any elements of the stagnation perspective.

The dial-a-ride problem: models and algorithms

Abstract: The Dial-a-Ride Problem (DARP) consists of designing vehicle routes and schedules for n users who specify pickup and delivery requests between origins and destinations. The aim is to plan a set of m minimum cost vehicle routes capable of accommodating as many users as possible, under a set of constraints. The most common example arises in door-to-door transportation for elderly or disabled people. The purpose of this article is to review the scientific literature on the DARP. The main features of the problem are described and a summary of the most important models and algorithms is provided.

Static pickup and delivery problems: a classification scheme and survey

Abstract: Pickup and delivery problems constitute an important class of vehicle routing problems in which objects or people have to be collected and distributed. This paper introduces a general framework to model a large collection of pickup and delivery problems, as well as a three-field classification scheme for these problems. It surveys the methods used for solving them.

The Influence of High-Involvement Human Resources Practices, Procedural Justice, Organizational Commitment, and Citizenship Behaviors on Information Technology Professionals' Turnover Intentions

Abstract: The present study investigates the relationships between a multidimensional, theoretically grounded configuration of high-involvement human resources (HR) practices and turnover intentions. Precisely, it addresses two research questions: What high-involvement HR practices are needed to implement an effective strategy for retaining highly skilled professionals? Do procedural justice, organizational commitment, and citizenship behaviors mediate the effects of high-involvement HR practices on turnover intentions? A survey instrument containing previously validated measures was developed and sent to Quebec members of the Canadian Information Processing Society. Data from 394 respondents were used to test the research model. Key findings reveal that nonmonetary recognition and competency development, and, to a lesser extent, fair rewards and information-sharing practices, are negatively and directly related to turnover intentions. The authors also observed that procedural justice, affective and continuance com...

External Relationships and the Small Business: A Review of Small Business Alliance and Network Research*

Abstract: In order to thrive, small businesses are often advised to develop relationships with external organizations that have the potential to assist business development, survival, and growth. A focus on the external relationships of the small business underlines the vital importance of external resources in moving a small business toward increased success and profitability. Covering the period from 1990 to 2002, this paper reviews the small business literature as it relates to the use of these external relationships (such as organizational partnerships, networks, and alliances). In response to both academic and practitioner demand for further research in this area, an exhaustive analysis of the relevant literature was conducted and three “meta” research questions representing the connections within this literature were formed. The resource-based view of the firm, resource dependency theory, and punctuated equilibrium theory are proposed as useful starting points for exploring these research questions and can give direction for moving forward in this research area.

Strategizing in pluralistic contexts: Rethinking theoretical frames:

Abstract: Pluralistic organizations characterized by multiple objectives, diffuse power and knowledge-based work processes present a complex challenge both for strategy theorists and for strategy practitioners because the very nature of strategy as usually understood (an explicit and unified direction for the organization) appears to contradict the natural dynamics of these organizations. Yet pluralism is to some extent always present in organizations and perhaps increasingly so. This article explores the usefulness of three alternate and complementary theoretical frames for understanding and influencing strategy practice in pluralistic contexts: Actor-Network Theory, Conventionalist Theory and the social practice perspective. Each of these frameworks has a predominant focus on one of the fundamental attributes of pluralism: power, values and knowledge. Together, they offer a multi-faceted understanding of the complex practice of strategizing in pluralistic contexts.

Strategy as Practice: Research Directions and Resources

Abstract: Preface Part I: 1. Introducing the Strategy as Practice Perspective: 2. Practical theories 3. Doing research on doing strategy Part II. Introduction to the Papers: 4. Technology as an occasion for structuring: evidence from observations of CT scanners and the social order of radiology departments Stephen R. Barley 5. Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments Kathleen M. Eisenhardt 6. In search of rationality: the purposes behind the use of formal analysis in organizations Ann Langley 7. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation Dennis A. Gioia and Kumar Chittipeddi 8. Business planning as pedagogy: language and control in a changing institutional field Leslie S. Oakes, Barbara Townley and David J. Cooper 9. Strategizing as lived experience and strategists' everyday efforts to shape strategic direction Dalvir Samra-Fredericks 10. Organizational restructuring and middle manager sensemaking Julia Balogun and Gerry Johnson 11. From metaphor to practice in the crafting of strategy Peter T. Burgi, Claus D. Jacobs and Johan Roos Part III: 12. Reflections References.

Perceived organizational support and organizational commitment: The moderating effect of locus of control and work autonomy

Abstract: Purpose – The aim of this article is to deepen the understanding of the relationships between perceived organizational support (POS) and the dimensions of organizational commitment (i.e. affective, normative and continuance commitment), and to test the moderating effect of locus of control and work autonomy.Design/methodology/approach – This study, based on a cross‐sectional research design, was conducted in an organizational setting. The sample includes 249 prison employees. The data were collected through questionnaires.Findings – The results show that POS is positively and significantly correlated with affective and normative commitment. In addition, the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses support the moderating effect of locus of control and work autonomy with regard to the relationship between POS and affective commitment.Practical implications – This study highlights the importance of providing support to employees in order to foster their affective and normative commitment to t...

Green supply chain practices and the selection of environmental technologies

Abstract: The pressure on manufacturing organizations to adopt benign processes and to develop greener products has increased significantly over the last decade. As such, several manufacturing organizations have turned to their suppliers and customers to find innovative solutions to environmental issues. Using the data from a survey of the Canadian and United States package printing industry, the linkage between green supply chain practices and the selection of environmental technologies is examined. This paper differs from other studies that have linked supply chain management to environmental technologies as it focuses specifically on green interactions between organizations in the supply chain. In particular, the paper explores the possible relation between environmental collaboration and environmental monitoring in the supply chain and the form of environmental investment characterized by three categories: pollution prevention, pollution control, and management systems. The results suggest that environmental co...

The validity of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF scales: A meta‐analytic view of 17 years of research across five continents

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose is to investigate, the difference between SERVQUAL and SERVPERF's predictive validity of service qualityDesign/methodology/approach – Data from 17 studies containing 42 effect sizes of the relationships between SERVQUAL or SERVPERF with overall service quality (OSQ) are meta‐analyzedFindings – Overall, SERVQUAL and SERVPERF are equally valid predictors of OSQ Adapting the SERVQUAL scale to the measurement context improves its predictive validity; conversely, the predictive validity of SERVPERF is not improved by context adjustments In addition, measures of services quality gain predictive validity when used in: less individualistic cultures, non‐English speaking countries, and industries with an intermediate level of customization (hotels, rental cars, or banks)Research limitations/implications – No study, that were using non‐adapted scales were conducted outside of the USA making it impossible to disentangle the impact of scale adaptation vs contextual differences on the modera

A Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for a Vendor-Managed Inventory-Routing Problem

Abstract: We consider a distribution problem in which a product has to be shipped from a supplier to several retailers over a given time horizon. Each retailer defines a maximum inventory level. The supplier monitors the inventory of each retailer and determines its replenishment policy, guaranteeing that no stockout occurs at the retailer (vendor-managed inventory policy). Every time a retailer is visited, the quantity delivered by the supplier is such that the maximum inventory level is reached (deterministic order-up-to level policy). Shipments from the supplier to the retailers are performed by a vehicle of given capacity. The problem is to determine for each discrete time instant the quantity to ship to each retailer and the vehicle route. We present a mixed-integer linear programming model and derive new additional valid inequalities used to strengthen the linear relaxation of the model. We implement a branch-and-cut algorithm to solve the model optimally. We then compare the optimal solution of the problem with the optimal solution of two problems obtained by relaxing in different ways the deterministic order-up-to level policy. Computational results are presented on a set of randomly generated problem instances.

Information System Use--Related Activity: An Expanded Behavioral Conceptualization of Individual-Level Information System Use

Abstract: Despite calls for improving current approaches to conceptualizing and measuring the construct of information system use, theoretical advances in this regard are still insufficient. The present paper proposes to expand the focus of existing conceptualizations that exclusively focus on technology interaction behaviors via the construct of IS use-related activity. Based on task-technology fit and activity theory, IS use-related activity is conceptualized as a second-order aggregate construct that comprises both technology interaction behaviors, as well as activities users undertake to adapt the task-technology-individual system. A multiple-indicators and multiple-causes analysis of data collected from 190 users in 21 organizations is found to support the proposed conceptualization.

Process thinking in strategic organization

Abstract: We need more process thinking in research on strategic organization. Others have said this before in different ways (Pettigrew, 1992; Van de Ven, 1992; Meyer, Gaba and Colwell, 2005), but when one looks at the majority of empirical work published in the major journals in strategy, it seems that the message bears repeating. Even Strategic Organization, a journal that represents an ideal outlet for this type of research and which, according to the editors, actively welcomes it, has been able to publish only a limited number of empirical papers that embody what I would call process thinking over the first four years of its existence – in my estimate, no more than one or two papers per year. This essay will summarize the case for more process thinking in strategic organization, suggest some ideas for making process thinking more central, and draw attention to some illustrative studies that have shown the way. I begin however with a definition.

What You Should Know about the Vehicle Routing Problem

Abstract: In the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), the aim is to design a set of m minimum cost vehicle routes through n customer locations, so that each route starts and ends at a common location and some side constraints are satisfied. Common applications arise in newspaper and food delivery, and in milk collection. This article summarizes the main known results for the classical VRP in which only vehicle capacity constraints are present. The article is structured around three main headings: exact algorithms, classical heuristics, and metaheuristics. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2007

What You Should Know about the Vehicle Routing Problem

Abstract: In the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), the aim is to design a set of m minimum cost vehicle routes through n customer locations, so that each route starts and ends at a common location and some side constraints are satisfied. Common applications arise in newspaper and food delivery, and in milk collection. This article summarizes the main known results for the classical VRP in which only vehicle capacity constraints are present. The article is structured around three main headings: exact algorithms, classical heuristics, and metaheuristics. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2007

Supply chain management and environmental technologies: the role of integration

Abstract: As corporations attempt to move toward environmental sustainability, management must extend their efforts to improve environmental practices across their supply chain. To date, the literature characterising environmental management within the supply chain has been slowly building, but remains sparse. Moreover, investment by plants in environmental technologies cannot be made independently of other organisations in the supply chain. The linkage between supply chain characteristics, such as the degree of integration with primary suppliers and major customers, and the resources invested in different environmental technologies is assessed with plant-level survey data. The results indicate that resources were increasingly allocated toward pollution prevention when plants developed extensive strategic-level integration with suppliers, including such aspects as product development and knowledge sharing. However, these effects were not mirrored with customers. Instead, greater supply chain integration with custom...

Solving the Capacitated Location-Routing Problem by a Cooperative Lagrangean Relaxation-Granular Tabu Search Heuristic

Abstract: Most of the time in a distribution system, depot location and vehicle routing are interdependent, and recent studies have shown that the overall system cost may be excessive if routing decisions are ignored when locating depots. The location-routing problem (LRP) overcomes this drawback by simultaneously tackling location and routing decisions. This paper presents a cooperative metaheuristic to solve the LRP with capacitated routes and depots. The principle is to alternate between a depot location phase and a routing phase, exchanging information on the most promising edges. In the first phase, the routes and their customers are aggregated into supercustomers, leading to a facility-location problem, which is then solved by a Lagrangean relaxation of the assignment constraints. In the second phase, the routes from the resulting multidepot vehicle-routing problem (VRP) are improved using a granular tabu search (GTS) heuristic. At the end of each global iteration, information about the edges most often used is recorded to be used in the following phases. The method is evaluated on three sets of randomly generated instances and compared with other heuristics and a lower bound. Solutions are obtained in a reasonable amount of time for such a strategic problem and show that this metaheuristic outperforms other methods on various kinds of instances.

Models and branch-and-cut algorithms for pickup and delivery problems with time windows

Abstract: In the pickup and delivery problem with time windows (PDPTW), capacitated vehicles must be routed to satisfy a set of transportation requests between given origins and destinations. In addition to capacity and time window constraints, vehicle routes must also satisfy pairing and precedence constraints on pickups and deliveries. This paper introduces two new formulations for the PDPTW and the closely related dial-a-ride problem (DARP) in which a limit is imposed on the elapsed time between the pickup and the delivery of a request. Several families of valid inequalities are introduced to strengthen these two formulations. These inequalities are used within branch-and-cut algorithms which have been tested on several instance sets for both the PDPTW and the DARP. Instances with up to eight vehicles and 96 requests (194 nodes) have been solved to optimality. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 49(4), 258–272 2007

Chapter 6 Vehicle Routing

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some of the most important vehicle routing problem types. The vehicle routing problem lies at the heart of distribution management. It is faced each day by thousands of companies and organizations engaged in the delivery and collection of goods or people. Because conditions vary from one setting to the next, the objectives and constraints encountered in practice are highly variable. Most algorithmic research and software development in this area focus on a limited number of prototype problems. By building enough flexibility in optimization systems, these can be adapted to various practical contexts. The classical vehicle routing problem (VRP) is one of the most popular problems in combinatorial optimization, and its study has given rise to several exact and heuristic solution techniques of general applicability. The chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the available exact and heuristic algorithms for the VRP, most of which have been adapted to solve other variants.

Playing across the playground: paradoxes of knowledge creation in the videogame firm

Abstract: This contribution illustrates how a videogame firm copes in managing creativity and expression of artistic values, while meeting the constraints of the economics of mass entertainment. The research is based on a case study in one of the largest video game studios in the world located in Montreal, Canada. The approach considers that the creative units of the firms are the communities of specialists (game developers, software programmers, etc.). Each of these communities, which have found a fertile soil in Montreal that nurtures their creative potential, is focused on both exploration and exploitation of a given domain of knowledge. In order to benefit from these sources of creativity, the integration forces implemented by the managers of the firm to bind the creative units together for achieving commercial successes reveal a hybrid form of project management which combines decentralized platforms with strict constraints on time, and a specific management of space that favors informal interactions. However, we suggest that the integration forces put forward by the firm are not just for harnessing creative units: they also generate creative slacks for further expansion of creativity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Governance, Power, and Mandated Collaboration in an Interorganizational Network

Abstract: This article explores the challenges of mandated collaboration among public health care organizations. This in-depth longitudinal multiple case study examines the interests and values of various organizational actors in three collaborative initiatives, focusing on the mobilization of power within the governance frameworks available to them. The authors elaborate on three alternate readings of the processes examined: The managerialist views poor interorganizational collaboration as a failure to adequately manage the process; the symbolic focuses on the value of collaborative initiatives even in the absence of instrumental results; and the third examines the systemic web of power relationships reproduced over time.

Why does private consumption rise after a government spending shock

Abstract: Recent empirical evidence suggests that private consumption is crowded-in by government spending. This outcome violates existing macroeconomic theory, according to which the negative wealth effect brought about by a rise in public expenditure should decrease consumption.

The Changing Nature of Public Entrepreneurship

Abstract: This article proposes a cyclical theory of public entrepreneurship that is rooted in contextual conditions. The authors use material presented to the Institute of Public Administration of Canada for the annual innovation award, as well as an extensive literature review, to illustrate a new model for public entrepreneurship, arguing that today’s public entrepreneurs are teams and their actions are systemic. Public entrepreneurs do not create new artifacts, nor do they design grandiose projects, but they slowly reinvent their organizations and, in so doing, transform the systems that control government effectiveness and efficiency. The authors generalize and contextualize the idea of public entrepreneurship and structure the emergence of entrepreneurs into a cycle theory. The individual entrepreneur dominates when the organization is new or there is a need for novel activities. As the organization matures and the need for efficiency takes over, dominant individual entrepreneurship disappears, and with time, a new systemic entrepreneurship arises to tackle them.

Consumer Racism and Its Effects on Domestic Cross-Ethnic Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the United States, Canada, and France

Abstract: This study provides empirical evidence of the effects of consumer racism on domestic cross-ethnic product purchase in three countries. The model predicts that consumer racism will affect ethnic majorities' judgments of and willingness to buy products from each country's dominant ethnic minority. After a consumer racism measurement instrument is developed and validated, experiments and survey results show that varying levels of consumer racism affect consumer judgments of and willingness to buy domestic products that are perceived as being made by ethnic minorities in the three countries in which the tests took place. Moreover, the results indicate that minority-owned business performance is significantly and negatively affected in areas in which consumer racism is more prevalent. Moderators of consumer racism effects are the perceived level of interaction between consumers and the minority-owned company, a certain product-ethnicity image, and consumers' perceived importance of the outcome associa...

A tabu search heuristic for the quay crane scheduling problem

Abstract: This paper proposes a tabu search heuristic for the Quay Crane Scheduling Problem (QCSP), the problem of scheduling a fixed number of quay cranes in order to load and unload containers into and from a ship. The optimality criterion considered is the minimum completion time. Precedence and non-simultaneity constraints between tasks are taken into account. The former originate from the different kind of operations that each crane has to perform; the latter are needed in order to avoid interferences between the cranes. The QCSP is decomposed into a routing problem and a scheduling problem. The routing problem is solved by a tabu search heuristic, while a local search technique is used to generate the solution of the scheduling problem. This is done by minimizing the longest path length in a disjunctive graph. The effectiveness of our algorithm is assessed by comparing it to a branch-and-cut algorithm and to a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP).