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Steffen Michael Wütz
Former Member
Title
Dipl.-Kfm.
Last Name
Wütz
First name
Steffen Michael
Now showing
1 - 10 of 20
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PublicationType: journal articleJournal: Die VolkswirtschaftVolume: 87Issue: 4
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PublicationType: journal articleJournal: Die VolkswirtschaftVolume: 87Issue: 4
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PublicationCombinations of Mechanisms for an Effective Global Integration of Business Processes within Multinational CompaniesMultinational company theory broadly considers mechanisms for global integration of headquarters-subsidiaries relationships. But only few studies analyze mechanisms for individual global integration of firms' components and adopt a systems approach to examine multiple mechanisms simultaneously with different levels of intensity. In this research we derive hypotheses on an ideal combination of centralization-based, formalization-based, people-based, and information-based mechanisms for each of eight supply chain business processes. Based on organization theory we argue that the combination of integration mechanisms used to individually integrate a given business process globally has to fit with the conditions of that process to positively affect corporate performance.Type: conference paper
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PublicationAn Empirical Analysis and Extension of Factors Driving Global Integration of Business Processes Within MNCs(Strategic Management Society Press, 2015-05-30)Goerzen, AnthonyPrevious work has generally viewed multinational companies as a group of monolithic units that can be characterized in a uniform way (i.e., either integrated or responsive). Environmental and industrial factors that facilitate global integration of these headquarters-subsidiaries relationships are extensively studied. Our research, in contrast, decomposes firms into their business processes. Bridging literature on business process orientation, we hypothesize that (1) global integration and (2) cross-functional integration of business functions that perform activities of the processes (i.e., intra-company factors) and (3) customers and (4) suppliers that pursue the processes along value chains (i.e., intercompany factors) significantly affect global integration of similar business processes among geographically dispersed subsidiaries. A large-scale sample of multinational companies, headquartered in North America, Europe, and Asia should provide evidence.Type: conference paper
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PublicationAdding the Perspective of Process Integration to the Bartlett and Ghoshal Typology of Multinational CompaniesOur current understanding of MNC organization has traditionally focused on the hierarchical interdependence between headquarters and subsidiaries. Yet, the pressure caused by globalizing markets and the rise of emerging market MNCs has forced all MNCs to escalate their search for ways to add value and to reduce costs. This effort has pushed firms to go beyond headquarter subsidiary integration, aligning multiple business functions and their typically interdependent activities through cross-functional integration along business processes. In this paper, we argue that the horizontal process organization is a distinct key component of any MNC's organizational structure, requiring equal consideration beyond the hierarchical structural organization perspective established in the integration responsiveness (IR) framework used to create typologies of MNCs' international strategy and structure (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1987; Prahalad and Doz, 1987). To describe MNCs in a more meaningful way, one should consider not only the hierarchical interdependence between headquarters and subsidiaries but also the cross functional integration along business processes. We combine the literature on MNC's organizational structure in international business with the operations management literature on process organization to develop an extended integration framework. We then hypothesize eight typologies of MNCs and discuss respective examples from business practice. We conclude that the traditional focus on headquarter-subsidiary integration in the IR framework ignores a substantial variance among MNCs that could be better accounted for by considering MNCs' integration of business functions along their business processes.Type: conference paper
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PublicationInstitutional Isomorphism in Supply Chains : Drivers affecting contract enforcement at sub-suppliersTo improve coordination in a supply chain all involved organizations should operate according to similar norms and rules - also known as institutions. Yet, little research covers how organizations effect institutional isomorphism in indirect relations (sub-suppliers). We study this phenomenon on focal organizations' activities to establish compliance with their institutions by the actors involved in their supply chains. Sub-suppliers can hardly be forced by a focal organization and only through direct suppliers as mediators. An approach frequently used in business practice is including institutions in contractual agreements with suppliers requiring the suppliers to pass on the same institutions to sub-suppliers, all the way up to raw material sources (coercive isomorphism). This approach turns out to be difficult and requires more knowledge to apply it successfully. In this context the proposed primary question of this paper is «how can a focal organization drive institutional isomorphism at sub-suppliers by contractual agreements through direct suppliers as mediators?»Type: conference paper
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PublicationType: conference paper
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PublicationDisruptions in Supply Chains : Contemporary challenges and hands-on reactionsToday, supply chains encompass multiple valued-added stages scattered around the world as opposed to the past, in which companies conducted a larger share of value-added activities in-house with greater regional concentration. These changes are particularly fuelled by the megatrends of the last 25 years - globalization and the fine slicing of supply chains. Globalization has intensified competition, enlarged reach of distribution but also reduced cost by including low cost countries in supply chains. The division of work by outsourcing the development and production of parts, components or complete systems to other companies resulted in "fine-sliced" multi-tier supply chains. More actors in a supply chain are associated with higher complexity and lower transparency. Limited transparency and control in supply chains increase the risk for disruptions. A disruption is an incident in which a sudden lack of availability of materials, information or operational capacities delays, restricts, or prevents the fulfillment of a customer order. Disruptions are caused by natural, economic, personal, social, and governmental risks resulting in significant additional costs, decreasing profits and loss of reputation, impacting on companies at all stages of the supply chain. While disruptions cannot be avoided completely, employing distinct risk and disruption management concepts in supply chain management constitute appropriate countermeasures. BVL International and the Chair of Logistics Management at the University of St.Gallen draw attention to disruptions from a practical perspective in seven individual case studies. Therein, attention is drawn to disruptions that occur (1) in distribution activities to customers, (2) in production activities, and (3) in sourcing activities with suppliers and sub-suppliers.Type: book
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