Literature Review

Date: 11/23/2023
Title: Quality control of goji (fruits of Lycium barbarum L. and L. Chinese Mill.): A value chain analysis perspective.

Introduction: Humans rely on plants for food and medicine. In the wake of globalization, traditional and local plant-
derived foods are frequently turned into commodities such as food supplements or nutraceuticals. It is estimated
that this is a market worth over US$150 billion with an annual increase in value of over 10% per year. Overall,
traditional plant-derived foods and medicines are of increasing importance both, for health problems in peoples’
daily lives globally and within the context of fast developing business networks and opportunities. However, the
larger the market becomes, the more quality problems arise. Most herbal medicinal products are applied in the
form of mixtures which consist of hundreds of compounds, which makes quality control notoriously difficult.

Method: Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted during five months of
fieldwork in the main production areas in China with a total of 65 stakeholders. Quality of goji, behavior
and financial performance of stakeholders was documented and analyzed for different VCs.
Findings:

1. Ten different types of VCs were identified.

2. VCs with vertical integration and horizontal collaboration were found to have a more coherent
quality control and better goji quality as well as improved stakeholders’ financial performance.
3. Vertical integration at different levels was found for independent farmer-based VCs, horizontal
collaboration was found in the cooperative-based VCs.
4. Full vertically integrated VCs were found in large-scale production.

Conclusion: Goji quality and stakeholders’ revenues are linked with different types of VCs which mirror
stakeholders’ behavior driven by target markets. Considering their positive influence on quality and
revenues, well-developed vertically integrated value chains are likely to become more important in the
near future.
 Literature Review

Title: How does the stakeholder exposure of vertical integration influence environmental performance?

Introduction: In this study, researchers examine the relationship between Vertical Integration (VI) and
Environmental Performance (EP) to understand the impact of Stakeholder exposure on organizational
behavior. American Apparel proudly stated on their website “Being sustainable is an inherent part of the
American Apparel business model. To avoid legal ramifications and negative publicity from sourcing
illegal and unsustainable wood. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company also demonstrates the environmental
benefits of vertical integration by growing a substantial portion of the hops they use in their beer,
fertilized with compost created on-site from their restaurant and brewing waste (Sierra Nevada Brewing
Co, 2023). However, these anecdotal examples are unverified, and the claims also serve to promote
themselves as environmentally friendly. These observations motivate our central research question: How
does vertical integration. American Apparel makes several simple logical arguments on its site. First, their
centralized location reduces the transportation of raw materials. Second, they have the ability to
incentivize energy reduction and improve working conditions. They also facilitate environmentally
friendly transportation such as subsidized bus passes and a bike share program. Lastly, they claim that
manufacturing efficiency improved EP, which is supported by research yet the relationship between
vertical integration and manufacturing efficiency is less clear.

Method: To test the proposed hypotheses, longitudinal data were collected from two independent
sources. Financial data were collected from Compustat and Asset4 was used to collect data on emissions
data and environmentally focused activities. Asset4 collects social and environmental responsibility data
on public companies, encompassing over 3400 companies internationally on more than two hundred
indicators. We limit our sample to firms in the CPG industry over an 11-year period, 2002–2012. The CPG
industry was chosen to control for industry effects. The time horizon of 2002–2012 was the result of
triangulation among the data sources, primarily limited by the Asset4 database.

Findings: We show that highly integrated firms produce less waste and show greater alignment in
“saying” (stating objectives publicly) versus “doing” (reducing carbon footprint and waste). Yet, firms also
engage in fewer environmental initiatives and do not emit less CO2. Taken together, this provides a more
nuanced understanding of the relationship between VI and EP and how organizational pressures
influence strategic action.

Conclusion: The study also highlights the limitations of control and accountability. Greater control over
supply chain operations only presents an opportunity for environmental related changes, and other
constraints or opportunities may limit how strongly this aspect of stakeholder exposure affects EP. While
it is true that as VI increases, accountability for environmental failures also increases, the nature of such
failures matters. In our study, direct measures of EP, CO2, and Waste emissions, are less strongly related
to VI than would be expected based on stakeholder exposure. This could be specific to the context of our
study, the CPG industry.
 Literature Review

Title: Do stronger intellectual property rights protections raise productivity within the context of trade
liberalization? Evidence from China.

Introduction: Total factor productivity (TFP) is essential for the firm (e.g., Melitz, 2003) and national
development and is affected by many factors. Intuitively, firm TFP will decrease if a firm's patents or
technologies are stolen or suffer low-cost imitation, and firms will reduce their incentives for R&D-
related activities. Under such circumstances, more substantial intellectual property rights protection
(IPP) is helpful and necessary. However, the relationship between IPP and TFP is unclear in the existing
literature, attracting increasing attention over time.

Method: From 2000 to 2007, in addition to the IPR reforms, trade liberalization was a significant
institutional factor that affected firm productivity in the period. To explicitly identify the productivity
effect of IPP, we use an IV estimator to account for the endogeneity of the IPP and incorporate the
import tariff of intermediate goods and import tariff of final goods at the two-digit industry level into the
benchmark regression in addition to other controls.

Hypothesis:

Hypothesis I. Stronger IPP at the province-industry level can raise firm productivity in the trade
liberalization environment.

Hypothesis II. Stronger IPP can generally promote firm productivity by encouraging more firm-level
innovational activities in the trade liberalization environment.

Hypothesis III: Stronger IPP inhibits FDI absorption of manufacturing firms when the labor wasting and
imitation tax effects dominate and not otherwise.

Findings:

1. we find that, on average, stronger IPP raises the TFP of Chinese manufacturers within the context of
trade liberalization

2. we examine the mechanisms explaining our finding tighter IPP can improve firm TFP by encouraging
more innovational activities and the importing of capital goods with higher quality.

3. Our main results are robust to a set of alternative specifications even when the 2008 financial crisis is
considered.

Conclusion: This paper systematically solves the dual endogeneity problem of the IPP variable at the
province-industry level based on the instrumental variable approach using the British settlement dummy
and based on the DID approach taking advantage of China's accession into TRIPS at the end of 2001
(equivalent to China's accession into WTO). The IV approach solves the provincial endogeneity while DID
approach alleviates the industry-side endogeneity.

Literature Review
Title: Can systems integration lead to improved performance? The role of strategic alliances.

Introduction: Despite growing research attention to systemic products and systems integration, there is
still a dearth of research on the performance benefits that firms can attain from increased systems
integration capabilities. We address this research gap using a longitudinal sample of 245 first-tier
automotive suppliers and find that an increased systems integration capability positively affects financial
performance.

Hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1. The greater a supplier’s SI capability, the greater its financial performance.

Hypothesis 2. The greater a supplier’s investments in vertical alliances with buyers, the stronger its
performance benefits attained from increased SI capability.

Hypothesis 3. The greater a supplier’s investments in horizontal alliances with other suppliers, the
weaker its performance benefits attained from increased SI capability.

Method: Researchers selected the automotive industry as the empirical setting to investigate the role of
increased SI capability on firm performance. The automotive industry is particularly appropriate research
setting for our study for several reasons. First, its supply chain is one of the most complex and expansive
in the world, encompassing a great number of large component manufacturers, including both systems
and non-systems suppliers. Second, the automotive industry has a well-defined structure where
suppliers are hierarchically classified into “tiers” (i.e., Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3, where first-tier suppliers
are those directly supplying automakers, while second-tier suppliers supply to the first tier, and so forth).
The automotive industry structure is also “rigid” in terms of lack of cases in which suppliers migrate up
the supply chain and become automakers, and vice versa.

Findings: By considering the crucial role of manufacturing alliances, we also find evidence that vertical
alliances with buyers positively moderate the relationship between systems integration capabilities and
performance, while horizontal alliances have a negative moderating effect. These results contribute to
the dynamic capabilities literature by providing empirical evidence that systems integration capability is
a relevant predictor of firm performance, and expands the current understanding of how system
manufacturers should manage their business-to-business (B2B) relationships.

Conclusion: The results are insightful for future research in several ways. Drawing from the empirical
evidence that increasing SI capabilities lead to superior performance, future research could assess if
increased SI capabilities can also foster innovativeness (such as architectural innovation) or lead to
increased bargaining power positions and shape the quality of vertical relationships. In this case, the
nature of current established external relationships and also interdepartmental interactions may receive
substantial influence from greater SI efforts. The external environment should also play an important
role in how much systems integrators are able to reap performance over time. In more dynamic and
competitive environments, the costs attributed to managing complex product systems may increase due
to technological shifts and the obsolescence of other strategic resources such as manufacturing and R&D
activities. Organizational learning from different perspectives, therefore, should also play an important
role in how much firms can benefit from SI.
 Literature Review
Date: 12/02/2023

Title: Do stronger intellectual property rights protections raise productivity within the context of trade
liberalization? Evidence from China☆

Introduction:

Total factor productivity (TFP) is essential for the firm and national development and is affected by many
factors. Intuitively, firm TFP will decrease if a firm's patents or technologies are stolen or suffer low-cost
imitation, and firms will reduce their incentives for R&D-related activities. Under such circumstances,
more substantial intellectual property rights protection (IPP) is helpful and necessary. However, the
relationship between IPP and TFP is unclear in the existing literature, attracting increasing attention over
time. Extensive literature has found that trade liberalization improves TFP performance. Moreover, trade
liberalization may also influence the institutional quality of a country, such as its IPP. IPP becomes more
challenging to harmonize across countries, even for the same intellectual property rights. (IPR) cases,
with inconsistent standards of IPR enforcement because the scope of protection and enforcement of
patent laws varies from one country to another even in the presence of Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS),1 and particularly in a trade liberalization environment.
When facing trade-liberalizing reforms, one thing must be emphasized: the potential contradiction
between IPP and trade liberalization. Although tighter IPP can give more protection to IPR holders,
excessive protection can result in a market power effect.

Hypothesis:

Hypothesis I. Stronger IPP at the province-industry level can raise firm productivity in the trade
liberalization environment.

Hypothesis II. Stronger IPP can generally promote firm productivity by encouraging more firm-level
innovational activities in the trade liberalization environment.

Hypothesis III. : Stronger IPP inhibits FDI absorption of manufacturing firms when the labor wasting and
imitation tax effects dominate and not otherwise.

Hypothesis IV. Stronger IPP inhibits higher-quality imports and higher-tech imports and reduces import
variety in the context of trade liberalization when the market power effect outweighs the market
expansion effect, or the innovation effect dominates and not otherwise.

Method: Alternative Productivity Estimation Methods. Several TFP estimation methods have been used
in recent studies; here, we use LP estimates. Our goal is to verify the consistency of the benchmark
results obtained from Column 1 in Table 3. Table 7 replaces enterprise TFP estimated by the ACF method
with enterprise TFP calculated by the LP method (Column 2). The regression results show that the
coefficient of the IPP variable in firm productivity regressions estimated using the LP method is still
significantly positive at the 1% level.
Findings: The relationship between the firm's TFP and the IPP of the province-industry portfolio to
which the firm belongs. Clearly, Fig. 3 shows a positive relationship between firm productivity and
province-industry-level IPP after controlling for firm-level, industrylevel, and province-level
characteristics, and a further formal investigation is still necessary. Reports of baseline ordinary least
square (OLS) regression results based on our econometric specification (1), with control variables
introduced step by step. In all regressions, the dependent variable is the log of firm productivity of firm f
in industry j located in province p in year t, estimated using the extended ACF method.

Conclusion: This paper systematically solves the dual endogeneity problem of the IPP variable at the
province-industry level based on the instrumental variable approach using the British settlement dummy
and based on the DID approach taking advantage of China's accession into TRIPS at the end of 2001
(equivalent to China's accession into WTO). The IV approach solves the provincial endogeneity while DID
approach alleviates the industry-side endogeneity.
 Literature Review

Title: Exploring the Relationship between Business Factors and Performance in the Malaysian Halal
Biotechnology SMEs Context.

Introduction:

Biotechnology as a business refers to the employment of biological organisms to advance the

development of products for human and animal healthcare, agricultural productivity, food processing,
renewable resources, and industrial and environmental management (BIOTEK, 2001). Recognizing the
importance of biotechnology as an engine of growth for the economy, the Malaysian Government has
made substantial investments in biotechnological applications in agriculture, human health and relevant
industrial sectors (BIOTEK). Biotechnology is one of five core strategies that will propel Malaysia’s
transformation to a highly industrialized nation by 2020 (Malaysia, 2001). Characterized by small and
medium enterprises (SMEs)(Abu Bakar, 2007), the halal biotech business in Malaysia has not been
subjected to much empirical research, including on the business factors that contribute to its
performance. In focusing on these factors, this study fills a gap in the existing literature, especially in
Malaysia, on to the subject. In Malaysia, halal biotech SMEs are SMEs registered with the National
Pharmaceutical Control Bureau (NPCB) of the Ministry of Health (MOH) that manufacture traditional,
pharmaceutical, over the counter drugs (OTC EXT) and cosmetic products that conform to Islamic rites
and requirements. These products do not come into contact with pork or contain pork as ingredient, by-
product or packaging material. They also do not contain alcohol, blood, constituents of certain animals,
and all kinds of meat that have not been slaughtered according to Islamic procedure.

Method: This study utilizes a qualitative method to data collection, analysis and interpretation on a
relatively unexplored topic. It is tailored to respond to the main research question, that is; “What
business factors contribute to the performance of halal biotech SMEs in Malaysia?” It explores this
question as well as why some factors are more important than others. Morse and Richards (2002)
identified three major qualitative methods namely grounded theory, phenomenology and ethnography.
Of the three, grounded theory has been chosen for this study because of the nature of the research
problem. Merriam and Simpson (2000) referred to grounded theory method as particularly suited to
examine a phenomenon about which little is known. Strauss and Corbin (1994) claimed that the
grounded theory methodology can generate novel and exciting ideas about things that have already
been heavily investigated. Based on the stated merits of grounded theory, the authors of this study hope
that it will provide new insights into the factors that contribute to the performance of halal biotech SMEs
in Malaysia. Grounded theory methodology provides a way to conceptualize data.

Findings: This study reveals that business resources such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
compliance, halal certification and enterprise image are important factors that contribute to halal
business success. A much-discussed theme, GMP compliance was associated by the respondents with
safe products for human consumption. Today’s consumers are much more particular and one of the
things that they check to ascertain the quality and safety of products is the GMP accreditation of the
factories involved in the production. Factories with GMP accreditation are trusted and they have a better
chance in both local and foreign markets.

Conclusion: With regard to methodology, the rich findings of this study imply that grounded theory can
be a useful analysis tool for several areas in management research, in particular when the aim is to
address questions about the meaning and context of social phenomena. Sample size, whilst appropriate
for qualitative research, should be considered adequate only for exploratory analysis. It is generally
accepted by qualitative researchers that generalizability is neither desirable nor necessary; as such
studies are not designed to allow systematic generalizations to some wider population. Future studies,
therefore, may attempt to test the theory and variables developed in this study through large-scale
quantitative surveys or through further in-depth qualitative studies. It is also recommended that a
longitudinal study be carried out to validate the framework drawn up by this study. This research has
been done in the Malaysian context; an international replication of the research may provide interesting
insights. Furthermore, such projects need not be limited to single settings but can also include a cross-
cultural perspective, as demonstrated in the study described here. Future research may also combine
self-reports with other qualitative methods, such as participant’s observation, because replies to
interview questions may not have a stable relationship to actual behavior in naturally occurring
situations.
 Literature Review

Title: The land degradation neutrality management enablers, challenges, and benefits for mobilizing
private investments in Pakistan

Introduction Many threats to environmental degradation exist in the modern world, and land
degradation is thought to be the most serious, with farreaching adverse effects on social, economic, and
ecological conditions. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) recognized
that land degradation is a major global issue and has consistently urged us to strive to achieve a neutral
world from further land degradation. the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as the “reduction in
the capacity of the land to provide ecosystem goods and services and assure its functions over a period
of time for the beneficiaries of these”. In this regard, the current global scale of land degradation and its
consequences highlight the need for neutral land by 2030. Approximately 24 billion tons of soil are lost
worldwide each year, and the estimated cost is between 6.3 and 10.6 trillion dollars. Land degradation is
a global issue that affects almost every ecosystem in high-, middle-, and low-income countries. However,
many of the poorest countries in the world are disproportionately affected because they depend heavily
on land resources. Implementing sustainable land management (SLM) practices in affected areas could
result in economic benefits of up to USD 1.4 trillion.

Method: A mixed-method strategy was used to meet this study’s purpose. The term “mixed methods”
refers to an emergent research methodology that advances the systematic integration or mixing of
quantitative and qualitative data within a single investigation or sustained inquiry program.

Findings: First, Cronbach’s alpha was measured to check the reliability and internal consistency of the
questionnaire. This statistical technique was a helpful critique for land stakeholders working on LDN
programs to undertake, evaluate, develop, and apply tools, such as scale, concept list, and testing. The
results indicated a sufficient measure (α = 0.783) of reliability or internal consistency of the
questionnaire, which was also suitable for measuring the LDN stakeholders’ conceptions of learning
toward LDN. After checking reliability, there was a need to examine how respondents from both the
public and private sectors agreed to evaluate the importance of the LDN questionnaire statements.
Therefore, the Mann-Whitney U-test was used to ascertain whether the average value of each statement
was equal in the public and private sectors. The qualitative results (written comments) from the last
section of the questionnaire showed the survey participants’ knowledge and different level of
understanding of the LDN concept, which cannot be captured in the statistical analysis. The survey
respondents’ comments showed that the LDN market was not developed locally. Therefore, innovative
management strategies and new financing structures are required to tackle the land degradation risk in
Pakistan. Further, their views illustrated that the public sector needed to create an environment, develop
sound policies and regulatory tools to overcome LDN challenges and promote private-private
partnerships as a sustainable land governance tool for increasing investments to accomplish LDN
projects.
Conclusion: This study summarizes the past and present trends in land governance toward LDN
investments by surveying practitioners and experts involved in the LDN process. The conclusion can be
derived from developing a strategy that aims at promoting LDN investments in the South Asian
countries, particularly in Pakistan, where 51 % of different land degradation (30 % of degraded forest, 5
% of degraded cropland, 6 % of degraded grassland, and 10 % of degraded wetland) is causing
environmental humiliation and affect socioeconomic development. There was insufficient public funding
for LDN investments because of the LDN sector’s immaturity. In Pakistan, both federal and provincial
budgets are relatively low compared with the volume of work required in terms of ecosystem protection
and management, research and development, monitoring and evaluation, awareness and capacity
building, and enforcement of laws and regulations.

Literature Review

Title: A social-ecological systems perspective on dried fish value chains.

Introduction: Dried fish has long been an integral part of south and southeast Asian food systems,
social-cultural processes, and the regional and global fish trades. We use the FAO definition of dried fish
that includes products that are cured, salted, preserved in-brine and/or smoked (FAO, 2015). Rich in
calcium and other micronutrients, dried fish consumption and trade is significantly larger in low-income
countries, where it acts as a significant source of food and nutrition in both coastal and arid
mountainous regions (Belton and Thilsted, 2014). The Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable
Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty eradication also considers fishing and
dried fish processing as important drivers of food security and poverty eradication. Dried fish, however,
has been largely neglected in global, regional and national analysis despite constituting about 12% of the
global fish production (FAO, 2015) and making crucial contributions to the nutritional and social
wellbeing of the poor (Thilsted et al., 2014). The trade focus and increasing capitalization of commercial
fishing has posed serious challenges to the dried fish economy and ecology, including the livelihoods of
dried fish processors, small traders, and poor fish workers engaged in the sector (Dey and Center, 2008).

Method:

To characterize and frame an alternative social-ecological perspective on dried fish value chains, we use
a scoping review of the literature with direct and indirect relevance to dried fish economy and actors
engaged in dried fish value chains and particularly small-scale dried fish producers and workers. The
scoping review was undertaken with two objectives: 1) to understand the extant value chain
characteristics of dried fish; and 2) to outline the key social-ecological attributes of the dried fish value
chain that accommodate contextual reality and dynamic ecosystem-human interactions through an
interdisciplinary analysis. Literature databases including Scopus, ProQuest, Science Direct and the Dried
Fish Maters (DFM) Global Literature Archive were scanned using specific key words and search criteria. A
combination of key words such dried fish and value chain”, dried fish and SES”, “dried fish, value chain
and SES” were used by only considering the peer reviewed journal papers.

Findings: Critical linkages regarding resources, roles, relationships, rules, and results determine the
process of actor collaboration, competition for production, distribution and consumptions of goods and
services. On the other hand, the neoclassical framework of value chains subscribes to a command-and-
control system with a stronger power asymmetry among the value chain actors. More powerful actors
with higher political, economic and financial power often exploit the value chain benefits in their favor.
In the context of a dried fish value chain, upper segment actors are in highly disadvantageous position.
As such, it is important to identify those linkages that promote a fair distribution of benefits and avoid
those that have the potential to undermine trust between stakeholder groups. Pro-poor value chains
typically involve significant transaction costs that involve negotiations over shared values, objectives, and
social interactions. Such costs are often considered a burden on efficiency under neoclassical economic
models.

Conclusion: Conventional value chains do not effectively capture resource dynamics and relationships
with the upstream value chain actors. Critical dimensions of equity and wellbeing on poor fishers, small-
scale dried fish processors and workers across the value chain are also not always captured, especially as
they are directly linked to the ecological foundations of the value chains. In contrast, a social-ecological
systems perspective on value chains encourages consideration of multiple realities and linked
understandings of the social, cultural, and economic implications over time and space. Further, an SES-
oriented value chain treats the bio-physical resource as an important node, and it considers the upper
segment actors (fishers and dried fish workers) as active collaborators rather than passive contributors to
the dried fish value chain. SES-oriented value chain analysis also offers additional perspectives for the
scholarship on pro-poor value chains where the role of the primary producer and fair distribution of
benefits in favor of upstream actors is critical Further, our analysis considers “value” as reflective of
material, relational and subjective dimensions of upstream actors instead of a mere economic construct
as envisaged in the extant value chain that adheres more closely with neoclassical perspectives. There is
a greater scope for analysis of value as human wellbeing in SES-oriented value chains.

Literature Review
Date: 12/11/2023

Title: Co-ordination of internal transactions at Hoogovens steel: struggling with the tension between
performance-oriented business units and the concept of an integrated company.

Introduction: The co-ordination of internal transactions can be a major issue for divisionalized

companies. The delegation of authority for the operational management of business units can
provide space for central management to concentrate on strategic issues, while giving general
direction to, and assessing the performance of, the individual business units. But
interdependencies between business units, especially in the form of internal transactions,
complicates the measurement of their individual performance and means that there have to be
agreed procedures for managing those transactions. Numerous companies struggle with the
question of how to manage internal transactions, and this paper describes the struggles of one
such company, Hoogovens Steel. At issue is not only who is permitted to take decisions
regarding

internal transactions, but also the way in which revenues and costs are allocated for performance
measurement.2

In 1995 Hoogovens Steel changed its previously centralized and functionallybased

organizational structure, and introduced five separate business units, each responsible for its
own financial results. The motivation for this organizational change is not explored in detail in
this paper, but the explanation given by the managers was that it furthers a market orientation
within the company and promotes a flexible organization which can quickly respond to market
changes. The authors were approached when it was decided within the company that there
should be an investigation into whether the existing transfer pricing system, which used full cost,
for the mostly mandated internal transactions, was appropriate for the new organizational
structure.

Method: It can be concluded that, although HS fits Eccles’ model, this model offers only
fragmentary insights into the developments observed at HS. As Eccles claims that organizations
are more or less forced to choose one of his four organization types(1985, p. 273), his theory is
of little help in understanding a hybrid organization such as HS. It is not clear whether in such
organizations the prices of internal transfer should be market- or cost-based, or whether both
are possible. Furthermore, Eccles focussed on the pricing of internal transfers and whether or
not they should be mandated, and gave little attention to other aspects of the organizational
control systems, such as transaction conditions other than the price, the performance
measurement and reward systems, and the balancing of long and short-term considerations.
Such a focus ignores the organizational embeddedness of the co-ordination of internal
transactions, and leaves little room for the types of organizational learning which occurred in HS.

Findings: Constrained negotiation As mentioned earlier, steel-making capacity in HS is organized

through medium to long-term plans and its use is co-ordinated through short-term operating
plans. The medium to long-term plans are proposed by the HS management committee, which

includes the BU managers, and approved by the Board of Hoogovens Groep. The short-term
plans emerge from, and are adapted as necessary through, a process of intensive consultation
and negotiation with everyone involved in the processing and supply of both intermediate and
final products. Prior to 1995, these negotiations were primarily concerned with production
planning. The sales function provided the information relating to market conditions and
requirements, and the five product groups co-ordinated their use of the available steel making
capacity. The 1995 reorganization, however, changed the position and responsibilities of the
participants and moved the whole process higher up the organization (i.e. from the production
group level to the BU level). The BUs are now expected to bring market information to the
consultations and negotiations—whereas this was previously provided by the centralized sales
function. The new profit allocation scheme was designed to support this process by making all
the BUs, including those which sell only internally, more aware of the impact of market
conditions on HSs profitability.

Conclusion: The case study of HS draws attention to a paradox. In extreme situations transfer
pricing can be predicted quite easily; however, they are also rather trivial. In a competitive
organization the transacting parties can determine with whom they transact, and on what
conditions, while normally using market-based prices. In a cooperative organization the central
management will mandate internal transactions, and dictate cost-based transfer prices. However,
between these two extremes, there are likely to be many situations in which both
decentralization and integration are important, giving rise to complex internal relationships. In
such situations, conventional transfer pricing theory offers few insights, as the transfer price
basis is underdetermined, but fortunately it is only of minor importance as a control mechanism.
As already argued by Watson and Baumler (1975), complex situations of integration and
differentiation demand a wide range of integrating mechanisms—focusing only on the
‘appropriate basis’ for the transfer price is likely to be of little help
 Literature Review

Title: Enterprise-wide modeling & optimization—An overview of emerging research challenges

and opportunities

Introduction: Globalization trends have significantly increased the scale and complexity of the
modern enterprise. The enterprise has been transformed into a global network consisting of
multiple business units and functions. Operational functions include R&D pipelines, production
networks (both batch and continuous) and supply chain networks. These functions are
supported by financial planning and marketing strategy functions. The enterprise is exposed to
internal and external uncertainties. Examples of internal uncertainties include success prospects
of R&D projects due to technological risks; production upsets such as batch failures and plant
shutdowns. External uncertainties include pricing related uncertainties for raw materials and
products (unless the firm is operating in a monosopny. or a monopoly), exchange rate
fluctuations, market size and

demand uncertainties due to competition and macro-economic factors. Process enterprises

respond to the evolving business and technology environments by strategic maneuvers
involving

R&D, manufacturing, supply chain and marketing functions. Strategic maneuvers involving R&D
include capital budgeting, R&D project selection and project commercialization. Strategic
maneuvers involving the manufacturing function include capital project planning, risk
management and financing. Strategic maneuvers involving the supply chain function include
distribution asset creation as well as supply chain risk management. Strategic maneuvers
involving the marketing function include contracts design and management. Strategic decisions
answer the question—“What should the enterprise do to attain strategic goals?”. In addition,
tactical decisions must answer the question—“How should the enterprise execute strategic
decisions?”. Tactical R&D decisions include project scheduling and R&D resource management.
In recent times, strategic and tactical R&D management has been termed as Innovation Process.

Hypothesis:

Method: The ORMS strategic and tactical literature A comprehensive enterprise-wide modeling
framework requires a unification of methodologies developed in corporate finance as well as the
operations research and Management Science (ORMS) literature. Hence, we present separate
surveys of the strategic and operational literature.

Findings:

Conclusion: This paper demonstrates the significant research potential in building optimization
models and developing algorithms for solving enterprise-wide problems. We presented a
conceptual model that views the enterprise as a network of planning and process functions.
Each function is associated with a decision model which regulates its operations. The current
model architecture suggests that operational planning functions are supervised by strategic
planning functions. In turn process functions are supervised by operational planning functions.
We point out major drawbacks of this architecture and provide several examples that
demonstrate integration between financial and operational decision models. These examples
include integration of capi- tal budgeting (portfolio selection) and R&D pipeline models,
integration of scheduling and resource allocation models in the context of controlling project
development durations, and integration of commodity derivatives and production-inventory
models. However, these are only modest attempts at integrating a small subset of enterprise-
wide decision models. Much work remains to be done to target methodologies for coordinating
decision models or even building holistic cross-functional models. The algorithmic infrastructure
developed by the process systems engineering (PSE), strategic finance and operations research
communities should form the basis for research in large-scale enterprise-wide modeling and
optimization.

11. Literature Review

Title: GOAL ACHIEVEMENT AND SATISFACTION OF JOINT VENTURE PARTNERS

Introduction:

Joint ventures are discrete entities created, owned, and influenced by two or more firms
(parents/partners) that provide inputs to and share in the outcomes of the created entity. Joint
venturing is recommended as a way to avoid some of the obstacles to successful business
venturing (Pearce 1982a; Roberts 1980; Roberts and Berry 1985). These obstacles range from
difficulties in reading the initial market (MacMillan, Block, and SubbaNarasimha 1986) to a
resistance within the existing organization to venturing activities (Hlavacek and Thompson 1975)
and to capability limitations owing to excessive compartmentalization and specialization of jobs
(Kanter 1983). Although a joint venture (JV) may have lower obstacles to success than an internal
start-up, the high dissolution and failure rates for joint ventures, ranging from 36% to 70%
(Harrigan 1988b; Killing 1983; Levine and Bryne 1986), suggest that a strong need exists to learn
how to minimize the impact of these obstacles for joint venture partners. Two key problem areas
reported by senior managers in joint venturing are unrealistic corporation expectations and
inadequate planning (MacMillan et al. 1986). As expectations flow from partner goals, and
planning starts with goal identification, an empirically based examination of partner goals is an
appropriate starting point in the process of improving our understanding of participants’ views
of their joint ventures’ performance. This approach addresses the criticism of entrepreneurship
literature that addresses the criticism of entrepreneurship literature that research has focused on
the operation of the new venture itself and neglected the role of the corporate partners (Kanter
et al. 1991). The approach also addresses the issue of strategic intent, which is central in
analyzing the success of joint venturing, because partner companies establish entrepreneurial
ventures for highly varied reasons. The focus of this study therefore is on the relationship
between partner goals for a joint venture and its subsequent performance.

Hypothesis: The hypotheses and exploratory propositions were tested using data from U.S. firms
involved in manufacturing joint ventures. A categorization of partner goals was developed
through factor analysis, in which Jive categories of goals emerged: knowledge transfer, market
power, financial performance, efficiency, and financial structure. Partners were found to have
pursued multiple goals simultaneously, with knowledge transfer ana’ market goals being most
frequently rated as critically important. These findings suggest the need to expand traditional
performance measures to account for the diverse and non-financial nature of partner goals.

Method:

list of 12 goals was assembled by consolidating the findings and propositions of previous
researchers. The goals used in the study were generated in the following way:

1. Each distinct goal that appeared at least twice in previous research was included. Thus, there
was some summation and reduction in the goals from past research, resulting in the 12 goals
reported in Table 1.

2. Although the goals of revenues and profits were included in only one previous study on joint
ventures, they were included here due to the importance of such goals in any business endeavor.

3. Space was provided on the survey instrument for write-in goals, to ensure completeness of

the goal list

Findings:

broader context, this study adds to the goal consensus and entrepreneurship literature. The
findings in this research provide support for the argument that the environment and the type of
performance measure may explain the conflicting results on goal consensus. The results of this
study suggest that the environmental uncertainty inherent in joint venturing affects the degree
of goal disparity. When examined separately, it was also found that the overlap in partners’ goals
was significantly related to partner satisfaction and not to partner goal achievement. Further, this
study offers evidence that the overlap in partners’ goals mediates other relationships, which may
well confound the results in studies that do not examine these separate effects. The finding that
the role of partner goals is critical to joint venture success is instructive for entrepreneurship
research in that it suggests that analysis of venture management is incomplete without
evaluation of partner or corporate strategic intent. Hopefully, the findings of this study, in
concert with subsequent refinements and extensions, will contribute to the further development
of a practitioner-worthy theory of joint venture performance.

Conclusion:

This study adds to the goal consensus and entrepreneurship literature. The findings in this
research provide support for the argument that the environment and the type of performance
measure may explain the conflicting results on goal consensus. The results of this study suggest
that the environmental uncertainty inherent in joint venturing affects the degree of goal
disparity. When examined separately, it was also found that the overlap in partners’ goals was
significantly related to partner satisfaction and not to partner goal achievement. Further, this
study offers evidence that the overlap in partners’ goals mediates other relationships, which may
well confound the results in studies that do not examine these separate effects. The finding that
the role of partner goals is critical to joint venture success is instructive for entrepreneurship
research in that it suggests that analysis of venture management is incomplete without
evaluation of partner or corporate strategic intent. Hopefully, the findings of this study, in
concert with subsequent refinements and extensions, will contribute to the further development
of a practitioner-worthy theory of joint venture performance.

12.Literature Review
12/26/2023

Title: EXPLORING DETERMINANTS OF SUCCESS IN CORPORATE VENTURES

Introduction: Corporate level managers are responsible for selecting the markets in which they
will fund the development of new CVs, and maintaining a corporate environment conducive to
the support of the CVs as they develop. Results of this research indicate that in selecting markets
to enter, corporate managers should look for situations in which high market growth can
potentially reduce the effect of competitive pressures; in which they are likely to realize a
technology-based advantage; and in which they can stand up to international competition. An
in-house environment stressing a hands-off attitude on the part of corporate level managers
appears most appropriate. Business level managers directly involved with the operation of the
adolescent business can improve their CV’s chances of success through good strategic
positioning. By aggressively maintaining a high market share after an early entry into a broadly
defined market, they can expect to move more quickly down their learning curves and beyond
their break-even points. Given the choice of one or the other, a product that stresses quality over
price is more likely to produce higher profits. although customers are obviously able to shop for
value by considering both price and quality. Finally, any of the adolescent business’ resources
devoted to vertical integration should emphasize downstream rather than upstream
development.

Method: Two methodological aspects of this study warrant detailed comments. The first
concerns the sample of businesses studied and the second concerns the type of analysis
performed.

Findings: It is something of a “standard operating procedure” to discuss the content dimensions

of strategic management broken down into two parts. One part concerns the environment; the
other concerns a business’s position in that environment. See Hambrick (1983a; 1983b) and
Porter (1980; 1985) for extensive discussion of this distinction. Results of this study are presented
roughly ordered along the continuum of “controllability,” beginning with the least readily
controlled, environmental variables, and later turning to the strategic positioning variables. It is
important to note that although some of the variables considered environmental cannot readily
be controlled, they can be acted upon. For instance, managers have only limited ability to affect
growth of their market, but they can act upon information about the market’s growth, e.g., they
may decide to avoid funding ventures that would serve only slowly growing markets. Such
decisions are typically made by corporate managers rather than lower level business managers
(Bourgeois 1980). Thus when we order variables from environmental to strategic, we are also
grouping them into those of primary interest to corporate managers and those of primary
interest to business managers.

Conclusion:

Three broad conclusions seem warranted. First, there are some important differences between
management of CVs and mangagement of more mature SBUs. This conclusion receives implicit support
from a number of findings, but perhaps nowhere is it better illustrated than in the results pertaining to
the relative merits of a strategic advantage based on low cost versus a strategy based on high
differentiation. In studies of mature business, the former has been associated with higher profits and in
this study of adolescent businesses, the latter had the higher profits.

This conclusion has important ramifications for managers and researchers alike. Managers who attempt
to practice “business as usual” when they move from positions with mature businesses may well
misapply management practices that have worked before but will not work now. Likewise, researchers
who maintain the same mindset as they move from mature populations to populations of younger
businesses will probably be working under some false assumptions. A second conclusion is that both
levels of managers, corporate and business, have the ability to influence the financial success of CVs,
though in quite different ways. Corporate level managers can influence the likelihood of success by
entering favorable markets and developing a corporate in-house environment conducive to
entrepreneurship. A favorable market to enter is one offering high growth, one in which the firm holds a
technology-based competitive advantage, and one in which the firm can compete well in international
competition if need be. According to our results, corporate level managers cannot count on inhouse
infrastructures, corporate experience with growth or diversification, or internal corporate competition to
faster successful CVs. Business level managers can affect their CV’s financiai performance by gaining and
maintaining a favorable strategic position for it. A favorable strategic position for CVs is aggressive (in
terms of growth, willingness to serve diverse market segments, and market entry order), avoids being
stuck-in-the-middle, probably by stressing product differentiation/quality more than product cost/price,
and devotes more to downstream than upstream vertical integration. Both groups of managers have a
shared responsibility for the CV’s success, and academicians will need to research both types of
management in order to fully understand CV performance.

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction: Rebreeding primiparous replacement heifers can have up to twice the rate of reproduction
failure compared with dams 4 yr old or older (Roberts et al., 2015). Both the length of postpartum
anestrus and postpartum interval (PPI) are known factors influencing conception (Bischoff et al., 2015).
Length of postpartum anestrus is driven by heifer BCS (Arthington and Vendramini, 2013), which
subsequently drives pregnancy rate (Wiltbank et al., 1961). Cow BCS before and after calving can be one
full BCS lower, with replacement heifers typically having the lowest BCS after calving (Odhiambo et al.,
2009). Successful conception requires replacement heifers reach BCS 6 at calving (Payne et al., 2013);
BCS below 5 may yield pregnancy rate reductions as high as 25% (Kunkle et al., 1998).

Method:

Model Conceptualization A system dynamics model was constructed to capture key feedbacks
influencing reproductive performance in the beef cattle operation, namely BCS, PPI, and pregnancy rate
interrelationships, to analyze several scenarios capable of addressing the objectives described previously

The model was designed to follow one generation of cows, beginning with their first calves as
replacement heifers, to the depletion of the generation out of the herd. By encompassing all stages of
the production cycle, we estimated this cow generation’s total calf production from the cow/calf
enterprise through the stocker and finally feedyard segments. Costs of production through each segment
were accumulated annually. Because the business system is vertically integrated, calf revenue was not
generated until finished cattle were sold from the feedyard. The model was compartmentalized by
production segment beginning with the initial generation of replacement heifers. Calves move through
each enterprise beginning at cow-calf until they are sold as fat cattle. Cost generation was matched with
each production segment.

Findings:

The 42-d calving criteria for EW created significant production and financial gains and outperformed the
21-d calving criteria. Counterintuitively, these gains did not arise in the cow-calf or feedyard segments
(which saw financial declines) but in the stocker segment due to more efficient livestock gains facilitated
by lower weaning weights of incoming calves. Sensitivity analyses corroborated these trade-offs.
Feedyard sale pr

Conclusions:

In general, the model was able to capture the various segments of the integrated beef production
system, but several improvements could be incorporated to better situation that may arise due to the
trade-offs in the production system and incentive structure given to managers. Arrow heads are
accompanied by either a “+” or “–.” When a “+” is present, the target variable is expected to change in
the same direction as the source variable, whereas a “–” indicates change in the opposite direction. For
example, increasing the gap between actual and desired pregnancy rates would call for greater
investments in improved pastures (in the long term) or livestock adjustments to minimize gap (in the
short term), either of which aims to reduce the gap (both balancing processes, indicated by the B in
center loops). However, the unintended consequence of relying on livestock adjustments such as
reducing the calf weaning time leads to smaller weaning weights at the cow-calf segment and greater
gains at the stocker segment. Due to the incentive structure, annual performance rewards may be
disproportionate in favor of the stocker enterprise and fewer resources being allocated to the cow-calf
enterprise to invest in improved pastures. If left unaddressed, the burden of closing the reproductive
performance gap is shifted to the short-term solution of livestock adjustments that managers are forced
to rely on e present more detailed pasture, forage, and feedyard dynamics. The current model boundary
incorporated only livestock population, costs (including the costs of grazing), and revenues but did not
include detailed pasture or forage components needed to explore the vulnerability of the system to
environmental threats (droughts). The feedyard component did not include a detailed stock-flow chain
(like that of the cow-calf segment) needed to model the progression through the feedyard from
placement to finishing.

14. Literature Review:

Title: A novel measure of firm-level production outsourcing

Introduction:

In the 1980’s, the term “outsourcing” became popular as a way to describe the growing propensity for
firms to purchase intermediate goods and services rather than to produce them internally (Rosenberg,
2018). Studies of outsourcing, and even wider issues related to the process span of firms existed even
before the term was coined, and a substantial research stream continues today. There are many
published studies of the antecedents/determinants of outsourcing decisions, managing the process of
outsourcing, or the results of such endeavors. However, researchers have struggled to find suitable
measures of outsourcing, and it has been difficult to establish reliable firm-level measures of production
outsourcing using publicly available data. The vast majority of empirically based outsourcing studies
utilize primary data.

Method: Quantitative Method

Hypothesis:

H1. Higher levels of production outsourcing are associated with higher labor productivity.

H2. Higher levels of production outsourcing are associated with higher capital investment productivity.

H3. Higher levels of production outsourcing are associated with lower capital investment (lower fixed
costs).
H4. Higher levels of production outsourcing are associated with lower contribution margin (higher
variable costs).

Findings:

Researchers and journalists have documented massive movements by U.S. firms toward greater
outsourcing over the last 30 years, especially in high labor content industry sectors (Weber 2017a,
2017b). Developments in communications and transportation technologies, opening of global
economies, and a growing tendency for executives to focus activity on their firm’s core competencies
have driven these changes in process span (Jayaraman et al., 2013). However, studies of the causes and
impacts of outsourcing have been limited by poor measures. Most outsourcing studies are
operationalized at an industry level or rely on data from surveys of small samples that focus on specific
outsourced functions and processes. A few studies of firm-level outsourcing policy offer non-perceptual
measures of vertical integration, vertical relatedness, and outsourcing intensity, yet they have offered
little validation of these measures.

Conclusions:

Outsourcing is a critical area of study, as related decisions account for many of the structural changes in
supply chains. However, research of the causes and impacts of outsourcing has been constrained by
limited measures of outsourcing intensity. Most outsourcing studies are operationalized at an industry
level, or rely on data from surveys of small samples that focus on specific outsourced functions and
processes. This paper proposes an industry-relative measure of firm-level production outsourcing that is
easy to estimate using readily available financial reporting data. We utilize a stochastic production
function to estimate the amount of each firm’s output that is unaccounted for by their use of capital and
labor and partition this residual into firm-specific productivity and outsourcing. Our analysis indicates
that the proposed measure is valid and substantially more predictive of actual production outsourcing
levels than other measures offered in the literature. This measure promises to better enable researchers
to more accurately assess firm-level production outsourcing, as well as aiding their investigations into
the many outsourcing antecedents, performance outcomes, and contingency effects proposed in the
literature.

15. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:
 13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:
Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions:

13. Literature Review:

Title: Can early weaning calves of first-calf heifers improve long-term herd and financial performance
in a vertically integrated beef production system? A study application using system dynamics.

Introduction:

Method:

Findings:

Conclusions: