Organizational Efficacy of Small and Medium-Sized Suppliers: The Role of Information Quality and Continuous Quality Improvement

Authors

Abstract

The role of information quality and continuous quality improvement was analyzed in regards to the organizational efficacy of small and medium-sized suppliers. It was anticipated that both variables would have positive relationships with organizational efficacy. Results supported these hypotheses and demonstrate the importance of firms controlling the flow of quality information and emphasizing continuous quality improvement in order to strengthen organizational efficacy. Given the significant impact of efficacy on individual and group performance and the relationships confirmed as part of the current study, future research is called for such that we might better understand the qualities that characterize the successful supply chain relationships for SMEs.

References

Agrell, P., Lindroth, R., & Norrman, A. (2004). Risk, information and incentives in telecom supply chains. International Journal of Production Economics, 90(1), 1-16.

Ahire, S. L. & Devaraj, S. (2001). An empirical comparison of statistical construct validation approaches. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 48(3), 319-329.

Ahuja, G. (2000). The durability of collaboration: Inducements and opportunities in the formation of interfirm linkages. Strategic Management Journal, 21(3), 317-343.

Allen, R. E., Lucero, M. A., & van Norman, K. L. (1997). An examination of the individual's decision to participate in an employee involvement program. Group and Organization Management, 22, 117-143.

Anderson, J. C. & Narus, J. A. (1990) A model of distributor firm and manufacturer firm working Partnerships. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 42-58.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior, 4. New York: Academic Press, pp. 71-81.

Bandura, A., Adams, N. E., Hardy, A. B., & Howells, G. N. (1980). Tests of the generality of self-efficacy theory. Cognitive Theory and Research, 4, 39-66.

Bandura, A., Reese, L., & Adams, N. E. (1982). Micro-analysis of action and fear arousal as a function of differential levels of perceived self-efficacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 5-21.

Beekman, A. V. & Robinson, R. B. (2004). Supplier partnerships and the small, high-growth firm: Selecting for success. Journal of Small Business Management, 42(1), 59-77.

Bohn, J. G. (2002). The relationship of perceived leadership behaviors on organizational efficacy. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 9, 65-79.

Chao, G. T., O'Leary-Kelly, A. M., Wolf, S., Klein, H. J., & Gardner. P. D. (1994). Organizational Socialization: Its Contents and Consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(5), 730-743.

Chapman, S. & Phillip Carter, P. (1990). Supplier/Customer Inventory Relationships Under Just-in-Time. Decision Science, 21(1), 35-51.

Daft, R. & Lengal, R. (1986). Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design. Management Science, 32(5), 554-571.

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340.

Deming, W. E. (1975). On Some Statistical Aids Toward Economic Production. Interfaces, 5(4), 1-15.

Dimaggio, P. J. & Powell, W. W. (1983). The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160.

Devins, D., Gold, J., Johnson, S., & Holden, R. (2005). A conceptual model of management learning in micro businesses: Implications for research and policy. Education+Training, 47(8/9), 540-551.

Devlin, G. & Bleackley, M. (1988). Strategic Alliances - Guidelines for Success. Long Range Planning, 21(5), 18-23.

Ellram, L. M. & Hendrick, T. E. (1995). Partnering Characteristics: A Dyadic Perspective. Journal of Business Logistics, 16(1), 41-64.

Ferguson, J. M., & Zawacki, R. A. (1993). Service Quality: A Critical Success Factor for IS Organizations. Information Strategy: The Executive's Journal, 9(2), 24-30.

Gélinas, R. & Bigras, Y. (2004). The characteristics and features of SMEs: Favorable or unfavorable to logistics integration. Journal of Small Business Management, 42(3), 263-278.

Gist, M. E. (1987). Self-efficacy: Implications for organizational behavior and human resource management. Academy of Management, 12, 472-485.

Gopal, C. & Cypress. H. (1993). Integrated Distribution Management: Competing on Customer Service, Time and Cost. Homewood, IL: Irwin Publishing.

Guetzkow, H. (1965). Communications in Organizations. In J. March (ed.), Handbook of Organizations (pp. 534-573). Chicago, IL: Rand McNally and Company.

Gully, S. M., Incalcaterra, K. A., Joshi, A. & Beaubien, J. M. (2002). A meta-analysis of team efficacy, potency, and performance: Interdependence and level of analysis as moderators of observed relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 819-832.

Hattie, J. (1985, June). Methodology review: Assessing unidimensionality of tests and items. Applied Psychological Measurement, 9(2), 139-64.

Heide, J. B. & John, G. (1988). The Role of Dependence Balancing in Safeguarding Transaction-specific Assets in Conventional Channels. Journal of Marketing, 52(1), 20-35.

Heslin, P. A. (1999). Boosting empowerment by developing self-efficacy. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 37, 52-64.

House, R. J. (1971). A Path-goal Theory of Leader Effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16(3), 321-338.

Huber, G. P., & Daft, R. (1987). The Information Environment of Organizations. In Handbook of Organizational Communication. Ed. F. Jablin et al. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 130-164.

Jessup, P. A., & Stahelski, A. J. (1999). The effects of a combined goal setting, feedback and incentive intervention on job performance in a manufacturing environment. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 19, 5-26.

Kaiser, H. F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 141-151.

Kasouf, C. J. & Celuch, K.C. (1997). Interfirm relationships in the supply chain: The small supplier's view. Industrial Marketing Management, 26(6), 475-486.

Kimberly, J. R. & Evanisko, M. J. (1981). Organizational Innovation: The Influence of Individual, Organizational, and Contextual Factors on Hospital Adoption of Technological and Administrative Innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 24(4), 689-713.

Kline, R. B. (1997). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford Press.

Lent, R. W. & Hackett, G. (1987). Career self-efficacy: Empirical status and future directions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 30, 347-382.

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Li, L. & Qian, G. (2007). Partnership or Self-Reliance: Prescriptions for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Journal of Business Strategy, 28(6), 29-33.

Magal, S. R. (1991). A Model for Evaluating Information Center Success. Journal of Management Information Systems, 8(1), 91-106.

Martin, A. (1995). Infopartnering: The Ultimate Strategy for Achieving Efficient Consumer Response. Essex Junction, VT: Oliver Wight Publications.

Matlay, H. (1999). Employee relations in small firms: A micro-business perspective. Employee Relations, 21(3), 285-295.

Mentzer, J. T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J. S., Min, S., Nix, N. W., Smith, C. D., & Zacharia, Z. G. (2001). Defining supply chain management. Journal of Business Logistics, 22(2), 1-25.

Monczka, R. M., Peterson, K. J., Handfield, R. B., & Ragatz, G. L. (1998). Success Factors in Strategic Supplier Alliances: The Buying Company Perspective. Decision Sciences, 29(3), 553-577.

Morrissey, W. J. & Pittaway, L. (2006). Buyer-supplier relationships in small firms. International Small Business Journal, 24(3), 272-298.

Mudambi, R., Schruender, C. P., & Mongar, A. (2004). How co-operative is co-operative purchasing in small firms. Long Range Planning, 37(1), 85-102.

Nelson, I. T. & Ratliff, R. L. (2005). A pursuit of excellence: Small business strategies for success against major retailers. Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, 17(2), 1-93.

Nunnally, J. C. & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd Ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Parker, L. E. (1994). Working together: Perceived self- and collective-efficacy at the workplace. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24, 43-59.

Pence, J. L. (1993). Towards a New Telecommunications Industry Quality Standard. Proceedings of the IEEE, 81(2), 166-180.

Prybutok, V. R. & Ramasesh, R. (2005). An Action-Research Based Instrument for Monitoring Continuous Quality Improvement. European Journal of Operational Research, 166(2), 293-309.

Prybutok, V. R. Spink, A. (1999). Transformation of a Health Care Information System: A Self-Assessment Survey. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 46(3), 299-310.

Quayle, M. (2000). Supplier development for UK small firms and medium-sized enterprises. Journal of Applied Management Studies, 9(1), 117-133.

Rands, T. (1992). Information Technology as a Service Operation. Journal of Information Technology, 7(4), 189-201.

Redondo, Y. P. & Cambra Fierro, J.J. (2007). Importance of company size in long-term orientation of supply function: An empirical research. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 22(4), 236-248.

Schuler, J. S. (1979). A role perception transactional process model for organizational communication - outcome relationships. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 23, 268-291.

Stefansson, G. (2002). Business-to-Business Data Sharing: A Source for Integration of Supply Chains. International Journal of Production Economics, 75(1-2), 135-146.

Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley

Zellars, K. L., Hochwarter, W. A., Perrewe, P. L., Miles, A. K., & Kiewitz, C. (2001). Beyond self-efficacy: Interactive effects of role conflict and perceived collective efficacy. Journal of Managerial Issues, 13, 483-499.

Downloads

Published

2011-05-21

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2011)

Section

Articles

License

The Journal of Small Business Strategy (the “Publisher”) and the Author(s) agree as follows:
 
1.Author(s) hereby grant to Publisher all right, title, and interest in and to the Work, including copyright to all means of expression by any method now known or hereafter developed, including electronic format. If Publisher does not publish the Work within two (2) years of the Effective Date, copyright shall revert back to the Author. Publisher agrees to always credit Author(s) as the author(s) of the Work.
 
2.Publisher hereby grants Author a royalty-free, limited license for the following purposes, provided the Work is always identified as having first been published by Publisher.
    •The right to make and distribute copies of all or part of the Work for use in teaching;
    •The right to use all or part of the material contained in the Work in a book by the Author(s), or in a collection of the Author(s)’s work;
    •The right to use and distribute the Work internally at the Author(s)’s place of employment, and for promotion and any other non-commercial purposes;
    •The right to use figures and tables from the Work for any purpose;
    •The right to make presentations of material from the Work;
    •The right to use and distribute the Work on the Author(s)’s Web site and on the Author(s)’s university’s institute repository;
Such license shall be effective when the Work is first published in the Journal of Small Business Strategy.
 
3.The Author(s) represents and warrants that the Work: (a) is the Author(s)’s original work and that Author(s) has full power to enter into this agreement; (b) does not infringe the copyright or property right of another; (c) contains no materials which is obscene, libelous, defamatory or violates another’s civil right, right of privacy, or is otherwise unlawful; and (d) has not been previously published, in whole or in part. Author(s) shall indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against loss or expenses arising from breach of any such warranties.

Most read articles by the same author(s)