Logistics, Business & Public Policy Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2788
Browse
40 results
Search Results
Item PROMOTING SAFETY IN FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS: NAVIGATING REGULATIONS, INSPECTOR SCHEDULES, AND INCENTIVE STRUCTURES(2024) Grover, Abhay Kumar; Dresner, Martin E; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The dissertation examines different aspects around safety in U.S. food supply chains, using the context of regulatory policy implementation and inspections. The first essay explores the impact of supply chain accountability regulations on firm level inventory performance within the context of global sourcing. Using the case of the Food Safety Modernization Act, the study suggests that regulatory policies have the potential to negatively impact a firm’s inventory performance by increasing regulatory stress. Using the stress-coping theory, the study finds that sourcing from developed markets exacerbates the regulatory stress, while sourcing from emerging markets alleviates it, thus altering the firm’s coping response as reflected by its inventory leanness performance. The essay has implications for safety in food supply chains. The second essay investigates the impact of work-break schedules on task performance of field staff. Using the context of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory inspections, the study explores different work-break regimes and their impact on food inspectors’ quality assessments of food facilities. The study finds that temporal pacing of inspections increases task performance, but at a diminishing rate. Multi-tasking and non-standard schedules negatively affect performance, while intermittent breaks and start-day of inspections may have a positive effect on inspection outcomes. Strategic scheduling of inspections may increase violation detection. The third essay investigates the impact of incentive design on task performance of field staff. Using the context of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory inspections, the study explores how salary differences relative to multiple referent groups impact food inspectors’ quality assessment of food facilities. Grounded in equity theory, the study finds that a higher salary as compared to previous year, internal peers, and operational interface referents, leads to work withdrawals due to complacency. Conversely, a higher salary as compared to industry referents enhances inspector task performance. A strategic incentive design for inspectors may increase the detection of violations. These studies contribute to the literature at the intersection of supply chain and operations management, public policy, and public sector operations. They do so by advancing our understanding of the factors affecting safety in food supply chains.Item Essays on investor preferences and corporate strategies(2024) Nguyen, Huu Loc; Sampson, Rachelle; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Time horizon, an investment’s expected payback period, is a consequential investor preference and a crucial determinant of corporate strategy as it can constrain firms’ investment options. However, a gap exists between research focusing on investor temporal preferences and on corporate intertemporal strategy. Therefore, my dissertation offers a multi-level analysis to examine the dynamic relationship between investor temporal preferences and firm strategy. In the first essay, I construct a real-options signaling game model in which time horizon serves as a key determinant of firm strategic responses to shifts in investor temporal preferences. I test my predictions using the emergence of low-carbon energy innovation in the U.S. Oil and Gas industry during 1980-2018. I find that firms adjust their strategies in response to changes in investor time horizons. When faced with a lengthened investor time horizon, firms are more inclined to prioritize long-term inventive innovation, whereas a shortened investor time horizon prompts a greater focus on short-term adoptive innovation. Furthermore, I find suggestive evidence that such commitments when firms align their strategies to investor temporal preferences enhance firms' innovation performance. The second essay extends my investigation in the first chapter to explore the impacts of the inherent information asymmetry between firms and investors on investor-induced firm strategies. I find that, in high information asymmetry contexts, firms overshoot their investor-induced responses to effectively signal their alignment to shifts in investor temporal preferences. In the third (co-authored) essay, we explore the interplay between investor temporal preferences and firm strategies via top management teams. We study how the career experience of top management influences firm strategies and investor temporal preferences. We construct a novel metric to capture, standardize, and compare executives’ career paths across different functional roles, firms, and industries. Our findings indicate that executives with heightened diversity of experience across various functional roles tend to support longer-term strategies, such as income smoothing over time, aligning with the interests of long-term investors. In contrast, executives with more transitions between firms and industries often exhibit more short-term actions, namely cuts in R&D investments, rendering their firms more appealing to short-term investors.Item THREE ESSAYS IN HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS: PREPARATION AND RESPONSE TO DISASTERS(2024) Sabol, Matthew; Dresner, Martin; Evers, Philip; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Three essays related to humanitarian operations are examined. The first essay addresses the impact of humanitarian operations on recovery from disasters. Event study methodology is used to demonstrate the economic impact of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery operations on economic recovery. The second essay examines how political considerations can impact government response to natural disasters. Based on theories of public choice and congressional dominance, models are formulated and fixed-effects regressions are used to examine the impact of political alignment and control on government-led humanitarian response. The third essay provides a comparative analysis among four inventory management methods used to prepare for humanitarian operations, under conditions of uncertain demand. Demands for key materials are simulated, based on data from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), relevant to humanitarian operations. General propositions are formulated for inventory managers in preparation for humanitarian operations.Item Platform Design Strategies and Implications for User Behaviors(2023) Mudambi, Maya; Viswanathan, Siva; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This work examines how the design, features, and moderation policies of online platforms impact user behavior in myriad ways and have significant externalities on society at large. The first two studies examine the effectiveness of different content moderation policies adopted by user-generated content platforms to address issues related to misinformation and verbal aggression, respectively. The third study examines how the design of financial incentive structures affects the behaviors of users on a crowdsourcing platform. The studies produce theoretical implications regarding human behavior on online platforms, from the spreading of misinformation to interpersonal verbal aggression, to the behavioral response to monetary rewards. I additionally make recommendations for practitioners regarding optimal platform design and policies.Item Modeling the Determinants of Satisfaction and Commitment in Buyer-Seller Relationships in the Less-Than-Truckload Segment of the Motor Carrier Industry(1992) Jarrell, Judith L.; Corsi, Thomas M.; Transportation, Business and Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)Buyer-seller relationships in the U.S. are changing with the advent of closer, longer-term alliances. In establishing and maintaining these alliances, firms need to understand those factors which determine satisfaction and commitment in relationships. Drawing on theoretical and conceptual work based on Resource Dependence Theory and Social Exchange Theory, this dissertation focused on the buyer-seller dyad in the less-than-truckload segment of the motor carrier industry. The buyer-seller dyads in this segment are particularly interesting since deregulation has necessitated dramatic changes in these relationships. A system of structural equations modeled the determinants of shipper's satisfaction and commitment in these dyads using a correlation input matrix. The network of influencing factors included: carrier's power, shipper's power, comparison level given an alternative and trust. The analysis allowed an in-depth discussion of the relative importance of each of these constructs and found both shipper's power and comparison level given an alternative to have a great influence on satisfaction; satisfaction and trust significantly affect commitment, with satisfaction being more important, relatively speaking. The managerial implications of this research focused on understanding those factors which are most important in creating satisfaction and commitment in buyer-seller relationships. Carrier's need to dedicate personnel to key accounts in order to display initiative in problem solving and responsiveness to inquiries in order to enhance shipper's satisfaction and willingness to commit to a long-term relationship. Other suggested programs include offering customer-oriented programs such as 1-800 numbers, increased flexibility in pick-up and delivery times, and a willingness to forego some accessorial charges.Item DELIVERY PLATFORMS: DO THEY DELIVER RESULTS?(2022) PARK, HYOSOO Kevin; Dresner, Martin; Pan, Xiaodan; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over the past decade, direct-to-consumer retail deliveries have increased significantly, bolstered by the development of dedicated restaurant and retailer delivery platforms. This dissertation, composed of three essays, examines topics related to the performance of delivery platforms and their retail partners.The first essay compares the impact of delivery partnerships and in-house delivery capabilities on the direct channel sales of restaurant chains. Furthermore, the moderating effects of containment and health measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic are examined. I find that delivery platform partnerships and in-house deliveries both positively impact restaurant sales. However, as containment and health measures increase, impacts from delivery platforms wane. Conversely, in-house delivery becomes more beneficial at impacting restaurant sales as containment and health measures increase. In the second essay, I analyze how delivery platform partnerships affect the sales of both grocery retailers and delivery platforms. Two distinct partnerships stages are assessed: 1) platform access, where a grocery retailer’s same-day delivery is only offered through a partner platform’s website, and 2) usage integration, where the platform’s same-day delivery services are integrated into the retailer’s website. I find that platform access provides positive impacts for online sales of both the retailer and the delivery platform. However, usage integration, the second level of the partnership integration, provides benefits to the retailer’s online channel but not to the platform channel. The third essay analyzes how delivery platform partnerships impact retailer and delivery platform sales and how vertical integration between the two partners moderates these relationships. I find that delivery platform partnerships have a positive effect on both retailer and delivery platform sales. However, these positive impacts depend on whether the two partners are vertically integrated. Without a common ownership structure, delivery platform sales crowd out retailer store sales. Likewise, retailer sales crowd out delivery platform sales without vertical integration.Item The Competition on Online Marketplaces(2022) Su, Hao; Dresner, Martin E.; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines competition in online marketplaces using data from the largest online marketplace in the U.S., Amazon.com. The first essay studies direct sales competition between a marketplace operator and third parties that sell their products on the marketplace and examines factors that third-party sellers may use to avoid direct competition with the marketplace operator. I find that third-party sellers can best avoid competing directly with Amazon by selling unbranded products and by marketing products that are fulfilled by Amazon. The second essay investigates competitive results between the marketplace operator and third-party sellers. I find that despite inherent competitive disadvantages, third-party sellers may increase their likelihood of winning the sales competition against the marketplace operator when they offer a lower price than the marketplace operator and when they use the marketplace operator’s fulfillment services. In addition, a third-party seller using direct fulfillment is less likely to outcompete a seller using operator-managed fulfillment services, but it can be more competitive when it offers lower prices and when it sells low-priced products. The third essay investigates how employment of the marketplace’s store banner impacts sales performance for both private label products and non-private label products on an online marketplace. I find that directly branding private labels and using store banners on non-private label products are both associated with greater sales performance. In addition, lower-priced products and non-private label products may achieve greater benefits from store banners. The findings contribute to the online marketplace literature by empirically testing the impact of direct sales, fulfillment services, and store banner use on competition between a marketplace operator and third-party sellers. The findings also contribute to important antitrust considerations.Item Competition, Firm Financial Pressure, and Location Strategy: 3 Essays on Firm Domestic and International Expansion(2022) Jaffe, Roxanne L; Chung, Wilbur; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the relationship between firm capabilities, including firm financial condition, and expansion strategy in a competitive environment. In Essay 1, I build a formal model of firm geographical expansion and entry timing based on Cournot competition that is driven by heterogeneity in firm, location, and competition traits. Using Monte-Carlo simulation, I identify firm best responses and Nash Equilibrium which serve as predictions for empirical inquiry in Essay 2 and Essay 3. Variation in firm traits and location traits lead to different expansion outcomes including whether firms expand at all, whether firms enter a market early or later, and which geographical location firms choose. While similar firms choose similar expansion behavior, as firms’ relative capabilities and revenue pressure differ, staggered entry becomes more appealing, resulting in differential firm profits. Additionally, expansion strategy becomes more nuanced when considering the interaction between firm, competitor, and location traits, both domestically and internationally. I focus on two key mechanisms of interest and test these empirically: revenue pressure in Essay 2, and liability of foreignness in Essay 3. I focus on a subset of propositions that map to my empirical setting: expansion into cities by firms in the micro-mobility industry (scooter, bike, and moped share companies). In Essay 2, the empirical results for US expansion activity support model predictions that more capable firms expand before less capable firms, but that revenue pressure pushes firms to expand earlier than they would prefer. Extending the model to capture international expansion in Essay 3, I find that liability foreignness helps explain the entry timing of firms at the country level, as well as a subset of entry decisions at the city level. This final essay highlights the nuances of various measures of liability of foreignness, as well as the importance of separating out different levels of analysis (e.g., at the city and country level) when examining firm entry decisions.Item Greenwashing, Firm ESG Strategy, and Employee Impact(2022) Barrymore, Nathan; Sampson, Rachelle C; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation studies the causes and consequences of firms’ environmental and social (ESG) actions, with a specific focus on employees. Essay 1 examines greenwashing: when firms present an overly positive view of their environmental and social outcomes. I ask how top managers and investors’ ESG preferences influence companies’ self-reported environmental and social policies, and their independently reported environmental and social outcomes. I find that managers’ ESG preferences, as proxied using their language on earnings calls, correlate with both ESG policies and outcomes. However, investors’ ESG preferences correlate with only policies and not outcomes, suggestive of greenwashing. I conclude that agency issues explain these divergent results.Essays 2 and 3 ask how employees respond to firms’ ESG outcomes and to firms’ pay policies. Essay 2 explores the relationship between a firm’s ESG outcomes and labor productivity. In two contexts, we find that ESG outcomes predict higher labor productivity, but only when there is sufficient information about firm behavior. In one study, the positive impact on labor productivity only exists for large firms. In another study, the positive relationship appears only after a government regulation requiring that firms disclose their carbon emissions. Essay 3 provides large scale evidence on the relationship between wages and employee attrition. We find that paying above median wages for a specific role decreases attrition rates, but only among low and middle wage workers in the US. If stakeholder capitalism is to sustain and integrate into the US corporate system, the movement needs to be based on accurate assessments of environmental and social outcomes. These essays provide an advance in that direction, by using independently reported ESG data to examine how ESG issues impact firm strategy.Item SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS: IMPACT ON COMPETITOR FIRMS AND THE INFLUENCE OF SUPPLY CHAIN COMPLEXITY ON DISRUPTION LIKELIHOOD AND RECOVERY TIME(2021) Guntuka, Laharish; Corsi, Thomas; Business and Management: Logistics, Business & Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The two essays of this dissertation focus on supply chain disruptions, with first essay studying the impact of supply chain disruptions on the disrupted firm competitors and the second essay, examining the impact of supply chain complexity on the manufacturing plant’s recovery time from disruption. In Essay 1 of my dissertation, I investigate the horizontal spillover effects of supply chain disruptions to the disrupted firm’s competitors, anecdotal evidence for the relationship between bystander competitor firms’ financial performance and supply chain disruptions (SCDs) of a focal firm is equivocal. Past studies on this relationship have revealed mixed findings. I consider two potential sources of this ambiguity by examining a multitude of SCDs over a 13-year period (2003–2015). I examine the vertical interdependence among competitor firms, along with the visibilities of the disrupted firm, the undisrupted competitor firm, and the SCD event. I investigate the stock market reaction to bystander competitor firms after a focal firm SCD announcement. In addition, I measure operational performance of the bystander competitor firm measured through return on assets (ROA) in the period following a focal firm’s SCD announcement. I find that both performance measures show that bystander competitor firms are positively impacted when their competitor experiences an SCD. I also find that both measures are less positive when there is vertical interdependence between the competitors. These insights help firms to better assess the complexities of their supply chains as well as the connectivity to their competitors as sources of disruption risks. I also find that the stock market reaction is more positive when the event is visible, which suggests that high coverage of a disruptive event should signal a shifting momentum toward the undisrupted competitors. Finally, I find that the operational performance is less positive for very visible undisrupted competitor firms. The Essay 2 of my dissertation examines how supply chain complexity, an important structural characteristic of a supply chain structure, can impact a firm’s supply chain resiliency to a disruption. Many firms continue to struggle to proactively manage the potential sources of supply chain complexity associated with the sourcing, manufacturing, and logistics activities needed to meet customer demand. The purpose of this study, then, is to first, examine the impact of the uncertain environment of the focal site on the likelihood of a site experiencing a disruption. Specifically, I study the peer-to-peer learning from the environment in which the focal site is located. Then, I explore how structural characteristics of the focal site can affect its proactive strategies to avoid disruption along with reactive strategies that aid the site in its recovery process after the disruption. Because firms are increasingly exposed to multiple dimensions of complexity in their supply chain, I theorize on how internal and external structural characteristics impact the likelihood of disruption along with the recovery time if the site goes down due to disruption. Indeed, some firms may have a stronger ability to manage the complexity and risk present at their plant locations compared to the abilities of other firms to manage their complexity. Likewise, I closely look into the role of business continuity management (BCM) plans in the recovery process after disruption. In doing so, I examine the role of strategic, operational, and supplier orientation of BCM plans on the recovery time of the focal site.