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Purpose One of the major methods to promote small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement is to split tenders into lots. The basic assumption is that SMEs have better chances of awarding smaller or more specialized contracts. This paper aims to investigate whether this widely accepted assumption is correct. Design/methodology/approach This article examines four hypotheses about the factors that influence SME success in public procurement. The empirical analysis uses real data from 380 contract award files and logistic regression to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that a higher number of lots in a tender does not significantly increase the success rate of SMEs, and other factors, including the type of public procurement procedure, the number of participating companies and the overall tender volume, significantly influence SME success. Research limitations/implications There are several implications for theory and practice, including the need to further strengthen the academic evaluation of public procurement policies, the suggestion to implement SME support instruments in public legislation with the utmost caution in practice and the managerial indication that SME competitiveness is more relevant to their success in public bidding than public support policies. Originality/value The findings stand in fundamental contrast to the legal regulations, which postulate that lots are the driving force for SME promotion in public procurement. This is also in contrast to public procurement policies that, for many years, have recommended splitting contracts into smaller lots to become SME-friendly.

PurposeIn the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study investigates a variety of approaches to supply disruption risk management for achieving effective responses for resilience at the supply management subunit level (e.g. category of items). Drawing on the attention-based view of the firm, the authors model the attentional antecedents of supply resilience as (1) attentional perspectives and (2) attentional selection. Attentional perspectives focus on either supply risk sources or supply network recoverability, and both are hypothesised to have a direct positive association with supply resilience. Attentional selection is top down or bottom up when it comes to disruption detection, and these are hypothesised to moderate the association between disruption risk management perspectives and resilience.Design/methodology/approachConducted at the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study employs a hierarchical regression analysis on a multicountry survey of 190 procurement professionals, each responding from the perspective of their own subunit area of supply responsibility.FindingsBoth attentional disruption risk management perspectives are needed to achieve supply resilience, and neither is superior in terms of achieving supply resilience. Both the efficiency of the top down and exposure to the unexpected with the bottom up are needed – to a balanced degree – for improved supply resilience.Practical implicationsThe results encourage firms to purposefully develop their supply risk management practices, first, to include both perspectives and, second, to avoid biases in attentional selection for disruption detection. Ensuring a more balanced approach may allow firms to improve their supply resilience.Originality/valueThe results contribute to the understanding of the microfoundations that underpin firms' operational capabilities for supply risk and disruption management and possible attentional biases.

PurposeInaccurate capturing and processing of customer requirements result in negative economic and ecological effects. Digital twins of customer demands promise to remedy these issues. However, successful implementation necessitates users' technology acceptance. This study contrasts three hierarchical digital twin levels with different degrees of user integration and examines determinants for their respective acceptance.Design/methodology/approachA structural equation model is applied in a comparative manner, considering different levels of digital twin radicalness. A multidimensional approach is used to measure attitudes towards usage. Data are collected in the context of organisational supply management.FindingsResults show harmonious effects across digital twin levels. This indicates that technological radicality plays only a subordinate role when assessing acceptance determinants such as user perception on ease of use, usefulness, trust and risk.Practical implicationsRather than focussing solely on technological factors, findings suggest that users prioritise the actual outcome and efficiency of the system. This perspective offers practical implications for organisations seeking to implement advanced systems and emphasises the significance of user perceptions beyond technological features.Social implicationsThe societal impact of this research are an appreciation of customer roles in the supply chain where an enhanced detection of customer needs and preferences aligns businesses with the dynamic and evolving demands of a diverse and a continuously environmentally-conscious consumer base.Originality/valueThis study applies a measurement model for technology acceptance in a unique and multidimensional manner. Thereby, a comparative analysis of user perceptions across different digital twin levels sheds more light on a nascent, promising and underexplored technological method. This interdisciplinary research combined knowledge from the supply chain management and management information systems fields by highlighting key factors for the adoption of complex technological methods.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how communication with suppliers influences performance during production ramp-up. Often, time, cost or quality targets are missed in production ramp-ups while the number and frequency of ramp-ups is further increasing. The goal of this paper is thus to contribute a better understanding if and to which extend communication content or communication relationship is affecting ramp-up performance. Design/methodology/approach The research uses data from a dyadic survey (N = 160) in the German automotive industry. The data set comprises responses from buyers and suppliers. Constructs, namely, information and relationship quality, as well as communication satisfaction, are measured. The effect of communication is evaluated referring to cost, quality and time dimensions of performance. The analysis is applied with structural equation modeling methodology. This research is complemented by a multigroup analysis (MGA) especially comparing buyer and supplier respondent groups. Findings The results indicate that communication satisfaction positively influences ramp-up performance and that information quality is of higher relevance than relationship quality. Briefly, information exchange (what information to transfer) is more important than relationship management (how to transfer information). This finding contrasts previous literature focusing on relationship factors in communication settings. Furthermore, findings from MGA sustain the findings, because effects are also analyzed from a supplier’s or buyer’s viewpoint. Overall, the findings imply that supplier communication in production ramp-up must of course provide a high level of information quality. However, to optimize ramp-up performance also a high level of relationship quality is required. Research limitations/implications This study featured data from the German automotive industry from buyer’s and supplier’s perspective. This limits its generalizability, yet provides opportunities to test the findings through longitudinal studies, potentially gathering data from other sectors. Practical implications This research recommends managers deliver high information quality to improve communication satisfaction. Hence, this survey provides support for business communication o enhance ramp-up performance to achieve success in buyer–supplier relations. Originality/value Besides the original dyadic database, this research addresses production ramp-up as a very dynamic process. Plans and forecasts change often, thus supplier communication takes place in a stress situation. Then, communicators might overstate information quality and lose sight of relationship quality. The study contributes to this field of research and postulates that (automatic, autonomous) data exchange requires behavioral and relational support. The findings are useful for companies in stress situation (e.g. also a pandemic supply crisis) and will avoid that the optimization of information exchange disregards the relationship aspect.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of connections between sustainability policy goals included in public procurement tenders and offers and their achievement through contract award. Design/methodology/approach - Two hypotheses based on extant literature and the inducement-contribution theory were tested by means of a survey of 281 procurement files from 2007 to 2009 relating to eight product categories and four European Union (EU) member states. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings - Findings indicate that public procurement was more effective in influencing socially responsible goals than environmental goals. In terms of supplier readiness, vendors achieved greater progress in delivering green than socially responsible operations. Research limitations/implications - The collection and analysis of data are based on procurement files, which is a new but also a complex procedure. In comparison to survey data, the data from procurement file analysis are less biased. Practical implications - Public procurement practitioners and sustainability policymakers should consider the use of public procurement as a lever to attain environmental and socially responsible goals. Social implications - Evidence has been provided to demonstrate the strategic use of public procurement impacts on environmental and socially responsible goals, thereby benefiting society. Originality/value - This study contributes in three main ways: first, by adding to existing, limited research on the use of public procurement as a lever of policy goals attainment; second, by examining environmental and socially responsible policy in one study; and third, through providing evidence across EU member states.

In an era of rapidly evolving customer demands and technological advancements, organisations face mounting pressure to enhance their responsiveness. Digital Twins offer novel capabilities by providing comprehensive transparency on customer demands through dynamic and interactive links between real-world entities and their digital counterparts. As a result, Digital Twins have the potential to enable organisations to respond more swiftly and effectively to fluctuating customer demands across volume, process, and product dimensions. However, Digital Twins still lack empirical explorations and theoretical embedment, leading to conceptual ambiguity. Through a case study approach, the study integrates Digital Twins into the framework of Organisational Information Processing Theory (OIPT). Empirical evidence proposes that Digital Twins offer a spectrum of capabilities rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. The findings further emphasise the need for aligning Digital Twin sophistication levels with Information Processing Needs and Constraints, highlighting that the dynamic interplay between Digital Twin advancements, Information Processing Constraints, and Information Processing Capabilities creates a dynamic cycle of adaptation and optimisation. On the whole, the study presents four key implications: (1) Awareness about the versatile application areas of Digital Twins is created. (2) The positive impact of Digital Twins on volume, process, and product responsiveness is outlined. (3) The concept of Information Processing Constraints is introduced to OIPT. And (4) a dynamic cycle of aligning Digital Twin sophistication with Information Processing Capabilities and Constraints is suggested. Therefore, the study contributes not only to a deeper understanding of Digital Twins in demand management but also proposes a new dynamic fit perspective on OIPT.

Following the triple-bottom-line approach, sustainability comprises not only an ecologic and a social dimension but also an economic one. In that sense, economic sustainability (ES) tries to achieve a state in which present economic activities do not place a disproportionate burden on future economic activities. The time-related dimension of ES is of interest for this research, because procurement management makes use of life cycle cost (LCC), which is an instrument to measure long-term economic effects. LCC information could help to consider ES, but practice struggles to consider the information. This research addresses this issue and merges organizational information processing with organizational buying behavior theory. Empirically, it reports original insights into eight cases in the public sector. Decisions in the cases are usually made by councils (buying centers); as such, a group of people with different backgrounds must be informed with ES LCC information. The findings show ES LCC information requirements, capabilities, and fit, as well as information distribution and perception in buying centers. As such, the cases provide indications as to which decisions in the project are influenced by ES LCC information. Overall, the analysis integrates two theoretical perspectives and provides strong indications that LCC is a promising instrument to link decision making with a sustainability rational.

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to analyse military logistics providing a decision support instrument for contracting in defence supply chains.Design methodology approach - This instrument - the Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) portfolio - is developed following the contingency approach. Qualitative interviews and illustrative examples from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are used to validate the portfolio.Findings - The proposed portfolio examines a military demand in respect of its required effectiveness (robustness and resilience), and the suppliers' ability to influence efficiency (forecast and supply risk). In combination, the contingencies are used to recommend three alternative types of PBL contracting.Research limitations implications - This paper is based on conceptual work with illustrative case examples. Therefore, although the authors believe that the PBL portfolio provides useful guidance for further research, the empirical applicability of this instrument must be proven.Originality value - The research on PBL is gaining importance, but still there remains a deficiency of theoretical grounding and management instruments. This study is a first approach to use the contingency framework for developing such an instrument. The value of the PBL portfolio lies in supporting normative decision making for contracting military supply.

This article extends the research on Behavioral Supply Management, and specifically characterizes the decision to exchange supplier–developed innovations. For the innovation exchange to take place, both actors in the dyad must actually make the decision to exchange an innovation with one another. Therefore, buyers’ as well as suppliers’ decision making are part of this research. The decision to exchange innovation is highly relevant, as innovations play an increasingly important role in business research. The applied methodology is a mouse-lab process-tracing experiment. The study is based on computer cursor moving and click data from 658 managers. As the conceptualized decision situation is highly specific, practitioners can build upon their business experience and are the experiment respondents. The sample includes buyer and supplier sub-groups. We differentiate our findings based on innovation intensity (i.e., incremental vs. disruptive innovations). The findings show that the intensity of an innovation does not imply different decision-making per se, although distinguishing incremental from disruptive innovation is often proposed. Furthermore, the relevance of exclusiveness (i.e., a buyer has exclusive access to a supplier’s innovation) is of minor relevance for the supplier but also for the buyer, even when these innovations are disruptive. Finally, the intensity of innovations is only relevant in high-quality buyer–supplier relationships. Under these circumstances, decision makers show irrational behavior, as they prefer alternatives with low economic benefits. That aspect points to the identification of relational decision traps and other theoretical and managerial implications.

Purpose In performance-based contracting (PBC), the provider is paid according to outcomes for its customer, and therefore assumes responsibility for customer risks. Previous studies have revealed that risk exposure is a fundamental influencing factor. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze how previous experience with PBC influences the perception of risks. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on a cross-industry study. Factor analysis and discriminant analysis are used to reveal to what extent experience influences PBC risk factors. Findings It is confirmed that risk perception differs significantly according to previous PBC experience. Thus, significant learning effects are identified in the PBC context. Research limitations/implications Experiential learning in PBC can explain entry barriers to PBC faced by new buyers with low levels of experience. Although the internal validity of the sample is high, as all analyzed cases represent PBC buying companies, there are limitations related to external validity. Practical implications To manage risks this study provides a structure (12 risks, 3 aggregated factors), which could be used for risk evaluation and strategic and operative risk management. Other implications recommend, e.g., to collaborate with a PBC “veteran” when entering into PBC, as this boosts the level of PBC-related experience. Originality/value The findings of this study contribute to identifying PBC risks through the explorative statistical assessment of these PBC risk factors.