Goal and incentive alignment are a means of establishing collaborative behavior in supply chains. Essay 1 examines goal and incentive alignment at the strategic level in the purchasing process. It employs survey research in conjunction with structural equation modelling to examine the source selection strategy as a means of aligning the goals of the offeror with those of the buyer. Essay 2 examines goal and incentive alignment at the tactical level. It uses discrete event simulation to explore how the pursuit of localized profit objectives affects the global profitability of a supply chain. Lastly, Essay 3 examines goal and incentive alignment at the operational level. By employing a hybrid simulation approach to model a complex product refurbishment process, this research demonstrates that evaluating subprocesses based solely on their throughput does not equate to greater cost savings for the company at the focal point of this case study. These essays contribute to the body of knowledge in several ways. To the best of the author's knowledge, Essay 1 demonstrates the first empirical linkage, in the realm of public procurement, between the fear of a bid protest and the appropriateness of the sourcing strategy. Similarly, Essay 2 represents the first adaptation of …

Ambient lighting has emerged as a key atmospheric factor influencing how consumers process environmental cues and their behaviors. However, surprisingly little research has examined how people think and feel in the dark (lower than 15 lux). This is particularly relevant given that consumers routinely work, pay bills, relax, consume and make purchases in settings with little or no light. My dissertation addresses this gap by examining how consumers regulate their goals and process information when the light is off, and how that impacts their decision making in three substantive domains: risk-taking behavior, decision quality, and persuasion. In Essay 1, I propose darkness enables risk-taking behavior, and this effect happens through the calmness and relaxation induced in the dark. One caveat is that the decisions have to be made in a familiar setting. The effect was reflected in participants' decisions to invest in riskier yet lucrative stocks, to gamble with the riskier choice, to eat at a foreign restaurant, and to choose a supplement that has potential side effects in a field experiment and three lab experiments (pre-registered). In Essay 2, I propose that when the light is off, consumers are indeed induced to adopt an effortful processing mode. Across four …

Logistics 4.0 suggests that increased automation can enhance performance, while Logistics 5.0 emphasizes the advantages of a modern workforce that combines humans and emerging technologies. However, the logistics industry needs a deeper understanding of human factors, an area that has been overlooked so far. To bridge this research gap, this dissertation investigated distracted driving behavior among individuals involved in transportation and logistics-based applications. This investigation employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Essay 1 focuses on a systematic literature review (SLR) that comprehensively analyzes published research on self-response studies regarding distracted driving behavior. The study identifies five overarching categories of distractions: (a) cell phone-related, (b) technology-related, (c) nontechnology-related, (d) psychological, and (e) personality. The findings underscore the substantial research conducted on self-reported distractions associated with cell phones and technology. Essay 2 employs the protection motivation theory (PMT) to develop hypotheses that predict the engagement of young drivers in texting while driving (TWD). In addition to TWD, the survey also included cognitive failure to examine the indirect effects of PMT on TWD within a mediation framework. The results, obtained through structural equation modeling with 674 respondents aged 18-25, indicate that several factors including response cost, threat vulnerability, cognitive failure, self-efficacy, and …

Linguistic racism is faced by non-native customers due to their different language style when they go through the service exchange process. Despite its prevalence and importance, there is a dearth of research about linguistic racism in the marketing literature, especially from consumers' perspectives. This dissertation thus aims to address this gap by focusing on consumers' cognitive and affective responses as a result to their linguistic racism experiences when they interact with service employees (native speakers) from the host country. Toward this goal, first (Essay 1), a qualitative study is performed to anchor the dissertation in the customers' real-life experiences and to help identify key associated themes which are further empirically examined (Essay 2 & 3) in this three-essay format dissertation. Essay 2 empirically investigates if the identity assignment through ones' language style makes customers feel stigmatized and influence their psychological well-being. In addition, how these experiences subsequently influence their inclination to use technology-mediated interfaces. Similarly, the main objective of Essay 3 was to employ a sociological perspective to examine the impact of language-based chronic social exclusion on non-native customers' psychological and behavioral responses in the marketplace. Moreover, their intention to pay higher tip as a refocusing strategy when these customers …

Extant research on technology adoption provides limited insights into the extent of technology penetration into an organization's work routines, especially in collaborative efforts across supply chains. Further research is required to delve into the broader scope of permanent technology-based solutions that effectively tackle specific issues within the supply chain. This dissertation examines blockchain through three essays to fill these research gaps and contributes to blockchain-based supply chain collaboration and performance literature. Essay 1 examines supply chain behavioral drivers of blockchain assimilation by grounding the hypotheses on social network theory. Findings indicate that supply chain learning, collaboration, and network prominence will affect blockchain assimilation through a cross-sectional survey of supply chain professionals familiar with blockchain. It provides psychometrically validated scales for blockchain assimilation and network prominence, adding to the blockchain literature. Essay 2 builds on institutional theory to argue that peripheral organizations in the blockchain-based network will succumb to institutional pressures and that blockchain principles will require them to play crucial roles in supply chain collaboration efforts to gain legitimacy. By adopting a multi-method approach of a vignette-based experiment and a survey, the findings help supply chain collaboration practitioners manage institutional pressures across emerging blockchain-based systems, particularly for organizations in the …

Supply chain transparency is principally focused on a company's efforts toward disclosing information about their products, and their supply chain operations to the public. Essay 1 is a conceptual paper that examines the risks of disclosing supply chain mapping information to consumers and proposes an approach to developing risk mitigation strategies. This essay also develops a set of supply chain mapping conventions that support the development of an agility-focused supply chain map. Essay 2 employs an experimental design methodology to examine the impact of disclosing the ethnicity of a supplier on consumers' behaviors, while also capturing the extent to which a consumers' ethnic identity and prosocial disposition influence their behaviors. Finally, also using an experimental design, Essay 3 analyzes consumer outcomes based on disclosing no, partial, and full supply chain transparency information, and accounts for heterogenous consumer traits such as the importance of information to a consumer and their perceived quality of information. Collectively, these essays advance the body of knowledge that seeks to understand the risks and benefits of supply chain transparency, by conceptually identifying risks and proposing an approach to minimize the risks associated with supply chain transparency, and by illuminating the conditions that prompt favorable consumer outcomes.