In Study 1, a taxonomy of SCI is developed based on three main types of SCI that are defined and measured in this study. Supply chain performance, operational performance and financial performance of the firms within the supply chain are investigated across five types of SCI patterns identified in the taxonomy. Study 1 also examines the factors influencing SCI pattern, such as competitive hostility, company size, and industry, among others. In Study 2, the impact of relationship commitment on SCI is investigated. We investigate two types of relationship commitment and their impact on integration and performance from both supplier and customer sides. In Study 3, five types of power used by suppliers or customers and their impacts on manufacturers' two types of relationship commitment, SCI, and supply chain performance are examined. / Keywords. Supply Chain Integration, Performance, Relationship Commitment, Power, China / Supply chain integration (SCI) has received increasing attention from academic researchers and practitioners in recent years. However, our knowledge of what influences SCI, and how SCI influences the performance of supply chains and companies within the supply chains, is still very limited. This research is an effort to remedy that deficiency by empirically examining power, relationship commitment, and their impact on SCI and performance based on the data collected from 617 manufacturing companies in China. This dissertation consists of three studies. / Theoretically, this research contributes to transaction cost theory, social exchange theory and power-relationship commitment theory. It extends RCM research and relationship marketing research from traditional dyadic relationships in two-level supply chains to triadic relationships in three-level supply chains. The managerial implications and guidelines developed from this study will help the companies enhance their global competitiveness by developing and managing relationships with their trading partners to achieve the more effective integration of the internal and external processes within the supply chain. / Huo, Baofeng. / "August 2007." / Adviser: Xiande Zhao. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0667. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-261). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Keywords. Competitive strategy, Supply chain strategy, Leanness, Agility, Environmental uncertainty, Moderator, Cumulative model. / Supply chain management has become one of the most popular approaches to enhance the global competitiveness of business corporations today. Thus, it has received more and more attention from practitioners and the academia. However, how to effectively manage the flow of materials from supply sources to the ultimate customer represents a major challenge for today's managers. From the viewpoint of business competition, Porter (1980) identified three general types of strategies, i.e., overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. This research tries to make an extension of this typology from an angle of supply chain management. Two general supply chain strategies including leanness and agility are identified in this study. / This research is composed of three studies. Study 1 makes a contribution to investigate the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between competitive strategy and supply chain strategy, and between supply chain strategy and financial performance. The findings prove that environmental uncertainty works as a homologizer in the proposed framework. Using multiple group structural equation analysis, the different strengths of the impact of competitive strategy on supply chain strategy and that of supply chain strategy on financial performance are identified. Study 2 tests the validity of the matrix proposed by Fisher (1997) and Christopher (2000) in which the relationship between product characteristics and supply chain structure is proposed. The findings show that the functional product needs a higher level of the use of the lean supply chain, while innovative products need a higher level of the use of the agile or leagile supply chain. The regression results demonstrate that the match between product characteristics and supply chain strategy indeed lead to higher performance. Finally, study 3 identifies several supply chain management practices through a thorough literature review of about 300 academic papers and classifies them into eight bundles. Based on Ferdows and De Meyer (1990)'s cumulative model, we propose that lean manufacturers should focus on such practices that help them build lean capabilities, and agile manufacturers need to build lean capabilities first before pursuing agility. / Qi Yinan. / "May 2006." / Adviser: Xiande Zhao. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0644. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-187). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

A model of simulation with mixed-integer programming was created to simulate ordering, production planning, and supplying activities with and without supply information sharing in a three-level capacitated supply chain consisting of multiple suppliers, one manufacturer and multiple retailers. The simulation results indicate that supply information sharing can significantly reduce total cost and enhance service level of the whole supply chain and its members. It can also lessen order variance of downstream members in the supply chain. In addition, the impacts of supply information sharing on the supply chain performance are heavily influenced by demand patterns, capacity tightness, forecast accuracy, product substitution, and the availability of raw materials. / Fierce business competition forces enterprises to pay more attention to the coordination with their suppliers and customers. Information sharing is a prerequisite for coordinated supply chain operations. A wide range of literature emphasizes the importance of information sharing to supply chain performance. According to the direction of information flow between supply chain members, information sharing can be classified into two categories: demand-side information sharing and supply-side information sharing. Previous literature already made a wide variety of insightful explorations into demand-side information sharing in supply chain, such as demand, forecasting, inventory, and order information sharing. However, research efforts have rarely been made into supply-side information sharing. Therefore, this dissertation explores the impacts of supply-side information sharing. / Keywords. Information Sharing; Supply Chain; Simulation. / This dissertation contributes to extending the content and scope of supply chain information sharing research. Managerially speaking, the findings of this dissertation provide important reference for supply chain managers to implement supply information sharing in order to improve decision-making process, reduce uncertainties, and increase visibility in supply chain operations. / Zhou Qiang. / "June 2006." / Adviser: Tien-sheng Lee. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0648. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 170-176). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Rolla, 2007. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed December 3, 2007) Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-31).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2004. / Supervisors: Milena M. Head, Yufei Yuan. Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-144). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (master's)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 2003. / Adviser: Uday Venkatadri. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Industrial and Systems Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-47).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-66). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-166). Also available on the Internet.