Alan W. Mackelprang

• PhD (University of South Carolina)
• Professor (Full) at Georgia Southern University

We develop a novel construct, diversion risk, defined as the potential for post‐retail diversion that results from increased sales of hazardous goods. We examine diversion risk in the context of prescription opioid sales in the United States. We ask how supply base attributes and nonprofit ownership influence the creation of opioid diversion risk....

This hands-on active learning exercise uses an origami activity to teach students how to (1) achieve competitive priorities through process design and (2) monitor and evaluate process performance for potential improvement. Students are expected to explore current work processes for areas of improvement by focusing on process structure and resource...

Rapidly growing interest in sustainability coupled with individuals, firms, and other organizations becoming more inclined to agitate for changes internally, and with outside organizations, has resulted in firms being pressured by various sources to change their sustainable supply chain management practices. In this literature review, we synthesize...

While it is typical for many individual studies to be conducted on a single research topic, it is also common that they might not reach the same conclusion(s). Researchers often utilize meta-analysis to aggregate such studies to identify the actual underlying phenomenon. Especially helpful is the ability of this method to potentially correct for me...

Utilizing behavioral experiments involving approximately one thousand subjects, we empirically evaluate the relationship between volume flexibility and the Bullwhip Effect (BWE). We not only evaluate differences in the level of BWE, but also differences in associated system performance. We find that systems with hard capacity constraints are effect...

Inventory Consignment (IC) has largely been viewed as a method of shifting the ownership and cost burden of inventory from buyer to supplier to benefit the buyer. This primarily accounting based viewpoint has largely ignored process changes that can occur for both the buyer and supplier. This study addresses this gap in the extant literature by exa...

Extant research consistently illustrates the positive benefits customers get from having more innovative suppliers. However, do suppliers benefit financially from positioning themselves as leading innovators? Utilizing a secondary dataset of 1039 supplier to customer base observations, and grounding our study in the structure-conduct-performance fr...

Despite significant academic literature examining the link between pollution and firm performance, the firm risk implications of releasing pollution where humans face exposure has received very little attention from the academic community. In this study we use information processing theory to examine the impact of not only the toxicity level of a f...

This study examines relationships among a firm's innovativeness, its unexpected product failure costs, and financial performance. When a firm chooses to develop more innovative products and processes, product reliability outcomes become more uncertain. These uncertainties in turn may lead to unexpected warranty claims costs, as well as other costs...

Even though few empirical studies have tried to actually explicate the relationship between the bullwhip effect and performance of the supplier firm, there exists a common perception for over 30 years among both practitioners and academics that the bullwhip effect naturally results in decreased firm profitability. Anecdotal evidence further suggest...

Although research evaluating the impact of supply chain integration on performance has advanced substantially in the last decade, inconsistency and considerable variability of empirical findings leave unanswered questions for both research and practice. Using a meta-analysis, we examine empirical studies to clarify the actual relationship, suggest...

This research specifically examines the direct and indirect effects of job specific training and training in quality management techniques, on service system performance. To further explicate these relationships and to provide more specific managerial relevance, we examine these relationships across two common, but under-researched types of service...

Manufacturing flexibility is often viewed as a strategic capability that enables firms to more effectively meet heterogeneous market demands arising, in part, from increased product proliferation. However, recent studies suggest that the operational challenges associated with meeting this objective may be heavily dependent not only upon a firm's in...

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is among the most commonly researched topics in the area of operations management. This study examines the relationship between JIT manufacturing practices and performance outcomes by means of meta-analysis of correlations approach. Based on an in-depth analysis of literature spanning from 1992 to 2008, the results...