Jordan M. Barker’s research while affiliated with Michigan State University and other places

Appointing individuals drawn from suppliers and customers to a firm's board of directors is an increasingly popular practice that can enhance the interorganizational relationship and generate relational rents. Yet, such board members may act in the best interest of their primary employer rather than the shareholders of the firm whose board they serve on, thus creating potential agency conflicts. Drawing on the relational view and agency theory, we explore the tension between rent generation and agency costs and consider how a firm can design governance mechanisms to effectively leverage customer or supplier representation on the board of directors. The associated hypotheses are tested using a large panel dataset constructed from multiple archival sources, and our findings suggest that supplier and customer board members are a double‐edged sword: While they generate value in some instances, they can also be associated with lower performance depending on the levels of two key governance mechanisms—the number of inside directors on the board and the proportion of outcome‐based board member compensation.

Numerous studies have examined the relationship between inventory management and financial performance. However, the focus of such empirical work has primarily been on how a firm's own inventory characteristics affect its performance. Our objective is to extend this body of literature beyond the firm‐level. We draw on inventory theory and resource‐based theories to hypothesize about the effect of supplier inventory leanness on a focal firm's financial performance and how supplier and focal firm inventory leanness interact to affect such outcomes. We test our hypotheses using a large panel dataset of supplier‐focal firm relationships obtained from Compustat's Customer Segment database and aggregated to the focal firm‐quarter level, as well as firm financial information from Compustat's Fundamentals Quarterly database. The econometric analyses provide evidence that supplier inventory leanness influences focal firm financial performance indirectly through the interaction with the firm's own inventory leanness. In particular, our estimation results detail how supplier inventory leanness affects the non‐linearity of the focal firm's inventory leanness‐financial performance relationship and its optimal inventory leanness level. The findings broaden the scope of empirical inventory literature and highlight supplier inventory leanness as an important consideration in firm‐level inventory decision making.

In their pursuit of greater performance, firms invariably compete with their rivals for customer demand or scarce resources in factor markets. Firms’ competitive behavior—the series of competitive actions taken to create or maintain competitive advantage—thus, is a key predictor of profitability and has received much attention in the strategic management literature. The central tenet of this article is that supply networks and the relationships among firms in these networks fundamentally shape the nature of interfirm competition and, ultimately, firm performance. While prior research has amply studied the competitive dynamics among (horizontal) rival firms as well as the linkages between supply network characteristics and firm performance, there remain important opportunities to examine how supply networks enable and shape firms’ competitive behavior and the effectiveness of their rivalrous activity. The goal of this article, therefore, is to take stock of the advances made in prior literature and to outline topics for future study at the intersection of competition and supply chain management. Collectively, we lay out a comprehensive perspective on the role that supply networks can play in affecting competition that, we hope, will inform and guide efforts to enhance our understanding of firm‐level competitive behavior and associated performance outcomes.

We examine the extent to which suppliers assimilate to their customers' inventory leanness levels. Drawing on institutional theory, we hypothesize that there is a positive relationship between major customer and supplier inventory leanness and that this effect is moderated by compliant, reflexive, and normative isomorphic forces. Specifically, we contend that interdependence, uncertainty, and the age of the customer−supplier relationship strengthen the supplier's imitative behaviors and, thus, the assimilation to its major customer's inventory leanness. The hypotheses are tested empirically using a large panel data set of dyadic customer–supplier observations obtained from a variety of archival databases. The econometric analyses provide strong and robust evidence of interorganizational imitation in the domain of inventory management and, thus, document the role key customers play in shaping supplier firms' inventories. We discuss implications of our research for the further development and broadening of the academic inventory literature as well as managerial practice.

2 Elastic resistance is a common training method used to gain strength. Currently, progression with 3 elastic resistance is based on the perceived exertion of the exercise or completion of targeted 4 repetitions; exact resistance is typically unknown. This study's objective is to determine if 5 knowledge of load during elastic resistance exercise will increase strength gains during 6 exercises. Participants were randomized into two strength training groups, elastic resistance only 7 and elastic resistance using a load cell (LC) that displays force during exercise. The LC group 8 used a Smart Handle (Patterson Medical Supply, Chicago, IL) to complete all exercises. Each 9 participant completed the same exercises three times weekly for 8 weeks. The LC group was 10 provided with a set load for exercises whereas the elastic resistance only group was not. 11 Participant's strength was tested at baseline and program completion, measuring isometric 12 strength for shoulder abduction (SAb), shoulder external rotation (SER), hip abduction (HAb), 13 and hip extension (HEx). Independent t-tests were used to compare the normalized torques 14 between groups. No significant differences were found between groups. Shoulder strength gains 15 did not differ between groups (SAb p>0.05; SER p>0.05). Hip strength gains did not differ 16 between groups (HAb p>0.05; HEx p>0.05). Both groups increased strength due to individual 17 supervision, constantly evaluating degree of difficulty associated with exercise and providing 18 feedback while using elastic resistance. Using a LC is as effective as supervised training and 19 could provide value in a clinic setting when patients are working unsupervised. 20 Word Count: 240/250 21

The diversification of service portfolios is one of the key strategies employed by third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to remain competitive. Moving from traditional transportation and warehousing services, many 3PLs now offer a one-stop shopping experience to shippers by combining these services with customized offerings such as inventory management, integrated supply chain management, and consulting. Academic literature has identified key drivers of this phenomenon, such as the need to meet shippers’ increasing expectations, a 3PL’s strategic orientation, or to capitalize on existing resources and capabilities. Yet, work focused on the theoretical and empirical analysis of competitive drivers of 3PL diversification is scant. Grounded in competitive dynamics theory and the theory of strategic groups, we investigate the effects of the addition of new services by peer 3PLs on a focal 3PL’s diversification of service offerings. In particular, we hypothesize—and find based on the analysis of a large archival panel dataset—that a focal 3PL is more likely to expand its service portfolio when its peers introduce services that put them in direct competition with the focal 3PL. The same behavior is observed, though to a lesser extent and with longer time lags, when peers introduce services that the focal 3PL did not previously offer. The results also indicate that when there is greater similarity between the service portfolios of a focal firm and its peers, these relationships will be stronger. Collectively, these findings contribute to the logistics outsourcing and diversification literatures and offer refinements to competitive dynamics theory. Our work also offers managerial insights relevant to 3PL decision makers as they design their service portfolios.

Elastic resistance is a common training method used to gain strength. Currently, progression with elastic resistance is based on the perceived exertion of the exercise or completion of targeted repetitions; exact resistance is typically unknown. This study's objective is to determine if knowledge of load during elastic resistance exercise will increase strength gains during exercises. Participants were randomized into two strength training groups, elastic resistance only and elastic resistance using a load cell (LC) that displays force during exercise. The LC group used a Smart Handle (Patterson Medical Supply, Chicago, IL) to complete all exercises. Each participant completed the same exercises three times weekly for 8 weeks. The LC group was provided with a set load for exercises whereas the elastic resistance only group was not. Participant's strength was tested at baseline and program completion, measuring isometric strength for shoulder abduction (SAb), shoulder external rotation (SER), hip abduction (HAb), and hip extension (HEx). Independent t-tests were used to compare the normalized torques between groups. No significant differences were found between groups. Shoulder strength gains did not differ between groups (SAb p>0.05; SER p>0.05). Hip strength gains did not differ between groups (HAb p>0.05; HEx p>0.05). Both groups increased strength due to individual supervision, constantly evaluating degree of difficulty associated with exercise and providing feedback while using elastic resistance. Using a LC is as effective as supervised training and could provide value in a clinic setting when patients are working unsupervised.