Nonprofit operations management has gained increasing attention from both academia andpolicymakers. While the literature has focused on monetary donations, it is important to recognize that individuals also support charity organizations through volunteering and in-kind gifts. This dissertation examines the role of in-kind donations in supporting the operations of Nonprofit organizations. It is divided into three pieces: the first two investigate the relationship between individuals’ time and monetary donations, and their implications for Nonprofit operations, while the last part centers on individuals’ goods donations. The first chapter explores a fundamental question: Do volunteering activities discourage or encourage donations? While some research suggests that people view their time and financial contributions as substitutes, others believe that they should be complementary. Two controlled online experiments indicate that volunteering improves subsequent monetary donations and that, as greater effort is required, people tend to reduce their donations. These results highlight the importance of considering both the labor and financial contributions of volunteers and creating volunteer projects with an appropriate level of effort. The second chapter is about how to manage volunteers, taking into account how volunteers can be unpredictable, heterogeneous, and even donate money. The results challenge conventional knowledge in volunteer management, highlighting the need to integrate the management of volunteers and donors. Volunteers are not only suppliers of labor, but also consumers of volunteering activities. Moreover, enhancing the job efficiency of volunteers may also hinder the performance of charities. Last, the donation of goods is a vital form of supply for charities, which can be resold to generate additional revenue. However, not all in-kind gifts are useful, and unwanted donations can place a financial strain on charitable organizations. Despite this, nonprofits may hesitate to reject undesired donations for fear of discouraging future support. In response, I employ behavioral interventions to encourage donors to voluntarily increase the quality of their gifts.

In the Fall 2021 semester, the Behavioral Lab (in the Supply Chain Management department) was interested in researching the best warehousing inventory management practices. Poor warehouse management can lead to increased lead times and lower customer satisfaction due to errors during the inventory storage and picking processes. Students enrolled in the Supply Chain Management introductory course participated in a simulation called “Warehouseville” to test best practices. In Warehouseville, students completed a series of timed tasks. Participants were incentivized to perform to the best of their ability through financial compensation based on their performance relative to the participant pool average. After the results were summarized, data analysis was performed to derive best practices that can be applied not only to the partner company, Starbucks but also to other firms/industries. As a lab assistant, I assisted in the Warehouseville simulation by helping Professor Craig Carter with any tasks leading up to, during, and following the data collection sessions that he needed support for.

In the current knowledge economy, the decision on whether to outsource knowledge assets is arguably the most important decision in operations and supply chain management (OSCM). However, the theories of transaction cost economics (TCE) and the resource-based theory (RBT) are inconsistent in their ability to predict, describe or explain knowledge outsourcing decisions. Currently, a theory to explain this important OSCM decision does not seem to be available. This dissertation takes a view that strategic decisions like that of knowledge asset outsourcing are made by a two step decision process where (1) an individual level cognitive process where managers generate their solutions and (2) a firm level social process where managers seek to influence other managers about their opinion. Part I uses a behavioral experiment to understand how managers form their solutions to the knowledge outsourcing question. The part tests if the psychological closeness to a task being outsourced i.e. the task affinity and self-interest influences the managers to subvert the rational decision process and make “favorable” outsourcing decisions. Additionally, it also tests if the influence is indirect and mediated by the perception of asset specificity (TCE variable) and core competence (RBT variable). Part 2 adopts a naturalistic paradigm and conducts case study research to understand how these cognitive managers with different mindsets try to influence the firm decision. The structuration theory framework is adopted to study 11 decision opportunities and frame a typology of decision processes that are used by managers. The parsimonious typology has 4 ideal types based on the nature of data exchange (naive and involved) and the nature of mindset exchange (naive or involved). The dissertation offers a comprehensive understanding of how knowledge asset outsourcing decisions emerge. It aligns the strategy research in OSCM field to the current beliefs in strategic management. The typology can be used to develop contingencies that suggest the type of decision process to use in different conditions. The experiment validates that TCE and RBT influences how managers make decisions but shows that task affinity and self-interest influences the perception of core competency and the outsourcing decision.

The phenomenon of global warming and climate change has increasingly attracted attention by researchers in the field of supply chain and operations management. Firms have developed efficient plans and intervention measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While a majority of research in supply chain management has adopted a firm-centric view to study environmental management, this dissertation focuses on the context of GHG emissions reduction by considering a firm’s vertical and horizontal relationships with other parties, and the associated spillover effects. A theoretical framework is first proposed to facilitate the field's understanding of the possible spillover effects in GHG emissions reduction via vertical and horizontal interactions. Two empirical studies are then presented to test the spillover effect in GHG emissions reduction, focusing on the vertical interactions - when firms interact with their supply chain members. Drawing data from Bloomberg Environmental Social and Governance, and Bloomberg SPLC, this study conducts econometric analyses using various models. The results suggest that first, a higher level of supply chain GHG emissions is associated with the adoption of emissions reduction programs by a firm, and that this supply chain leakage contributes to the firm’s financial performance. Second, a firm's supply base innovativeness can contribute to its internal GHG emissions reduction, and this effect is contingent on a firm's supply base structure. As such, this dissertation answers the recent call in the field of supply chain and operations management for more empirical research in socially and environmentally responsible value chains. Further, this study contributes to the literature by providing a better understanding of the externalities that value chain members can impose on one another when pursuing sustainability goals.

Most advanced economies have evolved into service economies with the majority of their activity and jobs being in the service sector. The manufacturing sector is also going through a similar shift towards services. Manufacturers are increasingly complementing their products with new services in order to satisfy a broader array of customer needs and increase the value of their offerings. This shift has offered significant opportunities to the sector and the success of major firms such as IBM, Caterpillar, and Rolls-Royce in competing through services has been remarkable.

Despite the increased importance of services in the manufacturing sector, the academic literature is yet to investigate the many questions that arise under this new manufacturing paradigm. Perhaps for the same reason study of servitization is listed as a research priority in recent publications both in the field of service operations management and in the field services marketing. This dissertation covers three essays aimed at disentangling multiple aspects of the role of services in the manufacturing sector. The literature on the drivers and implications of transition towards services in manufacturing firms is limited. The three studies in this dissertation aim at shedding light on this issue.

Specifically, the first essay looks at the innovation benefits of service transactions with customers. This paper demonstrate the value of services in getting manufacturers closer to customers and allowing them glean useful information from their service interactions. The second essay investigates the antecedents of service strategy adoption. We suggest that the extant diversification theory does not fully explain servitization and this phenomenon represents a unique type of diversification, which is likely driven by different factors. Through econometric analysis of financial data over a 27-year period, this study explores characteristics of product, firm resources, competition, and industry that encourage adoption of service strategies in manufacturing sector. Finally, the third essay takes a deeper dive and focuses on dealerships, as service centers, in the automobile industry. It investigates the role of dealerships in the success of automakers and explores dealership traits that are critical for market success of an automobile brand.

Conflict minerals are those that are taken from violent, militia controlled mines in areas like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and used in technology such as laptops, cellphones, and computers. They are then sold to fund bloody wars that have been raging for years. The issue of conflict minerals continue to rise as technology advances. To combat the issue, the Dodd-Frank Act was implemented in the U.S. in 2010. The act requires companies listed on the stock exchange to report information on possible conflict mineral usage. However, there is a large discrepancy in the compliance levels between many similar technology companies subject to the Dodd-Frank Act. This paper addresses the factors driving compliance through the use of a theory testing method known as pattern matching, and attempts to answer why such similar companies have such different compliance levels. The pattern matching technique looks to test the applicability of theories based on what they theorize will happen and what actually happens in a given scenario. In this instance, the theories know as general deterrence, institutional, and stakeholder theory were put to the test in order to identify the factors driving compliance levels with conflict mineral policies. Both general deterrence and stakeholder theory were able to adequately match their theorized outcomes of conflict mineral compliance with actual observed outcomes. However, general deterrence theory more adequately explained the differences in compliance levels between similar companies. This information has implications on the policy side of the issue, as it reveals a way to more effectively drive up compliance levels by increasing disincentives and penalties in accordance with general deterrence theory.

Over the last several years there has been increased enthusiasm surrounding local interests, particularly when it comes to the economic development of local communities (Esteves, Barclay, 2011). This study seeks to identify potential barriers to local sourcing that have not been previously identified in literature. By conducting interviews with organizations in the private and public sectors, this study was able to gain a broad perspective of the sourcing decision making process across these sectors. The study was able to determine three new barriers to local sourcing. First, in the private sector, the lack of personal commitment to local sourcing from the decision maker to source locally is a barrier. Second, in the public sector, the intention behind procurement policies are creating the barrier for local sourcing opportunities. Finally, both private and public sectors experience the same external barriers due to a mismatch of the local supply base and the needs of the organization.

This thesis is structured as a case study that draws primarily from the field of marketing with supplements from supply chain management. It focuses on the Law Offices of Jennifer Hayes over a time period of six months that spans from September 2012 to February 2013. This project examines how the firm's marketing efforts were expanded to include online pay-per-click marketing through Google Adwords. The project was a huge success as it helped fuel the growth of the business through the generation of qualified leads. Additionally, this thesis also tells the story of the complexities and decisions surrounding the project from its inception to its completion. In the process, this thesis found that the value of the advertising spend at a professional services firm can be increased even when cost reductions are impractical. This was be done by first confirming that there is in fact room to enhance value in this spend category. Secondly, the strategy to accomplish this goal took a holistic approach that enhanced the overall competitiveness of the company, not just its revenues.