Scott Ellis

Associate Professor | Georgia Southern University

Statesboro, GA, UNITED STATES

Scott Ellis’s research interests center on the study of purchasing and supply management processes and functions

Biography

Scott Ellis’s, assistant professor of logistics, research interests center on the study of purchasing and supply management processes and functions. He has published in Journal of Operations Management and Journal of Supply Chain Management, among others. His research has received Journal of Supply Chain Management’s Harold E. Fearon 2011 Best Paper Finalist, Journal of Operations Management 2010 Best Paper Finalist, and Decision Science Institute’s 2008 Elwood S. Buffa Doctoral Dissertation Award for best dissertation in the decision sciences. He's has published 13 peer-reviewed research articles and 1 practitioner article.

In addition, Scott has 18 years of managerial experience in the automotive industry at General Motors and Delphi. In his career in academia, Scott has taught online and traditional classes at the doctoral, graduate and undergraduate levels.

Areas of Expertise (8)

Operations Management

Automotive Industry

Global Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

Manufacturing Management

Purchasing and Negotiation

International Transportation

Outsourcing

Accomplishments (5)

Appointed as Associate Member of the Georgia Southern University Graduate Faculty

2016

Journal of Supply Chain Management Harold E. Fearon Best Paper Finalist

2012

Decision Science Institute’s Innovative Education Competition Finalist

2011

Decision Science Institute’s Innovative Education Competition Award

2014

Journal of Operations Management Best Paper Finalist

2011

Education (3)

State University of New York at Buffalo: Ph.D, Supply Chain Management 2007

Kettering University: M.S., Manufacturing Management 1999

GMI Engineering & Management Institute: B.S., Electrical Engineering 1993

Affiliations (2)

Journal of Supply Chain Management : Editorial Board Member
Journal of Operations Management : Editorial Board Member

Links (2)

Articles (5)

A knowledge management perspective of supplier development: Evidence from supply chain scholars and consultants

Knowledge and Process Management

Liang Chen, Scott Ellis, Clyde Holsapple

2017 As a critical supply chain management strategy and topic, supplier development has been intensively used in industries and actively studied in academia. A recent comprehensive review indicates an increasing interest in incorporating knowledge management in supply chain management, but supplier development has been rarely researched from the perspective of knowledge management. This study incorporates the knowledge chain theory to supplier development and investigates the importance of each knowledge management activity in supplier development. Using the survey data from a sample of active scholars and consultants who are committed to supplier development, this study supports the significant role of knowledge management in supplier development. Specifically, these scholars and consultants suggest that both buying and supplying firms should at least moderately conduct each knowledge management activity in supplier development in order to achieve desired outcomes. We also find that the roles of buying and supplying firms vary across 9 knowledge management activities. In addition, our respondents indicate that the definition of supplier development raised based on the the knowledge chain theory is at least moderately successful in all the evaluation criteria. Based on the quantitative and qualitative evidence from our respondents, this study revises the definition slightly to make it more comprehensive and clear. This study contributes to extant research by confirming the necessity of implementing knowledge management activities in supplier development, validating the heterogeneous roles of knowledge management activities in supplier development, and raising a revised definition of supplier development from the knowledge management perspective.

Reducing behavioral constraints to supplier integration: A socio‐technical systems perspective

Journal of Supply Chain Management

Thomas J Kull, Scott C Ellis, Ram Narasimhan

2013 Despite the benefits of supplier integration (SI), research suggests such collaborative initiatives are inhibited by behavioral constraints. While studies tend to advance technical reasons that hinder SI, we draw from socio‐technical system (STS) theory to suggest that the interaction among social, technical, and environmental features can give rise to behaviors that constrain SI. We conceptualize buying and supplying firms as two distinct social‐technical systems and SI as a merging of technical systems across firms. We posit that behavioral constraints, which limit the realization of SI goals, arise when technical integration commences without appropriate a priori consideration for the social or environmental implications of technical changes. Our conceptual development not only proposes specific social processes that increase the likelihood of behavioral constraints during SI, but also suggests technical approaches to prevent them. Further, we identify salient environmental contingencies affecting the emergence of behavioral constraints. By extending STS theory to the interorganizational context, we contribute to SI research by offering a holistic view of SI and proposing ways managers can address the challenges that exist.

The effect of buyer behaviors on preferred customer status and access to supplier technological innovation: An empirical study of supplier perceptions

Industrial Marketing Management

Scott C Ellis, John W Henke Jr, Thomas J Kull

2012 Buying firms are increasingly looking to suppliers for technological innovations that enhance the competitive position of their new products. However, extant research provides limited guidance on how buying firms may gain access to suppliers' innovative technologies. To address this gap in the literature, we draw from social exchange theory to posit sequential relationships among buyer behaviors, preferred customer status, and supplier's willingness to share technological innovations. We test our assertions by applying structural equation modeling statistical analyses to survey response data from 233 sales personnel of production good suppliers in the U.S. automotive industry. Whereas our results show that two buyer behaviors – early supplier involvement and relational reliability – positively affect preferred customer status, a third behavior – share of sales – has no effect. In turn, we find that preferred customer status is positively associated with supplier's willingness to share new technology with the buyer. Further, our findings indicate that preferred customer status fully mediates the benefits exchanged within a buyer–supplier relationship. Hence, our study highlights why buyers seeking innovations should take care that their behavior is appropriate for managing suppliers' perceptions. Accordingly, our results provide specific guidance to buyers as to how they may increase their access to suppliers' new technologies.

Buyer perceptions of supply disruption risk: A behavioral view and empirical assessment

Journal of Operations Management

Scott C Ellis, Raymond M Henry, Jeff Shockley

2010 As supply chains become more complex, firms face increasing risks of supply disruptions. The process through which buyers make decisions in the face of these risks, however, has not been explored. Despite research highlighting the importance of behavioral approaches to risk, there is limited research that applies these views of risk in the supply chain literature. This paper addresses this gap by drawing on behavioral risk theory to investigate the causal relationships amongst situation, representations of risk, and decision-making within the purchasing domain. We operationalize and explore the relationship between three representations of supply disruption risk: magnitude of supply disruption, probability of supply disruption, and overall supply disruption risk. Additionally, we draw on exchange theories to identify product and market factors that impact buyers’ perceptions of the probability and magnitude of supply disruption. Finally, we look at how representations of risk affect the decision to seek alternative sources of supply. We test our model using data collected from 223 purchasing managers and buyers of direct materials. Our results show that both the probability and the magnitude of supply disruption are important to buyers’ overall perceptions of supply disruption risk. We also find that product and market situational factors impact perceptions of risk, but they are best understood through their impact on perceptions of probability and magnitude. Finally, we find that decisions are based on assessments of overall risk. These findings provide insight into the decision-making process and show that all three representations of risk are necessary for fully understanding risky decision-making with respect to supply disruptions.

Advancing a typology of open innovation

International Journal of Innovation Management

Peter T Gianiodis, SC Ellis, Enrico Secchi

2010 Interest in the concept of open innovation (OI) has increased during recent years; yet, this line of inquiry remains limited due to the lack of a more comprehensive conceptual framework. As a first step toward a unifying framework, we provide a critical review of previous research on the conceptualization, antecedents, and consequences of OI. We then offer a typology describing four OI strategies: (i) innovation seeker, (ii) innovation provider, (iii) intermediary, and (iv) open innovator, which emerge through unique combinations of sources of innovation, firm attributes, and mechanisms of inter-organizational exchange, and produce varying outcomes. Finally, we discuss our typology's implications for theory and practice, and advance potential research avenues.