{"title":"A Bane or Boon of Technologies: Risks and Benefits of Drone Delivery on Last-Mile Operations","authors":"Eric Ka Ho Leung;Xin Wen","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3584730","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3584730","url":null,"abstract":"Drones for logistics operations have emerged as a popular topic in logistics, offering numerous benefits and risks to the society and environment. While drones can have a significant impact on the surroundings, the environment and external factors can also influence drone delivery operations, resulting in a complex interplay. This article combines a comprehensive literature review and cocitation analysis, supplemented by practices, to explore the two-way interaction between drones and the environment. The benefits and risks of this interaction are also examined. A trend analysis is further conducted to generate insights regarding the stages of development in the literature. Combining findings from the reviewed literature and practices, we propose the novel 3R framework to guide future drone delivery adoption in practical operations. This framework highlights the importance of investigating drone delivery models and their respective risks that should be mitigated. Finally, a future research agenda is proposed to inspire further explorations in this rapidly evolving field of last-mile operations.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2892-2912"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144657351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adjustable Robust Optimization Model for Construction Material Procurement Considering Two-Way Claims Under Price and Demand Uncertainty","authors":"Kaiyue Zhang;Yinghan Zhu;Jing Zhou","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3584472","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3584472","url":null,"abstract":"The dual uncertainty of construction material price and demand, which is a multiplication of uncertainties, magnifies the level of cost uncertainty. Moreover, the shortage cost of construction material is related to the project period, affecting the tradeoff between capital utilization and stockout. Therefore, considering the dual uncertainties of supply price and demand, this article constructs a multistage adjustable robust optimization model to determine the optimal construction material procurement strategy. The model also considers the two-way contract claim agreements between the contractor and the owner. This article further compares four scenarios—where both price and demand are known, price is known but demand is unknown, price is unknown but demand is known, and both price and demand are unknown—to analyze the impact of uncertainty on optimal cost. Furthermore, this article examines the effect of the degree of demand uncertainty and negotiated price on optimal cost and robust optimal procurement strategies. It could guide contractors in claim contract negotiations and procurement optimization in practical applications.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2926-2943"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144657459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Does Corporate Digitalization Affect Circular Supply Chain Management?","authors":"Qinru Wang;Fu Jia;Lujie Chen;Ying Yang","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3585246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3585246","url":null,"abstract":"With the application of digital technologies, the business world is experiencing a disruptive revolution in terms of operations and supply chain management (OSCM). Anecdotal evidence suggests that digitalization is a viable approach for companies to achieve circular supply chain management (CSCM); however, empirical studies remain scarce. In this study, we investigate the digitalization–CSCM relationship by extracting management discussion and analysis texts from the annual reports of 1026 Chinese listed companies over 2009–2021, and measure their level of digitalization using natural language processing based on four types of technologies [i.e., artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing and other digital technologies]. We adopt resource dependence theory as a framework to better understand the relationship between digitalization and CSCM. Firms with higher levels of digitalization perform better in CSCM. AI and cloud computing are more important than blockchain and other digital technologies in improving CSCM. Furthermore, we find that supply chain concentration negatively moderates this relationship. These findings are validated through a series of robustness checks. The study contributes to the OSCM literature by demonstrating the positive impact of digitalization on CSCM and providing an analysis of the OSCM-related moderating effects on this relationship for emerging markets.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2811-2830"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144634869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Successful Are Principles-Based Project Management Methodologies?","authors":"Per Svejvig;Alexander Kock;Lars Kristian Hansen","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3585271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3585271","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the relationship between principles-based project management methodologies (PMMs) and project success, with a specific focus on the Half Double methodology. Unlike traditional process-based approaches, principles-based PMMs—such as PMBOK and PRINCE2—emphasize guiding principles over rigid procedures, offering a more flexible and adaptive framework for managing projects. Despite their increasing adoption across industries, the empirical evidence linking these methodologies to successful project outcomes remains limited. To address this gap, a cross-industry, multi-informant, multilevel survey was conducted, encompassing 351 projects nested within 92 project portfolios. The findings reveal that three core principles of the Half Double methodology are significantly and positively associated with project success. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on principles-based project management by providing empirical support for the effectiveness of such methodologies. Additionally, it extends the semantic hierarchy of PMMs to explicitly include principles and discusses the relevance, optimal number, and adaptability of these principles in dynamic organizational environments. The study underscores the importance of aligning PMMs with specific project contexts and characteristics, offering practical insights for managers seeking to enhance performance through more principle-driven approaches. Overall, the findings highlight the strategic value of adopting principles-based methodologies in achieving successful project outcomes.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2831-2847"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144634715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Do Supplier CEO’s National Cultural Origins Affect Supplier–Customer Relationships?","authors":"Peng Liang;Hasan Cavusoglu;Nan Hu","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3585492","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3585492","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates how the national cultural origins of supplier chief executive officers (CEOs), as characterized by Hofstede’s cross-cultural dimensions, influence the duration of supplier–customer relationships. By analyzing the cultural origins of supplier CEOs from 20 countries over a 25-year period, we find that supplier CEOs with high long-term orientation (LTO) and high uncertainty avoidance (UNA) are associated with longer lasting supplier–customer relationships, while those with high individualism (IND) are associated with shorter relationship durations. These findings are robust to several alternative explanations of customer and supplier CEO variables. To address potential endogeneity—specifically, the concern that CEOs with certain cultural traits may be more likely to join particular firms—we employ a two-stage analysis using predicted cultural origins. Analyses of the mechanisms show that high-LTO suppliers tend to invest more in innovation, high-IND CEOs receive higher compensation, and high-UNA suppliers are less likely to engage in risky activities. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed in detail.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2848-2860"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144640946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Risk Management and Macroeconomic Disruptions in Supply Chains: The Role of Blockchain, Digital Twins, Generative AI, and Quantum Computing","authors":"Jiho Yoon;Rami Alkhudary;Srinivas Talluri;Pierre Féniès","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3585433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3585433","url":null,"abstract":"The global economy faces increasing vulnerabilities from macroeconomic disruptions, such as regulatory changes, trade tensions, geopolitical conflicts, currency volatility, pandemics, and energy crises that undermine the resilience of operations and supply chain management (OSCM) systems. These disruptions exacerbate risks, including supply chain breakdowns, operational inefficiencies, and systemic weaknesses, with energy challenges emerging as a key concern due to their effects on production costs, inflation, and sustainability goals. Advanced technologies, such as blockchain, digital twins, generative artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing, offer transformative potential to enhance transparency, predictive accuracy, and decision-making agility. However, their adoption introduces inherent tradeoffs, as they can lead to energy-intensive operations, cybersecurity risks, and economic burdens. To make sense of these dynamics, this article develops a conceptual framework based on a multilayered information system architecture that links specific disruptions to corresponding digital responses. This framework is grounded in a thorough review of both conceptual and empirical literature, along with extensive discussions among the authors. It explores how these technologies can address the risks stemming from macroeconomic disruptions while also considering their broader economic implications and challenges. It argues that simplistic solutions fail to account for the duality of these technologies’ impacts and highlights the need for a systemic approach to integrate these technologies within OSCM. This article concludes by proposing actionable research directions for OSCM scholars and managers to navigate these complexities.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2995-3009"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144680892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Analysis of Barriers in a Make-to-Order Production System Using Grey - DEMATEL Approach","authors":"Tejaswini Samal;Pradeep Khanna;Umang Soni","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3579275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3579275","url":null,"abstract":"In today’s dynamic and competitive business environment, achieving sustainable profitability is a key objective for manufacturing and service organizations. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating under make-to-order (MTO) production systems face unique challenges, including production inefficiencies, high customization requirements, and limited resources. As SMEs constitute a significant portion of the global manufacturing sector, addressing these challenges is critical for improving lead times, reducing costs, and enhancing responsiveness to customer demands. This article aims to identify and analyze the key barriers that hinder the performance of MTO production systems in SMEs. A comprehensive approach involving literature review, process evaluations, and expert consultations (with departmental heads, senior executives, and supply chain managers) led to the identification of ten critical barriers. The grey decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method is employed to assess the significance of these barriers and categorize them into cause-and-effect groups, offering valuable insights into their interrelationships and guiding effective managerial decision-making.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2673-2679"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144557936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Heather M. LoCrasto;Thomas Mazzuchi;Shahram Sarkani
{"title":"Enhancing Agile Development Programs With Model-Based Systems Engineering for Efficient Status Metrics Generation","authors":"Heather M. LoCrasto;Thomas Mazzuchi;Shahram Sarkani","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3582881","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3582881","url":null,"abstract":"The current methods used to generate program status metrics to track agile development of complex systems are time consuming with data spread across multiple sources, resulting in inconsistent program progress tracking and lack of continuous improvement. This article proposes the development of a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) program status metrics suite using components and agile management data already developed during system design and implementation. This will allow agile development programs to realize the following benefits: improved efficiency due to automation of frequently executed program processes, and improved accuracy of metrics due to the metrics being generated from the same system data source. This article describes the research methodology, which is a series of steps to identify relevant metrics and modeling elements and determine how these modeling elements can be updated to generate program status metrics directly from an MBSE model. As a feasibility assessment, the methodology is applied to a spacecraft system development program case study. The results show that Cameo parametric diagrams can be used to generate program status metrics at the component level, which roll up to the subsystem level using blocks developed as part of model development and data automatically ingested from finance and agile management tools.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2753-2767"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144606249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Interplay Between Green Product Production and Advertising Investment Under Green Reputation","authors":"Xinyu Wang;Yunlong Li;Shuhua Zhang","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3582257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3582257","url":null,"abstract":"Establishing a green reputation reduces environmental impacts, gains recognition, and increases production efficiency. We develop a stochastic optimal control model for monopolies and stochastic differential game models for duopoly and two-tier supply chains. These models involve the sales of green products, the green reputation of products, and comprehensive capital stock. The model is transformed into the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation (system). By solving the HJB equation (system), we obtain the analytical results and draw the following meaningful management conclusions: 1) Under a green reputation, the advertising and production investments of green products mutually promote each other when the firm’s emissions decrease and the sales margin increases. 2) Improving the green supply chain structure will increase the capital stock, green reputation, and sales of firms. However, as we modify our assumptions, the model becomes more complex, and analytical results cannot be obtained. We hence develop a machine learning algorithm based on the deep Galerkin method to help solve it. We find that high sales profit margins can offset the investment constraints imposed by competitors’ market presence and emission levels, thereby stimulating advertising investment. Finally, we use data from two electric vehicle firms to estimate our model and compare it with two econometric models. We show that our model performs better or equivalently in fitting. Our research aims to help engineering managers and firm executives use the green reputation to guide production planning and investment management.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2680-2699"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144581582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yancheng Fan;Yingfang Gao;Dimitris G. Assimakopoulos;Elias G. Carayannis
{"title":"Regional Digitalization, Digital Innovation Capabilities, and Manufacturing Sector Innovation","authors":"Yancheng Fan;Yingfang Gao;Dimitris G. Assimakopoulos;Elias G. Carayannis","doi":"10.1109/TEM.2025.3579669","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2025.3579669","url":null,"abstract":"The continued penetration of digital technologies poses challenges to conventional innovation theories, particularly in explaining how digital environments shape firms’ innovation strategies in emerging markets. By integrating digital affordance theory, this study examines the influence of regional digitalization on firms’ innovation trajectories. Using data from China’s manufacturing sector (2013–2022) and a multilevel mixed-effects model, the results indicate that higher levels of regional digitalization significantly drive firms toward disruptive innovation while reducing firms’ emphasis on incremental innovation, with digital innovation capabilities mediate such effects. In addition, the degree of marketization and industry market turbulence moderate these relationships, making firms more inclined to incremental innovation. Conversely, technological turbulence strengthens the link between regional digitalization and disruptive innovation. These findings contribute to digital innovation theory by revealing the geospatial contingency of digital affordances, highlighting how regional digitalization and firm-level capabilities co-determine firms’ strategic responses to the tension between disruptive and incremental innovation.","PeriodicalId":55009,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","volume":"72 ","pages":"2960-2977"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144671157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}