Supply (chain) disruptions present considerable managerial challenges with potentially severe consequences. To protect their firms, managers often must decide whether or not to take proactive measures. Protection motivation theory suggests that individuals' intention to respond to a threat proactively results from their cognitive appraisal (situational interpretation) processes. These processes evaluate the characteristics of potential coping responses (e.g., its effectiveness in averting the threat) and the threat itself (e.g., its severity). Building on this framework, this study presents an analysis of what drives managers to, or deters them from, proactively responding to the threat of a disruption. The results from a discrete choice experiment suggest that decision makers have a strong subconscious focus on cost-related aspects of a specific proactive action, all the while consciously prioritizing the efficacy (effectiveness) of the action over its costs. Moreover, decision makers' perceptions of the relative importance of proactive action attributes deviate considerably from their actual choice behavior. This study investigates additional behavioral aspects of supply chain risk management such as a proactive personality, risk attitude, control appraisal, and experience, many of which have significant effects on the relative importance of certain proactive action attributes. The improved understanding has three relevant messages for managerial practice, which are related to the perceptionaction gap, the importance of self-assessment and self-awareness, and training.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Christoph Bode. Christoph taught me everything I needed to know about conducting research and presenting one's work in an adequate fashion. He provided valuable feedback and guidance throughout the time I spent at his Chair. Most importantly, I highly appreciate the positive and goal-oriented working atmosphere Christoph established right from the beginning. This fostered productivity and progress regarding my work on the dissertation. Moreover, I could always rely on Christoph regarding issues that extended beyond the usual work-related matters. Special thanks go to my colleagues, especially Michael Westerburg and Sebastian Gehrlein, for valuable discussions, fun lunch breaks, and the distractions from the daily work. In addition, I would like to thank and Helke Naujok and Judith Fuhrmann. Furthermore, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my parents, Esther and Franz, my fiancée, Danica, and my brother, Janosch. I could always rely on their support and suggestions. Finally, an exciting part of the time I spent working on the dissertation has been made possible by John R. Macdonald and Lynn M. Shore who invited me to Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colorado). John provided excellent advice on chapter 2 of this dissertation and played a decisive role in making my stay in Fort Collins a great experience.
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