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Formalizing the strategic product deletion decision: incorporating multiple stakeholder views

Seyedehfatemeh Golrizgashti (Department of Industrial Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Qingyun Zhu (College of Business, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, USA)
Joseph Sarkis (Business School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA) (Hanken School of Economics, Humlog Institute, Helsinki, Finland)

Industrial Management & Data Systems

ISSN: 0263-5577

Article publication date: 15 March 2022

Issue publication date: 12 April 2022

344

Abstract

Purpose

Market uncertainties require organizations to consistently revisit their product portfolio. Theoretically the link between corporate strategy, supply chain and operations for Product Deletion (PD) decisions is lacking. The purpose of this study is to develop a decision support tool that enables managers to evaluate PD decisions across business, supply chain strategies and customer considerations; rationalizing product portfolio variety while realizing long-term organizational competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to formalize PD decision-making across multiple functional strategy perspectives. Manufacturing, supply chain, finance and marketing functions are included along with incorporating multiple stakeholder voices from multiple organizational levels—including top-management team members, cross-functional managers and customers. A case study application is conducted using an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) perspective.

Findings

The interrelationships between business, supply chain strategies and customer requirements are identified, along with tensions and tradeoffs using a series of “houses” or relationship matrices. The methodology provides managers with a decision support tool that can be flexible and applicable to aid sound PD decision-making incorporating multiple stakeholders.

Originality/value

Product decisions at the decline stage—for example product retirement or deletion—are neglected both in research and in practice. Having a formalized systematic process can make PD outcomes more objective. The proposed QFD approach is one of the early PD decision support tools—products can be deleted for strategic, operational and customer-related reasons, and the hierarchical interrelationships among various reasons need to be carefully managed to ensure sound product portfolio rationalization.

Keywords

Citation

Golrizgashti, S., Zhu, Q. and Sarkis, J. (2022), "Formalizing the strategic product deletion decision: incorporating multiple stakeholder views", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 122 No. 4, pp. 887-919. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-07-2021-0435

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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