Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine the uptake of supply chain integration (SCI) principles internationally and the resultant integration maturity.

A rigorous supply chain diagnostics methodology called the Quick Scan is used to assess the integration maturity of 72 value streams located in New Zealand, Thailand and the UK.

The majority of the organisations studied are struggling to turn the SCI concept into reality. Supply chains on average are poorly integrated. However, there exist a handful of exemplar cases that provide guidance; levels of integration maturity appear not to differ internationally.

Only three nations are compared, hence the sample is not fully representative of all countries and industries. There is a significant gap between supply chain rhetoric and practice; clear guidance on how to enable effective integration is required. National settings do not appear to affect the extent of application of supply chain management concepts.

SCI is a very difficult undertaking. Indifferent practice is the norm. If organisations can attain even the middle ground of internal integration they will outperform many of their competitors.

The paper presents an international benchmark of SCI maturity involving three triangulated measures of supply chain performance.

Introduces a supply chain “health check” procedure successfully applied in the European automotive sector and presents the results for the analysis of 20 trans‐European value streams covering a wide range of first and second tier suppliers. The health check procedure is activated via a quick scan methodology (QSM) requiring execution by a multi‐disciplinary team working on‐site. The degree of integration within the value chain is estimated by the QS team, using the uncertainty circle concept which apportions observed uncertainties in the product delivery process (PDP) according to source. In our experience the four major contributors are: the demand side; supply side; value added process side; and systems controls. The results clearly demonstrate a well‐trodden and hence proven route for value stream performance improvement. They also identify value chain exemplars and many areas of best practice, but most importantly they provide a list of actions focused on improving the performance of individual value streams. Properly applied, re‐engineering programmes based on these trigger points will speed up the progress curve towards effective supply chain management.

It is tempting to begin the process of reorganisation by taking a blank sheet of paper and rearranging squares and lines. That should, however, be the last step of the process. Redesigning an organisation involves not only thinking about the same things in a different way, but also thinking about issues that have never been considered before. Reorganisation should be viewed as a deep operational innovation that results in far more than an incremental performance improvement. Much of conventional organisational thinking in corporate real estate is inwardly focused. This paper, the first of a three‐part series, suggests beginning with a higher, broader and more comprehensive view of the forces of change and a company’s external environment. It concludes with a review of organisational structures and suggestions for ways to approach an organisational redesign of a CRE department.

The purpose of this paper is to differentiate the empowering influences of critical enablers of supply chain management (SCM) along with their interrelationships. These empowering enablers are significant, as they encourage productive execution to improve organizational performance and stakeholder's satisfaction.

From the literature review, incidence of a number of SCM enablers were found and they were subjected to critical scrutiny by a considerable number of experts engaged in SCM research and application to identify significant and applicable empowering enablers by grounded interactions. By using Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification analysis, the driving and dependence power were analyzed and the empowering enablers were ordered. This was pursued by building up a structural model of the empowering enablers using interpretive structure modeling, followed with measuring cause–effect relationship using decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL).

Among these identified enablers of SCM, operational performance, green SCM, employee empowerment and motivation and strategic association came out to be strategic enablers.

The findings may help the practicing professionals to develop clarity in understanding of these essential enablers and their contextual as well as cause–effect relationship in SCM. The practicing professionals need to focus on all these enablers during implementation of SCM for enhancing the organizational performance and stake holders' satisfaction.

This study is of practical utility in real-life implementation of SCM. The algorithm used in applying the multi-criteria decision-making approach is very user-friendly, and the application of DEMATEL is an innovation compared to previous research. Further, the findings can be used as a benchmark for improving the performance of SCM by considering the cause–effect relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the supply chain management enablers (SCMEs) and establish relationships among them using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and find out driving and dependence power of enablers, using fuzzy MICMAC (Matriced' Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement) analysis.

A group of experts from industries and academics was consulted and ISM is used to develop the contextual relationship among various SCMEs for each dimension of SCM implementation. The results of ISM are used as an input to fuzzy MICMAC analysis, to identify the driving and dependence power of SCMEs.

This paper has identified 24 key SCMEs and developed an integrated model using ISM and the fuzzy MICMAC approach, which is helpful to identify and classify the important SCMEs and reveal the direct and indirect effects of each SCME on the SCM implementation. The integrated approach is developed, since the ISM model provides only binary relationship among SCMEs, while fuzzy MICMAC analysis provides precise analysis related to driving and dependence power of SCMEs.

The weightage for ISM model development and fuzzy MICMAC are obtained through the judgment of academicians and a few industry experts. It is only subjective judgment and any biasing by the person who is judging the SCMEs might influence the final result. A questionnaire survey can be conducted to catch the insight on these SCMEs from more organizations.

This study has strong practical implications, for both practitioners as well as academicians. The practitioners need to concentrate on identified SCMEs more cautiously during SCM implementation in their organizations and the top management could formulate strategy for implementing these enablers obtained through ISM and fuzzy MICMAC analysis.

This is first kind of study to identify 24 SCMEs and further, to deploy ISM and fuzzy MICMAC to identify and classify the key SCMEs that influence SCM implementation in the organization.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

Companies commonly view brand architecture as primarily a tactical, one‐time exercise. But it can be the means to drive both greater top‐line growth and bottom‐line performance.

De‐unionization has been one of the most significant features of the British labour market in the 1980s. All conventional measures of union presence and power vividly demonstrate this. The proportion of British establishments which recognised manual or non‐manual trade unions for collective bargaining over pay and conditions fell by almost 20% (from 0.67 to 0.54) between 1980 and 1990; the proportion of workers covered by a collective agreement fell from 0.71 in 1984 to 0.51 in 1990 (Millward et al., 1992); aggregate union membership fell from 13.2 million in 1980 to 9.9 million by 1990; the corresponding fall in aggregate union density was from 54% to 38% (and it has continued to fall post‐1990). The longer time series profile of aggregate union density (defined as the number of union members divided by the total workforce) is very dramatic. The 1980s declines have completely reversed the gains achieved in the 1970s and union density now stands at its lowest level for 30 years.

Global M&A deals broke records in 1995. Look for new strategies across borders, and businesses, in the next six months.

The purpose of this paper is to review and explore topics that might constitute a history of branding in sport and might also contribute to understanding today's sport branding practices.

The paper employs both secondary and primary sources on a range of sports across centuries of time and space. The paper also employs Mayer's principles of multi‐media learning.

The paper finds that sport brands have a long history driven by entrepreneurs and organizations through rule‐making, equipment, distinct names, and employment of new technologies.

The paper identifies a series of topics that merit closer scrutiny by historians whose research might inform contemporary scholars and practitioners of sport marketing.