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In the rapidly changing business environment, companies must align with suppliers to streamline operations, as well as working together to achieve a level of agility beyond individual companies (Lin et al., 2006). Today’s more dynamic business environment increases the need for greater agility in supply chains, which increases both the importance and frequency of supplier/partner evaluation and benchmarking decision making. The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple criterion appraisement index (model/module) for supplier/partner alternative firm benchmarking perspective under similar agile supply chain architecture.

In this reporting, evaluation information against subjectivity (uncertain environment) indices has been transformed mathematical dimensionless numbers by fuzzy-based computation module. A new interval-valued fuzzy number set conjunction with modified “technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution” methodology has been explored from benchmarking (ranking order of firm under similar criterion) point of view of supplier firms.

In this context, a novel “fuzzy mathematical equation” has been developed in perceptive to compute the priority weights and appropriateness ratings of first-level measures which reduced the acquisition of supplementary priority weights and appropriateness ratings assessment in linguistic terms from group decision makers (DMs) for first-level indices. An empirical case study has been carried to ranking order the candidate partner/supplier alternative via collective index (CI) value. Lower value of “CI” reflected higher degree of performance extent. The authors found out the effectiveness and validity of proposed methodology for constructed appraisement module.

This research work shall be valuable for that organization which volunteer to obtain the ranking order of partner/supplier alternative (benchmark) under similar agile supply chain architecture in accordance to group DMs’ comprehensive information for select best one supplier for own firm. In this reporting, a novel fuzzy mathematical equation has been developed in order to compute the important weights as well as priority rating of first-level indices/measure which reduced the supplementary important weights and priority rating assessment from group DMs in linguistic terms in order to obtain the measures rating and weights.

Normalization is a crucial step in all decision models, to produce comparable and dimensionless data from heterogeneous data. As such, various normalization techniques are available but their performance depends on a number of characteristics of the problem at hand. Thus, this study aims to introduce a recommendation framework for supporting users to select data normalization techniques that better fit the requirements in different application scenarios, based on multi-criteria decision methods.

Following the proposed approach, the authors compare six well-known normalization techniques applied to a case study of selecting suppliers in collaborative networks.

With this recommendation framework, the authors expect to contribute to improving the normalization of criteria in the evaluation and selection of suppliers and business partners in dynamic networked collaborative systems.

This is the first study about comparing normalization techniques for selecting the best normalization in dynamic multiple-criteria decision-making models in collaborative networks.

Globalization and liberalization of the world economy have leveled the field for all competitors across the globe. To face global competition successfully, SMEs have to break their isolation in the value chain. To overcome the dynamic challenges of the market, supply chain management can be an important tool for SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize different issues related to the coordination and responsiveness of supply chain management in SMEs, through a review of the literature.

In all, 116 research papers, mainly from referred international journals, are reviewed to identify the thrust areas of research. On the basis of the review, gaps are identified and a research agenda is proposed.

It is observed from the review that SMEs have not been very proactive in implementing supply chain management. These organizations face a lot of problems in coordinating their operations with other members of the supply chain. They are localized in functioning. On export fronts SMEs face many constraints due to lack of resources and poor innovative capabilities. To face the challenges of open global market, SMEs have to manage their problems and supply chain risks effectively. Research gaps are identified in different areas of the supply chain such as coordination and responsiveness issues, service quality issues, and performance benchmarking for future directions of research.

This paper explores the major areas for research on coordination and responsiveness of SME supply chains. The findings of the paper will be highly useful for the researchers to decide the direction of their research.

The concept of agile supply chain (ASC) has become increasingly important as means of achieving a competitive edge in turbulent business environments. An ASC is a dynamic alliance of member enterprises, the adaptation of which is likely to introduce velocity, responsiveness and flexibility into the manufacturing system. In ASC management, supplier/partner selection is a key strategic concern; influenced by various agility-related criteria/attributes. Therefore, evaluation and selection of potential supplier in an ASC has become an important multi-criteria decision-making problem. The purpose of this paper is to report, a supplier selection procedure (module) in the context of ASC.

During supplier selection, subjectivity of evaluation information (human judgment) often creates conflict and bears some kind of uncertainty. To overcome this, the present work attempts to explore vague set theory to deal with uncertainties in the supplier selection decision-making process. Since, vague sets can provide more accurate information as compared to fuzzy sets. It considers true membership function as well as false membership function which give more superior results for uncertain information. In this procedure, first, linguistic variables have been used to assess appropriateness rating (performance extent) as well as priority weights for individual quantitative or qualitative criterions. Second, the concept of degree of similarity and probability of vague sets has been used to determine appropriate ranking order of the potential supplier alternatives.

A case empirical example has been provided. It has been proved that the methodology would be fruitful in considering different evaluation criterion (indices); may be contradicting in nature like beneficial and cost criterions. The application of vague set theory has also been proved as a better option to work under uncertain (fuzzy) decision-making environment in comparison to fuzzy set theory.

The application of vague set theory in multi-criteria group decision making has been reported in literature to a limited extent. Application of vague set as a decision-making tool in agile supplier selection appears relative new and unexplored work area. The work has got remarkable managerial implications.

The recent global market trend is seemed enforcing existing manufacturing organizations (as well as service sectors) to improve existing supply chain systems or to take up/adapt advanced manufacturing strategies for being competitive. The concept of the agile supply chain (ASC) has become increasingly important as a means of achieving a competitive edge in highly turbulent business environments. An ASC is a dynamic alliance of member enterprises, the formation of which is likely to introduce velocity, responsiveness, and flexibility into the manufacturing system. In ASC management, supplier/partner selection is a key strategic concern. Apart from traditional supplier/partner selection criteria; different agility-related criteria/attributes need to be taken under consideration while selecting an appropriate supplier in an ASC. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Therefore, evaluation and selection of potential supplier in an ASC have become an important multi-criteria decision making problem. Most of the evaluation criteria being subjective in nature; traditional decision-making approaches (mostly dealing with objective data) fail to solve this problem. However, fuzzy set theory appears an important mean to tackle with vague and imprecise data given by the experts. In this work, application potential of the fuzzy multi-level multi-criteria decision making (FMLMCDM) approach proposed by Chu and Velásquez (2009) and Chu and Varma (2012) has been examined and compared to that of Fuzzy-techniques for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and Fuzzy-MOORA in the context of supplier selection in ASC.

It has been observed that similar ranking order appears in FMLMCDM as well as Fuzzy-TOPSIS. In Fuzzy-MOORA, the best alternative appears same as in case of FMLMCDM as well as Fuzzy-TOPSIS; but for other alternatives ranking order differs. A comparative analysis has also been made in view of working principles of FMLMCDM, Fuzzy-TOPSIS as well as Fuzzy-MOORA.

Application feasibility of FMLMCDM approach has been verified in comparison with Fuzzy-TOPSIS and Fuzzy-MOORA in the context of agile supplier selection.

The purpose of this study is to delineate key aspects of backshoring readiness and discuss how such aspects contribute to a smooth shift-back from global sourcing operations. It aims to answer the following questions: which factors constitute backshoring readiness and how these factors affect the backshoring transition.

Based on theory departure from the organizational readiness field and the emerging field on backshoring, a conceptual model is developed. A multiple qualitative case study is then conducted to exemplify the backshoring readiness factors delineated in the study.

The study indicates that due to previous outsourcing, limitations concerning the availability of firms’ capabilities are affected by ownership structures and that backshoring appears to be time-sensitive. The study delineates three key aspects of backshoring readiness and proposes a comprehensive understanding of readiness as an important construct to enhance successful backshoring.

The findings are limited by the nature of this conceptual study, the restriction to a high-cost context and the small number of cases. Therefore, conclusions and proposed recommendations need to be further investigated in preferably larger samples of case studies.

By introducing contextual variables that go beyond traditional cost considerations, this work should be of special interest for both practitioners and academics, because the absorptive capacity for the exploitation of cutting-edge knowledge is globally scarce and hence rather expensive in Western countries compared with traditionally low-cost countries. Another practical contribution of this study is the conceptual backshoring readiness framework itself, as it can guide firms acquainting themselves with the resource availability in their home environment.

The research defines key resources needed to facilitate backshoring readiness in a conceptual framework developed from literature, which is then exemplified by a case study. This framework conceptualizes backshoring readiness as aspects of requirements to knowledge, technology and supplier infrastructures. Furthermore, the readiness framework developed provides firms and their managers with six recommendations that can enable a rigorous evaluation of a firm’s readiness to embark on backshoring and reflect on the aspect of fitness of its current strategies.

An intelligent supplier relationship management system (ISRMS) integrating a company’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, supplier rating system (SRS) and product coding system (PCS) by the case based reasoning (CBR) technique to select preferred suppliers during the new product development (NPD) process is discussed. By using ISRMS in Honeywell Consumer Product (Hong Kong) Limited, it is found that the outsource cycle time from the searching of potential suppliers to the allocation of order, as well as the delay in delivery of goods of suppliers after order allocation, are greatly reduced. In addition, performance of suppliers can be monitored effectively.

This paper seeks to present a comparative study of framework, criteria and criterion weighting of 20 Excellence Models/National Quality Awards (EM/NQA), to identify their common features, contradictions and to propose suggestions for development and review of EM/NQA. It also aims to provide some clues to attain sustenance of business results.

This study is based on a literature review using the internet and research databases (Emerald and EBSCO). Nine generic criteria are identified and their relative importance within each model is computed based on scores given to their respective contents in the criteria/sub‐criteria of each EM/NQA. The average relative importance of nine criteria, discussions with experts and the author's own experience helped to visualise the emerging scenario and suggest improvements.

EM/NQA frameworks have different shapes. Most EM/NQA start with the criterion “Leadership” and end with “Results”. Ancient wisdom emphasises that the ultimate goal of business is the wellbeing of society. Although the criteria of EM/NQA are similar, the criterion weighting changes due to external environment and cultural factors. The study classifies nine criteria into core criteria, i.e. the need for survival, internal environment criteria, i.e. differentiators, and goodwill criteria, i.e. ensuring sustainability. The focus on goodwill criteria needs to be enhanced to ensure sustainable business growth.

This study is an attempt to integrate the common learning/contradictions of EM/NQA and provide clues to achieving sustainability. Many EM/NQA custodian websites have limited information in the public domain. A periodic review of models made this study difficult. Future research may focus on studying the impact of criteria weighting in different countries/economic environments to enhance the effectiveness of excellence models.

The study may help the GEM council, custodians and managers to review EM/NQA and develop strategies for sustainable results.

This paper is based on a literature review, the author's own experience, and interaction with experts. It provides an analysis of 20 EM/NQAs, highlights the need for a universally acceptable model, and suggests emerging dimensions of excellence.

In this paper, a server‐based enterprise collaborative management system using enterprise application integration technology is developed for trial implementation at Honeywell Consumer Products (Hong Kong) Limited, in the area of supplier relationship management. The system facilitates supplier selection using an integrative case‐based supplier selection and help desk approach to select the most appropriate suppliers, based on their past performance records from a case‐based warehouse. Discusses a case study to integrate Honeywell's supplier rating system and product coding system by case‐based reasoning technique to select preferred suppliers during the new product development process. Finds that the outsource cycle time from the searching of potential suppliers to the allocation of orders is greatly reduced while performance of suppliers can be monitored simultaneously.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of geographical proximity on social capital development through the inter-relationship between three social capital dimensions (structural, relational and cognitive dimension) and the knowledge sharing between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors empirically test a main hypothesis that the mechanism of social capital development that subsequently results in tacit knowledge sharing is different for SME buyer-supplier partners across their different geographical distances.

Multiple-group analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to test the research hypotheses using data collected from approximately 200 SMEs in Thailand’s food industry.

At a great geographical distance, the structural dimension impacts the cognitive dimension only in an indirect way through a relational dimension, which subsequently leads to knowledge sharing between SME buyer-supplier partners. At close geographical proximity, while the indirect impact of structural dimension on cognitive dimension through a relational dimension is still presented as it is in a great geographical distance, structural dimension has a positive and direct impact on the cognitive dimension as a complementary way to jointly reinforce knowledge sharing between SME partners. Among distant SME partners, the relational dimension shows a stronger impact on the cognitive dimension. In contrast, the direct influence of structural, relational and cognitive dimensions on knowledge sharing is identical, regardless of geographical distance.

The managers of SMEs can design their network-building approach in such a way that different location partners can enhance knowledge sharing. Policymakers could consider these results as a guideline when imposing SME development policies and geographical cluster policies in emerging economies.

This study provides empirical evidence that demonstrates how geographical proximity between SME partners in an emerging economy influences their social proximity through the lens of social capital development mechanism and thus leads to knowledge sharing between them.