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1 – 10 of over 34000Rameshwar Dubey and Angappa Gunasekaran
– The purpose of this paper is to identify sustainable supply chain skill and propose a conceptual training framework for sustainable supply chain talent.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify sustainable supply chain skill and propose a conceptual training framework for sustainable supply chain talent.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have used exhaustive literature review of extant literature published in academic journals, reputable reports, trade magazines, books and monographs. The authors further consulted leading experts from reputable bodies to further finalize the sustainable supply chain skills matrix and check the content validity of the constructs of our proposed conceptual framework.
Findings
The sustainable supply chain skill matrix has been identified and a conceptual framework has been proposed. The authors further outlined the future research directions.
Research limitations/implications
This is a conceptual paper based on the literature review and analysis. This offers opportunities for empirical research.
Practical implications
This paper will alert companies to focus on developing talents that would help to achieve sustainable supply chain.
Social implications
Better talents lead to better support for sustainable supply chains.
Originality/value
The present study is unique in terms of scope and its contribution to theory of supply chain management and operations management and human resource management practice. The study has identified the sustainable supply chain skill matrix and proposed a conceptual training framework for sustainable supply chain talent.
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Rameshwar Dubey and Angappa Gunasekaran
– The purpose of this paper is to build a supply chain talent framework and test it empirically.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to build a supply chain talent framework and test it empirically.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study adopts extant literature to understand current state of supply chain talent literature and used knowledge and skill constructs and their items from comprehensive literature review to develop an instrument to gather data. The data are further checked for assumptions and further examines the framework using confirmatory factor analysis.
Findings
The findings support previous studies and establishes that knowledge-skill framework is scientifically a strong framework which can help to build current supply chain competencies among future supply chain managers.
Research limitations/implications
This study considers only a limited number of variables that define the supply chain talent. The framework can be further developed and extended to different industries and countries.
Practical implications
The study identifies knowledge-skill framework which can help to develop a training module for current or aspiring supply chain managers. It also can provide significant input to design university supply chain management program to meet future supply chain manager’s requirements.
Social implications
Include providing the right education and training in support of supply chain operations and in turn serving the community with products and services on time and that too in a most cost effective manner.
Originality/value
This paper develops a new framework for supply chain talent development. This framework has been empirically tested, and major findings and future research directions are highlighted.
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Siti Norida Wahab, Albert Tan and Olivier Roche
In recent years, technology diffusion, globalization and the Internet revolution have accelerated the growth of online transactions and altered corporate operations systems. The…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, technology diffusion, globalization and the Internet revolution have accelerated the growth of online transactions and altered corporate operations systems. The emergence of computer technology and the Internet have changed the way businesses work. The purpose of this study is to find and identify any common patterns in the logistics and supply chain industries for job requirements using job posting content in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides an exploratory assessment of the employability skill set required using online job posting advertisements. Online job posting advertising, also known as e-recruiting, is one field that has been significantly influenced by information technology. In addition, the current Covid-19 outbreak has created a new need for a long-term contactless talent acquisition process in the organization's operating systems.
Findings
Based on this study's findings, the top ten skills required by employers for logistics and supply chain positions are (1) supply chain analytics, (2) technological aptitude, (3) teamwork skills, (4) customer focus, (5) leadership skills, (6) interpersonal skills, (7) people skills, (8) creativity and resilience, (9) demand and supply forecasting ability, and (10) project management skills. Overall, the findings provide a road map for practitioners and academics interested in developing supply chain managers' necessary skills and competencies to manage current and future supply networks. It also allows companies to adjust their supply chain management hiring, training and retention methods.
Originality/value
Although the study was done in Malaysia, the supply chain skills and competencies stated in this study, as well as their categorization, can be applied in other developing countries.
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The purpose of this paper is to outline the reasons for the ongoing talent shortage in supply chain management (SCM) and to consider ways in which partnering with human resource…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the reasons for the ongoing talent shortage in supply chain management (SCM) and to consider ways in which partnering with human resource development (HRD) professionals can reduce the associated risk to revenue growth.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual paper that considers ways in which human resource and organizational development expertise can be deployed to provide supply chain managers with a balance between “hard” analytical competences and “soft” people skills.
Findings
More firms than ever before are facing globalization and market turbulence – and focusing on SCM as a result. Companies can spend as much as three-quarters of their revenue on supply chain activities, so SCM is a key determinant of financial performance. The ability to work effectively with partners to increase efficiency, drive down costs and deliver value to the final customer is crucial to success. But there is a problem – not enough supply chain managers who understand the business context and have the full range of necessary skills.
Research limitations/implications
Points out that it isn’t known how highly effective supply chain managers acquire their outstanding cross-functional communication, influencing and change implementation skills. Calls for further research on the impact of HRD interventions on supply chain managers’ effectiveness. Advocates comparing effective and ineffective HRD interventions in SCM practice and evaluation of the quality (rather than the quantity) of training available to supply chain professionals.
Practical implications
Shows how focusing training investment on the broad range of skills needed by SCM professionals can contribute to organizational effectiveness.
Social implications
Highlights the importance of team leadership, influencing and higher-order problem-solving skills to the management of complex supply chain processes and organizational change.
Originality/value
Draws attention to current gaps in SCM training and skills development and proposes ways to improve the return on investment in training.
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Harri Lorentz, Juuso Töyli, Tomi Solakivi and Lauri Ojala
The purpose of this paper is to find out the current SCM skill development priorities in manufacturing firms and how the structural properties of the supply chain translate into…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find out the current SCM skill development priorities in manufacturing firms and how the structural properties of the supply chain translate into demand for SCM skills in manufacturing firms.
Design/methodology/approach
An internet survey was designed and conducted. The responses of 154 manufacturing companies operating in Finland were analysed through descriptive statistics and regression analyses.
Findings
The supply chain management skills with an inter‐organisational focus tend to have a higher development priority than the skills with an intra‐organisational focus. The top five skills for development are: demand forecasting and supply planning; sourcing and supplier management; customer and distribution channel management; production planning and control; and information systems for logistics and production planning. Structural properties of the supply chain seem to have an effect on skills that are related to supply chain design and information flow infrastructure, i.e. the ability to locate the various nodes in the network, and to connect and coordinate their respective activities in the face of often uncertain demand.
Research limitations/implications
The results are based on survey research with a limited sample size and geographic coverage with bias towards large firms. The research scope is further limited to investigating the influence of structural properties of the supply chain, leaving opportunities for further research on the demand for SCM skills.
Originality/value
The authors report original findings that provide input to the development processes of training programmes and university curricula, related to supply chain management. They also initiate theory development on the determinants of demand for SCM skills.
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The third-party logistics (3PL) provider has faced significant change since containerisation with the broadening scope of supply chains and technological developments. With these…
Abstract
Purpose
The third-party logistics (3PL) provider has faced significant change since containerisation with the broadening scope of supply chains and technological developments. With these changes, the required supply chain skills discussions have covered mostly graduate skills or employees' skills with a limited discussion to what extent and whether senior management skills were changing. Hence, 3PL senior management skill requirements will be compiled based on existing studies and assessed to check whether these are still relevant and if so to what extent for today's 3PL senior managers.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire has been devised based on 3PL senior management skills identified in the academic literature and sent out to senior managers via professional social networks of 3PL. Based on the previous literature, the senior managers selected had to fulfil the selection criteria of a minimum five years' managerial experience in a 3PL, and a minimum of ten years' experience in general, which limited the sample size to twenty-seven senior managers in the 3PL sector.
Findings
The findings indicated that 3PL senior managers’ skills highlighted an increasing dependence on and importance of relational and behavioural skills, particularly when compared with the more traditional functional and managerial skills. The study indicated that the 3PL senior managers highlighted an increasing dependence and importance upon relational and behavioural skills, particularly when compared with the more traditional functional skills.
Research limitations/implications
The study has explored the senior management skills in 3PL in the UK, albeit the respondents possessing diverse backgrounds. Therefore, it would be beneficial to test whether these findings are exemplary across the wider 3PL sector, not only in the UK but also across Europe to see how corporate agenda for executive supply chain skills could be devised.
Practical implications
Corporate supply chain training and development staff can develop specific programs based on the 3PL senior management skill sets especially on relational and behavioural skills, which are needed for future managers as well as up-skill senior managers' skills which are deemed to be most important in the current 3PL market.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the supply chain skills discussion and reports subject relevant challenges for today’s senior management in the 3PL industry. The findings have generated preliminary discussions on whether senior management skills are changing with the broadening scope of supply chains.
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Jeffrey R. Bentley, Jessica L. Robinson and Mona Zanhour
Drawing on social exchange theory, social capital theory, and perspectives of political influence in organizations, this study develops and tests a model in which managerial…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on social exchange theory, social capital theory, and perspectives of political influence in organizations, this study develops and tests a model in which managerial political skill is associated with internal, supplier and customer supply chain integration through two mediating mechanisms: facilitating a supply chain orientation and mitigating self-serving politics.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from three independent samples, one for each achieved state of integration (i.e. internal, customer and supplier) (ninternal = 225; ncustomer = 225; nsupplier = 225; N = 675). Hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling and indirect effects analysis. The potential impact of unmeasured endogenous factors was mitigated through appropriate survey design, statistical control, marker variable analysis and instrument variable usage.
Findings
Managerial political skill exhibited a positive, direct relationship with achieved internal and supplier integration. Supply chain orientation partially mediated the relationship for achieving integration with both customers and suppliers. Self-serving organizational politics was not associated with achieving internal, customer or supplier integration.
Research limitations/implications
By demonstrating the importance of political influence in achieving supply chain integration, the findings support the role of managerial social capital in the underlying social exchange processes that drive integration.
Originality/value
Despite the fundamental role of informal, social dynamics in supply chain integration, past research has largely focused on either the technical prowess of middle managers or the political skill of executives in supporting integration. The present study explicates the critical role of middle management political skill in actually achieving supply chain integration.
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Peter Tatham, Yong Wu, Gyöngyi Kovács and Tim Butcher
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supply chain management (SCM) skills that support the sensing and seizing of opportunities in a changing business environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the supply chain management (SCM) skills that support the sensing and seizing of opportunities in a changing business environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the previous literature on the T-shaped model of SCM skills, data were collected through a mail survey among Australian business executives. The resultant skill sets are grouped along factors that support the sensing vs seizing of opportunities.
Findings
Interestingly from an SCM perspective, functional logistics-related skills are important to maintain competitiveness but are not the ones contributing to a firm’s ability to sense opportunities and threats, and to seize opportunities in a changing business environment. The authors, therefore, support the notion that supply chain managers should be managers first. Factual SCM knowledge is the solid basis, but otherwise only an entry requirement in this field.
Research limitations/implications
Problem-solving skills, along with forecasting and customer/supplier relationship management, stand out as important components that support the ability of supply chain managers to sense and shape opportunities and threats in a turbulent business environment. This focus would tend to suggest the importance of supply chain integration and collaboration as management approaches. Other SCM skills from warehousing and inventory management to transportation and purchasing are more prevalent for maintaining competitiveness.
Practical implications
The results of the survey and the consequential analysis indicate that the content of tertiary-level educational programmes should be significantly reviewed to deliver two distinct (but partially overlapping) streams that focus on the generalist and functionalist managers who must work together in the management of the increasingly global and complex supply chains.
Social implications
Functional skills often form the basis of training and education programmes for supply chain managers. Whilst these form the solid foundation for their jobs, they are entry requirements at best. In a changing business environment, other skills are needed for success. Given that turbulence is becoming the norm rather than the exception, this finding necessitates rethinking in training and education programmes, as well as in the recruitment of supply chain managers.
Originality/value
Testing the T-shaped model of SCM skills from a dynamic capabilities perspective, the results of the factor analysis lead to a regrouping of skill sets in terms of sensing and seizing opportunities in a turbulent business environment.
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Rameshwar Dubey, Angappa Gunasekaran, Stephen J. Childe and Thanos Papadopoulos
A shortage of skills is recognized as a major source of risk in supply chain networks. This study uses two independent organizational theories to explain how to build applicable…
Abstract
Purpose
A shortage of skills is recognized as a major source of risk in supply chain networks. This study uses two independent organizational theories to explain how to build applicable skills for continuous availability of appropriate supply chain talents. The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated framework that links human agency theory, social capital theory and supply chain skill.
Design/methodology/approach
This framework is analyzed in third party logistics (3PL) organizations by confirmatory factor analysis and tested using a survey. After pre-testing by six academics and six practitioners, and following the total design method, the data were collected from 183 3PL organizations in India. Data were checked to ensure no non-response bias. Research hypotheses were tested using WarpPLS-structural equation modeling.
Findings
A primary finding offers guidance to 3PL managers. Their driving role and mediating role of access to information and access to resources facilitate building supply chain skill. Leaders who invest in library, acquiring e-resources, offer financial support and create trust among employees are enablers of building supply chain skill.
Originality/value
This study classified 14 supply chain skills into three categories as: managerial skill, quantitative skill and supply chain core skill. The study could be extended to similar companies in other developing countries.
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Ozlem Bak, Christine Jordan and James Midgley
With supply chains expanding in scope and scale globally, the academic literature underlined the increasing role and importance of soft skills. Traditionally, the supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
With supply chains expanding in scope and scale globally, the academic literature underlined the increasing role and importance of soft skills. Traditionally, the supply chain literature geared towards hard skills including functional and technical skill sets with limited discussion on soft skills. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assess and explore the soft skills demand in supply chain management arena.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has utilised a mixed methods study in two phases, with the first stage including a questionnaire distributed to 120 supply chain employees in the UK, followed by six interviews with supply chain experts in the UK.
Findings
The results suggest that soft skills, especially behavioural skills such as communication, planning, initiative and negotiation, were seen to be more important when compared to decision making, negotiation and management skills. The findings indicate that the changing supply chain scope encourages the requisition and development of different supply chain soft skills with varied levels of emphasis in relation to 15 soft skills identified in the literature.
Research limitations/implications
This study employs a mixed-method approach to establish the perceived importance of soft skills in the UK supply chains. This limits the generalisability of the results to other contextual settings.
Practical implications
This paper presents soft skills impact upon the supply chain. Specific soft skills are critical to supply chain employees compared to others (e.g. behavioural and people management skills), which may lead to articulation of supply chain soft skills training initiatives.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the soft skills discussion in the supply chain context and discusses the role of soft skills. Topical gaps in the literature are identified as areas for future research. The findings have generated additional supply chain skills to the academic literature as well as provided an understanding of the weighting of soft skills in terms of their importance and application to industry needs.
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