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1 – 10 of over 8000
Article
Publication date: 9 August 2023

Sanmugam Annamalah, Pradeep Paraman, Selim Ahmed, Thillai Raja Pertheban, Anbalagan Marimuthu, Kumara Rajah Venkatachalam and Ramayah T.

This study aims to analyse the resilience strategy utilized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enabling these businesses to effectively adapt their operations in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse the resilience strategy utilized by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enabling these businesses to effectively adapt their operations in response to varying conditions by providing them with essential resources. SMEs operate in marketplaces that are both dynamic and frequently tumultuous. These markets provide SMEs with a variety of obstacles, including economic ups and downs, advances in technology, evolving customer tastes and new regulatory requirements. SMEs need to create a strategic strategy to survive and grow in such situations. This strategy ought to help strengthen their resiliency and make it possible for them to make the most of emerging opportunities while simultaneously lowering the dangers.

Design/methodology/approach

The questionnaires adopted and adapted from previous research served as the basis for gathering the data. The manufacturing industry was polled through the use of questionnaires. To test the hypothesis, the data were analysed using Smart PLS. Through the use of closed-ended questions directed to the proprietors, managers or senior executives of SMEs, data were collected from each and every institution in the sample. Following the examination of the data by means of descriptive analysis and the presentation of several scenarios using information relating to SMEs, the findings were presented.

Findings

The ambidextrous strategies that are used by SMEs have a propensity to offer a constructive contribution to SMEs. In this study, it was discovered that ambidexterity, which is defined as the capacity to both seek and capitalise on possibilities, has a significant bearing on the organisational effectiveness of SMEs. The results showed that ambidextrous strategies have a propensity to work as mediators in interactions involving proactive resilience tactics and performance.

Research limitations/implications

The research expands our understanding of how SMEs in the manufacturing sector may improve their performance by concentrating on growing their ambidextrous strategies.

Practical implications

This study provides a plausible explanation of two crucial management mechanisms for enhancing the sustainability of organisational effectiveness. The relationships between ambidextrous capabilities and firm effectiveness are malleable, and this study suggests that nurturing formal and informal relationships may be the key to SMEs' long-term sustainable performance. Improving the knowledge and performance of supply chain systems for SMEs in the manufacturing sector and boosting their competitiveness in domestic and international markets are the practical contributions of this study.

Social implications

Our comprehension of monitoring, cooperation and innovation within social management was deepened as a result of these facts. In addition, the study conducted in the sector uncovered four essential connections that outline how managers should actively work towards lowering social risks, developing new possibilities and increasing business performance. These capacities and links, when taken as a whole, provide the foundation upon which an integrated framework and five research propositions are built.

Originality/value

This research offers a convincing explanation of fundamental management processes for enhancing the sustainability of organisational effectiveness. This research implies that developing formal and informal interactions may be the key to the sustainable performance of SMEs over the long run. The relationships between ambidextrous capabilities, methods and organisational effectiveness are flexible, and this study also suggests that these relationships may be shaped. The practical contributions made by this research include boosting the understanding and performance of supply chain systems for SMEs as well as the competitive power of these businesses in both local and international markets.

Details

Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5364

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Miao Hu, Shenyang Jiang and Baofeng Huo

Drawing on absorptive capacity theory, this study explores the impacts of supply visibility and demand visibility on product innovation (i.e. exploratory and exploitative…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on absorptive capacity theory, this study explores the impacts of supply visibility and demand visibility on product innovation (i.e. exploratory and exploitative innovation), and it examines how supplier integration, customer integration and internal integration mediate these impacts.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employ empirical survey data from 200 Chinese manufacturers and use structural equation modeling to test the proposed relationships.

Findings

The results show that supply visibility is positively related to supplier integration and internal integration and that demand visibility is positively related to customer integration. Furthermore, only customer integration and internal integration positively relate to exploratory and exploitative innovation.

Originality/value

First, this study emphasizes that supply visibility and demand visibility are important sources of a firm's innovation performance and that supply chain integration increases focal firms' capability of exploiting information and facilitates product innovation. Second, the study shows that supply visibility and demand visibility have distinct effects on three dimensions of supply chain integration and exploratory and exploitative innovation. The study also provides significant managerial guidelines for effectively leveraging supply chain visibility and integration in the promotion of product innovation.

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2022

Anisha Banu Dawood Gani, Yudi Fernando, Shulin Lan, Ming K. Lim and Ming-Lang Tseng

This study aims to examine whether the cyber supply chain risk management (CSCRM) practices adopted by manufacturing firms contribute to achieving cyber supply chain (CSC…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine whether the cyber supply chain risk management (CSCRM) practices adopted by manufacturing firms contribute to achieving cyber supply chain (CSC) visibility. Studies have highlighted the necessity of having visibility across interconnected supply chains. Thus, this study examines the extent of CSCRM practices enabling CSC visibility to act as a mediator in achieving CSC performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method was used to obtain data from the electrical and electronics manufacturing firms registered with the Federations of Malaysian Manufacturers directory. Data from 130 respondents were analysed using IBM SPSS and PLS-SEM.

Findings

This study empirically proves a dedicated governance team's integral role in setting the security tone within its CSC. The result also confirms the significant role that CSC visibility plays in achieving CSC performance. As theorised in the literature, there is also a strong direct relationship between CSC visibility and CSC performance, assuring manufacturing firms that investments and policies devised to improve CSC visibility are fruitful.

Originality/value

The significance of supply chain visibility in an integrated supply chain is recognised and studied using analytical models, behavioural techniques and case studies. Substantial empirical evidence on the CSCRM practices which contributes towards achieving supply chain visibility is still elusive. This study's major contribution lies in identifying CSCRM practices that can contribute towards achieving CSC visibility, and the mediating role CSC visibility plays in achieving CSC performance.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 123 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 February 2023

Haiqing Shi, Taiwen Feng and Zhanguo Zhu

Despite big data analytics capability (BDAC) has received extensive attention, how and under what conditions BDAC influences green supply chain integration (GSCI) remains unclear…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite big data analytics capability (BDAC) has received extensive attention, how and under what conditions BDAC influences green supply chain integration (GSCI) remains unclear. This study draws on organizational information processing theory to examine the mediating effect of supply chain visibility in the BDAC–GSCI link and the moderating effects of flexibility- and control-oriented culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examined the research model using two-waved survey data gathered from 317 Chinese firms. The authors employed hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping method to test hypotheses and assessed the robust of theoretical model using structural model.

Findings

The authors found that BDAC facilitates all three dimensions of GSCI. Supply visibility mediates the relationship between BDAC and all three dimensions of GSCI, whereas demand visibility only mediates the positive effects of BDAC on green internal and customer integration. In addition, control-oriented culture strengthens the positive impacts of BDAC on supply and demand visibility, while the moderating effects of flexibility-oriented culture are insignificant.

Originality/value

This research contributes to opening the “black box” of how BDAC affects GSCI and provides novel guidelines for firms enhancing the degree of GSCI.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 May 2021

Charles Baah, Douglas Opoku Agyeman, Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah, Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah, Ebenezer Afum, Kassimu Issau, Daniel Ofori and Daniel Faibil

Exploring ways to acquire, sustain and improve competitive positions in supply chains through information sharing, supply chain visibility, collaboration and agility have been…

4713

Abstract

Purpose

Exploring ways to acquire, sustain and improve competitive positions in supply chains through information sharing, supply chain visibility, collaboration and agility have been essential for scholars and practitioners. Basing on the relational view, resource based view and the extended resource based view, this study assesses the critical role of information sharing in supply chains through emphasizing its effect on supply chain visibility, collaboration, agility and supply chain performance. Particularly, the study proposes that information sharing, supply chain visibility, collaboration and agility collectively have crucial direct and indirect influences on supply chain performance which lead to superior gains, competitiveness and flexibility.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a survey research design, a quantitative approach and partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in making data analysis and interpretations due to its suitability for predictive research models.

Findings

The results indicate information sharing positively and significantly influenced supply chain visibility, collaboration, agility and performance. Supply chain visibility presented significant effects on collaboration, agility and performance, while supply chain collaboration and agility had significant impact on supply chain performance. The study findings connote that information sharing is key to enhancing competitive gains and superior supply chain performance.

Originality/value

The study is among the few to probe on how information sharing as a variable interacts with supply chain visibility, collaboration, agility and performance. Although, information sharing has received a lot of attention in supply chains, this study is among the first to capture the study variables in a single model and thus, exposes the vital need for information sharing in improving supply chain performance seeing that it ensured significant and robust impacts on the study variables.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 January 2021

Vivek Roy

Supply chain traceability and supply chain visibility have become a critical element for the effective management of contemporary complex supply chains. At their core is…

2814

Abstract

Purpose

Supply chain traceability and supply chain visibility have become a critical element for the effective management of contemporary complex supply chains. At their core is information sharing, which has been acknowledged as a key prerequisite for logistics and supply chain performance, but whose notional underpinnings have not been delineated fully, leading to interchangeable deployment of these terms. Addressing the shortcoming, this paper aims to establish a contrast between the two notions.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from systematic review protocols, a multi-disciplinary review scope is constructed wherein the synthesis is strategized to primarily channel implications for the scholarship of logistics and supply chain management. The review is aimed at addressing two research objectives: (1) how the notions of traceability and visibility in supply chain management develop contrast in terms of their thematic emphasis and (2) to attain an integrative understanding of the notional convergence and divergence between supply chain traceability and visibility for raising strategic recommendations.

Findings

The review outcomes help contrast both the convergence and the divergence between traceability and visibility in the supply chain environment, and the differentiated but fundamental role that information sharing plays within these notions to outline why they are not interchangeable.

Originality/value

The originality of the findings lies in the conceptual synthesis of the relevant literature from both technological and non-technological perspectives to ultimately draw logistics and supply chain management implications. The review also points out key strategic considerations to demarcate the notional boundaries of traceability and visibility in future research.

Details

The International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-4093

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 5 July 2021

Pedro Lafargue, Michael Rogerson, Glenn C. Parry and Joel Allainguillaume

This paper examines the potential of “biomarkers” to provide immutable identification for food products (chocolate), providing traceability and visibility in the supply chain from…

2354

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the potential of “biomarkers” to provide immutable identification for food products (chocolate), providing traceability and visibility in the supply chain from retail product back to farm.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses qualitative data collection, including fieldwork at cocoa farms and chocolate manufacturers in Ecuador and the Netherlands and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals to identify challenges and create a supply chain map from cocoa plant to retailer, validated by area experts. A library of biomarkers is created using DNA collected from fieldwork and the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, holders of cocoa varieties from known locations around the world. Matching sample biomarkers with those in the library enables identification of origins of cocoa used in a product, even when it comes from multiple different sources and has been processed.

Findings

Supply chain mapping and interviews identify areas of the cocoa supply chain that lack the visibility required for management to guarantee sustainability and quality. A decoupling point, where smaller farms/traders’ goods are combined to create larger economic units, obscures product origins and limits visibility. These factors underpin a potential boundary condition to institutional theory in the industry’s fatalism to environmental and human abuses in the face of rising institutional pressures. Biomarkers reliably identify product origin, including specific farms and (fermentation) processing locations, providing visibility and facilitating control and trust when purchasing cocoa.

Research limitations/implications

The biomarker “meta-barcoding” of cocoa beans used in chocolate manufacturing accurately identifies the farm, production facility or cooperative, where a cocoa product came from. A controlled data set of biomarkers of registered locations is required for audit to link chocolate products to origin.

Practical implications

Where biomarkers can be produced from organic products, they offer a method for closing visibility gaps, enabling responsible sourcing. Labels (QR codes, barcodes, etc.) can be swapped and products tampered with, but biological markers reduce reliance on physical tags, diminishing the potential for fraud. Biomarkers identify product composition, pinpointing specific farm(s) of origin for cocoa in chocolate, allowing targeted audits of suppliers and identifying if cocoa of unknown origin is present. Labour and environmental abuses exist in many supply chains and enabling upstream visibility may help firms address these challenges.

Social implications

By describing a method for firms in cocoa supply chains to scientifically track their cocoa back to the farm level, the research shows that organizations can conduct social audits for child labour and environmental abuses at specific farms proven to be in their supply chains. This provides a method for delivering supply chain visibility (SCV) for firms serious about tackling such problems.

Originality/value

This paper provides one of the very first examples of biomarkers for agricultural SCV. An in-depth study of stakeholders from the cocoa and chocolate industry elucidates problematic areas in cocoa supply chains. Biomarkers provide a unique biological product identifier. Biomarkers can support efforts to address environmental and social sustainability issues such as child labour, modern slavery and deforestation by providing visibility into previously hidden areas of the supply chain.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2021

Charles Baah, Innocent Senyo Kwasi Acquah and Daniel Ofori

The need to stay competitive amidst ever-changing business environment has shifted competitive strategies from firms to supply chains. Managers are now basing competitive…

2969

Abstract

Purpose

The need to stay competitive amidst ever-changing business environment has shifted competitive strategies from firms to supply chains. Managers are now basing competitive strategies on supply chains acknowledging that supply chains present competitive advantages among other resources. The purpose of the study is to explore the predictive relevance of supply chain collaboration and the extent to which it influences supply chain visibility, stakeholder trust, environmental and financial performances. This study focused on manufacturing firms due to their supplier relationships, consumption of resources, energy and emissions of greenhouse gasses.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a survey research design, a quantitative approach and partial least square structural equation modelling technique in making data analysis and interpretations due to its suitability for predictive research models as is the case in this study.

Findings

The study hypothesized that supply chain collaboration positively and significantly interacts with supply chain visibility, stakeholder trust, environmental and financial performances. The study results confirmed supply chain collaboration as a significant, positive and a robust influence on supply chain visibility, stakeholder trust, environmental and financial performances thereby projecting win-win scenarios for firms that engage in collaborative supply chain practices.

Originality/value

The study is among the few to indicate findings in relation to the scope of supply chain collaboration's potency in influencing performance from the perspective of manufacturing firms operational in an emerging economy. Thus, this study contributes to understanding the wider scope of supply chain collaboration, its interactions with other firm variables and how it informs decisions of managers, scholars and supply chain partners.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2013

Suparna Goswami, Tobias Engel and Helmut Krcmar

Coordination in supply chains and networks calls for information sharing among the members of the supply chain. Accordingly, information visibility – the availability of relevant…

5394

Abstract

Purpose

Coordination in supply chains and networks calls for information sharing among the members of the supply chain. Accordingly, information visibility – the availability of relevant information for making supply chain related decisions is an important concept in the context of supply chain management. The purpose of this paper is to identify the different dimensions of information visibility and propose a framework based on these information visibility dimensions. The proposed framework can be used to evaluate supply chain information systems (SCIS) and their contribution towards information visibility in supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the proposed framework, we compare two different SCIS (SAP APO and SupplyOn) to assess the extent to which these systems meet the information visibility needs within supply chains and networks. In order to carry out the comparison, data regarding the two systems in collected using multiple methods such as from system documentations, training sessions, interviews with experts and systems engineers.

Findings

The findings indicate that both systems perform well in terms of supporting information visibility, however they serve different purposes within supply chains and networks. Based on the findings, the authors discuss the role of different types of SCIS depending on the characteristics of adopting firms and their supply chains, and how the use of these different systems can complement each other. The research and practical implications of this study are discussed in the overall context of supply chain management.

Originality/value

The framework can be used by organizations to assess the extent to which relevant information is accessible within their supply chains and to select from various SCIS solutions that are available. This research advances understanding on ways of achieving information visibility.

Article
Publication date: 7 May 2020

Michael Rogerson and Glenn C. Parry

This paper aims to investigate how blockchain has moved beyond cryptocurrencies and is being deployed to enhance visibility and trust in supply chains, their limitations and…

10573

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate how blockchain has moved beyond cryptocurrencies and is being deployed to enhance visibility and trust in supply chains, their limitations and potential impact.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative analysis are undertaken via case studies drawn from food companies using semi-structured interviews.

Findings

Blockchain is demonstrated as an enabler of visibility in supply chains. Applications at scale are most likely for products where the end consumer is prepared to pay the premium currently required to fund the technology, e.g. baby food. Challenges remain in four areas: trust of the technology, human error and fraud at the boundaries, governance, consumer data access and willingness to pay.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows that blockchain can be utilised as part of a system generating visibility and trust in supply chains. Research directs academic attention to issues that remain to be addressed. The challenges pertaining to the technology itself we believe to be generalisable; those specific to the food industry may not hold elsewhere.

Practical implications

From live case studies, we provide empirical evidence that blockchain provides visibility of exchanges and reliable data in fully digitised supply chains. This provides provenance and guards against counterfeit goods. However, firms will need to work to gain consumer buy-in for the technology following repeated past claims of trustworthiness.

Originality/value

This paper provides primary evidence from blockchain use cases “in the wild”. The exploratory case studies examine application of blockchain for supply chain visibility.

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