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The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research for developing a standard to implement a process management system in a whole supply chain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a research for developing a standard to implement a process management system in a whole supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
To gain this aim, the research has been developed in two parts. The quality management part has the objective to select the reference model to develop the standard. The supply chain management (SCM) part has, instead, the objective to select the drivers and the main processes that the standard have to manage. The evaluation of the results of these parts has permitted to define the proposed standard.
Findings
A modified interpretation of ISO 9001:2000 norm is proposed permitting: to improve the ISO 9001 standard to the general requirements for a whole process approach; to extend and to apply the ISO 9001 concepts, that address quality aspects within a single organization, to a whole supply chain; and to facilitate the introduction of the modern principles and techniques of SCM. Finally, the standard to implement a management system for a whole supply chain is introduced through the identification of the main supply chain processes and drivers.
Research limitations/implications
The standard proposed is a specific for a generic supply chain. Further studies will be necessary to: customize the standard to appropriate productive sectors and validate the appropriate content through real applications.
Practical implications
The standard proposed is a guide line to implement a management system in a supply chain and, for this aim, it can be applied in a generic supply chain.
Originality/value
The standard proposed is an original tool to improve the collaboration and processes integration between the partners into a supply chain and this scope can be the actual value of the presented methodology.
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Peter J. Rimmer and Mary Krome Hamilton
Intersectionist, unionist and relabelling models have largely superseded the subsumption of supply chain management within logistics that formed the basis of the traditionalist…
Abstract
Intersectionist, unionist and relabelling models have largely superseded the subsumption of supply chain management within logistics that formed the basis of the traditionalist model. As there is little congruence between logistics and supply chain management in the emergent intersectionist model, this is eliminated from consideration at the outset. However, an examination of the new unionist and relabelling models, offering differing permutations of the relationship between logistics and supply chain management, suggests that they offer a misleading foundation for examining the costs involved with the dispersal of supply chain activities across the world. The root problem is the failure to integrate the industrial goods transformation network operated by multinational corporations with the global transport and communications network. Reverting to privileging the global transportation and communications network over the industrial goods transformation network in a revamped traditionalist model can overcome this difficulty and open up new research vistas.
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An Thi Binh Duong, Uyen My Diep, Paulo Sampaio, Maria Carvalho, Hai Thanh Pham, Thu-Hang Hoang, Dung Quang Truong and Huy Quang Truong
This research aims to specialise in the investigation of risk management for service-oriented manufacturing supply chains via two stages, highlighting its differences from…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to specialise in the investigation of risk management for service-oriented manufacturing supply chains via two stages, highlighting its differences from manufacturing. The research article is commenced by executing an encyclopedic review of earlier research to ascertain the distinctive traits of service-oriented manufacturing supply chains and identify prevalent risks. Secondly, an empirical study in the construction field, amongst the industry hardest struck in the mist of the COVID-19 epidemic, is conducted to thoroughly inspect the resonant effect of these risks on service-oriented manufacturing supply chain performance.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, to validate the resonant effect mechanism, a thorough assessment is undertaken by juxtaposing theoretical model to a newly constructed comparative model that encompasses the single effects of risks on supply chain performance.
Findings
63% variance of service-oriented manufacturing supply chain performance was showcased by the resonant effect model, compared with 46.3% in the comparative model. Moreover, each risk exerts a more glaringly significant impact on supply chain performance, asserting the mechanism of the resonant influence. Another noteworthy result involves the demand risk possessing a low effect on supply chain performance, thus emphasising the superiority of service-oriented manufacturing supply chains.
Research limitations/implications
Future research endeavours should hinge on the optimal “resonant” model explosion, thereby foreseeing and alleviating worst-case scenarios to guarantee the robustness and resilience of supply chain networks.
Practical implications
Indubitably, reducing the intensity of the resonant effect revolves around lowering the coefficient of “a,” thereby restricting/eliminating the link among risks. Therefore, the suggested resonant impact model might thus serve as “a road map”. In light of the aforementioned considerations, it is advisable that supply chain executives employ supply chain management tactics namely avoidance, prediction, and postponement, but only after meticulous consideration the costs and benefits of adopting such strategies.
Originality/value
The service-oriented manufacturing supply chain features and advantages have been analysed and explained throughout the article. The data gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic is a captivating and topical point of this paper.
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Ely Laureano Paiva, Rafael Alcadipani, Kenyth Alves De Freitas, Larissa Alves Sincorá and Arun Abraham Elias
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how three core elements of critical management studies (CMSs), “de-naturalisation”, “reflexivity” and “(non)-performative intent”, can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how three core elements of critical management studies (CMSs), “de-naturalisation”, “reflexivity” and “(non)-performative intent”, can help expand the current debate in the supply chain management (SCM) field.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a systematic literature review to select 103 articles published in 12 high-ranking journals in the SCM field based on the Academic Journal Guide of the Chartered Association of Business Schools.
Findings
The findings of this study suggest that SCM studies can be narrowed down into four major CMSs themes: “power”, “ethics and environmental issues”, “diversity” and “working conditions”, but even these themes are still under-discussed and undertheorized in SCM. The literature the authors reviewed is more concerned with explaining these phenomena than questioning them and proposing new agendas. This paper, therefore, will discuss how these three core elements of CMS can help transform the “hidden” issues of SCM, which it will do by illustrating it in the context of buyer–supplier relationships and lean manufacturing.
Practical implications
This research will encourage SCM scholars who are interested in conducting more critical studies and teaching the harmful effects of global supply chains.
Originality/value
This paper highlights that a combination of SCM and CMS approaches is important when we decide to adopt a more critical “constructive” view of supply chain challenges and engage practical and critical views, respectively, to generate knowledge that not only increases (corporate) performance but also highlights social needs and values.
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Alessandra Cozzolino, Mario Calabrese, Gerardo Bosco, Paola Signori and Enrico Massaroni
The present paper aims at understanding how horizontal network collaborations between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be designed and implemented to take advantage of a…
Abstract
Purpose
The present paper aims at understanding how horizontal network collaborations between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be designed and implemented to take advantage of a supply chain finance (SCF) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents an SCF literature background identifying four literature gaps, and in response to them it adopts an action research approach. The empirical analysis is developed on a network-case study: a horizontal collaboration project between small businesses of the Italian wine industry and their supply chains.
Findings
SMEs can play an active role in developing – in terms of design and implementation – their collaborative networks by taking advantage of an SCF perspective for themselves, and their customers, based on the reorganization of relationships interface processes. Taking this perspective can be a concrete and crucial way to sustain the development of SMEs and their supply chains in an actual competitive context.
Research limitations/implications
The paper identifies the theoretical gaps in the literature, suggests new research areas that deserve to be more deeply investigated and connects case-related results to the key concepts. The empirical part presents a real case application that proposes a complete roadmap for managers and practitioners who wish to experience similar projects.
Practical implications
This network-case study storyline, presenting an overview of ten years of meetings, with related purposes, is suggesting a roadmap for design and implementation of horizontal network as managerial implications. These kinds of active research projects, with a collaborative mixed team of academics and practitioners, and involving a multilayer group of participants, are positive examples for closing the bridge between companies and academia, which enhance this network of small businesses active in trying to improve their competitiveness working together.
Originality/value
The value of the paper is to embrace a supply chain-oriented perspective for an SME, independent of the financial system and based on inventory flow management. Very little literature focuses on inventory-based research within the SCF framework, designed for real implementation in horizontal network collaboration by entrepreneurial ventures.
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João Henrique Lopes Guerra, Fernando Bernardi de Souza, Silvio Roberto Ignácio Pires and Anderson Luiz Ribeiro de Sá
Supply chains are among the most important, complex and risky systems in the modern world. Thus, managing risk is no longer an option, but a fundamental process in organizations…
Abstract
Purpose
Supply chains are among the most important, complex and risky systems in the modern world. Thus, managing risk is no longer an option, but a fundamental process in organizations. Given the lack of pathways that guide companies toward supply chain risk management (SCRM), the purpose of this study is to provide a conceptual reference, in the form of a maturity model, to support them in the evolution and improvement of this process.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposal covered a broad literature review, a survey and a multiple case study. The research was conducted in the aerospace industry and included companies from the supply chain of a leading aircraft manufacturer.
Findings
The model elaborated with the research results has eight attributes and four levels, addressing critical issues for SCRM to achieve its scope and purposes. The attributes include the structuring and scope of the SCRM process, the importance it receives within the organization, the resources used and the qualification of employees, the role of leadership and the inter-organizational collaboration.
Practical implications
Managing risk along supply chains is particularly challenging, demands resources and knowledge and requires a continuous effort. The proposed model offers a reference for improvement, helping to identify areas that need to be strengthened and practices to be implemented. Thus, it can guide the focus and efforts in a more efficient and systematic way, in addition to support evaluations and comparisons.
Originality/value
Although maturity models are abundant in different fields and several are available for risk management, models specifically developed for SCRM are scarce. This study broadens the understanding of SCRM with novel insights about how to improve this process in an evolutionary way. While many researchers focused their efforts on the SCRM process steps, this study identified critical issues that transcend these steps. The research was carried out in a sector with a long tradition in risk management and included companies belonging to a same supply chain, that is, using an approach still little explored in studies on SCRM or risk management maturity models.
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Dimitrios Chatzoudes and Prodromos Chatzoglou
During the previous two decades, “Green Supply Chain Management” (GSCM) has been gaining the attention of researchers and practitioners from various fields (e.g. operations…
Abstract
Purpose
During the previous two decades, “Green Supply Chain Management” (GSCM) has been gaining the attention of researchers and practitioners from various fields (e.g. operations, logistics and supply chain management). Its significance is constantly growing, and various studies are conducted in order to capture its overall organizational contribution. The present study attempts to bring together various organizational aspects that have never been collectively investigated before in the relevant literature. Under that rationale, a robust conceptual framework is developed and empirically tested. This framework includes 17 factors that are classified in three dimensions: (1) drivers of GSCM practices, (2) GSCM practices and (3) firm performance (GSCM outcomes).
Design/methodology/approach
The examination of the proposed conceptual framework was performed using a newly developed structured questionnaire that was distributed to a sample of Greek manufacturing organizations. Supply Chain managers and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) were used as key respondents, due to their knowledge and experience. After the completion of the three-month research period (last quarter of 2019), 292 useable questionnaires were returned. The empirical data were analyzed using the “Structural Equation Modeling” technique. The study is empirical (based on primary data), explanatory (examines cause and effect relationships), deductive (tests research hypotheses) and quantitative (includes the analysis of quantitative data collected with the use of a structured questionnaire).
Findings
Empirical results point out that internal environmental management, green innovative practices and environmental proactivity are GSCM practices with the most significant impact on firm performance. Moreover, the mediating role of GSCM practices in the relationship between GSCM drivers and firm performance is also highlighted. Finally, it was found that GSCM practices can explain 35% of the variance in firm performance and the drivers of GSCM practices can explain 78% of the variance of these practices.
Originality/value
The proposed three-dimensional conceptual framework of this empirical study and its underlining rationale has rarely been adopted in the relevant literature. Moreover, the study investigates which GSCM practices have an impact on firm performance, thus offering value to practitioners of the field. Also, it is one of the few similar studies that have been conducted on a European country.
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Qiang Lu, Yang Deng, Beini Liu and Jinliang Chen
As an effective mode to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) raise working capital, supply chain finance has recently gained extensive attention. The purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
As an effective mode to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) raise working capital, supply chain finance has recently gained extensive attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the intrinsic mechanism of how both weak and strong ties in the supply chain network impact the supply chain financing performance (SCFP) of SMEs from the perspective of the supply chain network.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the extended resource-based perspective, this paper proposes a theoretical model to explain the mode in which strong ties and weak ties of SMEs in the supply chain network influence SCFP through both physical distribution flexibility and demand management flexibility. Based on data from 182 manufacturing firms in China, this paper uses multiple regression analysis to test hypotheses.
Findings
The results of this paper indicate that weak ties improve SCFP more effectively than strong ties. Furthermore, both physical distribution flexibility and demand management flexibility exert different mediating roles either between strong ties and SCFP or between weak ties and SCFP. Moreover, the effect of physical distribution flexibility and demand management flexibility on SCFP of SMEs is not reinforced.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the importance to expand supply chain finance research from the perspective of the supply chain network. In particular, this paper explores the poorly understood mediating effect both physical distribution flexibility and demand management flexibility exert on the relationship between network ties and the SCFP of SMEs.
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Ruchi Mishra, Rajesh Singh and Kannan Govindan
The purpose of this study is to systematically review the state-of-art literature on the net-zero economy in the field of supply chain management.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to systematically review the state-of-art literature on the net-zero economy in the field of supply chain management.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review of 79 articles published from 2009 to 2021 has been conducted to minimise the researchers' bias and maximise the reliability and replicability of the study.
Findings
The thematic analysis reveals that studies in the field of net-zero economy have mostly been done on decarbonisation in the supply chain, emission control and life cycle analysis and environmental and energy management. The findings highlight the strong positive association between digitalisation, circular economy and resources optimization practices with net-zero economy goals. The study also addresses the challenges linked with the net-zero economy at the firm and country levels.
Research limitations/implications
Practitioners in companies and academics might find this review valuable as this study reviews, classifies and analyses the studies, outlines the evolution of literature and offers directions for future studies using the theory, methodology and context (TMC) framework.
Originality/value
This is the first study that uses a structured approach to analyse studies done in the net-zero field by assessing publications from 2009 to 2021.
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Vikas Kumar, Banu Yetkin Ekren, Jiayan Wang, Bhavin Shah and Guilherme Francisco Frederico
The ongoing pandemic has gravely affected different facets of society and economic trades worldwide. During the outbreak, most manufacturing and service sectors were closed across…
Abstract
Purpose
The ongoing pandemic has gravely affected different facets of society and economic trades worldwide. During the outbreak, most manufacturing and service sectors were closed across the globe except for essential commodities such as food and medicines. Consequently, recent literature has focused on studying supply chain resilience and sustainability in different pandemic contexts. This study aims to add to the existing literature by exploring the economic, environmental and societal aspects affecting the food supply chain and assessing the impact of COVID-19 on food sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey method has been adopted with a questionnaire instrument investigating the role of technology, government policies, geopolitics and intermediaries on sustainable organisational management. A five-point Likert scale (i.e. 1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) is used to evaluate the responses. The findings are based on 131 responses from entry-level workers and senior executives of different food supply chains across Asia and Europe. The data has been analysed to derive insights into the impacts of this pandemic.
Findings
The survey concludes with the significant impact of COVID-19 on the three pillars of sustainability, i.e. economic, social and environmental dimensions. The empirical analysis shows digitalisation and its applications help mitigate the negative effect of COVID-19 on sustainability. In addition, the supportive government policies and intermediatory interventions were helpful in improving sustainability at each level.
Research limitations/implications
The findings have implications for businesses and policymakers. Companies can learn from the advantages of digitalisation to counter the challenges imposed by the pandemic or similar situations in the future in maintaining the sustainability of their supply chains. Managers can also learn the importance of effective organisational management in driving sustainability. Finally, policymakers can devise policies to support businesses in adopting sustainable practices in their supply chains.
Originality/value
This study adds to the limited literature exploring the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chain sustainability through the triple bottom line lens. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is also one of the first empirical studies to examine the effect of technology, government and organisational management practices on the sustainability of food supply chains.
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