3,632 research outputs found
The importance of network goals for strategic chain management
No full textNowadays food products are increasingly produced in supply chain networks that involve numerous firms. Due to their pyramidal-hierarchical structure, such networks possess a focal company that coordinates the network. The managerial task of the focal company is to work out collective strategy that addresses cooperation and coordination problems at the firm, dyadic and network levels. These strategies must take into account that at each level specific goals must be achieved. Though the focal company is a strategy setting unit that sets network goals, other network actors may perceive these goals as firm-level goals of the focal company. Therefore, conflicts may occur in supply chain networks.Supply chain networks, focal company, network goals, Agribusiness,
Supply chain management research impact: an evidence based perspective
No full textThe purpose of this paper, using an evidenceî ̧based management theoretical lens, is to examine research impact to provide guidance to supply chain management academics in evidencing and exploiting the outputs, outcomes and impact of their research. Evidenceî ̧based management theory is examined and applied to types of academic research impact. The distinction between academic and nonî ̧academic impact is developed into a supply chain framework of research outputs, transfer, outcomes, impact and national/international benefits. Impact of supply chain management research is explored through a case study in the English National Health Service. Future opportunities and challenges for supply chain management researchers arising from increasing demand for and supply of evidence are discussed. Author academic impact and citations are found to be increasingly important building blocks of evidenceî ̧based evaluations of individual academics, journals, research quality assessments of groups and universities, and global rankings of universities. Supply chain management researchers can compare their impact with other areas of academia. Nonî ̧academic impact of research has been assessed by funders of research projects and has spread to research quality assessments of universities. Bibliometrics provide evidence of author and journal impact that can be used in human resource decisions, research quality assessments and global rankings of universities; this availability enables a debate on appropriate use of academic impact evidence. Supply chain management academics evidencing nonî ̧academic research impact on business, society and economy will enable governments and funders of research to evaluate value for money return on their investment. This perspective of evidenceî ̧based evaluation of research impact and its implications might encourage debate on academic and nonî ̧academic impact and encourage supply chain researchers to consider evidencing impact in their research design and methodology. © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limite
Dairy supply chain restructuring and its impact on farmers' revenues in Poland
No full textSupply chain restructuring and its impact on farmers’ situation have become the subject of vast interest among agricultural economists. However, there have been relatively few studies trying to quantitatively asses this issue. This paper analyses the impact of supply chain modernisation on dairy farmers in Poland. It is shown that joining the modern marketing channel positively affects farmers’ revenues. The decision to enter the modern channel is crucially dependent on access to funds and facilitated by having larger cow herds.Supply chain, restructuring, dairy sector, Poland, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries,
Understanding the UK hospital supply chain in an era of patient choice
No full textAuthor Posting © Westburn Publishers Ltd, 2011. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy-edit version of an article which has been published in its definitive form in the Journal of Marketing Management, and has been posted by permission of Westburn Publishers Ltd for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Journal of Marketing Management, 27(3-4), 401 - 423, doi:10.1080/0267257X.2011.547084 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2011.547084The purpose of this paper is to investigate the UK hospital supply chain in light of recent government policy reform where patients will have, inter alia, greater choice of hospital for elective surgery. Subsequently, the hospital system should become far more competitive with supply chains having to react to these changes as patient demand becomes less predictable. Using a qualitative case study methodology, hospital managers are interviewed on a range of issues. Views on the development of the hospital supply chain in different phases are derived, and are used to develop a map of the current hospital chain. The findings show hospital managers anticipating some significant changes to the hospital supply chain and its workings as Patient Choice expands. The research also maps the various aspects of the hospital supply chain as it moves through different operational phases and highlights underlying challenges and complexities. The hospital supply chain, as discussed and mapped in this research, is original work given there are no examples in the literature that provide holistic representations of hospital activity. At the end, specific recommendations are provided that will be of interest to service to managers, researchers, and policymakers
A collaborative perspective in green construction risk management
No full textMany risks existing in the supply chain of green construction projects are poorly managed by traditional non-collaborative approaches leading to problems such as higher prices, inappropriate indoor environment quality, technological failures and legal battles that in turn adversely affect all stakeholders. To reduce the cases of failure in the green construction industry, it is necessary for supply chain (SC) key players to collaboratively identify, analyse and treat risks, considering benefits and concerns of all stakeholders inside the network.
This paper presents a method for collaborative risk management to provide informed advice to supply chain stakeholders to manage risks in the green construction industry. Contribution of the proposed collaborative approach is illustrated in a case study carried out in a green construction development project in Melbourne, Australia. The case study introduced in this research is sufficiently robust to provide evidence that collaborative approaches can add value to traditional methods of risk management and presents a modelling and analysis framework for assessing supply chain risks in the green construction.
Authors: Mehrdad Arashpour and Mohammadreza Arashpour, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University.
First published in Kamardeen, I, Newton, S, Lim, B and Loosemore, M (ed.) Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the Australasian Universities Building Educators Association (AUBEA), Sydney, Australia, 4th - 6th July 2012, pp. 1-11
Mitigating personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain disruptions in pandemics – a system dynamics approach
No full textPurpose: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as an unprecedented health crisis worldwide and heavily disrupted the healthcare supply chain. This study focuses on analysing the different types of disruptions occurring in personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic and on proposing mitigation strategies that are fit to the global scale and many interdependencies that are characteristic for this pandemic. The authors construct a conceptual system dynamics model (SD) based on the literature and adjusted with the use of empirical data (interviews) to capture the complexity of a global supply chain and identify leverage points (mitigation strategies). Design/methodology/approach: This research follows a mix-methods approach. First, the authors developed a conceptual framework based on four types of disruptions that usually occur during health emergencies (direct effect, policy, supply chain strategy, and behaviourally induced disruptions). Second, the authors collected and analysed data from interviews with experts in the PPE supply chain. Based on the interviews data, the authors developed a conceptual system dynamics (SD) model that allows to capture the complex and dynamic interplay between the elements of the global supply chain system, by highlighting key feedback loops, delays, and the way the mitigation strategies can impact on them. From this analysis, the authors developed four propositions for supply chain risk management (SCRM) in global health emergencies and four recommendations for the policy and decision makers. Findings: The SD model highlights that without a combination of mitigation measures, it is impossible to overcome all disruptions. As such, a co-ordinated effort across the different countries and sectors that experience the disruptions is needed. The SD model also shows that there are important feedback loops, by which initial disruptions create delays and shortages that propagate through the supply chain network. If the co-ordinated mitigation measures are not implemented early at the onset of the pandemic, these disruptions will be persistent, creating potential shortages of PPE and other critical equipment at the onset of a pandemic – when they are most urgently needed. Originality/value: This research enriches the understanding of the disruptions of PPE supply chains on the systems level and proposes mitigation strategies based on empirical data and the existing literature.Transport and LogisticsSystem Engineerin
Co-operation and economic relationship as determinants for competitiveness in the food sector: the Spanish wheat to bread chain
No full textThe objective of the paper is to investigate the impact of co-operation amongst stakeholders of the food chain on enterprise competitiveness. The analysis focuses on the Spanish wheat to bread chain. A theoretical model is developed which covers the main components that define competitiveness (profitability, turnover, market share, customer loyalty and product quality), quality supply chain relationship (trust, commitment and satisfaction) and the main factors explaining supply chain relationship (i.e. quality and frequency of the communication, personal bounds, etc.). The Spanish wheat to bread supply chain has been chosen to empirically test the model. This sector is very fragmented all along the chain, with a high number of wheat farmers, millers and bakers. Exchanges in the sector are mainly done in the open market but there is an increasing tendency to maintain stable relationships with suppliers to assure quality. Therefore, stakeholders in the wheat to bread chain are mainly using two types of economic relationships: “repeated market transactions” and “spot market” but the former is by far the most used. Based on data from a standardised survey with farmers, processors and retailers a structural equation modelling approach has been applied to empirically test the influence of relationship quality on stakeholders’ competitiveness in the Spanish wheat to bread chain. The main conclusion of the study is that, as the quality of the relationship in the Spanish wheat to bread chain improves the stakeholder’ competitiveness increases. The results also reveal that quality of the relationship in the Spanish wheat to bread chain is based on trust, satisfaction and commitment with buyers/sellers and strongly influenced by communication quality and quantity. In addition, the outcome shows that the quality of communication has an indirect positive effect on stakeholders’ competitiveness through the relationship quality. Finally, the only factor that will influence the quality of the relationship is the equal power distribution along the chain. Moreover, personal bounds positively influence the quality of communication in the bread Spanish supply chain.competitiveness, food, Spain, Agribusiness,
The past and future of supply chain collaboration: a literature synthesis and call for research
No full text
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide scholarly and practical benefits by detailing the past and suggesting a future research agenda for supply chain (SC) collaboration. A literature review is utilized to examine what has been investigated prior, and what remains to be analyzed, in order to assist today’s managers and researchers. The research expands the understanding of SC collaboration from a focal firm perspective while providing boundaries for future investigation and at the same time detailing the current state of collaboration to practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
The current research utilizes a systematic review of the literature to shape a proposed research agenda on the topic of SC collaboration.
Findings
The paper provides insights into gaps in the literature as it pertains to SC collaboration. Specifically, the paper suggests investigating SC collaboration as it relates to perceived and real performance, understanding what know-how and commitment a focal firm must make to SC collaboration, and how to successfully navigate collaboration termination.
Research limitations/implications
This manuscript makes four specific contributions to the literature. First, it provides the first holistic graphic depiction of the central constructs employed in extant SC collaboration research. Next it examines three specific factor areas influencing collaboration. Overlooked issues are then revealed as suggestions for future research in SC collaboration. Finally, the method employed to conduct the systematic literature review can be used as a blueprint for future researchers in performing a similar exercise.
Practical implications
The current research seeks to provide a research agenda which meets the needs of today’s business managers.
Originality/value
The paper provides a suggested research agenda for SC collaboration.
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Palm oil traceability : blockchain meets supply chain
No full textThesis: M. Eng. in Supply Chain Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Supply Chain Management Program, 2018.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged student-submitted from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 36-38).There is a current lack of visibility in the transfer of goods from farmers to oil mills, to manufacturers, to retail outlets and finally to the consumer in the palm oil industry. While leading brands have pledged to commit to a 100% sustainable certification, only 19% of global palm oil production is certified as sustainable. Emerging technologies, such as blockchain, a distributed ledger, can transform supply chain traceability as we know it and bring more transparency through the value chain, creating value to stakeholders. From a process perspective, the proposed solution leverages the mass balance, and book and claim traceability models that RSPO has defined. From a technology perspective, the proposed solution leverages blockchain, geospatial imagery classification, and IoT technologies to keep track of the flow of physical goods and sustainable palm oil certificates. From a people perspective, the proposed solution includes a set of incentive models that could be utilized in easing change management efforts.by Toufic Hirbli.M. Eng. in Supply Chain Managemen
Distributed simulation with COTS simulation packages: A case study in health care supply chain simulation
No full textThe UK National Blood Service (NBS) is a public funded body that is responsible for distributing blood and asso-ciated products. A discrete-event simulation of the NBS supply chain in the Southampton area has been built using the commercial off-the-shelf simulation package (CSP) Simul8. This models the relationship in the health care supply chain between the NBS Processing, Testing and Is-suing (PTI) facility and its associated hospitals. However, as the number of hospitals increase simulation run time be-comes inconveniently large. Using distributed simulation to try to solve this problem, researchers have used techniques informed by SISO’s CSPI PDG to create a version of Simul8 compatible with the High Level Architecture (HLA). The NBS supply chain model was subsequently divided into several sub-models, each running in its own copy of Simul8. Experimentation shows that this distri-buted version performs better than its standalone, conven-tional counterpart as the number of hospitals increases
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