102,034 research outputs found
Collaborative forecasting: one more challenge in supply chain management
No full textThis research aims to offer an original contribution on the debate on collaborative forecasting both in the academic and managerial perspective. Collaborative Forecasting (CF) - referring to the process of collecting and reconciling the information from diverse sources inside and outside the company, to come up with a single unified statement of demand (Hill, 1999) – has been receiving increasing attention in the managerial literature. Following Meredith’s (1998) suggestion to use case studies as a basis for theory formulation, insights from 3 case studies are used to extend existing theory on CF. The first objective of this research is to understand if the phases characterising the CF process are different from those of the conventional forecasting process, and - if yes - what are the main differences. Moreover, this research has a further explorative objective, as it intends to highlight what and how co-ordination mechanisms are activated to adapt, align and synchronise forecasting activities carried out by different members of the network
New supply chain strategies in the pharmaceutical industry
No full textTAs the industrial environment becomes more competitive, supply chain management (SCM) has become a topic of interest to many authors. In particular, in the last decades, pharmaceutical industry has been interested by significant changes that have lead companies to implement SCM to simultaneously achieve efficiency and effectiveness. The aim of this paper is (1) to explore the existence of a sequence of SCM improvement initiatives in pharmaceutical industry and (2) to highlight the emerging SCM model pharmaceutical companies are adopting to overcome the traditional trade-off between efficiency and effectiveness. It has been found a common sequence of improvement initiatives that encompasses three main steps: the redesigning of supply network to exploit economies of scale; supplier integration; demand integration. Such initiatives are then combined in a SCM model which explains their different contribution in improving supply network efficiency and effectiveness
Editorial
No full textManufacturers and organisations of all kinds are re-thinking how they operate as they strive to compete in today’s rapidly changing global, business environment. Increasingly, companies are deciding to join networks and to establish various forms of co-operation in order to gain access to information, skills and capabilities that can be combined and exploited successfully in the marketplace. This trend challenges the traditional models of operations management which tend to focus on individual companies. The concept of Supply Chain Management (SCM) has emerged to indicate a process-oriented, inter-organisational approach to procuring, manufacturing and delivering both products and services. The co-ordination and integration of decision making within such activities has been identified as a main element in cost reduction but customer services are kept and even enhanced, i.e. there is a shift in the classical trade-offs between costs and services.
Nowadays, under the pressure of global marketplaces and the impetus and stimulation offered by internet and IT opportunities, the concept of SCM has enriched its content and enlarged its borders, evolving from its role as merely a logistics perspective. SCM is now making itself felt within several inter-organisational business processes, such as customer relationship management, demand management, order fulfilment, product development and commercialisation and so on, and has become a strategic concept and the paradigm of various business models in the emerging web economy
QUALITY MANAGEMENT FOR SUPPLY CHAIN COORDINATION. LESSONS FROM THE TEXTILE APPAREL INDUSTRY
No full textOrganization development in supply
No full textThis chapter focusses on the central issue of how to regulate interdependent
supply situations at an operational level through organizational solutions.
It addresses three key issues relating to successful supply network development,
namely customer–supplier interdependence, organizational roles to coordinate
interdependent parties in supply networks, and supply chain activities for effective
internationalization. Two variables – technological knowledge needed to be
transferred to run foreign operations and the customer–supplier interaction context
of the focal firm – play a pivotal role in determining the alternative routes a
company can follow to internationalize its supply networks
Managing the Transition Phase in a Supplier Network Relocation Project
No full textThe problem of delocalisation has assumed enormous importance over the last years, given the ever increasing number of firms who turn to it in order to improve their competitive performance. This type of intervention has an impact that extends throughout the whole supplier network of those firms that delocalise. The originality of this research in comparison with the numerous studies on this subject lies in analysis of the supplier network relocation of a firm that has delocalised the production plant and operates in a capital-intensive context. The use of the action research method has enabled us to carry out fieldwork, by conducting a longitudinal case study, on what problems can occur, what solutions can be adopted, and what contingent factors are critical for the realisation of a supplier network delocalisation project in a particular context, such as a capital-intensive contex
Ruolo del personale e Customer Satisfaction
No full textOrmai da tempo e da più parti, sia in letteratura che nelle pratiche aziendali, viene evidenziato il ruolo fondamentale della Customer Satisfaction nel processo di creazione, mantenimento ed accrescimento del valore economico dell'impresa (Valdani Busacca, 1995). Una indagine empirica ha dimostrato che nel periodo compreso fra il 1977 e il 1988 i maggiori incrementi annui del valore delle azioni sono stati conseguiti dalle imprese che hanno investito in azioni ed attività tese ad accrescere la soddisfazione dei clienti e del personale (Kotter, 1992). L'adozione di strategie ed approcci "Customer Satisfaction" implica innovazioni e cambiamenti che vengono ad incidere fortemente sulla struttura organizzativa, i processi, le attività e le relazioni fra le persone. In che cosa si differenziano le aziende che registrano alte prestazioni di Custome Satisfaction? Il lavoro presenta i risultati di una ricerca empirica che, sulla base di un modello di riferimento opportunamente predisposto, analizza le relazioni esistenti fra prestazioni di Customer Satisfaction e Risorse Umane, nei due aspetti tradizionali di "organizzazione del lavoro" e "attività di gestione del personale"
Environmental contingencies and sourcing choices: the evolution of Italian eyewear district
No full text- …
