Supply chain information sharing: challenges and risk mitigation strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1102-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Thanh Huong Tran ◽  
Paul Childerhouse ◽  
Eric Deakins

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how managers perceive risks associated with sharing information with trading partners, and how they attempt to mitigate them. Design/methodology/approach In this exploratory New Zealand study, qualitative research was conducted involving semi-structured interviews with boundary spanning managers who are responsible for inter-organizational interfaces. Multiple case studies in different industries are used to highlight managers’ perceptions of risks in data exchange process throughout the supply network, and their underlying reasoning. Findings Managers perceive several types of risks when exchanging information across external supply chain interfaces, and adopt different approaches to handling them. The research also reinforces the vital role played by interpersonal relationships and trust as key enablers of inter-organizational cooperation. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on a small sample of 11 case companies based in a single New Zealand province, thereby potentially restricting generalizability. Future work could usefully extend the sample size in order to investigate the correlations between firm sizes, levels of trust, and degrees of data integration within particular industry sectors. Practical implications The findings will help managers understand and evaluate different types of risks in the data exchange process, and enable them to make better decisions that enhance information sharing and supply chain performance. Originality/value Perceived information sharing risks are peculiar to the individual actors, and as such need to be mitigated through changes to their socially constructed perceptions. This work extends the literature on understanding the various dimensions of inter-organizational information sharing.

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1449-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Panjehfouladgaran ◽  
Stanley Frederick W.T. Lim

PurposeReverse logistics (RL), an inseparable aspect of supply chain management, returns used products to recovery processes with the aim of reducing waste generation. Enterprises, however, seem reluctant to apply RL due to various types of risks which are perceived as posing an economic threat to businesses. This paper draws on a synthesis of supply chain and risk management literature to identify and cluster RL risk factors and to recommend risk mitigation strategies for reducing the negative impact of risks on RL implementation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors identify and cluster risk factors in RL by using risk management theory. Experts in RL and supply chain risk management validated the risk factors via a questionnaire. An unsupervised data mining method, self-organising map, is utilised to cluster RL risk factors into homogeneous categories.FindingsA total of 41 risk factors in the context of RL were identified and clustered into three different groups: strategic, tactical and operational. Risk mitigation strategies are recommended to mitigate the RL risk factors by drawing on supply chain risk management approaches.Originality/valueThis paper studies risks in RL and recommends risk management strategies to control and mitigate risk factors to implement RL successfully.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 642-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woojung Chang ◽  
Alexander E. Ellinger ◽  
Jennifer Blackhurst

Purpose – As global supply networks proliferate, the strategic significance of supply chain risk management (SCRM) – defined as the identification, evaluation, and management of supply chain-related risks to reduce overall supply chain vulnerability – also increases. Yet, despite consistent evidence that firm performance is enhanced by appropriate fit between strategy and context, extant SCRM research focusses more on identifying sources of supply chain risk, types of SCRM strategy, and performance implications associated with SCRM than on the relative efficacy of alternative primary supply chain risk mitigation strategies in different risk contexts. Drawing on contingency theory, a conceptual framework is proposed that aligns well-established aspects of SCRM to present a rubric for matching primary alternative supply chain risk mitigation strategies (redundancy and flexibility) with particular risk contexts (severity and probability of risk occurrence). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Conceptual paper. Findings – The proposed framework addresses supply chain managers’ need for a basic rubric to help them choose and implement risk mitigation approaches. The framework may also prove helpful for introducing business students to the fundamentals of SCRM. Originality/value – The framework and associated research propositions provide a theoretically grounded basis for managing the firm’s portfolio of potential supply chain risks by applying appropriate primary risk mitigation strategies based on the specific context of each risk rather than taking a “one size fits all” approach to risk mitigation. An agenda for progressing research on contingency-based approaches to SCRM is also presented.


Author(s):  
Marianne Jahre

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to link humanitarian logistics (HL) and supply chain risk management (SCRM) to provide an understanding of risk mitigation strategies that humanitarian organisations use, or could use, to improve their logistics preparedness. Design/methodology/approach Based on systematic reviews of RMS in SCRM and supply chain strategies (SCS) in HL literature, a framework is developed and used to review published case studies in HL. Findings The study finds that humanitarian actors use a number of the strategies proposed in the framework, particularly those related to strategic stocks, postponement, and collaboration. Strategies related to sourcing and procurement, however, especially those on supplier relationships, seem to be lacking in both research and practice. Research limitations/implications The study is based on secondary data and could be further developed through case studies based on primary data. Future studies should explore the generalisability of the findings. Practical implications Practitioners can use the framework to identify potential new SCS and how strategies can be combined. Findings can help them to understand the abnormal risks of main concern, how they may impact normal risks, and provide ideas on how to tackle trade-offs between different risks. Social implications The results can support improvements in humanitarian supply chains, which will provide affected people with rapid, cost-efficient, and better-adapted responses. Originality/value The paper connects SCRM and HL to develop a framework and suggests propositions on how humanitarian actors can mitigate supply chain risks. Questioning the focus on strategic stock it suggests complementary or alternative strategies for improving logistics preparedness.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ujang Maman ◽  
Akhmad Mahbubi ◽  
Ferry Jie

Purpose This study aims to identify halal risk events, halal risk agents, measure halal risk level and formulate the halal risk control model (mitigation) in all stages in the beef supply chain from Australia to Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach This research combines qualitative and quantitative method. It elaborates nine variables as the Halal Control Point: halal animal, animal welfare, stunning, knife, slaughter person, slaughter method, invocation, packaging, labeling and halal meat. This study uses house of risk, a model for proactive supply chain risk. Findings The main mitigation strategies to guarantee the halal beef status in the abattoir is the obligation of vendor or the factory to issue a written manual of stunning tool. The priority of halal risk mitigation strategies for the retailing to avoid the meat contamination is the need of a halal policy for transporter’s companies and supermarkets. Research limitations/implications Every actor must be strongly committed to the application of halal risk mitigation strategies and every chain must be implemented in the halal assurance system. Originality/value This model will be a good reference for halal meat auditing and reference for halal meat import procurement policy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Johnson ◽  
Peter Haug

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore modifications to the supply chain strategies of international manufacturers resulting from recent momentous trade disruptions, including the US-China trade war, global tariff escalations, Brexit and heightened geopolitical tensions. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology consisted of a series of in-depth personal interviews with senior supply chain executives of six large US international manufacturers. Findings The study identified several short-term reactive strategies taken, including pulling purchase orders or production forward, building inventory and applying for exceptions from tariffs, along with longer-term proactive strategies such as shifting and expanding supplier and manufacturing locations. Research limitations/implications The study’s limitations involve its small sample size and its findings being industry and company-specific to a limited number of firms. While the sample size was deemed sufficient for this exploratory study, larger sample sizes and subsequent industry-specific analyses are recommended. Practical implications The global supply chain modifications effectively used by the firms in the study can offer guidance for practitioners facing similar challenges following major trade disruptions. Originality/value Due to the very recent emergence of the trade disruptors examined in this study, extant literature is limited. Hence, the findings noted in the paper offer not only guidance for practitioners but also make a strong contribution to research and literature on global supply chain risk management and disruption risk mitigation.


Author(s):  
Mathias Doetzer ◽  
Alexander Pflaum

PurposeInformation-sharing and flexibility are considered to be major tools for risk mitigation and supply chain resiliency. However, less light has been shed on the role of information-sharing as an enabler to utilize flexibility capabilities before and after supply chain disruptions. The aim of this paper is to provide indications on how digitalized information-sharing (DIS) enhances flexibility capability utilization.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology follows a qualitative approach, including 31 transcribed semi-structured interviews with supply chain experts in Germany and Japan.FindingsThe findings indicate that DIS supports flexibility capability utilization in pre- and post-disruptive supply chain management. First, the enhancement of estimated transport time accuracy supports rapid supplier and transport mode adjustment. Second, while the effects of DIS in manufacturing are limited without pre-existing flexibility capabilities, steady internal and external DIS utilizes exciting manufacturing flexibility to cope with disruptions beyond production. Third, track and trace technologies enhance the value of shared data and allow flexibility in the form of demand-oriented distribution, but companies unable to adopt technologies can still enhance flexibility capabilities with DIS using the existing infrastructure.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the essential role of digital information-sharing for flexibility utilization in supply chain risk management. While existing studies engaged with flexibility and information-sharing in supply chain risk management, this study contributes by emphasizing digital information-sharing as a key triggering enabler for flexibility in pre- and post-disruptive phases.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surya Prakash ◽  
Gunjan Soni ◽  
Ajay Pal Singh Rathore ◽  
Shubhender Singh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology to analyze the risks present in perishable food supply chain and to determine the most effective risk mitigation strategies. It is achieved by understanding the dynamics between various risks in perishable food supply chain and modeling them using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Design/methodology/approach Four categories and 17 types of risk are established from literature and conducting brainstorming sessions with managers/engineers in Indian dairy firms. A methodology is proposed using ISM, risk priority number and risk mitigation number to prioritize risk mitigation strategy decisions for the dairy industry. Findings For a perishable food supply chain, risk positioned at lower levels (levels 1 or 2) in the hierarchy should be targeted first, while formulating mitigation strategies. To investigate further, risk- enabling factors which are identified for an Indian dairy firm for these levels 1 and 2 risks and mitigation strategy prioritization show that supplier side risks are more dominant followed by market risks and process risks. Research limitations/implications This proposed methodology has not been statistically validated or empirically tested, and factors taken are in the Indian context, but the authors believe that the study is highly relevant to other markets as well because the ISM-based analysis is for generic perishable food supply chain environment. Practical implications This study provides a useful approach to managers/decision makers to identify, analyze and prioritize risk in the supply chain. It also provides insights into the mutual relationships of supply chain risks which would help them to focus on the effective risk mitigation strategies formulation. The study provides the insights to benchmark and risk management in the dairy industry environment with priority considerations. Originality/value This paper provides an integrated approach to identifying, quantify, analyze, evaluate and mitigate the risks of perishable food (in the dairy environment) in the Indian context.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kumar Tarei ◽  
Jitesh J. Thakkar ◽  
Barnali Nag

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a decision support system (DSS) to assist supply chain (SC) risk managers to select a suitable risk management (RM) strategy and expedite the implementation of corresponding RM enablers. The relationship between RM strategies and RM enablers is explored by identifying the underlying factors between them, which is further used to build the DSS.Design/methodology/approachThe DSS is built by integrating heterogeneous techniques. A systematic review approach is employed to explore both proactive and reactive RM enablers, and they are further mapped to various RM strategies by using correspondence analysis (CA). An in-depth interview is conducted to develop the rules for constructing the decision system. A rule-based fuzzy inference system (FIS) is utilized to counteract the uncertainty involved in the decision variables. The efficacy of the proposed DSS is demonstrated by considering two conjectural scenarios in the case of Indian petroleum SC (IPSC).FindingsThe results reveal three primary underlying factors between the risk mitigation strategies viz. SC managers' preparedness to face risk, organization's resource capability to deal with risk and the sophistication of the implementation of the RM enablers; with explained variances of 37%, 29% and 22%, respectively. Risk avoidance strategy comprises of RM enablers such as supplier evaluation, technology adaption, information security, etc. Whereas, the risk-sharing strategy includes revenue sharing, insurance, collaboration, public-private-partnership, etc. as essential RM enablers. The DSS recommends risk-mitigation and risk-sharing as effective RM strategies for the IPSC under the considered scenarios.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper develops a decision support framework for recommending an effective risk mitigation strategy and outranking the corresponding enablers. The study explicitly focuses on the risk mitigation step of the supply chain risk management (SCRM) process. Pre- and post-risk mitigation steps of the SCRM process, such as risk assessment and risk monitoring are beyond the scope of this research.Originality/valueThe operational procedure of the proposed DSS is explained by considering a real-life case of petroleum SC in the Indian scenario. The unique contributions of this study are presented as theoretical implications and managerial propositions in the context of a developing country.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishwas Dohale ◽  
Priya Ambilkar ◽  
Angappa Gunasekaran ◽  
Priyanka Verma

PurposeThis study attempts to identify the supply chain risks (SCRs) induced during the COVID-19 disruption in an Indian handloom saree industry and determine suitable risk mitigation strategies (RMSs) to overcome the impact of the epidemic disruption.Design/methodology/approachThis work determined 11 SCRs through an extensive literature review in the context of the handloom apparel industry and validated through the experts. Further, a multiple case-based approach is used in this research. Within case and cross-case analyses of four relevant Indian handloom “make-to-order” saree manufacturing firms are conducted to determine the severity of the SCRs considering the pandemic situations to identify appropriate strategies to mitigate the shock of SCRs.FindingsThis study identified the critical SCRs in the context of the Indian handloom “make-to-order” saree industries that emerged during the COVID-19 and proposed a risk mitigation strategy matrix (RMSM) to address the SCRs based on their criticality and predictability dimensions.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides a novel contribution to the body of knowledge on supply chain risk management (SCRM) in the form of the RMSM tool. Supply chain managers from the different sectors can extend the proposed RMSM to overcome the SCRs. Multiple case analyses facilitate supply chain professionals working in handloom apparel industries to benchmark and adopt the proposed RMSs in their firm.Originality/valueThis research is one of its kind that carried exploratory investigation of the handloom apparel industry cases to assess and determine the strategies for mitigating the SCRs caused during a pandemic outbreak.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 1683-1715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kumar Tarei ◽  
Jitesh J. Thakkar ◽  
Barnali Nag

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between various risk management strategies and risk management practices in order to design and hence enact a suitable supply chain risk mitigation (RM) plan. Additionally, this study proposes a hierarchical framework to explain the mutual relationship between supply chain risk management (SCRM) practices and strategies by considering the underlying dimensions between them.Design/methodology/approachAn amalgamation of systematic literature analysis (SLA) and correspondence analysis (CA) has been performed to develop the conceptual framework. A real-life case of Indian petroleum supply chain has been considered to validate and explain the proposed model.FindingsThe results reveal three underlying dimensions, which associate the relationship between RM strategies. They are, risk adaptability of SC managers with a variance of 34.71%, followed by resource capability of the firm and the degree of sophistication of RM practices, with variances of 27.72 and 20.35%, respectively. Risk avoidance strategy comprises of practices such as supplier evaluation, technology adaption, flexible process and information security. On the other extreme, the risk sharing strategy includes revenue sharing, insurance, collaboration, public–private partnership and so on as essential RM practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe study not only focuses on the distinction between RM strategies and practices, which were used interchangeably in the prior literature, but also provides an association between the same by exploring the underlying dimensions. These underlying dimensions perform a crucial role while developing a risk management plan. This study explicitly focuses on the RM step of SCRM process. Pre and post risk mitigation phases of SCRM process, such as risk assessment and risk monitoring, are beyond the scope of the current research.Originality/valueThe paper develops a framework for mapping various RM strategies with their corresponding practices by considering the Indian petroleum supply chain as a viable case study. Various theoretical and business implications are derived in the context of the developing country.


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