scholarly journals Supply Chain Risk Management Strategies: A Study of South African Third-Party Logistics Providers

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandla Mvubu ◽  
Micheline Naude

The purpose of this study was to determine the supply chain risk management (SCRM) strategies that South African third-party logistics (3PL) service providers use to mitigate risks, the extent to which they adopt these strategies and the benefits derived thereof. An exploratory and descriptive method technique was adopted. The empirical study comprised of email surveys administered to 398 supply chain managers employed by South African 3PLs. The findings reveal that respondents place greater importance on risk identification than on the other SCRM strategies. Risk assessment attained the lowest rating, implying that 3PL providers placed the least importance on this risk assessment strategy. Risk response and risk monitoring, reporting and control are all adopted to a significantly lesser extent. The findings also revealed that 3PL providers derive significant benefits from all SCRM strategies. A limitation of this study is that not all 3PL providers affiliated with SAAFF participated. In addition, because only members of senior management were included in the study, the opinions of operational and tactical staff were not obtained. The study contributes to the current body of knowledge on SCRM by exploring how 3PL providers in a developing country, such as South Africa, assess supply chain risks, the strategies they have in place to respond to these risks, and the mechanisms in place to monitor and control SCM risks.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arno Meyer ◽  
Wesley Niemann ◽  
Gerhard Uys ◽  
Déan Beetge

Orientation: The management of supply chain risks, disruptions and vulnerabilities has become a significant issue in supply chain management research in recent times.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was threefold, namely to (1) determine whether there is a clear understanding of supply chain risk management (SCRM) within the South African third-party logistics service providers (3PL) industry, (2) investigate the primary sources that lead to disruptions and vulnerabilities within the supply chains of South African 3PL organisations and (3) establish the current tools or methods used by supply chain practitioners to mitigate supply chain risks within the 3PL industry in South Africa.Motivation for the study: Supply chain risks are ever increasing and evolving which may have a substantial influence on organisational and supply chain performance.Research design, approach and method: A generic qualitative research method was used to gather data. A total of 20 purposively selected participants drawn from 20 3PL organisations with headquarters located in Gauteng province participated in semi-structured interviews.Main findings: The findings indicate a juxtaposition regarding South African 3PL supply chain practitioners’ understanding of SCRM compared to literature, as the participants were found to only identify certain tenets of SCRM with no single participant comprehensively describing SCRM according to the literature. External disruptions, namely customer- and supply-side disruptions within the South African 3PL industry were found to be the primary sources of supply chain disruptions. The findings further indicate that supply chain vulnerabilities emanate predominantly from labour strikes and cyberattacks.Practical/managerial implications: The implementation of SCRM is constrained by the high costs of implementation, the unwillingness of supply chain partners to buy into SCRM, power imbalances in supply chain relationships and other uncontrollable factors between different supply chain members.Contribution/value-add: Supply chain practitioners in the 3PL industry should realise the significance of effective SCRM practices, as well as the positive impact proactive SCRM practices could have on their organisations as well as on supply chain partners.


Author(s):  
Diego Fernando Manotas-Duque ◽  
Juan Carlos Osorio-Gómez ◽  
Leonardo Rivera

Supply chain risk management processes are among the most important activities in the value chain of any industry. The supply chain risk management process includes different activities, focused on the identification, measurement, assessment, and mitigation of the main risk sources that can affect a supply chain. The increasing complexity facing global supply chains generates the need for suppliers to collaborate in different processes in a supply chain. In this context, Third Party Logistics Providers (3PL) have been widely promoted by the phenomenon of outsourcing, on which companies increasingly rely. The growth in logistics outsourcing is mainly attributed to the benefits it brings in terms of reducing costs, improving performance, allowing companies to focus on their core businesses and building virtual enterprises through strategic alliances. In this chapter we develop a model to identify the operational risk factors of a 3PL provider.


Author(s):  
Simon Simba ◽  
Wesley Niemann ◽  
Theuns Kotzé ◽  
Assilah Agigi

Background: The supply chain risk management (SCRM) process is aimed at the implementation of strategies that assist in managing both daily and exceptional risks facing the supply chain through continuous risk assessment to reduce vulnerability and ensure continuity.Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine whether the SCRM process enables supply chain resilience among grocery manufacturers in South Africa. The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)-manufacturing industry faces increased risk because of the nature of their products being perishable with a limited shelf life.Method: This study was conducted using a descriptive qualitative research design. Data were collected by means of 12 semi-structured interviews with senior supply chain practitioners within the South African grocery manufacturing industry.Findings: The study found that most firms informally implement SCRM processes of risk identification, assessment, mitigation and monitoring to mitigate disruptions. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the SCRM processes facilitate resilience among grocery manufacturers in South Africa.Conclusion: The managerial implications show that supply chain managers of grocery manufacturers should formalise the SCRM process and develop risk assessment scales to better prioritise risks in order to run a resilient supply chain. The research contributes to the supply chain management field by adding to the scarce literature relating to SCRM as an enabler of supply chain resilience in a South African context.


Author(s):  
Jaco Nel ◽  
Evert De Goede ◽  
Wesley Niemann

Background: Despite risk management efforts, supply chains have become increasingly vulnerable to disruptions. Disruptions should be successfully managed if organisations are to thrive in today’s ever-changing world.Purpose: This study explored supply chain disruptions of third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) and their clients based in South Africa by investigating the disruptions these organisations face, and how they go about managing them.Method: A generic qualitative research approach was used to gather data by conducting semi-structured interviews with 22 participants, which comprised 11 3PLs and 11 client organisations operating in South Africa.Findings: This study classified disruptions as intra-, inter- and extra-organisational. South African 3PLs and their clients face the majority of their disruptions either intra- or inter-organisationally. The focus of 3PLs and clients has shifted from risk management to disruption management. The findings show that 3PLs and their clients based in South Africa prefer disruption learning over traditional risk management as a method to better manage future disruptions.Conclusion: This study contributes to existing literature by providing insight into the specific supply chain disruptions that 3PLs and their clients based in South Africa face, according to the disruption location in the supply chain and how 3PLs and clients manage supply chain disruptions.


2018 ◽  
pp. 676-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Fernando Manotas-Duque ◽  
Juan Carlos Osorio-Gómez ◽  
Leonardo Rivera

Supply chain risk management processes are among the most important activities in the value chain of any industry. The supply chain risk management process includes different activities, focused on the identification, measurement, assessment, and mitigation of the main risk sources that can affect a supply chain. The increasing complexity facing global supply chains generates the need for suppliers to collaborate in different processes in a supply chain. In this context, Third Party Logistics Providers (3PL) have been widely promoted by the phenomenon of outsourcing, on which companies increasingly rely. The growth in logistics outsourcing is mainly attributed to the benefits it brings in terms of reducing costs, improving performance, allowing companies to focus on their core businesses and building virtual enterprises through strategic alliances. In this chapter we develop a model to identify the operational risk factors of a 3PL provider.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1023-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satyendra Kumar Sharma ◽  
Anil Bhat

Purpose – Globalization and outsourcing have rendered Indian automotive companies more vulnerable to supply chain (SC) risks. Consequently, companies adopt different supply chain risk management (SCRM) strategies to mitigate SC risks. The purpose of this paper is to explore SCRM strategies in Indian automobile industry and to classify automobile firms based on SCRM dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument on SCRM dimensions was designed and data were collected from 79 automobile firms. Principle component analysis (PCA) was performed on the collected data to derive the factors underlying SCRM dimensions. Further, cluster analysis using extracted factors as a clustering variate was performed to identify strategic groups from the given set of firms. Findings – PCA derived seven factors, namely: avoidance, supplier development, flexibility, risk pooling, redundancy, integration and control strategies. The surveyed firms were classified into two clusters as low and high SCRM level. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of this study is that data were collected from a single industry and in a single country. Practical implications – Understanding of SCRM dimensions shall increase the use of these dimensions and firms can mitigate negative effects of SC risks. The detailed operationalization of SCRM strategies highlights the importance of three strategies: avoidance, integration and supplier development. Managers’ understanding of SCRM strategies will improve the firm's performance and business excellence. Originality/value – This research empirically validates SCRM strategies and investigates how these create differences among firms.


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