scholarly journals Determining an optimal supply chain strategy

Author(s):  
Intaher M. Ambe

In today’s business environment, many companies want to become efficient and flexible, but have struggled, in part, because they have not been able to formulate optimal supply chain strategies. Often this is as a result of insufficient knowledge about the costs involved in maintaining supply chains and the impact of the supply chain on their operations. Hence, these companies find it difficult to manufacture at a competitive cost and respond quickly and reliably to market demand. Mismatched strategies are the root cause of the problems that plague supply chains, and supply-chain strategies based on a one-size-fits-all strategy often fail. The purpose of this article is to suggest instruments to determine an optimal supply chain strategy. This article, which is conceptual in nature, provides a review of current supply chain strategies and suggests a framework for determining an optimal strategy.

Author(s):  
Ivan Arana-Solares ◽  
Jose Machuca ◽  
Rafaela Alfalla-Luque

In the rapidly changing global business environment, it can be seen that supply chain designs based solely on efficiency and speed do not necessarily lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. According to Lee (2004), this can only be done if supply chains are designed to incorporate the Triple A: Agility, Adaptability and Alignment. Although Lee provided some examples, to date his claim has not been empirically tested, which is essential. A number of studies have looked at the three component parts of the Triple A separately, but as yet no studies have focused on all three Triple A components concurrently, or on the impact they have on business performance. The main aim of this chapter is to determine the dimensions and factors that characterize these variables, in order to empirically test the accuracy of Lee’s claim.


2012 ◽  
pp. 331-346
Author(s):  
Ivan Arana-Solares ◽  
Jose Machuca ◽  
Rafaela Alfalla-Luque

In the rapidly changing global business environment, it can be seen that supply chain designs based solely on efficiency and speed do not necessarily lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. According to Lee (2004), this can only be done if supply chains are designed to incorporate the Triple A: Agility, Adaptability and Alignment. Although Lee provided some examples, to date his claim has not been empirically tested, which is essential. A number of studies have looked at the three component parts of the Triple A separately, but as yet no studies have focused on all three Triple A components concurrently, or on the impact they have on business performance. The main aim of this chapter is to determine the dimensions and factors that characterize these variables, in order to empirically test the accuracy of Lee’s claim.


2021 ◽  
pp. 185-196
Author(s):  
Liuba TURCHYN

The article examines current trends in world markets. The effects of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the global business environment have been identified. Thus, the World Bank Group highlights the uneven recovery of the economy due to coronavirus (COVID-19), in addition, it is expected that the level of world GDP in 2021 will be 3.2 % lower than expected before the pandemic, and GDP per capita among many emerging and developed economies, COVID-19 peaks are expected to remain below peak levels for a long time to come. It has been found that the rate of recovery in countries may also differ between generations and income groups, as they have been unevenly affected by the economic downturn. Therefore, businesses will need to monitor the macroeconomic environment and carefully assess the revenue and expenditure dynamics of their target consumer groups in order to propose appropriate pricing strategies and the value of their products and services. Emerging economies continue to move from key industries to higher value-added activities in the global supply chain. In addition, global trade and multinational businesses are subject to tighter controls as consumers increasingly demand more transparent and socially responsible supply chains. The pandemic shocked the global supply chain and exposed its fragility. In 2020, world exports fell by 7.2 % in US dollars, while supply bottlenecks affected various industries — from retail to manufacturing. Governments are now seeking to tighten control over critical supplies such as medicines and medical equipment, while companies are seeking to increase sustainability in supply chains. It is investigated that the uneven impacts of the pandemic itself, the pace of economic recovery vary widely in different countries. For example, the UK economy has experienced the worst downturn in 300 years, shrinking by almost 10 %. The impact on jobs was also unprecedented and ten times worse than during the global financial crisis of 2009, when in 2020 the world lost 114 million jobs. The state of world trade in general, as well as the volume and dynamics of export-import operations in Ukraine are analyzed. Thus, the total turnover in Ukraine in 2020 decreased by 6.5 % compared to the previous year. Imports decreased in 2020 by 10.3 % less than in 2019.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anu Bask ◽  
Markku Tinnilä

Supply chains are typically considered to consist of many stages across several organizations starting from raw material sources through component production to manufacturing and further on via distribution operations to B-to-B customers and consumers. This paper focuses on analyzing product-related characteristics: what the characteristics mentioned in the literature are, and the impact they have on the structure and design of supply chains. The authors look at how product characteristics in general influence the design of supply chains, and their effect on different stages of supply chains. In the literature analysis, the focus is on examining the impact of product characteristics on supply chain strategy and structures, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics services. Finally, they draw conclusions on the above. The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, based on supply chain management literature, the authors propose a framework for analyzing the impact of product characteristics on supply chains. Secondly, at the end of the paper, they extend the framework by summarizing the key results pertaining to each supply chain management area under analysis. These include the characteristics of the main frameworks used in previous studies and the generic product characteristics used.


Author(s):  
Dooho Lee

As awareness of environmental protection increases worldwide, enterprises have been building their supply chains in ways that conserve natural resources and minimize the creation of pollutants. One of the practical ways to make supply chains more sustainable is for enterprises to utilize green innovation strategies and to increase resource reuse. In this work, we focus on a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) consisting of a manufacturer, a retailer, and a collector. In the investigated CLSC, the manufacturer and the retailer drive the green innovation strategy either individually or simultaneously to boost market demand. In the reverse flow of the CLSC, the collector is responsible for collecting consumers’ used products and transferring them to the manufacturer for remanufacturing. By combining two types of the market leadership and three types of green innovation strategies, we establish six different Stackelberg game models and solve them analytically. Through an extensive comparative analysis, we show who should have market leadership and who should drive the green innovation strategy in the CLSC. Various numerical examples are also given to support our major findings. One of our key findings suggests that the supply chain members must participate in green innovation activities at the same time to achieve a win-win scenario in the CLSC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1511-1534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Jou Chen

Purpose Developing agility and innovativeness as dynamic capabilities are important for firms to sustain their competitive advantage in today’s global economy. The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a framework to investigate how the supply chain agility and innovativeness are achieved through IT integration and trust in members of supply chain and how these, in turn, can enhance firms’ competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach This research employs a survey method and data are collected from senior managers working in the supply chain or IT area. The model and hypotheses are tested utilizing data from 204 usable Taiwan manufacturing firms via structural equations modeling methodology. Findings The study demonstrates that both IT integration and trust in supply chain members significantly enhance supply chain agility and innovativeness, which in turn positively affect firm’s competitive advantage. The results indicate that IT integration and trust are antecedents and major joint partnership resources for improving supply chain agility and innovativeness. Research limitations/implications Data are collected from manufacturing industry in Taiwan and single respondent from each firm, the generalizability of current findings to other industries or countries should require additional investigation. Practical implications The study suggests that a firm should focus on IT integration and trust in supply chain members to achieve supply chain agility and innovativeness. To take advantage of supply chain agility and innovativeness, through maximizing firm’s competitive advantage, firms should continually adapt to the fast changing business environment and search for creative ways to satisfy new market needs. Originality/value Given the attention paid to supply chain agility and innovativeness in terms of importance to responding to business uncertainty and competitiveness, and more recently, as important capabilities in managing supply chain management, this paper investigates how IT integration and trust can contribute to supply chain agility and innovativeness. Provide evidence regarding the impact of IT integration and trust on agility of supply chains, innovativeness and competitive advantage.


Author(s):  
Antonina Tsvetkova ◽  
Britta Gammelgaard

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how supply chain strategies emerge and evolve in response to contextual influence.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative single-case study presents the journey of a supply chain strategy, conceptualised as the idea of transport independence in the Russian Arctic context. Data from 18 semi-structured interviews, personal observations and archival materials are interpreted through the institutional concepts of translation and editing effects.FindingsThe study reveals how supply chain strategies evolve over time and can affect institutional factors. The case study further reveals how contextual conditions make a company reconsider its core competencies as well as the role of supply chain management practices. The findings show that strategy implementation through purposeful actions can represent a powerful resistance to contextual pressures and constraints, as well as being a facilitator of change in actual supply chains and their context. During the translation of the idea of transport independence into actions, the supply chain strategy transformed itself into a form of strategic collaboration and thereby made supply chains in the Russian Arctic more integrated than before.Research limitations/implicationsMore empirical studies on strategy implementation in interaction with contextual and institutional factors are suggested. An institutional process perspective is applied in this study but the authors suggest that future research should include a human dimension by an exploration of day-to-day routines and challenges that employees face when strategising and the actions they take.Originality/valueThe study provides an understanding of how a new supply chain strategy emerges and how it changes during implementation. In this process-oriented study – merging context, process and strategy content – it is further shown that a supply chain strategy may affect the context by responding to contextual and institutional challenges.


Logistics ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
João M. Lopes ◽  
Sofia Gomes ◽  
Lassana Mané

The constraints imposed by the pandemic COVID-19 increased the risks of the disruption of supply chains, bringing new challenges to companies. These effects were felt more intensely in less-developed countries, which are highly dependent on imports of products and raw materials. This study aims to assess the impact of supply chain resilience in a less-developed country (Guinea-Bissau) using complex adaptive system theory. We used a qualitative methodology through multiple case studies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four companies. The semi-structured script contains questions about supply chain disruptions, vulnerabilities and resilience. The main results show that the companies in Guinea-Bissau, due to their dependence on the outside world and the absence of formal, larger and more diversified supply chains, suffered serious consequences with the disruption imposed by the pandemic. It was also concluded that the more resilient the supply chain, the fewer the impacts of crisis events and that the resilience of companies at this level depends on their obtaining competitive advantages over their competitors. The main practical implications of this study are the need to formalize the supply chain, diversify the supply of services and products of companies dependent on the exterior, adopt metrics that allow for the early detection of situations of supply chain disruption, effectively manage stocks and promote proactive crisis resolution strategies. Studies on the impact of resilience on supply chains in crises are scarce, especially on companies located in underdeveloped countries.


Author(s):  
Goran Milovanovic ◽  
◽  
Tamara Stankovic ◽  

Health crises have an impact on supply chains, mainly by disrupting their regular activities. In this research, the authors have analyzed the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has made on business relationships between supply chain partners in the automotive industry and their suppliers, which are mostly from territories where the initial outbreak of the SARS COV 2 virus occurred. The analysis shows that in some cases, there is a strong dependency between the pandemic and production levels. Being dependent prevents supply chains from maintaining stability and causes system vulnerabilities. The authors conclude their work with a thesis on the pronounced impact of the current pandemic on automotive supply chain activities. For the analysis to be complete, it is necessary to monitor changes in production levels further, since data for the current year still does not provide a realistic insight into all the consequences at the supply chain level.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 22-38
Author(s):  
Panxin Zhou

Today, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is regarded as an essential strategic factor, which has a great deal of influence on earning competitiveness in global business environment. There are conflicts among all members of the SCM. In order to maximize the total profit of the SCM, negotiation among all members is necessary. For enterprise in the supply chain, the supply chain partnership has become a significant factor affecting firm performance. In this paper, I examine the impact of cooperation between enterprise and its supply chain partners. Specifically, I collect survey data from Chinese manufacturing firms about their relations with partners and use regression analysis to test hypotheses about the associations between firm performance and supply chain partnership. My results support that superior supplier partnership has a positive impact on reducing transaction costs and improving financial and market performance. In additional test, I establish a series of models with interactive terms. The results of additional test indicate that the impact is enhanced if the competition of each sub industry of the manufacturing industry is different. Above all, I put forward the following suggestions. Enterprise managers could establish an evaluation mechanism of suppliers and retailers, which select high-quality cooperative partners and reduce low-quality transaction costs for enterprises. When participating in business operation, shareholders could comprehensively understand the business conditions of various supply partners and choose reliable supply chain partners for investment. Also, the government can guide the realization of resource sharing and information exchange among supply chain enterprises, which is beneficial to create a more competitive supply chain to promote economic development.


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