Competitive Negotiation Tactics and Kraljic Portfolio Category in SCM

Negotiation outcomes are broadly classified as Distributive/Competitive and Integrative/Collaborative. Substantial academic and research negotiation literature of the past two decades commend adoption of a collaborative style for almost all real-life conflict situations. Business negotiation materials and relational self-construal psychology studies present a picture of contrast. Negotiations being at the heart of buyer-supplier interactions drive value sharing and value co-creation aspects of modern Supply Chains. Pricing, product selection, delivery terms, shipment schedules, carrier selection, volume discounts, product training, and quality standards are all more often than not subject to negotiation between supply chain members. Negotiation interactions ensuing preparation and determination of BATNA, entail use of Competitive or Collaborative Tactics. Buyers are the protagonists in procurement organizations. And procurement often accounts for the lions share of an organizations budget. Small wonder, they drive cost competitiveness together with the firms partners. Indeed this is true of the overall Supply Chain. An Indian pharmaceutical company was chosen for the qualitative research in the form of a case study. The most popular competitive negotiation tactics were chosen for this study and buyers were asked to spell out the negotiation techniques that they deployed, material-wise (with the corresponding suppliers). This data when plotted material-wise and grouped Kraljic category-wise circumstantiates the use of competitive tactics in all Kraljic categories, marked by a refreshing nuanced approach for different categories, with intensity varying for different categories. Interviews with buyers and the key informant to discern the rationale behind use of those negotiation tactics, however, brought out a pattern despite the refreshing tendency not to straight-jacket.

Service Supplier Selection using Analytic Hierarchy Process

This paper argues the use of Analytic Hierarchy Process in service supplier selection process. The literature has evidence of important criteria for supply supplier selection process. However, there is a dearth of studies on service supplier selection process. To address this gap, this paper firstly systematically reviews the existing procurement literature, secondly, it argues for the use of alternative methods research to address questions related to ranking of selection criteria, and thirdly, it proposes and illustrates the use of Analytic Hierarchy Process to analyze the identified criteria. The paper concludes with limitations and further research directions.

Supplier Selection using MADM Method Under Uncertainty

In existing literature, there are several studies on supplier selection process, which opine that the suppliers information is usually incomplete and uncertain. Several methods have been proposed for solving this problem, one of which is the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method with interval data. There is no doubt that the TOPSIS with interval data method is a powerful technique in uncertain decision-making context. Despite its usefulness, it is logical that when data are imprecise, weight is imprecise too. To overcome this limit, the extended Shannons Entropy method with interval data is used. The main findings of this study confirm the effectiveness of the hybrid proposed models.

Socially Responsible Supply Chain Management: An Essence of Value Creation

Strategic supply chains are becoming integral part of a firms competitive strength. It not only gives financial advantages, but also well-managed and extremely synchronized supply chain offers certain social obligation. Many businesses are now moving into course of unfolding codes of conduct as one of the ways of overseeing number of suppliers behavior inside the supply chain network. This research paper addresses the issues related with the degree to which customers must be accountable for moral behavior of their partners, like suppliers in buying process. Corporate social responsibility is a very important issue for any firm but it is very depressing that extremely minute material is on hand on this issue. This paper conceptualizes structure for recognizing the responsibilities of the more commanding supply chain member to the other members of the supply chain. It mainly focuses on the degree to which one supply chain member should apply ascendancy as it relates to social responsibility on the members of complete supply chain.

Commitment and Business Relationships: Evidences from Small Scale Industries

The paper flashes on the eminent role that commitment portrays in business enthusiasm. The research divulges empirical results on the foundation of data collected from 44 small scale industries functioning in District Udhampur of J&K State. The primary data so collected were subjected to factor analysis in order to reduce the unwanted statements. The KMO and Cronbach Alpha values revealed significance of the construct. The results of CFA confirmed all the statements so obtained from EFA. The results of hierarchical linear regression revealed that commitment among business partners ensures timely performance of business activities, commitment paves way for business success and commitment leads to development of trust & cooperation among business parties. The upcoming monsoon season might bring a whole new set of problems as the particular problem could again play a critical role in damaging profits.

Modeling Barriers of Green Cold Chain Management in India

In this twenty-first century, our country is still incurring significant post-harvest losses. Most of the cold storage facilities are based on conventional energy intensive process with outdated technologies. Improper storage and cold treatment infrastructure reduces the life and deteriorates the quality of perishable products. Supply chain practitioners adopted the green cold chain management practices to overcome numerous challenges associated with developing the cold chain network. Literature review reported that green cold chain management is under-developing phase in India, but these practices have gained huge popularity in the western world. The purpose of the paper is to identify necessary barriers, determine hierarchical and contextual relationships between variables influencing green cold chain practices in India. Here researcher used interpretive structural methodology that uses systematic application of some elementary notions of graph theory approach and Boolean algebra to construct directed graph. Further the dependence and driving power of variables are categorized using MICMAC analysis. The formulation of strategy considers barriers of green cold chain management, i.e.: (1) High capital costs of renewable projects, (2) Outdated technology, (3) Poor cold chain network, (4) Lack of skilled manpower, (5) Poor cold storage Infrastructure, (6) Cold chain sterilization with chemicals, (7) Lack of reverse logistics, (8) Lack of information system infrastructure, (9) Lack of government support, and (10) Non-recyclable packaging. The findings suggest that cold chain infrastructure and government support are key drivers of green cold chain practices.

Effects of Ghanas Public Procurement Act on the Acquisition of Academic Library Resources in Ghana

There is a scarcity of literature on the effects of Ghanas public procurement act on the acquisition of academic library resources. This study therefore sought to address this knowledge gap. A survey approach was adopted for conducting this study and questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data, and findings were presented using tables. Findings suggest that the implementation of the Public Procurement Act has enhanced the procurement structure of academic libraries in Ghana. Effects of the Act were however found to be weak with regards to development of capacity of procurement personnel, dealing with issues of transparency and accountability, and achieving value for money. It was recommended that the Public Procurement Act and the procurement system should be revised and strengthened, and training and development be improved and should target the attitude and morality of the procurement personnel.

A Study on Identification of Key Barriers to E-Commerce in Syria

The number of Internet users in the world has been mounted over the years. By the end of 2011, more than one-third of the population, i.e., 2.3 billion people were online, and this growth has provided the impetus and the opportunities for global and regional e-commerce. However, all countries are not likely to benefit equally from the virtuous circle of Internet diffusion created by globalization and multiple revolutions in information and communication technologies. The e-commerce can reduce the economic disparity between the developing and developed countries. Despite the promises made by various international organizations, the developing countries are encountering difficulties in realizing the benefits of e-commerce. It is argued that many factors are still confound and challenging the adoption of e-commerce. In order to derive the benefits of e-commerce, region specific/country specific diagnosis of the associated factors and barriers leading to the problem is an immense necessity. Keeping in view the various initiatives undertaken by the Syrian government viz., E-Signature Legislation Project, Intellectual Property Protection Project, and the National Programme for Promoting Information Technology Initiatives etc., and considering the multifaceted issues relating to e-commerce in Syria viz., formation of contracts, cyber contracts, validity of e-transactions, dichotomy of offer and invitation to treat, mutual mistake, identity of parties etc., a study on e-commerce adoption in Syria is fascinating academic focus. Hence, the paper is an attempt to identify the barriers of e-commerce in Syria.

A Supplier Selection Using a Group Decision Making Under Multiple Criteria by Considering Individual Criteria Set

Some authors implicitly claim that in the TOPSIS and Bordas function approach, each expert may or may not be using the same criteria. Meanwhile, in our reviews of the literature, not any reference was found that deals with supplier selection problem in the conditions each expert have own criteria set. So, the application of a Multiple Attribute Group Decision Making (MAGDM) model, particularly TOPSIS and Boards function approach for solving an supplier selection problem, while, each expert have own criteria set is the aim of this paper. Finally, a simple example is provided in order to demonstrate its feasibility and practicability of the proposed method.

Supply Chain Information Systems Technologies and Management Strategies in Northern Minnesota

Improving supply chain (SC) operations is one of the goals that all organizations strive to achieve. Enhancing Supply Chain Management (SCM) will help organizations improve efficiency, generate more profit, and reduce business expenses. High value customers and suppliers can be added or retained by maintaining a reliable SCM information system. Using SCM information systems is considered as best practices in the management field. The more reliable and efficient SC, the more profits a company can generate and the easier to compete globally. This research aims to explore Northern Minnesota enterprises strategies, practices, and information systems technologies that are used for managing their supply chains. An online survey is used to collect information on three questions: What are the major challenges with the use of information systems for SCM in Northern Minnesota? What is the level of satisfaction of current strategies and practices that are used in SCM? What are the actual needs for the effective use of SCM information systems? The reliability of the survey has been insured by conducting a polite study of the survey by three companies. SPSS program is used to analyze the collected data. Descriptive analysis is used to present and explain the results. This research may help managers to determine the needs to improve their supply chains. This research can be used as a benchmark and can be implemented in other areas.