A Review on the Integration of Supply Chain Management and Industrial Cluster

Netsanet Jote Tolossa,Giulio Mangano,Birhanu Beshah,Daniel Kitaw,Alberto De Marco

doi:10.5539/ijms.v5n6p164

Abstract

Although Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Industrial Cluster (IC) are two different fields of study, it has been identified that there is a natural and internal relationship between these two theories. Most of research works depict that, integration of the two concepts is in its infancy. The aim of this research is to review the integration between supply chain management and industrial cluster, at the same time to identify the gap and propose solution. To achieve the research aim, two pairs of keywords namely “supply chain” and “industrial cluster” were used, to track literatures from the online databases. The search initially identified over 46 articles. After further screening, they were reduced to 17. Finally, contents of these articles were analyzed based on their general focus area. From the content analysis, considerable evidences are found in the literature review on the integration of supply chain management with industrial cluster. The entire emphasis of the previous researches was on cluster supply chain (CSC) management, which highly promotes efficient operations of industrial clusters. Most of the CSC articles focused on the importance of cluster supply chain. However, there are few researches in the design, implementation and improvement of cluster supply chain. On the other hand, the role of industrial clusters in a global supply chain management and benchmarking of best practices have not yet been given the attention they deserve in previous studies. This is one of the first studies which critically examine researches that deal about supply chain management and industrial cluster integration theories.

Highlights

IntroductionFamilies were producing food, clothing, shelter and other necessities
In the agricultural age, individuals were striving to be self-sufficient
The Method section describes in detail how the study was conducted, including conceptual and operational definitions of the variables used in the study, Different types of studies will rely on different methodologies; a complete description of the methods used enables the reader to evaluate the appropriateness of your methods and the reliability and the validity of your results, It permits experienced investigators to replicate the study, If your manuscript is an update of an ongoing or earlier study and the method has been published in detail elsewhere, you may refer the reader to that source and give a brief synopsis of the method

Summary

Introduction

Families were producing food, clothing, shelter and other necessities. Work division and specialization, among people, industries, regions and countries has become apparent. No organization is self-sufficient; rather they cooperate and depend on each other. Whether a large corporation, public body, or small business, which aims to meet the needs of customers and stakeholders needs resources including materials, equipment, and supplies from other organizations. A product as simples as a shoe, constitutes over 100 parts and while a complicated product like an automobile constitutes thousands of parts. According to (Westbrook & New, 2004) the performance of an organization is influenced to a greater or lesser degree by the actions of the organizations that integrate the inputs and the supply chain at large

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion