Global Supply Chain Strategies Research Articles

Circular Economy Principles and Their Integration into Global Supply Chain Strategies

The concept of circular economy has gained significant traction in recent years as a holistic approach to sustainable development and resource management. This review explores the principles of circular economy and their integration into global supply chain strategies. The transition from a linear 'take-make-dispose' model to a circular model focused on resource recovery, reuse, and regeneration is driving a paradigm shift in how businesses operate and manage their supply chains. Key principles of circular economy, including designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems, are examined in the context of supply chain management. Strategies for implementing circular economy principles across various stages of the supply chain, from product design and manufacturing to distribution, consumption, and end-of-life management, are discussed. The review highlights the benefits of adopting circular economy principles in supply chain strategies, including reduced resource consumption, waste reduction, cost savings, and enhanced resilience to external shocks. Case studies and examples from diverse industries illustrate successful implementation of circular economy principles in supply chain management, demonstrating tangible environmental, social, and economic benefits. Challenges and barriers to the adoption of circular economy principles in global supply chains are also addressed, including regulatory hurdles, technological limitations, and cultural barriers. Strategies for overcoming these challenges and promoting a circular mindset among stakeholders are explored, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, innovation, and cross-sector partnerships. The integration of circular economy principles into global supply chain strategies offers significant opportunities for sustainable growth, resilience, and value creation. By embracing the principles of circularity, businesses can unlock new sources of competitive advantage while contributing to the transition towards a more sustainable and regenerative economy. Keywords: Circular Economy, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Integration, Challenges, Opportunities.

Examining the impact of leader's paradoxical cognition on supply chain sustainability: a moderated chain mediation model

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc on a global scale for supply chains, which put forward higher demand for organizations to reassess their global supply chain strategy and improve supply chain sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to understand how leader's paradoxical cognition affect supply chain sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThis study conceptualizes a research model grounded in upper echelons theory and propose a chain-mediating model under the moderating effect of big data analytics. Using PLS-SEM method, we test the hypotheses using survey data collected from supply chain managers or leaders of the supply chain team from 193 firms.FindingsThe results indicate that supply chain ambidexterity and organizational learning play a mediating role in the relationship between leaders' paradoxical cognition on supply chain sustainability, respectively, and these two variables have a chain-mediating role in the relationship above. In addition, the big data analytics negatively moderates the relationship between leader's paradoxical cognition and organizational learning, and further moderates our chain mediating model.Originality/valueThis research initiatively focuses on the micro-foundations of supply chain sustainability from managerial cognition and firstly provides empirical evidence about the impact of leader's paradoxical cognition on supply chain sustainability.

The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Korean Enterprises to Haiphong City

In recent years, The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of Korean enterprises into Haiphong is always considered as an important part in the social – economic developing strategies of the city. International groups, such as LG, Samsung… have considered their industrial bases in this country as extremely important nodes of global supply chain strategies. Haiphong, Thai Nguyen and some other provinces have been attractive places to set up business. The Haiphong city has many advantages of geography, transport connection, social stability but it needs to have more efforts to improve the inflow of foreign direct investment, especially from Korean enterprises. The article is going to focus on finding the determinant factors of FDI from Korean enterprises to Haiphong city by, first, analyzing relevant literature to construct theoretically a list of factors that affect the capability of attracting FDI, and then, carrying out the expert interviews to draw conclusions. The research results can be applied in further studies to further promote foreign direct investment in Haiphong as well as can be used by management level of the city in decision making and planning.

Ensuring vaccine potency and availability: how evidence shaped Gavi's Immunization Supply Chain Strategy

BackgroundIn 2014, Gavi and partners developed a global Immunization Supply Chain (iSC) Strategy, 2015–2020, which prioritized functioning cold chain equipment (CCE) and additional storage capacity. In 2016, Gavi launched the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP) as a funding mechanism to improve CCE availability. In 2018, Gavi commissioned an evaluation of CCEOP in Guinea, Kenya and Pakistan. The global iSC Strategy has recently been revised, drawing on findings from effective vaccine management assessments and practical experiences. This case study presents the CCEOP evaluation and how its findings reinforced the revision of the iSC strategy.MethodsThe CCEOP evaluation used a prospective mixed-methods research design in all three countries involving key informant interviews at multiple levels of the health system, document reviews, direct observation (as and when possible), and a health facility assessment.ResultsResults show that CCEOP was effective at increasing the number of available and reliable CCE, and establishing improved management processes using the project management team (PMT) approach for country management systems and the service bundle provider approach for installation and maintenance. CCEOP also extended the iSC and immunization services in countries. The evaluation results also show gaps in the overall supply chain system, including CCE maintenance.DiscussionGavi has recently revised its iSC strategy, which has addressed gaps identified through assessments and practical experiences from stakeholders. Results of the CCEOP evaluation reinforce many of these findings. The strategy now provides more emphasis on supporting the fundamental infrastructure and establishing strong processes for maintenance. It also emphasizes strategic planning and forward thinking for iSC decisions, building on the processes established for the PMT through CCEOP. The original iSC strategy was an impetus for the establishment of CCEOP. The new strategy reflects shifting trends and priorities to fill gaps identified through practical experience, advocated for by stakeholders and thought leaders engaged in the iSC, and validated by the evaluation. It demonstrates the importance of aligning stakeholders with clear objectives and a sound strategy.

Application of Analytics to Achieve Supply Chain Resilience

The goal of achieving resilience has become a top priority as companies respond to the current supply chain crisis and develop strategies to manage future disruptions. This paper will discuss supply chain strategies that are required to promote multiple objectives that include agility, resilience, sustainment and ESG. We review recent empirical research that analyzes the global supply chain strategies that companies have implemented to support resilience. This will include discussion of obstacles for implementing such strategies and an empirically based classification that defines strategy archetypes, based on the linkage of such strategies to operational features. We then consider how emerging analytics tools can support the required analysis in order to balance tradeoffs and risks. The paper concludes with a illustration of how such analytics tools, based on the application of machine learning to big data, can support a data driven exploration of policy alternatives in the context of possible, future scenarios.

Coronavirus disease outbreak and supply chain disruption: Evidence from Taiwanese firms in China

This study applies an empirical analysis to examine whether supply chain disruption is caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. The study’s findings indicate a link between the COVID-19 outbreak and the disruption of logistics and supply chains along with negative cumulative abnormal returns within Taiwanese firms manufacturing products in China and marketing them globally. This is the first study to examine the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the disruption of the supply chain and its effect on the stock market. The empirical results provide insights for business management in reconsidering their global supply chain strategies for the risk of disruption caused by similar epidemics occurs in the future.

Quality Reference in Consumer Product Recalls

ABSTRACTProduct recalls are often associated with quality failures and may negatively affect customer satisfaction and firm performance. Motivated by counterintuitive anecdotal evidence on the positive relationship between recalls and sales, we develop an endogenous consumer reference model with stochastic quality levels and consumer valuation of gain‐loss utility to examine the consumer's willingness to buy in the event of a recall. A consumer makes purchasing decisions by evaluating gain‐loss values against a quality reference point. The theory of endogenous reference points incorporates the consumer's expectations of buying into forming a reference point based on the consumer's beliefs about quality outcomes (Kőszegi & Rabin, 2006, 2007). The uncertainty of the consumer's quality expectations combined with the consumer's personal equilibrium makes the reference point endogenous, generating predictions different from those under conventional exogenous reference point and in the case of deterministic quality expectations. We find that a product recall may revise the consumer's belief toward a more negative quality outcome, and therefore, a lower reference point, when quality expectations are uncertain and the consumer's reference point is endogenous. The consumer expects a greater gain from buying the product against the lower reference point, leading to a higher willingness to buy. In addition, we find that supply chain offshoring, which may be associated with consumer evaluation of gain‐loss utility or consumer loss aversion, may complicate the effect of recalls on a consumer's willingness to buy. These results suggest that firms should consider consumer preferences under uncertainty when designing and developing their global supply chain strategies in quality management.

Research on the Over-outsourcing in Aviation Manufacturing Industry— Case Analysis based on the Boeing 787

In recent years, outsourcing has become a major trend with more and more companies contracting work out to 3rd parties. The aircraft giant—Boeing company，also regards outsourcing as an important way of its production process. In 2003, under the influence of Toyota production system(TPS),Boeing adopted a new manufacturing model to produce the airplane—Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It outsourced more than 70% of the development and production of its aircraft under a 3-Tier system .However, the excess outsourcing has caused lots of problems such as communication issues, lengthy delays and unexpected increased costs. Starting from the practice of Boeing 787 project's global supply chain strategy, this paper analyzes the reasons as well as problems faced by Boeing for outsourcing such a big project, and draw some lessons on how to strengthen the management from the failure of Boeing 787’s early outsourcing stage.

Bullwhip severity in conditions of uncertainty: regional vs global supply chain strategies

PurposeUsing a phenomenon known as the bullwhip effect, the authors explore why additional uncertainty in the marketplace can create severe disruptions in global supply chains (GSCs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze related risks in regional vs GSCs during low and high levels of uncertainty. The authors propose and discuss a number of potential implications alongside some tactics that may help mitigate disruptions in some cases before they become terminal problems for the supply chain sustainability.Design/methodology/approachMonte Carlo simulation is used to generate the conditions of uncertainty and various scenarios that may emerge to challenge GSCs. Vensim software is utilized as a tool for simulation purposes. The authors considered scenarios applicable to manufacturing and retail sectors specifically because of storability property of goods.FindingsRegional supply chains, as opposed to global ones, are more stable and reliable (less risk of disruption) during low and high levels of uncertainty. During uncertain times, upstream suppliers are at greater risk in GSCs. Firms must make strategic decisions that will secure its supply chain functionality and assess the likelihood of such events since many firms entered emerging markets.Originality/valueBuilding on internalization theory, it shows that risk and survival are components of decision making that are further complicated by supply chains now operating globally in emerging markets. The paper demonstrates with simulation that GSCs are riskier than regional supply chains in low and high levels of uncertainty, particular as it relates to the bullwhip effect. It also provides recommendations about supply chain restructure and investments in communication improvements to reduce the bullwhip effect in the supply chain.

Alternative Strategies for Dealing with Idle Capacity in Global Supply Chains

This paper considers a global supply chain strategy consisting of a host market strategy where three manufacturing plants are located in three regions and each plant covers demand in a region. The case considered is a global blood sugar manufacturing company. Manufacturing plants are designed considering layered cellular design approach under stochastic demand. This approach allows three cell types; a) dedicated cells where each dedicated cell can be used only by one family, b) shared cells where a cell can be shared by two product families, and c) remainder cells where a cell can be used by three or more families. Later, we focus on how to fill idle capacity in manufacturing facilities based on demand and future potential markets. Increasing utilization of resources is important as long as it improves profits. We consider two options; 1) lowering the selling price of the product to increase the overall demand, 2) looking into new potential markets for the product itself. Considering the GDP and other economic attributes of new regions, we want to investigate if introducing our product to the new market will be beneficial for the overall good of the company. The main focus of this paper is to compare these two strategies considering labor cost, machine investment, and transportation of the product using heuristics and the results are then translated into potential profits that the company could achieve under two supply chain strategies.

A literature review of port competition research

Research interest in the port industry has increased significantly in recent decades, due to the integration of ports in global supply chain strategies. Ports globally are facing strong competitive pressures in order to meet modern demand characteristics. The motivation behind this work has been to analyse the works present in academic journals, which fall under the port competition umbrella and identify niche areas of research. The study provides detailed analysis of the different research angles of port competition being port selection, port productivity and port competitiveness. Results show that most works focus on topics related to port selection, efficiency, performance and competitiveness. Room for future research appears to be in the areas of geographic comparisons of ports and terminals, financial indicators linked with environmental efficiency, efficiency in liquefied and liquid cargo terminals, port competitiveness and IT systems, port management related issues to strategy and marketing management and finally intra-port competition.

The governance of intermediacy: The insertion of Panama in the global liner shipping network

The paper investigates the emergence of Panama as a major intermediary location in the global liner shipping network and the associated governance changes. From its initial function of a point of transit, Panama became a tollbooth with the setting of the Panama Canal mostly servicing intercoastal networks. Then, with the growth of transpacific trade and increasing ship sizes Panama became a major transshipment hub, a process facilitated by reforms of its port governance with setting of a landlord port authority model and concessions to private terminal operators. With the emergence of Panama as a logistics platform, governance has gone beyond the realm of the port. The setting of a national Logistics Cabinet in 2014 is illustrative of that trend aiming at coordinating the operations of the Panama Canal (with its expanded locks), port activities focusing on transshipment and the setting of port centric logistics zones. Still, the intermediary location of Panama is facing some risk in the post expansion era since shipping lines are no longer forced to use Panama and could elect for other transshipment hubs. In light of the emerging commercial context, it remains to be seen how the connectivity of Panama will fit within global supply chain strategies.

OM Forum—Benchmarking Global Production Sourcing Decisions: Where and Why Firms Offshore and Reshore

Problem definition: Manufacturing firms are undergoing restructuring defined by a collection of adjustments and decisions, which affect the source and destination of manufactured products throughout the firm’s global supply chain network. We report on a comprehensive picture of manufacturing sourcing on a global basis. Academic/practical relevance: With dynamic changes in global economic, political, and technological conditions, the design of global supply chain strategies has become critically important for executives and has great potential for operations management research. Methodology: Our work is based on a global field study conducted in 2014 and 2015 among leading manufacturers from a wide range of industries. The data set has the distinguishing feature of reflecting actual decisions that the firms made recently (during the last three years). Results: Companies are currently restructuring their global production footprints. The majority of firms engage in offshoring. Reshoring does occur but seldom for corrective reasons. China remains the most attractive site for production sourcing, followed by Eastern Europe and Southern Asia. Manufacturing continues to decline in the developed economies of Japan and Western Europe. We observe that while North America may be at the cusp of a manufacturing renaissance, such a change is not just because of reshoring by domestic firms. Labor cost no longer dominates manufacturing location decisions; rather, firms decide based on complex trade-offs among a variety of factors. Finally, firms localize production in developed economies and use developing economies as production hubs. Managerial implications: Our goal in this paper is to inform both managerial policy decisions and the academic research agenda by developing insights on managerial practices that concern production sourcing and on the factors that drive such decisions. We develop hypotheses concerning how firms make these strategy decisions, and we discuss implications for analytical and empirical research.

A content analysis of global supply chain research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use content analysis to review the extensive supply chain literature to summarize its past and current trends, and uncover existing gaps and opportunities for future global supply chain research. Design/methodology/approach – Since the study uses content analysis, several dimensions of the literature were analyzed: research purpose, year of publication, journal name, methodology, theory building or verification, country of study, sample industry, global or non-global issues, and article classification. Findings – From a methodological point, the literature mostly consists of empirical and descriptive studies with few exploratory articles. The review shows that global supply chains area relatively “immature” or “new phenomenon” research topic that is gaining interest from practitioners and academics. Research limitations/implications – It is hoped that by critically examining the extant literature, the authors can clearly identify the challenges and state of global supply chain research to provide supply chain researchers with a precise summary of the literature and directions for future studies. Practical implications – This study also allows managers to recognize the methodologies and tools that can be used to enhance their supply chains. It is believed that various strategies could be adopted to create a robust global supply chain. In this respect, different industry sectors may require different global strategies and different global practices. Originality/value – The findings show that there is a shortage of empirical studies on global supply chain strategies and outcomes, and most research focusses on supply chain practices and customer or supplier relationships.

Free trade agreements and maritime supply chain costs: Competitiveness of Korean firms

In turbulent competitive environments, firms increasingly utilize global supply chain (GSC) management to expand their resource base and integrate diverse network capabilities to capture larger segments of global market. As various entry restrictions are applied in the diverse market components, free trade agreements (FTAs) between countries or regional blocs provide added competitive advantages to global firms. Yet, little research is available on how firms implement their GSC strategies and utilize maritime supply chain costs in the context of FTAs. The aim of this article is to examine how Korean firms apply their GSC management practices from a competitiveness perspective. Specific research contents are: (i) What types of FTAs does Korean government have with different nations? (ii) What are the specific impacts of these FTAs on the implementation of GSC management and the determination of maritime supply chain costs of Korean firms? The article provides essential details of several FTAs that have been completed since 2000. A research model explains the relationships (i) between FTAs and GSC strategies (ii) maritime supply chain costs and business impact results. Case illustrations highlight how Korean firms apply the potential benefits of multi-FTAs for achieving their GSC management strategic priorities and goals. Lessons and implications are discussed.

Motorola's global financial supply chain strategy

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The Effect of Supply Chain Strategy on Quality and U. S. Competitiveness

This research investigates the effect of global supply chain strategy on product quality and U. S. competitiveness by analyzing the case of Boeing 787 Dreamliner recent lithium-ion battery overheating incident. Boeing 787, a new and complex product, has outsourced 70% of its parts and components with a redesigned global supply chain strategy. The grounding of all 50 Boeing 787s already in service by the U. S. FAA on January 16, 2013, has trigged a renewed debate on product quality as a result of extensive outsourcing and its impact on the overall U. S. competitiveness. While this incident is a result of in-flight battery fire with Japan Airlines, along with a similar case occurred earlier in January 2013 in Boston with the same airline company, many believe Boeing’s new aggressive supply chain strategy may have contributed to its quality and safety problems. Managerial implications are discussed to generalize the impact of various global supply chain strategies on product quality and overall U. S. competitiveness.

Cost innovation in global supply chains: the case of Huawei Technologies

Cost innovation has been used to describe how firms offer a variety of customised and high-tech products at low prices. Insights into how this trade-off is overcome by supply chain design are lacking. This paper analyses the global supply chain strategies and practices of Huawei Technologies, and specifically how these contribute to cost innovation capability. The paper is based on interviews with managers at Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen, plus managers at two European supply chain centres. The case study shows that even though Huawei does not possess specifically unique supply chain solutions, there are some features that drive Huawei towards cost innovation in its supply chains. Some of them concern low-cost operations based on the location of main R&D, manufacturing and suppliers to China, in combination with a strong customer orientation, an integrated supply chain organisation and a balanced outsourcing strategy.

Motorola's global financial supply chain strategy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to define and explore the concept of financial supply chain strategy in a global business environment. The paper aims to illustrate the concepts with a detailed case study of Motorola's global financial supply chain.Design/methodology/approachThis is a detailed, longitudinal case study analysis of a focal organisation and its economic partners in a financial supply chain. The case study combines qualitative analysis of the strategy evolution with extensive time‐series data and quantitative analyses of the performance of the financial supply chain.FindingsThe financial supply chain is an integral component of Motorola's overall supply chain management strategy. Physical product, information systems and financial flows are closely aligned with each other throughout the supply chain incorporating Motorola, its customers, suppliers and banks. The overall trend is towards the development of an integrated global financial supply chain in which cash flows mirror product flows. Motorola shares financial data with its suppliers as part of a cooperative strategy that generates cost savings for Motorola and its suppliers in areas such as foreign exchange and cash balances. The cooperative strategy also improves the quality of the payments process measured by six sigma techniques and produces strategic benefits such as risk reduction for the supply chain as a whole in areas such as foreign exchange and payments. A strategy of this type is only possible by taking a global perspective of the financial supply chain.Research limitations/implicationsThe development of financial supply chains has not been fully addressed in the supply chain management literature. This paper defines this relatively new topic area and explains its significance in its own right, and also in terms of the inter‐relationships between finance and manufacturing supply chains. A research agenda for financial supply chains is proposed that describes a range of new research opportunities in this area.Practical implicationsThe development of integrated financial supply chains will lead to significant savings in terms of funding, banking and administrative costs associated with treasury and payment activities. The implementation and nature of the strategic change also highlight important strategic planning and implementation issues associated with financial supply chains.Originality/valueThe strategic importance of financial supply chains for business and academic researchers is demonstrated through the definition of this topic and the application of a research framework to a detailed study of Motorola's global financial supply chain using time‐series data of strategy evolution and financial supply chain performance. The research findings and comparison with theory support the assertion that this is a relatively new and unexplored problem area that is of direct relevance and interest to researchers in supply chain management.

A study on global supplier selection decision models

It is important to understand supply chain partners’ ‘strategic intent’, particularly in global markets. Strategic intent provides information on potentially controllable strategic dimensions critical in arriving at decisions on global supply chain strategy. Based on past research we would expect supplier selection decision models to vary by country and within a particular country as well. This study examines the effects of industry and executive characteristics on global supply chain partners’ supplier selection decision models. The results show that the criteria used to make supplier selection decisions vary by industry, education and work experience. The resulting supplier selection decision frameworks provide information important for identifying the strategic intent of Korean supply chain partners for US firms.