Supply Chain Resources Research Articles

Desafíos del productor nicaragüense en el mercado agrícola (regional y local) y alternativas de solución. Parte 2

The current article is divided in two parts. On a practical level, the interest of this research is to offer alternative solutions to the gaps in the regulatory framework of the Nicaraguan agricultural market, which pave the way for an unequal distribution of the economic resources generated by the national agricultural activity, in the agri-food supply chain. The objective was to determine the legal gaps that allow the unequal distribution of resources in the national agri-food supply chain and propose possible alternatives based on the agrarian doctrine. For this purpose, using analysis-synthesis, abstract-concrete, systemic-structural-functional and inductive-deductive analyses, the systems of marketing agricultural products in the countries of Central America and Nicaragua was examined and compared. As practice shows, small producers of food are not adequately protected and when it comes to commercial relationships their position is weak in the overall agri-food supply chain.

The impasse of competitive intelligence today is not a failure. A special issue for papers at the ICI 2020 Conference

The impasse of competitive intelligence today is not a failure. A special issue for papers at the ICI 2020 Conference

Information Sharing Platform of Port Supply Chain Enterprises

Qian, C., 2020. Information sharing platform of port supply chain enterprises. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 722–725. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The traditional port supply chain information sharing is not timely, which leads to the problem that the optimal allocation of resources cannot be realized. Then the information sharing platform of port supply chain enterprises is proposed. According to the difference of resource nature, it can be divided into different sharing modules to ensure the real-time scheduling of resources and establish a multi-Agent model of supply chain collaboration. Combining the actual situation, the factors of environment and node enterprises are considered in adoption of the integration scheme of web service technology, to realize the real-time sharing of information and complete the research on the information sharing platform of port supply chain enterprises. The contrast experiment is designed so as to analyze and compare the difference of information sharing effect between the designed platform and the traditional platform. It proves to be faster, shorter time-consuming, and better allocation of the supply chain resources through optimization result of the designed platform.

Knowledge Service Model of Port Supply Chain Enterprise Based on Ontology

Under the background of the development of port industry and information age, with the help of the knowledge service theory system and ontology technology to build a smart port supply chain knowledge service model to provide a personalized, intelligent, and diversified knowledge-based service system platform solution to port supply chain enterprises, which is of great significance to realization of port supply chain transformation and upgrading and intelligent integrated operation. Based on the analysis of the demand for knowledge service and the research status of knowledge service in port supply chain during the development and operation of port supply chain, this paper uses ontology technology to build domain ontology knowledge base, which is used to dismantle and integrate the massive digital resources in port supply chain, integrate various multi-source heterogeneous data resources, and standardize the form of knowledge sharing organization. On the basis of this, the paper carries on the calculation and reasoning experiment to the port supply chain ontology. The experiment shows that the ontology technology has good effectiveness and superiority in the knowledge representation and knowledge reasoning of constructing the port supply chain knowledge service system model.

Investigation of the Importance of Psychological Perspective in Human Resource Management and Supply Chain in Manufacturing Companies

Investigation of the Importance of Psychological Perspective in Human Resource Management and Supply Chain in Manufacturing Companies

Nexus Resources Efficiency Assessment and Management towards Transition to Sustainable Bioeconomy in Thailand

This research developed an analysis tool on nexus resource efficiency and management towards bioeconomy. Its application has been demonstrated in the Thai cassava and sugarcane supply chains combining Material Flow Analysis, nexus assessment, and Eco-efficiency. The results revealed that doubling the feedstock and maximizing biochemical/biomaterial production has the highest value addition and also the highest eco-efficiency among all the options considered. However, it required at least 2-3 times the amount of water and energy for irrigation and processing as compared to the base case. A more detailed analysis of regional resource availability and security needs to be further conducted to support the decision-making process. The scenario that has no increase in feedstock production but allocates the cassava used for export as feed to use for feedstock for biochemical/biomaterial instead can also have excellent economic returns and eco-efficiency with much lower resource consumption. Feedstock cultivation yield and lactic acid production efficiency are critical factors in reducing overall supply chain resource consumption. Decision-makers need to prepare a strategic plan for optimum resource allocation towards maintaining a less resource-intensive society.

The potential of emergent disruptive technologies for humanitarian supply chains: the integration of blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and 3D printing

The growing importance of humanitarian operations has created an imperative to overcome the complications currently recorded in the field. Challenges such as delays, congestion, poor communication and lack of accountability may represent opportunities to test the reported advantages of emergent disruptive technologies. Meanwhile, the literature on humanitarian supply chains looks at isolated applications of technology and lacks a framework for understanding challenges and solutions, a gap that this article aims to fill. Using a case study based on the flood of Tabasco of 2007 in Mexico, this research identifies solutions based on the use of emergent disruptive technologies. Furthermore, this article argues that the integration of different technologies is essential to deliver real benefits to the humanitarian supply chain. As a result, it proposes a framework to improve the flow of information, products and financial resources in humanitarian supply chains integrating three emergent disruptive technologies; Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and 3D Printing. The analysis presented shows the potential of the framework to reduce congestion in the supply chain, enhance simultaneous collaboration of different stakeholders, decrease lead times, increase transparency, traceability and accountability of material and financial resources, and allow victims to get involved in the fulfilment of their own needs.

The Supply Chain Resources in Job Performance on Hospitality and Tourism Sector

Using 110 respondent’s hospitality and tourism service employees as the sample in Berastagi hospitality and tourism area in Karo Regency, North Sumatera. Data which is obtained were analyzed by using “analysis of the path”. The result of research is: the impact direct of discipline and significant on job satisfaction, discipline has an the impact direct on job performance, job promotion has an the impact direct on job performance, job satisfaction has an the impact direct on job performance, discipline has an the impact direct on job performance without through job satisfaction, and job promotion not has an the impact direct on job performance through job satisfaction, and job promotion not has an the impact direct on job performance through job satisfaction for hospitality and tourism service employees in Berastagi hospitality and tourism area in Karo Regency, North Sumatera.

Managing supply chain uncertainty arising from geopolitical disruptions: evidence from the pharmaceutical industry and brexit

PurposeThis paper examines how firms of different sizes formulate and implement strategies to achieve fit with an external environment disrupted by a geopolitical event. The context of the study is the pharmaceutical industry and how it managed the supply chain uncertainty created by the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, or Brexit.Design/methodology/approachData were collected longitudinally from the pro-Brexit vote on 23 June 2016, until the UK’s departure from the EU on 31 January 2020. Twenty-seven interviews were conducted in the pharmaceutical sector, including nineteen interviews with senior managers at eight case companies and eight interviews with experts working for trade associations and standards institutes. The interview findings were triangulated with Brexit policy and strategy documentation.FindingsWhen formulating strategy, multi-national enterprises (MNEs) used worst case assumptions, while large firms, and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) gathered knowledge as part of a “wait-and-see” strategy, allowing them to reduce perceptions of heightened supply chain uncertainty. Firms then implemented reactive and/or proactive strategies to mitigate supply chain risks.Originality/valueThe study elaborates on strategic contingency theory by identifying two important conditions for achieving strategic fit: first, companies deploy intangible resources, such as management time, to gather information and reduce perceptions of heightened supply chain uncertainty. Second, companies deploy tangible resources (supply chain redundancies, new supply chain assets) to lessen the negative outcomes of supply chain risks. Managers are provided with an empirical framework for mitigating supply chain uncertainty and risk originating from geopolitical disruptions.

The triple-a supply chain and strategic resources: developing competitive advantage

PurposeScholars have recently begun to empirically evaluate the triple-A supply chain, which emphasizes concurrent capabilities in agility, adaptability and alignment across the supply chain to develop sustainable competitive advantage. Complexity theory suggests however that other combinations of triple-A capabilities may be equally effective, especially given a firm's strategic orientation relative to its market and its supply chain. Our research objective was to examine what combinations of these capabilities lead to the same outcome (i.e. high firm performance).Design/methodology/approachWe collected 182 survey responses from a global sample of supply chain managers. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was employed to assess effective recipes of agility, adaptability, alignment, supply chain orientation, and market orientation.FindingsOur results revealed four distinct “recipes” (i.e. combinations of agility, adaptability, alignment, supply chain orientation and market orientation) that lead to high levels of firm performance.Originality/valueOur results indicate that firms currently do not necessarily have to concomitantly develop capabilities across all triple-A components. Considering the costs associated with developing each of these capabilities, the findings allow us to derive several theoretical and managerial insights.

Examining the influence of internal green supply chain practices, green human resource management and supply chain environmental cooperation on firm performance

PurposeThis study aims to examine the direct impact of internal green supply chain practices (IGSCP) on green human resource management (GHRM), supply chain environmental cooperation (SCEC) and firm performance (FP). The mediating influences of GHRM and SCEC on the influence of IGSCP on FP are also examined. The study further examines the mediating influence of SCEC on the link between GHRM and FP.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a quantitative method where data is gathered from human resource and supply chain managers of 139 manufacturing firms (food, beverage and alcohol, textiles, agrochemical and plastics), using customized questionnaires. The data is analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling software (SmartPLS 3.2.8).FindingsThe results suggest that the adoption of only IGSCP may negatively affect the market and financial performances of firms. However, the implementation of GHRM and SCEC may catalyze IGSCP to improve FP.Originality/valueThe study develops a comprehensive empirical model that tests the joint influence of internal green supply chain, GHRM and SCEC on FP. The findings indicate that IGSCP, GHRM and SCEC help firms to advance FP.

A Prescription for Urban Sustainability Transitions in China: Innovative Partner Selection Management of Green Building Materials Industry in an Integrated Supply Chain

The rapid development of the construction industry, which has brought economic prosperity, has been accompanied by ecological and environmental crises incurred by the generation of building materials. The development of the green building materials (GBMs) industry provides the key to solving this problem. With the continuous promotion of Internet of Things strategies, cooperative innovation in integrated GBMs supply chain (IGBMSC) enterprises has become an important method of cooperative green innovation. The key strategy to realizing the development of the GBM industry is promoting the technological innovation of GBMs via innovative resources in the GBM supply chain. We examined the selection of green innovation partners for IGBMSCs, and the results are as follows: Partner selection for technological innovation is an important factor influencing green innovation among enterprises in the integrated GBMs supply chains. The method of selecting green innovation partners in IGBMSCs proposed in this study is a reasonable and effective dynamic selection decision-making method that can be used to improve the collaborative innovation capability of IGBMSCs. The investigation of IGBMSC cooperative innovation partners includes quality and capability, as well as the technology level, integration degree, integration and co-ordination ability, resource integration ability, and learning and absorption ability of partners.

The Role Of Integration And Resilience For Improving Resource Efficiency

The study aims to examine the impact of customer integration, internal integration, logistics collaborator integration and supply chain resilience on the resource efficiency of the supply chain firms in Karachi. Sample size included 181 responses with the help of purposive sampling, and the target population was supply chain firms of Karachi. The data was analyzed using PLS-SEM. The study found that the customer integration was significantly affecting SC resilience but negatively affecting resource efficiency. Also, internal integration was not affecting customer integration and SC resilience and resource efficiency but affecting the logistics collaborator integration. Moreover, LCI was significantly affecting customer integration, SC resilience and resource efficiency. Lastly, SC resilience was negatively affecting resource efficiency. The study recommends that the managers need to enhance their logistics collaborator integration as it was found to be significantly improving the customer integration, supply chain resilience and resource efficiency. Moreover, the managers need to improve their customer and internal integration as they can enhance their logistics collaboration integration and resource efficiency.

Two heuristic methods based on decomposition to the integrated multi-agent supply chain scheduling and distribution problem

ABSTRACT Supply chain integration has become one of the most attractive topics for researchers in recent years. One of the advantages of this integration is in improving overall profit in comparison to separate decisions. In this study, an integrated scheduling and distribution problem is investigated. One of the contributions of this paper is to study this problem from a multi-agent viewpoint. In this case, each agent has a set of jobs with its own objective and compete with each other to acquire supply chain resources. Here, a two-agent problem is discussed where the objectives of the agents are the minimization of the total tardiness and the total cost of distribution. A mathematical formulation and two heuristics based on decomposition approaches are presented. In the first approach, a modified Benders decomposition is presented. Also, some valid inequalities are introduced to increase the convergence speed of this algorithm. In the second approach, a decomposition and cutting approach is developed. The results represent the good performance of both algorithms in comparison to other exact methods.

Fostering supply chain integration in omni-channel retailing through human resource factors: empirical study in China’s market

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify relationships between human resource practice (HRP), human capital (HC), and supply chain integration (SCI) in the context of omni-channel retailing (OCR) on the basis of dynamic capability view (DCV). It also applies firms’ characteristics as moderators and uses product variety as a control variable to examine their effects on these relationships. A research survey was conducted based on a sample of 230 omni-channel (OC) retailers in China’s market. The results reveal that HRP is positively related to HC and that HC has a positive impact on SCI in the context of OCR. Moreover, employees’ capital is more important for SCI’s success than managers’ capital for OC retailers. In addition, this study found that product variety has a positive effect on SCI, whereas the moderating effect of retailers’ characteristics is insignificant compared to the influence of HRP on HC.

Formation and Planning of Resource Supply Chains at Regional Commodity Markets Based on the SCOR Model

Today dictates the need to reconsider the relations between the participants (subjects) of the regional economy. New trends and new approaches to doing business processes in the region require the construction of resource supply chains in the regions on the basis of self-development and self-sufficiency. There is a need to use the scientific apparatus on the basis of a system-integrated approach, which, according to the authors, is to identify sectors of the resource supply chains of regions on the basis of self-development and establish the relationship between them, forming them into a system (resources) and establishing feedback with the external environment. The article reveals the essence of the formation and planning of resource supply chains in regional commodity markets based on the SCOR-model. The study improved the conceptual and categorical apparatus of business process management at the regional level by introducing the concept of “resource supply chains of regional commodity markets” in a narrow and broad sense. The sectors of formation and planning of resource supply chains of regional commodity markets are proposed, namely: “supply – raw materials – production – distribution – consumption – utilization”. The relations that arise during the business process between the participants of the resource supply chains of regional commodity markets according to the model “3D: space – time – movement” are determined. The process of planning and formation of resource supply chains of regional commodity markets from the standpoint of integrated planning is characterized. It is recommended to form a chain of resource provision of regional and interregional responsible cooperation in the future on the basis of generalization of modern management technologies according to the model – “Flowchart SCOR”.

A Pareto approach for the multi-factory supply chain scheduling and distribution problem

Integrated decisions in the supply chain are one of the most attractive topics for researchers. But to get closer to the real-world problems, other real assumptions should be considered. One of these assumptions is the multi-agent view in which several sets of customers or agents with their own objective compete with each other to acquire the supply chain resources. Here, an integrated supply chain scheduling problem along with the batch delivery consideration in a series multi-factory environment is investigated and the routing decisions among customers are considered. A mathematical model is presented for this problem. Due to the complexity, a novel ant colony optimization algorithm is developed to obtain Pareto solutions. Also, a simulated annealing based local search is used to improve the quality of solutions. The performance of the algorithm is compared with three well-known multi-objective algorithms. Results show the proper performance of the proposed algorithm compared to the other algorithms.

Simulation of multi-agent interaction in the system “labor exchange - enterprise”

The work simulates a game with full information with two agents in the supply chain: one labor exchange - one enterprise. The strategy of the enterprise is the demand for labor resources. The labor exchange strategy is the party of labor resources. The company provides the labor exchange with information on the demand for workers, the labor exchange decides on the procurement and delivery of batches of workers. Labor resources as stocks are managed by the labor exchange. Thus, the model proposed in the work obeys the VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) concept and is a model of cooperation between the labor exchange and the enterprise. A multi-product EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) model for a two-tier supply chain is proposed. The task is to minimize the value of the supply chain of labor resources, in which the optimization variable is the maximum level of labor shortages. The task takes into account the shortage of labor resources, monetary fines for the deficit, restrictions on the space of the labor exchange and the number of orders.

Towards Efficient and Clean Process Integration: Utilisation of Renewable Resources and Energy-Saving Technologies

The strong demand for sustainable energy supplies had escalated the discovery, and intensive research into cleaner energy sources, as well as efficient energy management practices. In the context of the circular economy, the efforts target not only the optimisation of resource utilisation at various stages, but the products’ eco-design is also emphasized to extend their life spans. Based on the concept of comprehensive circular integration, this review discusses the roles of Process Integration approaches, renewable energy sources utilisation and design modifications in addressing the process of energy and exergy efficiency improvement. The primary focus is to enhance the economic and environmental performance through process analysis, modelling and optimisation. The paper is categorised into sections to show the contribution of each aspect clearly, namely: (a) Design and numerical study for innovative energy-efficient technologies; (b) Process Integration—heat and power; (c) Process energy efficiency or emissions analysis; (d) Optimisation of renewable energy resources supply chain. Each section is assessed based on the latest contribution of this journal’s Special Issue from the 21st conference on Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES 2018). The key results are highlighted and summarised within the broader context of the state of the art development.

Designing Model of the Human Resources Supply Chain (Thematic Analysis Method)

Human resource was the fundamental capitals and the source of transformation and innovation in organizations. One of the most crucial ways for attracting and retaining human resource was to create a productive process and supply chain. The human resource supply chain was an integrated approach to planning, locating and controlling human resource in different businesses, from human resource’s suppliers to replacing them in relevant jobs. According to the lack of supply chain of human resource in organizations, the importance of this issue was clear to everybody. After considering the sources extracted from databases, 136 sources were obtained as samples. In this research, the design of the supply chain human resource model was done by the qualitative research method of thematic analysis, and by studying the theoretical foundations and thematic literature. The process of thematic analysis was done manually and using MAXQDA software. The results of this research show that the human resource supply chains could be summed up in six main themes of organizational needs assessment, human resource planning, recruitment and selection, human resource improvement, performance evaluation, and human resource management. By integrating these themes with the components of the supply chain, the supply chain of human resources derived from theoretical literature can be achieve. Based on the theoretical foundations of the supply chain and human resources management, the following model was present. For the amount of credibility of the human resources supply chain pattern, a model derived from theoretical literature among seven experts in the field of human resources was presented and using the Delphi technique to present the final pattern of the chain Provision of human resources.