SCM Strategy Research Articles

The effect of supply chain integration on the alignment between corporate competitive capability and supply chain operational capability

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify the shape of the interactive relationship between corporate competitive capability and supply chain operational capability for performance improvement, and to investigate the effects of supply chain (SC) integration on such interactive relationships.Design/methodology/approachSeparate moderated regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses of interest in this study on each of three SC integration groups: the independent operation group, the internal integration group, and the external integration group. Three models present the hierarchical addition of items addressing proposed corporate competitive capabilities, SC operational capabilities, and interacting effects, respectively.FindingsThe effect of interaction between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability on performance improvement becomes insignificant as the developmental stage of SC integration increases. In other words, in firms with a high level of internal integration or external integration, such integration substitutes for the role of the interaction effect between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability on performance improvement.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to characterize more precisely the dynamic positioning of a firm's SCM strategy this paper suggests detailed analyses of structural relationships among the constructs relating to corporate SCM initiatives, SC functional initiatives, performance measures, and the SC integration level are required. For this, replication of the study described in this paper with a sample of the US and European firms would be helpful.Practical/implicationsPerformance accumulation from customer satisfaction through market‐based performance to financial performance according to the developmental stage of SC integration suggests the migration path of matching type between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability from differentiation/customer service capabilities‐logistical capability through innovative marketing capability‐technological capability to cost leadership capability‐structural capability. Such a migration path can be a lever for establishing the dynamic positioning of a firm's SCM strategy.Originality/valueThis research identified the shape of the interactive relationship between corporate competitive capability and SC operational capability for performance improvement and investigated the effects of SC integration on such interactive relationships.

FBCM: Strategy modeling method for the validation of software requirements

The Balanced Scorecard has attracted great attention as a modeling technique for enterprise management strategy. However, the strategy model is inadequate for examining the validity of software requirements, because methods to evaluate strategy models have yet to be developed. Therefore, this paper proposes a fact based collaboration modeling methodology (FBCM). Based on the results of field observations and data of business processes, it is possible to develop enterprise strategy models from the viewpoints of collaboration between organizations. This paper describes the basic concepts and procedures of the methodology. The methodology has been evaluated via a case study of developing an SCM strategy of a Japanese automobile enterprise. The research project was conducted for seven months to develop a strategy for a complete car logistic process in which five different departments of the company are involved. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Integrated decision modelling of supply chain efficiency

As the industrial environment becomes more competitive, supply chain management has become a topic of interest to many authors. In some of the literature, models have been established for optimising supply chain (SC) costs. This paper is focused on improving SC efficiency and effectiveness under four criteria, profit, leadtime performance, delivery promptness and waste elimination, instead of the cost alone. The model established in the paper analyses the SC performance at two levels, the chain level and the operations level. At the chain level, objectives associated with the criteria are set for each SC stage so that the SC performance can meet the customer service target and the best SCM strategy is selected. At the operations level, manufacturing and logistics activities are optimised under the given targets. This paper analyses the SC performance in a hierarchical way so that benefits of the whole SC and its individual companies can be balanced.