Collaborative Supply Research Articles

Obtaining supplier commitment: antecedents and performance outcomes

Effective management of the supply network is essential to assure market success for modern supply chains; starting from this, the paper aims to shed light on the dynamics of buyer-supplier industrial relationships by exploring the antecedents of supplier commitment – a requisite to improve performance obtained from suppliers. The paper develops a theoretical framework, grounded on Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory, which is tested using survey data from 305 international companies and applying a Structural Equation Modelling approach. Results show that goals alignment, buyer commitment and supplier collaboration initiatives are all drivers of supplier commitment, which, in turn, positively affects innovation performance ensured by suppliers. These findings confirm the relevant role of buyer-side initiatives in driving supplier commitment, giving managers focus points to look at when the objective is to gain a preferred customer status.

ผลกระทบของวิธีการแบบมอดูลาริตี้ ต่อกลยทุธฺ์ปฏิบัติการ และผลประกอบการ ของผู้ผลิตในอุตสาหกรรมยานยนต์ไทย (Effects of Modularity Manufacturing Practices on Operations Strategy and Performance of Thai Automotive Manufacturers)

Thai Abstract: การวจยเรองนมวตถประสงคเพอศกษาผลกระทบของวธการผลตแบบมอดลารตทมตอผลประกอบการองคการ และผลกระทบทางออมของวธการผลตแบบมอดลารตทมตอผลประกอบการองคการโดยผานกลยทธปฏบตการ ขณะทความรวมมอ กบ ผส ง มอบและการแลกเปลย นความรเ ปนปจ จย สนบสนนวธ ก ารผลต แบบมอดลารต การวจ ย นใชแ บบสอบถามออนไลนในการเกบ รวบรวมขอ มลจากผจด การฝายผลต ทท างานในอตสาหกรรมยานยนตประเทศไทย จ านวน 375 คนสวนวธการวเคราะหขอมลนนใชแบบจ าลองสมการเชงโครงสรางในการวเคราะห และแสดงผลการศกษา พบวา วธการผลตแบบมอดลารตมผลกระทบทางตรงเชงบวกตอผลประกอบการองคการ และวธการผลตแบบมอดลารตยงมผลกระทบทางออมเชงบวกตอผลประกอบการองคการโดยมกลยทธปฏบตการเปนตวแปรสงผาน อกทงความรวมมอกบผสงมอบและการแลกเปลยนความรสงผลกระทบทางตรงเชงบวกตอวธการผลตแบบมอดลารต อยางมนยส าคญทางสถต English Abstract: The purpose of this research is to study the direct effects of modularity manufacturing practices (MMP) on performance and indirect effects of modularity manufacturing practices on performance of Thai automotive manufacturers by using operations strategy as mediator variables. Questionnaires with closed-ended questions were collected from 375 production managers who work in Thai Automotive manufacturers. These were analyzed using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The results of the SEM analysis indicated that modularity manufacturing practices have direct effects on firm performance and modularity manufacturing practices have indirect effects toward on firm performance when using operations strategy as mediator variable. In addition, supplier collaboration and knowledge sharing has a significant direct effects on modularity manufacturing practices.

Evolutionary Game Analysis of the Effects of Problem Size and the Problem Proposing Mechanism on the Problem Processing Mechanism in a New Main Manufacturer–Supplier Collaborative System

This paper analyzed the effects of the problem size and the problem proposing mechanism on the decision-making processes, for the manufacturer and the supplier, regarding processing a problem in a new main manufacturer–supplier collaborative system using evolutionary game theory. Unpredicted problems may arise in the process of collaborative research and development (R&D) of complex products, like big passenger aircrafts, without any relative advanced contract, and either player will take risks to announce it. In addition to the factors of traditional cost and income, we take another two factors (i.e., the problem size and the problem proposing mechanism) into account in the examination of the problem processing mechanism. With evolutionary game theory applied, we can obtain the stable decision-making states of both players and how these two factors affect the problem processing mechanism. From the result, we find that the problem size has little effect on the two players’ decisions, while the problem processing mechanism has an impact when the experiences or the capacities of the manufacturer and the supplier are unbalanced. This paper contributes to manufacturer and supplier in a newly-established collaborative system to consider how to behave when unpredicted problems come.

Buyer and Supplier Collaboration Strategy for Development and Production in the Korean Auto Industry

Purpose - This paper aims to articulate determinants of inter-organizational cooperation based on to the extent to which inter-organizational tasks are related to product development and production processes. Design/Methodology - This research conducted OLS regression analysis based on the data acquired from questionnaire survey in Korean auto industry. Findings - Our analysis has verified that complementary and compatible resources, as well as physical and human asset specificities, positively affect inter-organizational product development cooperation. Conversely, in the production process, only complementary resources positively affect interorganizational cooperation, whereas compatible resources and physical asset specificity have a negative influence. The changing characteristics of compatible resources (with IT innovations and AI), and physical asset specificity (influenced by a rising need to reduce production costs), cause interorganizational cooperation in production to decrease. Originality/value - This research attempts to expound upon these determining factors of interorganizational cooperation by considering both complementary-compatible resources and asset specificity in product development and production simultaneously. The reason why the impact of complementary-compatible resources and asset specificity on inter-organizational cooperation is critical in understanding the determinants of inter-organizational cooperation is that the attributes of complementary-compatible resources and asset specificity in production have changed drastically due to the continuing diffusion of IT innovations and AI (Artificial Intelligence).

Determinants of green procurement implementation and its impact on firm performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify the determinants that influence adoption of green procurement (GP) practices in Indian firms; and second, to investigate the impact of adoption of GP practices on various parameters of firm performance. Design/methodology/approach Based on the extant literature on green supply chain management practices, an online field survey questionnaire was developed. The primary intent of the survey was to identify and examine the factors behind adoption of GP initiatives and also to study the impact of its adoption on firm performance. The web-survey was sent to several hundred Indian manufacturing firms. The usable responses were then analyzed using multivariate analysis approach. Findings The results indicate that internal environmental concern, supplier collaboration, customer pressure, competitive pressure and management support had positive influence on GP. The second finding was that GP adoption had positive relationships with all selected parameters of firm performance. Research limitations/implications The study was primarily aimed at manufacturing sector and not on the non-manufacturing sector, and therefore, some valuable insights may have been lost. Originality/value This paper examines the relationship between the drivers of GP practices and degree of GP; a relatively unexplored area in the developing economy. It further investigates the impact of GP implementation on various dimensions of firm performance, which has also received limited attention in extant literature. Finally, it also adds value to the nascent literature on GP practices in India.

INNOVATION COLLABORATIONS IN LOW-TO-MEDIUM TECH SMEs: THE ROLE OF THE FIRM’S INNOVATION ORIENTATION AND USE OF EXTERNAL INFORMATION

This study articulates and tests the direct and indirect relationships between the company’s innovation orientation (IO), its collection and dissemination (C&D) of external information among the organisational members, and the level of success of its innovation collaborations involving customers, suppliers, and research organisations. Our conceptual framework is developed based on an integration of the literatures on organisational capabilities, marketing, innovation, and management control. We empirically test these relationships on a sample of 117 small-to-medium enterprises (SME) operating in Low-to-Medium-Tech (LMT) manufacturing industries. Partial Least Squares (PLS) results reveal that the relationship between the firm’s IO and the success of its customer collaborations is partially mediated by the C&D of external information. We also find that the relationship between the firm’s IO and the success of supplier collaborations is direct, and that the C&D of external information has no effect on the success of such collaborations. Finally the relationship between IO, C&D of external information and the success of research organisation collaborations is found to be indirect. Overall, these findings suggest that developing successful innovation collaborations in LMT sectors requires that SME managers start by building an internal culture that promotes innovation, learning and openness to the external environment.

Assessment sharing intra-industry strategic alliances: Effects on sustainable supplier management within multi-tier supply chains

Focal companies have to manage both first-tier suppliers and lower-tier suppliers in order to prevent reputational damage due to sustainability violations in their supply chains. However, the involvement of sub-suppliers in supplier management practices creates new challenges, which can be managed more effectively in collaboration with other firms. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore from an extended agency theory perspective how companies collaborate within assessment sharing strategic alliances (ASSAs) to manage suppliers with respect to sustainability and to reveal the resultant effects on the management of suppliers within multi-tier supply chains. Therefore, an embedded multiple case study with multiple units of analysis was conducted. Results show that, dependent on the experience in ASSAs, supplier assessment and optionally supplier collaboration practices are executed collaboratively among the members of those strategic alliances to improve suppliers' compliance with the focal company's corporate sustainability standards. However, the configuration of jointly executed activities as well as membership conditions vary between strategic alliances and consequently influence the effects on supplier management. Nevertheless, the observations revealed that the causes for agency risk, namely information asymmetry and goal conflicts, can be mitigated through collaboration within ASSAs and thus multi-tier suppliers' compliance with corporate sustainability standards is fostered.

Green supply chain management: impact on environmental performance and firm competitiveness

Unrestrained industrialisation resulting in environmental pollution has mobilised the unstinting endeavours of scientist, researchers, policy makers and ecologist in a quest to rapidly unearth solutions to mitigate further environmental deterioration. One promising ongoing development is green supply chain management (GSCM), which promises a reduction of pollution and waste in manufacturing. GSCM achieves this through the mechanism of improving manufacturing efficiency, by reducing costs, enhancing product quality and improving product delivery. This study applies the natural resource-based view, and quantitatively examines the impact of the implementation of GSCM on firm environmental performance, and firm competitiveness. Data was collected from 122 sampled firms, analysed, and evaluated in two ways. Firstly, using partial least squared-structured equation modelling (PLS-SEM), results indicate that 'green procurement', and 'green supplier and customer collaboration', have a significant positive relationship with both firm environmental performance, and, firm competitiveness. Secondly, using importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA), both 'green procurement' and 'green supplier and customer collaboration' are mapped in the high in importance/high-performance quadrant. The practical recommendations are for organisations to prioritise efforts and resources towards 'green procurement' and 'green supplier and customer collaboration' in order to maximise the return on 'green' investment.

Opportunities for collaboration in the Australian oil and gas industry: learning lessons from more mature basins and international best practice (North Sea, Norway, Gulf of Mexico, Onshore US)

As many Australian assets move from ‘project’ to ‘operate’, the challenge is to ‘sustainably optimise’ to provide value to shareholders and attract continued investment. There is an opportunity to learn the lessons of more mature regions and accelerate improvements now, rather than wait. The North Sea, Norway, Gulf of Mexico and Onshore USA provide insights and opportunities for improvement, from operator and supplier collaboration, through optimised operating models and the critical role of government and regulators in improving industry development. These opportunities require key Australian industry stakeholders to be adaptable. They require humility and strong listening skills, steady hands and a keen focus on long-term value. For example, the Efficiency Task Force of Oil & Gas UK launched the Industry Behaviours Charter in 2015, a collective commitment to encourage companies in the offshore industry to work effectively, efficiently and co-operatively. Forty companies signed up and that number continues to rise. Firms are sharing cost cutting initiatives under the Rapid Efficiency Exchange scheme. A second initiative encourages companies to share spare parts. Amec Foster Wheeler has brought in a More for Less scheme to eradicate processes that are superfluous to final outcomes. Operating costs across the UK North Sea dropped by 14% in 2016, operators saving over US$1.5 billion, and this progress continues. The OGA runs an asset stewardship program, sharing best practice across operators and encouraging collaboration. Collaboration there is itself maturing, still with a keen focus on cost reduction, but drivers now include sharing knowledge, new ideas and solutions, not just transferring risk.

Exploring tacit knowledge transfer and innovation capabilities within the buyer–supplier collaboration: a literature review

The study seeks to identify the main facilitators and barriers of tacit knowledge transfer that influence innovation capabilities of the supplier within the buyer–supplier collaboration.The concept...

Business intelligence for order fulfilment management in small and medium enterprises

In this study, we investigate business intelligence (BI) tools that help a small and medium enterprise (SME) to improve its supplier order fulfilment management. Making use of the huge amount of data in its enterprise resource planning system, the company can seek opportunities for building collaborative supplier relationships to implement a just-in-time strategy. The proposed BI tools are developed to select suppliers with whom to form collaborative relationships. In addition, a BI dashboard is developed for the company to manage the cash conversion cycle of its supply chain. Developing BI tools that make use of limited information technology resources, we address the business and technical challenges of large unstructured datasets and lengthy computation time. The results show that SMEs can benefit from BI tools at an affordable cost, joining the emergent trend of deploying business analytics to make systematic innovation.

Business intelligence for order fulfilment management in small and medium enterprises

In this study, we investigate business intelligence (BI) tools that help a small and medium enterprise (SME) to improve its supplier order fulfilment management. Making use of the huge amount of data in its enterprise resource planning system, the company can seek opportunities for building collaborative supplier relationships to implement a just-in-time strategy. The proposed BI tools are developed to select suppliers with whom to form collaborative relationships. In addition, a BI dashboard is developed for the company to manage the cash conversion cycle of its supply chain. Developing BI tools that make use of limited information technology resources, we address the business and technical challenges of large unstructured datasets and lengthy computation time. The results show that SMEs can benefit from BI tools at an affordable cost, joining the emergent trend of deploying business analytics to make systematic innovation.

Best supply chain management practices and high-performance firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the best supply chain management (SCM) practices that are implemented in medium- and large-sized Gulf manufacturing firms (MFs). Design/methodology/approach This study has explored seven SCM practices, i.e. supplier collaboration, flexibility with partners, usage of internet, customer focus (CF), lean production (LP), internal integration (II) and quality management (QM). It assumes that the best-performing firms must be the ones implementing the best practices. t-test and multiple linear regression analyses were used to establish the best practices, implemented by medium and large-sized Gulf MFs. Findings The results showed that QM, CF and supplier collaboration are considered as best SCM practices in Gulf MFs. Usage of internet may have been the best practice previously, but not anymore. LP cannot yet be qualified as, but may develop into the best SCM practice. Practical implications The study provides a useful contribution to the field of best SCM practices as it provides better decision-making insights and a benchmarking base to top managers, policy makers and academics. It is likely to result in increased overall performance of their firms. Originality/value The study provides an understanding of the distinctive characteristics of the best SCM practices, implemented by Gulf MFs. It has broader implications for all MFs, particularly in developing economies where the growth of manufacturing and effective management of their supply chains is a key element for the economic development.

Responsible sourcing by improving workplace safety through buyer–supplier collaboration

In this paper, we study a problem where a buyer and a supplier collaborate to improve safety at the supplier’s facility. We analyze and compare three policies; for the first policy, the buyer and the supplier jointly collaborate to improve safety at the supplier’s manufacturing facility (this policy is known as Accord in the industry). For the second policy, the buyer supports the supplier by providing external funding (this policy is named Alliance). The third policy is the Base policy, which is used as a benchmark. Under Base policy, the buyer does not provide any support to the supplier on the safety front. Using analytical frameworks, we determine and characterize optimal policies from buyer’s, supplier’s and system safety perspectives. We find that a low capability supplier prefers Accord when the buyer’s capability is high and Alliance, otherwise. However, from safety perspective, for low capability supplier, Alliance should never be preferred.

Buyer–supplier collaboration in green practices: The driving effects from stakeholders

AbstractGreen and environmental practices are considered critical to enhancing firm innovation and performance. Previous research has not fully explained how and why buyers collaborate with suppliers in green practices. This study aimed to verify the driving effects of stakeholders and the underlying mechanism in buyer–supplier collaboration. Questionnaires were used to collect empirical data from selected purchasing managers in listed Taiwanese electronics firms. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data and proposed model. Customer pressure and top management commitment are found to have a positive influence on buyer–supplier collaboration. Competitor pressure and regulatory pressure indirectly affect buyer–supplier collaboration through the mediating effects of customer pressure and top management commitment. However, green investment pressure does not significantly influence top management commitment and buyer–supplier collaboration. The results suggest that customers can leverage the pressure exerted by competing suppliers by bargaining with their current suppliers to improve collaboration with second‐tier suppliers.

A Negotiation Optimization Strategy of Collaborative Procurement with Supply Chain Based on Multi-Agent System

In the process of collaborative procurement, buyers and suppliers are prone to conflict in cooperation due to differences in needs and preferences. Negotiation is a crucial way to resolve the conflict. Aimed at ameliorating the situations of underdeveloped self-adaptive learning effect of current collaborative procurement negotiation, this paper constructs a negotiation model based on multi-agent system and proposes a negotiation optimization strategy combined with machine learning. It provides a novel perspective for the analysis of intelligent SCM. The experimental results suggest that the proposed strategy improves the success rate of self-adaptive learning and joint utility of agents compared with the strategy of single learning machine, and it achieves win-win cooperation between purchasing enterprise and supplier.

On stability of collaborative supplier selection

This note discusses the possibility of fair gain sharing in cooperative situations where players optimally partition themselves across a number of alternative channels. An example is group purchasing among a set of buyers facing with a range of suppliers. We introduce channel selection games as a new class of cooperative games and give a representation of their cores. With two channels (suppliers), the game has a non-empty core if the gain functions across every individual channel is supermodular.

Strategic Alliances for the Management of Multi-tier Supply Chains with Focus on Sustainability

As focal companies nowadays are held responsible for everything that occurs in their supply chains, they not only have to manage their first-tier suppliers but also their lower-tier suppliers in order to prevent reputational damage resulting from sustainability violations in their upstream supply chains. Involving sub-suppliers in supplier management practices creates new challenges due to sub-supplier specific characteristics, which can be tackled more efficiently in collaboration with other firms. Thus, our empirical study investigates assessment sharing strategic alliances (ASSAs) through the conduction of an embedded multiple case study in the railway, telecommunication and pharmaceutical industry. We examine how companies collaborate within ASSAs to manage suppliers with respect to sustainability and reveal resulting effects on the management of suppliers within multi-tier supply chains. Results show that supplier assessment and optionally supplier collaboration practices are performed collaboratively among the alliances’ members. Even though all ASSAs in general improve suppliers’ compliance with a focal company’s corporate sustainability standard, the degree of improvement strongly depends on the respective ASSA’s configuration. Configurations such as compulsory centrally controlled follow-up activities, a high degree of jointly executed supplier collaboration practices and the involvement of suppliers in ASSAs are especially beneficial.

Attraction in buyer–supplier relationships

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the dynamics of buyer–supplier industrial relationships and the role of customer attractiveness—a requisite to obtain best efforts from suppliers involved in collaborative initiatives. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a theoretical framework tested through an international survey with a structured equation modeling approach. Findings Results confirm that customer attractiveness positively affects both innovation and cost performance ensured by suppliers. Moreover, several direct and indirect antecedents of customer attractiveness are identified, including characteristics of the buying firm’s procurement department (i.e. procurement knowledge and procurement status) and supply chain relationship characteristics (i.e. proficiency of supplier collaboration and visibility). Research limitations/implications Because of the survey approach, the research results are limited to the data collected. Practical implications Findings support the relevance of collaborative relationships in improving performance, and the key role procurement department could play in managing the multifaceted aspects of supplier collaboration. Originality/value This paper investigates, on the one hand, why customer attractiveness is relevant for supply chain management, and what are the effects on innovation and cost performance ensured by suppliers; on the other hand, antecedents of customer attractiveness are considered, with a main focus on organizational and relational procurement variables.

Evaluation of Supply Chain Flexibility in Automobile Industry with Fuzzy DEMATEL Approach

In today’s competitive market of globalization, supply chain flexibility (SCF) has emerged as a potential weapon to address various uncertainties and associated risks. Offering sales promotional schemes (SPSs) is one of the obvious and inevitable features in the present competitive commercial environment, affecting demand uncertainty severely. This paper models the SCF of automobile industry under SPS environment. Supply chain professionals from two automobile OEMs are involved in the process of identifying 14 SCF strategies that are relevant to the present study. Personal interviews have been conducted with about 15 field managers from these industries and the causal relationships between these flexibility strategies have been established using a structured Fuzzy DEMATEL questionnaire. Using Fuzzy DEMATEL methodology, the identified strategies are ranked based on their degree of influence and classified into cause/effect groups. Based on the analysis, four strategies, viz. volume flexibility, manufacturing flexibility, supplier collaboration flexibility and supplier flexibility, have been recognized to play a decisive role in firm’s performance. The systematic elucidation of the model offers modest bunch bits of knowledge to practicing field experts to ken the utmost essential approaches influencing the performance of the firm in terms of their impelling strength. This helps them in crucial decision-making during SPS. Also, the present investigation will help in spanning the SCF with sales promotions, an unexplored gap in the earlier studies.