Supply Chain Domain Research Articles

The effect of “Internet of Things” on supply chain integration and performance: An organisational capability perspective

The Internet of things (IoT) is a next generation of Internet connected embedded ICT systems in a digital environment to seamlessly integrate supply chain and logistics processes. Integrating emerging IoT into the current ICT systems can be unique because of its intelligence, autonomous and pervasive applications. However, research on the IoT adoption in supply chain domain is scarce and acceptance of the IoT into the retail services in specific has been overly rhetoric. This study is drawn upon the organisational capability theory for developing an empirical model considering the effect of IoT capabilities on multiple dimensions of supply chain process integration, and in turn improves supply chain performance as well as organisational performance. Cross-sectional survey data from 227 Australian retail firms was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that IoT capability has a positive and significant effect on internal, customer-, and supplier-related process integration that in turn positively affects supply chain performance and organisational performance. Theoretically, the study contributes to a body of knowledge that integrates information systems research into supply chain integration by establishing an empirical evidence of how IoT-enabled process integration can enhance the performance at both supply chain and organisational level. Practically, the results inform the managers of the likely investment on IoT that can lead to chain’s performance outcome.

Recent advances and opportunities in sustainable food supply chain: a model-oriented review

Faced with the challenges associated with sustainably feeding the world’s growing population, the food industry is increasingly relying on operations research (OR) techniques to achieve economic, environmental and social sustainability. It is therefore important to understand the context-specific model-oriented applications of OR techniques in the sustainable food supply chain (SFSC) domain. While existing food supply chain reviews provide an excellent basis for this process, the explicit consideration of sustainability from a model-oriented perspective along with a structured outline of relevant SFSC research techniques are missing in extant literature. We attempt to fill this gap by reviewing 83 related scientific journal publications that utilise mathematical modelling techniques to address issues in SFSC. To this end, we first identify the salient dimensions that include economic, environmental and social issues in SFSC. We then review the models and methods that use these dimensions to solve issues that arise in SFSC. We identify some of the main challenges in analytical modelling of SFSC as well as future research directions.

Decision support framework for location selection and disaster relief network design

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a decision support framework for locations identification to address network design in the domain of disaster relief supply chains. The solution approach is then applied to a real-life case about Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach An approach integrating geographic information system technology and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process has been used. Findings For the Indonesian case, distribution centers should be located in Pekanbaru, Surabaya, Banjarmasin, Ambon, Timika, and Manado. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this work is that facilities being sited are incapacitated. Inclusion of constraints over capacity would elevate the framework to a further level of sophistication, enabling virtual pool of inventory that can be used to adsorb fluctuation in the demand due to disasters. Practical implications The use case provided in this paper shows a practical example of applicability for the proposed framework. This study is able to support worldwide decision makers facing challenges related with disaster relief chains resilience. In order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in relief operations, strategic logistics planning in preparedness is key. Hence, initiatives in disaster preparedness should be enhanced. Originality/value It adds value to the previous literature on humanitarian logistics by providing a real-life case study as use case for the proposed methodology. It can guide decision makers in designing resilient humanitarian response, worldwide. Moreover, a combination of recommendations from humanitarian logistics practitioners with established models in facility location sciences provides an interdisciplinary solution to this complex exercise.

SELECTION OF ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE BASED ON AGILE PARAMETERS FOR SCM-BASED CASE STUDY

<strong>Aim/Purpose</strong>: This paper being a review paper shows mapping of enterprise architecture with respect to supply chain domain as per agile parameter so to find the best architecture for the development of the enterprise solution used in SCM company. <strong>Background /Methodology</strong>: Without EA, companies muddle through. In an agile environment selection of enterprise architecture is difficult even considering different parameters with SCM phases. This is a question and answer based research survey done for finding the mapping of SCM with different EAs were evaluated with 20yrs of experienced five experts. <strong>Originality/Value</strong>: This paper shows different EA mapped to SCM domain. Tabular format mapping of agile parameter with EA helps to find best EA for developing enterprise solutions even in agile environment. <strong>Findings</strong>: Comparison of 11 EA with a set of agile parameters shows that TOGAF is the most suitable EA for the development of the enterprise software solution. Systematic and structural working of TOGAF, handles the development in agile situation. <strong>Practical implications</strong>: Set of agile parameter from different phases of SCM may help practitioners to understand agile environment gives technical and logical gap which needs to consider in developing the software solution. <strong>Social implications</strong>: Mapping agile parameters at different strategies can help system to withstand in the changing environment with its impact on different operational levels of SCM. <strong>Research limitations/implications:</strong> Finding the type of agility and amount of agility in the SCM system can be an enhancement of this paper. Even more effective agile parameters affecting agility are the future of SCM.

A New Paradigm for Systematic Literature Reviews in Supply Chain Management

While systematic literature reviews (SLRs) have contributed substantially to developing knowledge in fields such as medicine, they have made limited contributions to developing knowledge in the supply chain management domain. This is due to the ontological and epistemological idiosyncrasies of research in supply chain management, which need to be accounted for when retrieving, selecting, and synthesizing studies in an SLR. Therefore, we propose a new paradigm for SLRs in the supply chain domain that is based on both best practice and the unique attributes of doing supply chain management research. This approach involves exploring existing studies with attention to theoretical boundaries, units of analysis, sources of data, study contexts, and definitions and the operationalization of constructs, as well as research methods, with the goal of refining or revising existing theory. This new paradigm will push supply chain management research to the frontier of current methodological standards and build a foundation for improving the contribution of future SLRs in the supply chain and adjacent management disciplines.

Optimization for the Integrated Operations in an Uncertain Construction Supply Chain

Large construction and infrastructure projects are a billion-dollar business, but few studies have addressed the integrated operations in this unique domain of the construction supply chain (CSC). The comparison between the CSC and a conventional supply chain enables us to examine its framework and establish a quantitative optimization model for the CSC. To introduce the integrated operations concept into the CSC, many uncertainties need to be first dealt with, for which a multiobjective uncertain optimization model is developed. As the optimization of the owner and fabricator's costs and the service level are the main objectives, a hybrid genetic algorithm with fuzzy-random method is developed to solve the optimization model. An integrated multiobjective purchasing and production planning model is then constructed and applied to a hydropower construction project in Southwest China. The results illustrate that efficient integrated operations are critical for the CSC performance. The optimization results also indicate that considering of uncertain rush orders and delay times can be vital for optimum CSC performance. With this proposed method, construction managers can quickly respond to changing uncertain demand. This paper has highlighted that project managers need to collaborate with other stakeholders to ensure optimal CSC performance.

Food Network Resilience Against Natural Disasters: A Conceptual Framework

We propose a conceptual framework that highlights the importance of logistics, collaboration, sourcing, and knowledge management in achieving supply chain resilience. This framework is developed after extensive literature review of relief supply chains, supply chain resilience, and disaster management disciplines. This review reveals that our understanding of supply chain resilience for food supply chains in a disaster scenario is still in its infancy. We note the lack of any consolidated framework or generalized theory in this area. Different topics related to resilience are usually discussed in isolation; hence, this research has attempted to combine different concepts drawn from various areas into one framework. We postulate that food supply chains can develop certain capabilities such as agility, adaptability, and alignment within the four supply chain domains of logistics, collaboration, sourcing, and knowledge management. Supply chain orientation and risk management culture plays the facilitating role in this framework. Adopting this systems approach would allow greater insights into how food supply chains can become more resilient to natural disasters.

“Goldilocks” Theorizing in Supply Chain Research: Balancing Scientific and Practical Utility via Middle‐Range Theory

AbstractWhile supply chain scholars have made considerable progress in theory building and testing, there has been a relative dearth of middle range theory. Middle‐range theory (MRT) is context‐specific conceptualization providing theoretically grounded insights readily applicable to an empirical context. It promotes rigorous and relevant research, bridges practice and theory, and conveys deeper understanding of how and why phenomena occur. The lack of significant MRT is surprising given the considerable efforts supply chain scholars exert to stay grounded in industry practices. As a result, we put forth a broad call for more middle‐range theorizing and provide guidance on how supply chain scholars may meet this call. Specifically, we describe a MRT lever—theoretical contextualization—that strikes a balance between theory and industry and then present two overarching strategies (bottom‐up and top‐down) for MRT development. We discuss these strategies in the supply chain domain and identify how middle‐range theorizing may be undertaken in four emerging, yet important, topics.

Application of the cohort-intelligence optimization method to three selected combinatorial optimization problems

The real world problems in the supply-chain domain are generally constrained and combinatorial in nature. Several nature-/bio-/socio-inspired metaheuristic methods have been proposed so far solving such problems. An emerging metaheuristic methodology referred to as Cohort Intelligence (CI) in the socio-inspired optimization domain is applied in order to solve three selected combinatorial optimization problems. The problems considered include a new variant of the assignment problem which has applications in healthcare and inventory management, a sea-cargo mix problem and a cross-border shipper selection problem. In each case, we use two benchmarks for evaluating the effectiveness of the CI method in identifying optimal solutions. To assess the quality of solutions obtained by using CI, we do comparative testing of its performance against solutions generated by using CPLEX. Furthermore, we also compare the performance of the CI method to that of specialized multi-random-start local search optimization methods that can be used to find solutions to these problems. The results are robust with a reasonable computational time and accuracy.

Analysis of operating effectiveness of a cold chain model using Bayesian networks

Purpose– Cold chain has become an integral part of the supply chain domain. The purpose of this paper is to consider all the significant factors in a single study. This will result into a better model to study the effectiveness of a cold chain because there has been absence of such an integrated study.Design/methodology/approach– The basis of the factors is justified by performing extensive literature review. Inter relations are drawn based on critical analysis of each factor and its implications on cold chain. Bayesian Network is used to develop the model.Findings– The end result is an established model, depicting the interdependencies of the factors. The model ultimately provides effectiveness of a given cold chain when the corresponding values of factors are put in.Practical implications– The findings will be helpful for government and non-government bodies to analyse the effectiveness of a cold chain. This can be used to increase the performance of different stages in the cold chain. From a business perspective, an investor can analyse the cold chains of various geographies in order to make an investment decision.Originality/value– The value lies in developing and introducing new factors which were not considered in the related literature previously. To identify the inter relations among the factors in order to build a causal model is another contribution of the present paper. This would assist in decision-making process with respect to any given cold chain. It can be applied to any cold chain as proposed model is not specific to a particular country or material.

Cross‐Functional Integration Revisited: Exploring the Conceptual Elephant

Despite multiple decades of previous research, cross‐functional integration (CFI) remains a poorly understood concept. We argue for definitional clarity to differentiate CFI from other related concepts, such as interfirm integration or supply chain integration. We also argue for theoretical grounding to provide context for understanding the role of CFI within a firm as well as between firms. This article provides a foundation for researchers to move forward in creating a broader understanding of CFI as a focal construct of interest within the supply chain domain.

Supply Chain Management And Its Relationship With Organizational Performance: A Literature Review

Over the period of last twenty years or so, field of supply chain management has evolved to such an extent that it has become backbone of today's businesses. Yet mere acceptance of the fact that supply chains can act as business levers/drivers, which can help propel organizational performance is not sufficient. There needs to be a performance measurement mechanism which can link supply chain management with overall organizational performance. This paper tries to provide brief literature review on supply chain management with a specific reference to its relationship with organizational performance. The paper studies the various approaches/methodologies used by researchers for exploring relationships between supply chain management and organizational performance. The focus of this review is to study empirical studies in particular. The review study covers articles from the field of operations, logistics and supply chain domain. Findings reveal a need for empirical research to establish link between supply chain performance & organizational performance in Indian context. Also revealed is a need to focus on softer aspects of management under supply chain management which can have significant impact on organizational performance.

Information systems to support sustainable consumption and sustainable supply

Responding to rising concerns about environmental sustainability, governments around the world have committed to the promotion of more sustainable consumption patterns [7]. Mainstream approaches to promoting sustainable consumption often involve government interventions to correct prices, and to provide regulatory frameworks to influence producers to become more eco-efficient [17]. Unfortunately, the success of these actions is frequently limited by information barriers. Consumers have limited information about the social and environmental impacts of products, and have long relied instead on price information as well as information available on the product package in making their buying decisions [15]. This lack of information creates difficulties for consumers when assessing and understanding the implications of their choices. Similarly, lack of integrated information systems that can capture, process and deliver actionable information about environmental impacts to all members in the sustainable supply chain could potentially disrupt the entire chain. These disruptions could, in turn, create higher costs and risks for all actors in the supply chain. Despite the connection between sustainable consumption and sustainable supply chain management, current research shows little integration between these areas. Recent technological developments have the potential to streamline the information flow from producer to consumer within supply chains, helping consumers to make more sustainable buying choices. Ontologies, Linked Data, and Semantic Web technologies can handle the problems that arise when integrating massive amounts of multi-thematic and multi-perspective information from heterogeneous sources to answer complex questions that cut through supply chain domain boundaries. The innovative use of information technologies could reduce the ‘‘information asymmetry’’ that pervades modern supply chains. Reducing barriers to information would benefit not only consumers but also other actors in the supply chain. This special issue focuses on how information and communication technology (ICT) can be leveraged to achieve sustainable consumption and sustainable supply chain management. One of the key objectives is to promote in-depth discussion on the technological, managerial, social, economic, and political implications of developing ICT capacity to support sustainability. In addition, we wish to generate insightful discussions on the connections between sustainable consumption and sustainable supply chain research. In the following section, we start by offering the readers of this special issue a short overview of these two research branches. J. Zhang (&) Graduate School of Management, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610-1477, USA e-mail: JIZhang@clarku.edu

Investigating brand equity of third-party service providers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply theory and techniques from the services and marketing literature to a supply-chain context consisting of a shipper or seller, a customer or buyer and a third-party logistics service provider (3PL) to investigate corporate brand equity resulting from service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty towards the 3PL. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model was developed from the literature and tested with Finnish industrial firms using an online survey. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling to examine relationships among the four constructs. Findings – Hypothesised relationships among the four constructs in the conceptual model were supported; however, the relationship between loyalty and corporate brand equity was weak. Research limitations/implications – This investigatory research is based on a one-country sample making transferability and generalisability to other countries difficult. Practical implications – The findings of this research should enable 3PL managers to determine those service offerings most important to shippers and customers, develop a service package using such offerings to satisfy their needs and thus build loyalty and corporate brand equity with both. Originality/value – This paper adds to our knowledge of these constructs in a supply-chain context, particularly for 3PLs, and provides an interdisciplinary approach to research in the supply-chain domain.

Green supply chain modelling: literature review

The literature on green supply chains is growing in importance since the production and transportation of goods make a significant contribution to greenhouse emissions worldwide. This work enumerates literature within the domain of green supply chain (GSC) modelling, categorises themes and modelling approaches, analyses modelling attributes, and presents shortcomings and opportunities of the state-of-the-art’s literature on GSC modelling. In addition, the work evaluates research questions such as the extent of the role of optimisation in GSC modelling, the role of supply chain network design (SCND), the utilisation of mathematical programming, and the inclusion of attributes such life cycle assessment (LCA) in the literature. The work finds strengths in the use of optimisation tools to optimise supply chain activities and finds opportunities in more comprehensive work that integrate the attributes examined in the paper.

Governance Mechanism of Relational Risks in Supply Chain

This paper aims to discuss the relational risks in supply chain and its governance mechanism, including formal and informal control mechanisms and trust development mechanisms, to provide a new idea of relational risks management in supply chain domains and then enhance the interests of all involved parties. The governance efficiency of relational risks in supply chain can be improved by control mechanisms associated with trust development mechanisms, and both of which are dynamic complementary. Initial trust among partners impacts the inter-organizational relational performance and the choice of control mechanisms, at the same time, the outcomes of relationship and the development or destruction of trust mechanisms are affected by control modes.

A Generic, Cloud-Based Representation for Supply Chains (SC’s)

As a very recent IT paradigm, Cloud Computing is gaining momentum and receiving more and more interest in literature. With various characteristics such as offering flexibility, cost reductions, platform independence and on-demand service, cloud approach opens up tremendous opportunities from Supply Chain (SC) perspective. However, extant literature reveals that adoption and assimilation of the technology is not mature in SC domain and cloud-based modelling initiatives are only recent. To fill this gap, this study discusses the opportunities of cloud computing from SC perspective and proposes a generic representation based on cloud philosophy. The proposed representation is conceptual, flexible and customizable, utilizing and highlighting the cloud benefits in a multi-partner setting. Therefore, this article is an answer to the research questions: “what are the opportunities of cloud philosophy for SC domain?” and “how can supply chains be represented generically based on cloud technology in multi-actor environment?”. Contribution of this study lies in comprehensive treatment of cloud computing and supply chain intersection as well as the generic representation.

Developing a Supply Chain Assessment Framework for Ship Building Industry: A Case study of A Company

Abstract As global competition is more intensive, SCM is becoming more and more important in order to achieve competitiveness. It is necessary for firms to understand weak points among the integrated supply chain through supply chain assessment in order to implement SCM successfully and cost-effectively. In this paper, we review previous studies of SCM performance measurements and propose a supply chain assessment framework for shipbuilding industry, which is one of the major ETO industry. Based on 3 supply chain domains which are demand, supply, and product management, we decompose the whole supply chain process into 3 level lower processes and propose capability measurement matric for shipbuilding firms. A case study has been conducted to validate the proposed framework and results are presented at the end. Key Words : Supply Chain Management, SCM, Performance Measurement, Supply Chain Assessment * 경일대학교 경영학부 조교수논문접수: 2013년 2월 22일, 1차 수정을 거쳐, 심사완료: 2013년 3월 19일, 확정일: 2013년 3월 20일 *

Robust global supply network design

It has been widely documented that disruptions and changes in the environment of manufacturing in a global enterprise impact the performance of the enabling supply network. The need exists for a methodology that can not only provide an objective and transparent evaluation of the efficiency and risks of a supply network configuration but that can also design supply network configurations with provably superior performance. Supply chain engineering SCE fundamentally applies the perspective and methodology of systems engineering to the domain of supply chains. SCE is the integrator of various corporate functions such as purchasing, production, distribution, and sustainment over the total product life cycle from design, through deployment, production, sustainment, and disposal. A supply chain is actually a network that consists of a diverse set of organizational and geographical components that typically change over time. The systematic design and management of such an inherently complex system requires the principles and tools of model-based systems engineering. A comprehensive and integrated model of the structure and the behavior of the supply network of a manufacturing enterprise has been developed. In this model the inherent uncertainty of the future environmental conditions in which the supply network will have to function is captured in a large number of scenarios. The variability of the profits achieved by the supply network for the various scenarios is used as a proxy for the supply network risk. The model allows for the explicit tradeoff of the systems life cycle profit with the variability of this profit. An efficient solution algorithm eliminates the vast majority of feasible supply network configurations from consideration and identifies all the Pareto-optimal configurations. However, the final selection of the network configuration depends on the risk preferences of the designer and the complexity of the enterprise. Selecting the supply network configuration with the appropriate robustness becomes one of the principal risk mitigation policies for the network and, in turn, the enterprise. The combination of the socio designer risk preferences and analysis and technical Pareto-optimization of all feasible supply network configurations creates a transparent engineering design process that finds the supply network configuration best matched to the objectives of the manufacturing enterprise.

Agent based decision support in the supply chain context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefits and the barriers of agent based decision support (ABDS) systems in the supply chain context.Design/methodology/approachTwo ABDS systems have been developed and evaluated. The first system concerns a manufacturing supply chain while the second concerns a service supply chain. The systems are based on actual case companies.FindingsThis research shows that the benefits of ABDS systems in the supply chain context include the possibility to increase versatility of system architecture, to improve supply chain visibility, to conduct experiments and what‐if analyses, to improve the understanding of the real system, and the possibility to improve communication within and between organizations in the supply chain. The barriers of ABDS systems in the supply chain context include the difficulty to access data from partners in the supply chain, the difficulty to access data on a higher level of granularity, and the difficulty to retrieve data from other information systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is explorative in nature therefore empirical data from similar and other research settings should be gathered to reinforce the validity of the findings.Practical implicationsThis research provides knowledge and insights on how ABDS systems may be developed and used in the supply chain context and demonstrates its main benefits and barriers.Originality/valueThis research expands the current research of benefits of ABDS systems to the supply chain domain and also addresses the barriers of ABDS systems to a larger extent than previous research. Comparisons to other simulation based decision support systems are also given.