Supply Chain Expertise Research Articles

Intangible Capital and Modern Economies

The production of goods and services is central to understanding economies. The textbook description of a firm, typically in agriculture or manufacturing, focuses on its physical “tangible” capital (machines), labor (workers), and the state of “know-how. ” Yet real-world firms, such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google, have almost no physical capital. Instead, their main capital assets are “intangible”: software, data, design, reputation, supply-chain expertise, and R&D. We discuss investment in these knowledge-based types of capital: How to measure it; how it affects macroeconomic data on investment, rates of return, and GDP; and how it relates to growth theory and practical growth accounting. We present estimates of productivity in the US and European economies in recent decades including intangibles and discuss why, despite relatively rapid growth in intangible capital and what seems to be a modern technological revolution, productivity growth has slowed since the global financial crisis.

Supply chain capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario: Challenges faced by a health system in transition.

This provincial case study, one of seven conducted as part of a national research program on healthcare supply chain management during COVID-19, focuses on Ontario. The context of significant restructuring of health organizations and regions in Ontario challenged the province’s capacity to respond to COVID-19. A complex leadership structure, led by political leaders, with limited healthcare supply chain expertise at decision-making tables and a prioritization of “hospitals first” early in the first wave were described as challenges Ontario faced in managing the pandemic. A lack of supply chain digital infrastructure—and consequently, lack of available data—meant informed decision-making regarding supply utilization and demand forecasting was not possible. The Ontario case presents key lessons learned regarding the unintended consequences of lack of supply chain coordination across organizations, and the prioritization of hospitals and allocation strategies on Canada’s most vulnerable population segments.

The NTD Supply Chain Forum-Strengthening the backbone of NTD programs.

Global programs targeting 5 preventive chemotherapy neglected tropical diseases (PC-NTDs) have scaled up rapidly in recent decades due, in large part, to the generous drug donations from 6 pharmaceutical companies—Eisai; Johnson & Johnson (J&J); GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, United States of America (MSD); Merck KgaA; and Pfizer. Today, the scale of the PC-NTD drug donation programs is staggering. Nearly 15 billion tablets have been manufactured, packaged, shipped, and distributed in order to reach the people in need. The supply chains established to support such massive operations are enormously complex. Here, we describe a unique public–private partnership that was formed to bring together supply chain expertise to overcome the critical challenges associated with such large-scale production and delivery of donated pharmaceutical products.

Process evaluation of knowledge transfer across industries: Leveraging Coca-Cola's supply chain expertise for medicine availability in Tanzania.

Persistent gaps in the availability of essential medicines have slowed the achievement of global health targets. Despite the supply chain knowledge and expertise that ministries of health might glean from other industries, limited empirical research has examined the process of knowledge transfer from other industries into global public health. We examined a partnership designed to improve the availability of medical supplies in Tanzania by transferring knowledge from The Coca-Cola system to Tanzania’s Medical Stores Department (MSD). We conducted a process evaluation including in-depth interviews with 70 participants between July 2011 and May 2014, corresponding to each phase of the partnership, with focus on challenges and strategies to address them, as well as benefits perceived by partners. Partners faced challenges in (1) identifying relevant knowledge to transfer, (2) translating operational solutions from Coca-Cola to MSD, and (3) maintaining momentum between project phases. Strategies to respond to these challenges emerged through real-time problem solving and included (1) leveraging the receptivity of MSD leadership, (2) engaging a boundary spanner to identify knowledge to transfer, (3) promoting local recognition of commonalities across industries, (4) engaging external technical experts to manage translation activities, (5) developing tools with visible benefits for MSD, (6) investing in local relationships, and (7) providing time and space for the partnership model to evolve. Benefits of the partnership perceived by MSD staff included enhanced collaboration and communication, more proactive orientations in managing operations, and greater attention to performance management. Benefits perceived by Coca-Cola staff included strengthened knowledge transfer capability and enhanced job satisfaction. Linking theoretical constructs with practical experiences from the field, we highlight the challenges, emergent strategies, and perceived benefits of a partnership across industry boundaries that may be useful to others seeking to promote the transfer of knowledge to improve global health.

Is the East Following the West or its own Destiny for Industrial Development? A Research Agenda based on Supply-Chain Integration

We seek to set up a research agenda around the question of whether companies in emerging economies in Asia are following the same industrial development path as those in developed countries. In particular, we compare supply chain integration in these economies through examples of companies known for their supply chain expertise and explore if and how supply-chain integration is different for these companies. These examples indicate that companies in emerging economies in Asia might be focusing on the customer or the front end of the supply chain for integration efforts while those in developed economies might be focusing on the supply or the back end of the supply chain. To explain these or other differences, we provide alternative research hypothesis based on the notion of development cycle and on region-specific development, along with related research questions for further research and their different policy implications.opportunities facing the supply chain of the future and describes the various effects these issues have on supply chain design, management, and integration.

Acquisitions by CEOS with Supply-Chain Expertise

Acquirer CEOs with experience in the target’s industry supply chain (‘supply chain CEOs’) are associated with wealth effects of first-order importance: they earn 1% higher merger announcement returns. Conversely, their targets get a lower share of the merger gains. Acquisitions by supply chain CEOs also exhibit higher synergies, better post-deal accounting performance, less goodwill written off, and a lower probability of target-payable termination fees. These findings withstand checks for endogeneity, selection, unobserved heterogeneity, anticipation bias, and numerous robustness tests. In takeovers by supply chain CEOs, superior acquirer performance stems from both value creation and rents bargained away from target shareholders.

Leveraging Supply Chain Expertise

Managing the supply chain with a leveraged service delivery unit creates quantifiable strategic value.