Service Supply Chain Research Articles

Servitization 4.0 as a Trigger for Sustainable Business: Evidence from Automotive Digital Supply Chain

The COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the use of digital services in the supply chains of manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive industry. Furthermore, the digitalization of the production process changed how manufacturing firms manage their value chains in the era of Industry 4.0. The automotive sector represents the ecosystem with rapid digital transformation, which provides a strong relationship between manufacturing firms in supply chains. However, there are many gaps in understanding how digital technologies and services could better shape relations between manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive industry. Accordingly, this study investigates the relations in deliveries of digital services in supply chains of the automotive industry. The data set was obtained through annual reports of the automotive firms, both from suppliers and manufacturers, between 2018 and 2020. From the network perspective, throughout the years, authors have used Social Network Analysis (SNA) method. SNA evaluates the relationship between actors (i.e., manufacturers and suppliers) in the use of services in their business models. The research results demonstrate how suppliers influence car manufacturers to deliver digital services to their customers. Finally, this study provides information that the combination of digital technologies with product-related services enables a stronger relationship between manufacturers and suppliers in the manufacturing ecosystem. These relations support the manufacturing ecosystem to survive the influence of different environments.

Authorization or encroachment: Effects of channel encroachment on decisions and performance in software service supply chains

At present, plenty of software developers not only sell their software to client firms through downstream service integrators, but also vend it to clients directly. However, little research has been investigated software developers' channel encroachment in the area of software service supply chain (SSSC) management. In this study, we examine a SSSC with a developer, an integrator, and client firms. Clients can either purchase software from the integrator at high prices and with accessorial pre-sale services, or procure it directly from the developer at low prices but with no pre-sale services. After purchasing software, clients can also purchase the extended warranty service (EWS) from the developer. We investigated the two cooperation modes, i.e., the “Authorization” (marked as mode A) and the “Authorization + direct sales” (marked as mode E), and analyzed effects of the developer's channel encroachment on equilibrium decisions of SSSC members and on SSSC performance. It is shown that both the sensitivity of clients to the EWS price and the EWS cost cannot affect the software pricing decision of the integrator in the mode A, but those can affect that in the mode E. Furthermore, when the EWS cost is high, although the developer can obtain the software authorization revenue, the software sales revenue, and the EWS sales revenue (in the mode E), its channel encroachment will unexpectedly cause its own profit to decline. We also find that if the developer participates in the competition with low intensity, its encroachment is detrimental to both parties; only when the developer participates in the competition with high intensity and has a low-cost advantage, its encroachment can increase its own profit, but it may reduce the profit of the integrator and lead to a decrease in the total SSSC profit. However, we are surprised to find that if the developer participates in the competition with high intensity and its EWS cost is high, its channel encroachment not only increases the integrator's profit but also the total SSSC performance.

Will the embedded service in supply chains play a role in lowering manufacturer’s carbon emission and maintaining economic growth?

Introduction: The carbon cap and trade mechanism (CCTM) is forcing companies to reduce carbon emissions. Due to financial and technical constraints, manufacturers responsible for recycling and remanufacturing begin to seek embedded services from energy service companies (ESCOs), marking the emergence of embedded low-carbon service supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of embedded low-carbon service in supply chains in lowering manufacturer’s carbon emissions and maintaining economic growth.Methods: In this paper, a decision model for risk-averse closed-loop supply chain for embedded low-carbon service in uncertain markets is built by using the Stackelberg theory and mean-variance (MV) approach. Equilibrium decisions, the manufacturer’s expected utility growth, and total carbon emission reduction are obtained. Sensitivity analysis is performed for the main parameters.Results: The results indicate that only when the manufacturer’s risk aversion level and consumers’ low-carbon preference are within the range of 0.35–0.9, can the manufacturer bring in embedded low-carbon service by cooperating with an ESCO through revenue-sharing contracts. When there is a higher carbon price, embedded low-carbon service can further increase the manufacturer’s expected utility, maintain economic growth and reduce carbon emissions.Discussion: Embedded low-carbon service in supply chains can play a role in lowering manufacturers’ carbon emissions and maintaining economic growth when the manufacturer’s risk aversion level, carbon price, and consumers’ low-carbon preference are high. Theoretically, this study combines closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) and embedded low-carbon services, enriching supply chain theories. In addition, the findings provide managerial insights for manufacturers, ESCOs, and governments.

Numerical Analysis and Service Quality Evaluation of the Fresh Agricultural Produce Supply Chain Platform

The traditional performance evaluation method, which is mainly based on financial indexes, is no longer applicable to the current dynamic, complex, and coordinated evaluation of the service quality of fresh agricultural produce supply chains. Comprehensive evaluations regarding the quality of coordination-based supply chain services are now required. Specific analyses of index weights, the identification of potential problems, the exploration of the best solutions, and efforts to improve the current situation—regarding the circulation of fresh agricultural products—are also required. By carrying out this research, this paper aims to construct a coordination-based service quality evaluation index system for the fresh agricultural produce supply chain platform. The evaluation system that was created covered the four dimensions involved in platform supply chain coordination. These dimensions are capital flow, logistics, business flow, and information flow. On this basis, this study designed a survey questionnaire to collect data to evaluate customer service quality satisfaction. The research used AHP and the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation method to calculate and analyze indexes and models in the “Fresh Networking” project. Furthermore, this paper proposed a sensitivity analysis model of MCDM evaluation indexes and their weights. In order to verify whether the numerical analysis method was suitable for use in the MCDM evaluation system, in this paper, the sensitivity analysis process of the indexes and their weights was introduced in the evaluation of the “Fresh Networking” project. The evaluation results may reflect the real quality of service in the “Fresh Network” supply chain. The final conclusion to be drawn from this paper is that capital flow is the most sensitive weight, which means that it should be designed and implemented in accordance with optimization-based decisions. The novelty of this paper lies in: (1) the proposal of a coordination-based service quality evaluation index system which includes four dimensions: capital flow, logistics, business flow, and information flow; (2) the design of a research questionnaire for data collection; and (3) the introduction of an improved sensitivity analysis method for the MCDM index. The results presented in this paper will enrich the theoretical research related to MCDM in supply chain evaluations. The results of the analysis can be used to guide supply chain decision makers to make optimization decisions accordingly, which will ensure overall benefits in terms of supply chain coordination, improving the capacity of preservation services, and loss reduction.

Critical business design factors in the internet of things service supply chain: a review and typology

The internet of things (IoT) is a relatively new concept that combines ubiquitous and pervasive computing, sensing and communication technologies, and embedded devices to form a system where the real and digital worlds meet and are continuously in interdependent communication. In this context, IoT acts as an intelligent service supply chain linking objects, information, and people through computer, smart object and sensor networks. This service supply chain creates numerous business design challenges. This article addresses these challenges by providing a cohesive typology matrix to explain the IoT service supply chain. The matrix has been developed through a systematic literature review of 78 academic papers, identifies the key contributors and influences at each stage of the service supply chain and their inter-relationships, to facilitate the rectification of business design and integration challenges that may emerge at the different stages of the sequence.

The effect of repeating transactions on service supply chain performance under proprietary and agent modes

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>In a service supply chain, the service capacity prepared before the final demand is realized can be used for multiple periods but may depreciate over time. This paper studies the impact of repeating transactions on the decisions and performances of the service supply chain under two operational modes: proprietary mode and agent mode. We show that under both modes, repeating transactions over and over again does increase the profits of platform service supply chain members. The number of periods and the depreciation rate of capacity influence the gap between decentralized and centralized supply chains only under agent mode but not under proprietary mode. In addition, compared with that under proprietary mode, agent mode yields a greater expected profit for the retailer and a lower expected profit for the supplier, and the increased expected profit of the retailer compensates for the expected profit loss of the supplier. Furthermore, we present a modified new proprietary mode and find that it can yield a greater expected profit for the whole supply chain under agent mode within certain regions. In the end, we extend our model to the situation in which the supply chain members pay for the service relevant cost.</p>

Research on optimal pricing decisions of the service supply chain oriented to strategic consumers

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>With service elements in the supply chain becoming more and more important, relevant companies and their partners have gradually introduced the service supply chain. At the same time, the continuous improvement of consumption level has significantly improved consumers' consumption awareness, thus becoming the primary choice for consumers to consume strategically based on past purchase experience. To contribute to the service supply chain studies, this paper uses game theory to establish dynamic pricing decision models of a service supply chain by taking consumers' strategic consumption awareness into account. This paper solves the equilibrium pricing strategies of the manufacturer and the service integrator under the centralized and decentralization scenarios, and reveals the effect of consumers' capability trust strength, service cost, product value, product cost on the consumer's strategic behavior, and the equilibrium strategies of the manufacturer and service integrator. This paper finds that improving consumer's capability trust coefficient and product value can restrain consumer's strategic behavior either under the centralized scenario or decentralized scenario. However, the impact degree under the decentralized scenario is less than that under the centralized scenario. Second, increasing the product value cannot positively affect consumer's strategic behavior when the product value is higher than a particular value whether under the centralized scenario or decentralized scenario. With the increase of consumer's capability trust strength, the intensity of consumer's strategic behavior will decrease, which will cause more consumers to purchase products in the first stage, and will finally cause a significant impact on the pricing strategies of the manufacturer and the service integrator.</p>

An Online Platform in 3D Virtual Environment, a Tool in Entrepreneurship Empowerment for Goods and Services Supply Chain

This paper presents a virtual trade platform to promote entrepreneurial spirit and provide a systemic approach to support businesses and consumers to successfully promote their products and services in exhibitions through virtual reality, overcoming problems of transport, cost, and weakness for their participation due to insularity. Several activities were developed in the 3D Virtual World, involving the entrepreneurial spirit with innovative activities and procedures, increasing opportunities and putting theoretical knowledge into practice. The S.A.A.T. online expo platform uses 3D virtual reality (VR) to enhanced entrepreneurship focused on the agri-food domain and the tourism, since it is possible for SME’s to promote products and services by overcoming distance problems from potential customers and interested investors, easily. According to the above mentioned, the online S.A.A.T. expo platform provides some of the main functions of a modern virtual exhibition, in order to improve the applications of VR in those fields.

Validating the relationship of information technology in the service supply chain: A Developing Country Perspective

Validating the relationship of information technology in the service supply chain: A Developing Country Perspective

Construction and evaluation of China older-adult care service smart supply chain system.

As the aging of the population continues to deepen, the pressure on social pensions is gradually increasing, and the issue of assistance has become a problem that must be solved. With the development of science and technology, people's living standard is constantly improving. The older-adult care services expected by the older-adult are wider than meeting the basic daily needs of individuals. The current industry should also consider combining modern science and technology with the older-adult care service industry to serve older-adult better and enable older-adult care service providers to move towards the service needs that make people happier and healthier. This research is about constructing and evaluating China's older-adult care services smart supply chain. Based on the research results of previous scholars, this paper divides the Sun construction of the smart supply chain of China endowment service into four aspects: policy aspect, economic aspect, social aspect, and technical aspect; the four significant elements are divided into the first-level indicators, and 16 second-level indicators are divided under the first-level indicators. The importance and satisfaction of each evaluation index were obtained by distributing questionnaires to the managers who study the supply chain and the employees who are related to the old-age service. After the reliability analysis, the importance-performance analysis (IPA) quadrant analysis chart of the evaluation index was constructed using importance-performance analysis. The index of creating a smart supply chain system for China's old-age service is given priority, the supply chain system of China's old-age care service is further improved, and the social security of China's old-age service is enlarged.

Review of the Lockdown Regulations’ Impact on Informal Businesses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown regulations caused enormous changes in all business sectors because many businesses were not allowed to operate. Only a few were regarded as essential businesses, such as pharmacies and grocery shops, and allowed to operate. Lockdown regulations negatively affected the South African informal sector. As a result, it is difficult to provide accurate statistics on the entrepreneurs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are no official statistics from the informal sector. This paper aims to examine how the informal sector was affected by the lockdown down restrictions within South Africa. The paper adopts a systematic review methodology using Google Scholar and Web of Science or Scopes to search for articles on informal entrepreneurship, COVID-19, and South Africa to draw a conclusion from the analysed data. The findings indicated that most of the businesses in the informal sector were negatively affected, including workers because some of them lost their jobs and others did not receive their usual salaries due to limited working hours. There were disruptions in the supply chain and pricing of goods and services, and people could not have sustained their income during the lockdown in South Africa. In conclusion, the informal sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors that lacks access to appropriate risk management structures, and most people live on a hand to mouth basis. COVID-19 has negatively affected the informal sector, mainly through distribution and marketing systems.

The Role of Big Data Analytics in IoT-enabled Green Supply Chain Management: Architecture, challenges, and future perspectives

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics (BDA) has brought about a revolution in Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). In particular, it has enabled the optimization of many aspects of the supply chain (SC), including transportation, inventory management, and customer service. The application of BDA in IoT-enabled GSCM is receiving a lot of attention because it has the capacity to assist businesses become more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable to make more informed decisions. By identifying the inefficiencies in the supply chain and take corrective action. With the advent of the IoT, businesses are now able to get a great deal of information from sensors that are installed in different parts of their SC, including transportation vehicles, warehouses, and factories. This data can be leveraged for a variety of purposes, including optimizing the SC for sustainability and reducing its environmental impact. There are also challenges associated with BDA in IoT-enabled GSCM. The volume of data that needs to be processed presents the biggest obstacles. This requires specialized tools and expertise in data management and analytics. Despite these difficulties, technology has the power to completely alter how firms conduct their operations. This paper presents an overview about BDA in IoT-enabled GSCM. The review highlights the benefits and challenges in adopting BDA in IoT-enabled GSCM, the key technologies involved, and the various applications of BDA in IoT-GSCM. Finally, provides insights into the future directions of research in this area.

Case Study of Ant Group's "Double Link" Financing Based On Blockchain Technology

Through the investigation of the representative enterprises of supply chain finance, the operation and service mode, development status and development bottleneck of supply chain finance are analyzed. The "blockchain + supply chain financing" mode of Ant Group is discussed at the theoretical level by taking the "double link" financing mode as an example, and the underlying framework is built with the help of blockchain technology. Enable supply chain finance service providers to establish a comprehensive service platform for all participants in the supply chain, and solve the difficulties of supply chain finance in supporting the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises through the combined application of multiple functional modules, sum up experience, and put forward optimization ideas and strategies. In order to enrich the research content of supply chain financing optimization and innovation, and improve the theoretical system of "blockchain + supply chain financing".

Multi-level configuration of sustainability drivers of the municipal service supply chain with uncertainty

Multi-level configuration of sustainability drivers of the municipal service supply chain with uncertainty

Business process reengineering in the public sector service supply chain: the case of the Greek archaeological resources fund

Business process reengineering in the public sector service supply chain: the case of the Greek archaeological resources fund

The pricing decisions for the cloud service supply chain: service quality and power structure

The pricing decisions for the cloud service supply chain: service quality and power structure

A product service supply chain network equilibrium considering risk management in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>This paper studies the equilibrium decision-making problem of product service supply chain (PSSC) network under the impact of COVID-19 related risks. The PSSC is composed of service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises to sell product service systems (PSSs) to customers. So, under the impact of COVID-19, the network faces dual risks of products and services. This paper constructs the PSSC network of raw material suppliers, service providers, manufacturing service integrators and demand markets. Through variational inequalities, a network equilibrium model of PSSC considering risk management was established, and their decision-making problems were discussed. Three numerical examples were used to analyse the impact of risk management on the supply chain network at various levels. The results show that the risk management of upstream and downstream enterprises will have mutual influence, and the cost input of service risk management will benefit the entire PSSC network. Therefore, through the diversified development and improvement of services, the market demand for PSSs can be increased.</p>

Evaluating the Performance of Health Supply Chains Using Network Data Envelopment Analysis Model under Uncertainty Conditions in Selected Tehran Hospitals

Objective: Objective: The objective of this research is to expand the models of Network Data Envelopment Analysis with approaches to uncertainty for evaluating the performance of supply chains. Method: The method used in this research is descriptive and, in terms of outcome, falls under applied research. From a strategic research perspective, it is descriptive and cross-sectional retrospective based on an analytical approach, conducted through fieldwork and a survey method in the research community. A census method was employed. Findings: In this study, Razi Hospital, with a score of 0.99, has the highest average efficiency in outpatient services, while Sina Hospital, with a score of 0.139, has the lowest level of average outpatient efficiency among multi-specialty hospitals. Additionally, Yas Hospital, with an average efficiency of 0.99 in inpatient sections, has the highest efficiency, whereas Razi Hospital with a score of 0.58 has the lowest efficiency. Bahrami Hospital among children's hospitals is in a better condition. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the research, it was determined that the use of the fuzzy Network Data Envelopment Analysis model with variables such as the number of doctors, the number of healthcare workers, active beds, total inpatient days, the number of outpatient visits, and the number of inpatients, can compare the performance of selected decision-making units providing services in the studied medical centers from the perspective of inputs and outputs and across the entire health service supply chain. In the long term, it serves as a suitable tool for officials and policymakers of the selected centers for continuous performance evaluation of these services.

Coordination mechanism of logistic service supply chain: a perspective of presale sinking and risk aversion

Coordination mechanism of logistic service supply chain: a perspective of presale sinking and risk aversion

A case and framework for expanding the use of model‐free evidence

A case and framework for expanding the use of model‐free evidence