Supply Organizations Research Articles

Ensuring benefits realisation from ERP II: the CSF phasing model

PurposeDelivering benefits from ERP II is challenging and the purpose of this paper is to investigate the allocation of resources contributing towards benefits realisation.Design/methodology/approachA case‐study investigation was based on a five‐month placement within the project team of an organisation implementing ERP II. A critical success factors (CSF) phasing model was developed in order to categorise invested resources. Participant observations formed the first stage of the research and two years post implementation the observations were presented back to four key members of the project team to identify which invested resources contributed towards benefits realisation. Subsequently, the findings were presented to seven supplier organisations to validate the CSFs required to deliver benefits realisation from ERP II implementations.FindingsThis research has identified 19 CSFs for ERP II, contributing an additional six to those already outlined in literature. A critical pathway for ERP II implementations has been presented, allowing the identified CSFs to be tackled at the appropriate stages of the implementation.Originality/valueThis is the first time CSFs have been allocated to different phases of the implementation lifecycle using a structured model. As a result, resources contributing towards benefits realisation can be more effectively applied, saving the organisation valuable resources.

A Systems Engineering Perspective on Proposal Management

Mastering proposal management is key to the very survival of organizations that capture and execute contracts to supply products or services. Systems engineering plays a central role in proposal management for complex systems by often leading the technical effort. This paper provides an alternative perspective to the existing acquisition-focused literature by examining proposal management from the supplier perspective. This paper identifies proposal stakeholders and defines objectives that can be used to evaluate success from each stakeholder's perspective. A high-level process model is identified that describes steps in the proposal process and the corresponding role of systems engineering. This paper also introduces a detailed process model for defining the proposed system solution. A more thorough understanding of proposal stakeholder roles, associated objectives, and the proposal process can help supplier organizations devise more effective strategies for responding to proposal opportunities.

Human resource practices, supply chain performance, and wellbeing

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to identify management and human resource (HR) practices that lead to satisfaction with the performance of an organization's supply chain as well as employee wellbeing, and to develop recommendations for practicing managers.Design/methodology/approachAdopting an empirical approach, a Delphi expert panel study was first carried out to identify the possible impact of supply chain integration, particularly with regard to human resource management (HRM) policies and practices. Then, using a survey of 228 supply chain professionals, hypotheses linking satisfaction with supply chain performance to non‐traditional HR practices, training, and team organization were tested.FindingsThe Delphi study identified specific HR practices, such as flexible job descriptions and teamwork training that would need to accompany successful supply chain integration. Regression results indicate that flexible job descriptions, team organization, teamwork training, and the use of performance metrics to determine rewards, are significantly related to satisfaction with supply chain performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe Delphi results are subjective by nature and the cross‐sectional survey design limits inferences of causality.Practical implicationsThis paper identifies management and HR practices that lead to satisfaction with supply chain performance, which is particularly relevant to modern industrial organizations where the trend is toward inter‐organizational networks in the form of integrated supply chains. Implications for employee wellbeing are also discussed.Originality/valueThis paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach and links HRM practice with supply chain management; two separate fields with their own research traditions.

Leveraging relationship orientation and its impact on relationship outcomes

PurposeThis study seeks to: empirically measure relationship orientation along a continuum from operation to strategic; evaluate the impact of relationship orientation on the actual activities implemented within the relationship; and determine the impact of these relational activities on relationship effectiveness and business performance.Design/methodology/approachA survey research design following the total design method was used to collect the data. Multi‐item measures were developed to measure relationship orientation and relational activities while existing scales were used to measure competitive intensity and relationship outcomes. The study sampled purchasing managers and the unit of analysis in this research was the business relationship between a buying firm and supplier firm.FindingsThis study provides evidence that relationship orientation has a direct and positive influence on the manner in which buying firms execute relationships with supplier organizations. Additionally, the findings suggest firms with a strategic orientation would have a greater likelihood to implement the relationship in terms of utilization of interorganizational guidelines and resource commitment. Similarly, firms that have a more operational orientation would likely not expend as much effort in relationship implementation. Finally, the study demonstrates a positive relationship between the activities used in buyer‐supplier interaction and both relationship effectiveness and business performance.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the understanding of relationship orientation and in particular on how variation in relationship orientation impacts the nature of relational activities deployed in buyer‐supplier interaction.

Environmental and economic issues arising from the pooling of SMEs’ supply chains: case study of the food industry in western France

Supply chains pooling is an emergent strategy for improving logistical performance. The pooling concept consists in transferring the effort of coordination for consolidating independent operators' flows towards an ad hoc pooled system. This organisation results from a design of a pooled logistics network by merging different supply chains to share transport and logistics resources in order to improve logistics performance. In this case study, the pooling concept is applied to a collection of small and medium-sized western France food suppliers serving the same retail chain. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the pooling, the existing transport organisation was compared to various pooling scenarios. The methodology consisted in accessing a current situation through a survey of the flow of goods at one of the main distribution centre of the studied supply network, then comparing this situation with three other pooling scenarios. Using supply network optimisation models, these scenarios were assessed considering cost and CO2 emission levels. This study demonstrates the interest of transport pooling in the case independent shipping networks of Small and Medium Enterprises compared to the partially know existing strategies adopted by logistics service providers for less than truckload shipments. Moreover, it suggests that there is no dominant supply organisation and that transport pooling is a new stimulus for network design. These results also bring new research perspectives for generalisation of pooling and gain sharing within large coalitions.

사회서비스 시장화에 따른 비영리 사회복지조직의 시장지향성과 조직성과 관계 연구

This study is to experientially verify that market orientation affect organizational performance toward social service marketization. social service marketization put pressure upon financial environment in nonprofit human service organizations and exacerbate competition between nonprofit human service organizations and profit organizations each other. For survival, nonprofit human service organizations in social service market where various supply organization participate needs sensitivity to the environment. For this purpose the need of introduction of market orientation is being raised. At this point this study is useful that measure the level of market orientation and analysis impact of market orientation toward organizational performance in nonprofit human service organizations. Data was collected from busan nonprofit human service organizations in participate voucher program, number of total organization is 92. The level of market orientation was 3.63. Analysis of the impact of market orientation to organizational performance used regression analysis through structural equation modelling. As a result of the analysis, market orientation was affected by organizational performance. Based on the results, this study suggests that nonprofit human service organizations should need market orientation centered organization management and sensitive response toward external environment.

Mastering supply chain risks

Risks in supply chains represent one of the major business issues today. Since every organization strives for success and uninterrupted operations, efficient supply chain risk management is crucial. During supply chain risk research at the Faculty of Logistics in Maribor (Slovenia) some key issues in the field were identified, the major being the lack of instruments which can make risk management in an organization easier and more efficient. Consequently, a model which captures and describes risks in an organization and its supply chain was developed. It is in accordance with the general risk management and supply chain security standards, the ISO 31000 and ISO 28000 families. It also incorporates recent finding from the risk management field, especially from the viewpoint of segmenting of the public. The model described in this paper focuses on the risks itself by defining them by different key dimensions, so that risk management is simplified and can be undertaken in every supply chain and organizations within them. Based on our mode and consequent practical research in actual organizations, a freely accessible risk catalog has been assembled and published online from the risks that have been identified so far. This catalog can serve as a checklist and a starting point in supply chain risk management in organizations. It also incorporates experts from the field into a community, in order to assemble an ever growing list of possible risks and to provide insight into the model and its value in practice.

Aiming at innovation: a case study of innovation capabilities in the Swedish defence industry

Many firms are struggling with altering and developing their organisational capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to organisational capability theory by providing insights from an empirical setting of the successive process of developing capabilities to respond to sudden and disruptive changes to the market context. This paper is based on an exploratory interview study of a Swedish defence supply organisation. We argue that to develop capabilities, firms need to question the logic behind how to generate new knowledge. The organisation, we studied, did not question the overall assumptions in its development organisation, nor did it revisit the underlying norms and values of its product development organisation. The initiatives it launched in response to change and to develop their capabilities were ambitious, but insufficient; they did not address the critical issue of knowledge generation. Changes in the context pinpoint the strategic change aspect of the development of innovating capabilities.

Surprise as a Catalyst for Including Climatic Change in the Strategic Environment

This article examines what prompted electricity supply organizations to include changing climatic conditions as key elements of the strategic environment. Utilizing themes emerging from inductive analysis, the authors explain how and why surprising climatic events drove the organizations to begin including climate trends in their strategy development and planning processes. Results indicate that organizations were surprised climate was becoming more unpredictable, was directly affecting their operations, and was challenging long-held assumptions about climatic patterns. Our findings suggest that adaptation to climate change occurs predominantly as a reaction to climatic surprise, rather than a preemptive response to increasing awareness, and perceived uncertainty and risks as suggested by previous studies. Results also show that organizations are beginning to conceptually link changes in local climatic conditions to the global issue of climate change; though such linkages are not necessarily important to the inclusion of climate in the strategic environment.

Evaluation of Chlorine Gas Release Hazard

Drinking water supply organization in Tehran has 24 chlorination stations. These are located randomly between houses across the city. Tehran is a crowded city with high density of population, 11,360.9 persons in every km2. There are a large number of people at risk if chlorine gas is accidentally released in these stations. The aim of study was evaluation of chlorine gas release hazard in the chlorination stations. To achieve this goal, FTA, a popular safety analysis method, was used. The identified basic events (BE)—a total of 1,224—were categorized into four groups: human errors (HE), management oversights (MO), design errors (DE), and hardware failures (HF). Distribution of BEs in these groups showed that the highest percent of them were in the HE group (43.5%), 31.6 % in the MO, 24.1% in the DE, and 0.8 % in the HF group. Qualitative analysis on the fault tree yielded a total of 2,083 Minimal Cut Sets. The probability of chlorine gas being accidentally released in the stations varied from 10 to 21/year. In chlorinator room this probability was 1.43 times higher than in the cylinder room. In prevention of a chlorine gas release accident, lack of training has a very important role and the design of stations is more important than the design of the equipment.

The nightmare after Christmas [food waste disposal

According to WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), the food and drink wasted in the UK increases by a massive 80 per cent over the Christmas period, with a staggering 230,000t of food binned during the festive season. The not-for-profit, government-funded group estimates that this may be worth £275m. Fareshare prides itself as a food supply organisation for the needy that is at the centre of two urgent issues; food poverty and food waste. Operating since 2004, the UK-based charity redistributes surplus food from supermarkets and food manufacturers, such as Sainsburys, Nestle and Sodexo, to community organisations including night shelters and women's refuges.

Institutional incentives and economic aspects of industrial relationships in the Italian agricultural sector

Policy interventions and private initiatives undertaken in the Italian agricultural sector have registered varying degrees of impact at the local level, due to the diversity of regional characteristics. The research paper aims to conceptualize the agricultural value-chain model and sheds light on the institutional incentives for product and supply organization in one integrated and interrelated process. The economic efficiency and competitiveness of strategic partnerships in the form of producer organizations, associations and cooperatives will be analysed. The first part of the paper investigates the theoretical and methodological framework for measuring the institutional effects on contract arrangements. The second part is devoted to assessing the structure of the value-chains in the agricultural sector in Italy and to operationalizing the concept of the behavioural model of strategic participants. The third part presents results of research, utilizing the applied econometric approach based on the stochastic frontier production models. Key words: Strategic partnerships in Italy, institutional framework, stochastic frontier production models.

Greenhouse vegetable production in The Netherlands and Switzerland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a theory that is sufficiently adapted to sector competitiveness. The case of greenhouse vegetable production in The Netherlands and Switzerland is used to explain differences in sector competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachInterviews focusing on the fields of spatial planning, labor, energy supply, and market organization were carried out with stakeholders and producers in both countries and evaluated by Grounded Theory.FindingsThe work shows that the flexibility not only of producers, but also of the whole institutional framework in The Netherlands exceeds the flexibility on the Swiss side by far, which may be an important factor for explaining differences in competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe result that it is a basic difference in flexibility and adaptability that determines sector competitiveness is valid for the vegetable sector. It should be examined whether similar patterns can be found in other sectors.Originality/valueThe competitiveness discussion is transferred to a new economic level, namely the economic sector. Likewise, new answers are found in looking for explanations for differences in competitiveness.

La prospettiva del valore nell'analisi delle filiere agroalimentari

The concept of filiere was developed by French industrial economists between the late sixties and early seventies. It consists of the total of technical and transaction operations needed to obtain a finished product from some given raw material. Since then, the application of the concept has expanded in many research fields and particularly in the agro-food system. Within an agro-food framework system, the approach of filiere shared the same analytical objectives of the concept of agribusiness, which was developed in the United States in the mid-fifties by John H. Davis and Ray A. Golberg. In fact, the latest concept applies to that part of national economy involved in the flow of food product and services from the point of initial agricultural production until they reach the consumer. Over the past two decades, the concept of filiere met a growing interest among Italian agricultural economists at both theoretical and applied ground. Within the literature the concept of agro-food filiere progressively evolved from a simple analytical tool particularly appropriate to overcome the limitations of more traditional analysis carried out at sector level to a form of supply organization called to compete on the market as a business system. In such a perspective, strategies for enhancing the product and improving the performance of the industry imply an increasing attention in terms of analysis, not only in how the different firms which operate within a filiere framework use strategic resources at their disposal, but also the possible synergies and interchange of resources and skills that take place among them. When considering the concept of filiere as a form of supply organization it needs to be considered that over the last two decades new theoretical and conceptual approaches were developed to study the organizational forms of the supply system such as supply chain, supply network and value constellation. Differently from the concept of filiere, which considers as a starting point the product and its production processes, focusing on the upstream-downstream exchanges processes, within a supply chain approach it is the ultimate customer that activates and pulls processes along the supply chain. In the light of these considerations, the aim of this paper is to draw attention to the strategic business analysis methodologies that were developed by economic literature and to verify the possibility of their application to the analysis of the problems associated with the use of agro-food filiere. In particular, the discussion will be conducted with reference to the concepts of value chain and value system developed by Michael Porter (1985). The work, therefore, defines and develops, first, the concept of filiere, with reference to its application to food context. Then, it passes to analyse the major theoretical and conceptual tools that focus attention on value creating system for the customer/consumer, highlighting, in particular, the importance of issues such as the centrality of the customer/consumer and the necessity to fulfill its request. Finally, the work proceeds with a description of the value chain and value system and verifies the potentiality of these analytical tools for the sake of their application to agro-food filiere in their competitiveness strategies and the process of producing value for the final consumer.

Environmental sustainability: a value cycle research agenda

This article considers how adopting an environmentally sustainable agenda impacts on the management of an organisation's supply chain and highlights areas for future research. The article argues that the current fragmented/functional approach to sustainability and the conceptualisation of the supply chain as a bounded unidirectional flow of value does not provide the holistic approach that is required to meet the sustainability needs of tomorrow's business. A value cycle paradigm that facilitates the development of a multi-disciplinary research approach is developed and used to examine the extant literature for the principal issues that will need to be addressed. Future research concerned with developing environmentally sustainable business models must focus on the identification and management of the information flows at the interfaces between the customer, marketing, design, operations, logistics and external agents in the supply network. New networks required to support more sustainable forms of consumption will necessitate a fundamental reassessment of how and where value is added, consumed and recovered. In contemporary businesses, environmental sustainability is becoming a strategically important objective requiring holistic multi-disciplinary approaches. The extent to which the sustainability agenda extends conventional business models is demonstrated providing insights into areas of the value cycle that require further research.

Unilateral Standards for Social Responsibility: Corporations as Social Watchdogs?

This paper focuses on the social dynamics of unilaterally determined social responsibility standards. These are put in the context of large customers in a supply chain determining company-specific standards, compliance with which is then a requirement for suppliers. We draw a brief comparison between multilaterally derived standards (such as those determined by the International Standards Organization) and unilaterally derived standards. Notably, there is an important difference stemming from the level of involvement and degree of control which the unilateral standard-setter has throughout the standard creation and implementation process. Indeed, we claim that the unilateral standard-setter which requires supplier compliance acts as regulator, monitor, and applier of sanctions to those supplier organizations. Ultimately, this puts the large corporation in the role of a Corporate Social Watchdog. In closing the paper we consider a future research agenda for this new concept.

Design of agent‐based supply chain‐oriented virtual enterprise platform

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to create a platform framework based on agent for virtual enterprise (VE) with the characteristic of supply chain by adopting multi‐agent technology.Design/methodology/approachAccording to the system hierarchy theory and the features of VE with the characteristic of supply chain, the conception and organization structure of supply chain‐oriented VE are proposed. Combined with characters of multi‐agent, a platform framework based on agent for VE with the characteristic of supply chain is created. Aiming at complexity of net node of running platform framework, two‐layer architecture mode, which are information alternation layer and basic function layer inside net node based on agent, are designed. The modes are proved to be reasonable in the management of the system and networks resources.FindingsThe theory base of realization of the VE based on agent with the characteristic of supply chain is found.Research limitations/implicationsThe reasonable basic function design of various agents are main limitations.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a very useful tool for the operation and management of VE.Originality/valueA new approach and scheme for VE with the characteristic of supply chain is presented. This paper is aimed at researchers and engineers.

Effect of relationship building and constraint‐based factors on business buyers' relationship continuity intention

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine key antecedent variables that affect buyers' relationship continuity intention and measure the relative importance of these key antecedent variables. It also aims to examine the mediating roles of an inter‐organizational trust (trust in supplier organization) and buyers' dependence in determining buyers' relationship continuity intention. To this effect, the paper groups the predictor variables of relationship continuity under two broad categories of factors, i.e. constraint‐based factors; and relationship building factors.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 137 steel buyers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the measures. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The empirical tests included direct effect and mediating effects testing.FindingsTrust in supplier was found to mediate the positive effects of communication and offer quality on buyers' relationship continuity intention. Trust in supplier was also found to mediate the negative effects of opportunistic behavior on buyers' relationship continuity intention. However, dependence on supplier does not predict buyers' relationship continuity intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe study indicates that it is the relationship building factors and not dependence‐based factors that predict relationship continuity intention of buyers in BtoB relationships. Offer quality aspect has the highest effect on trust in the supplier, pointing to fact that buyers also need tangible evidence to develop trust in the relationship. The study has covered the perception of buyers only and therefore the views can be one sided. Further, there might have been a tendency for the respondents to select a particular supplier with whom they have a good relationship.Practical implicationsMarketing managers of suppliers should try to develop trust‐based relationships rather than dependence‐based relationship with their buyers. In order to build trust in the BtoB relationship, the study suggests that steel suppliers should invest in both economic and behavioral aspect of transaction. Further, suppliers should put performance management systems in place in their organizations that do not encourage opportunistic behavior in their salespersons.Originality/valueThe study relates to inclusion of both behavioral and economic antecedents of trust. Most of the prior studies in BtoB buyer‐seller relationships have focused on behavioral or economic antecedents of trust, but rarely have both aspects been studied together. This study gives an empirical basis on which steel companies can base their BtoB marketing strategy.

Implementing the replication strategy in uncertain and complex investment projects

Replication has typically been used as a strategy in chain businesses such as McDonald's where the technology involved is rather simple but it has also been used for very complex technologies where strict quality conditions apply. This paper examines the use of replication when the object of the replication is relatively complex. — i.e. it is neither simple nor very complex. Using a qualitative, embedded single-case study we examine a strategic R&D and capital investment programme aimed at providing a small oil company with first mover advantage in the emerging market for biodiesel. The paper builds on concepts of project capability building, learning and replication and extends previous work which focused on project supplier organisations seeking to deliver similar projects to a range of clients on a repeatable basis by focusing on the efforts of a single client organisation attempting to deliver a series of similar investment projects.

Supply chain benefits from consortia e-marketplaces: a case study of AeroDefence

Consortia e-marketplaces are differentiated from other e-marketplace configurations because they focus on the provision of internal efficiencies and collaborative benefits to supply chain members. However, few empirical studies have specifically examined the distinct benefits buyers and suppliers gain from participating in consortia e-marketplaces. Understanding the value that they provide to buyers and suppliers and the wider economy is increasingly important as their use becomes more widespread. Using the consortia e-marketplace AeroDefence, in the aerospace and defence sector as a case study, this paper explicates the collaborative benefits supply chain organisations gain from participation. The study found that AeroDefence provided benefits that improved the operational efficiency, managerial efficacy and strategic effectiveness of buyer and supplier organisations that deeply integrated into their e-marketplace.