Supply Chain Strategies (supply + chain_strategy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Supply Chain Strategy, Product Characteristics, and Performance Impact: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturers,

DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 4 2009
Yinan Qi
ABSTRACT Supply chain management has become one of the most popular approaches to enhance the global competitiveness of business corporations today. Firms must have clear strategic thinking in order to effectively organize such complicated activities, resources, communications, and processes. An emerging body of literature offers a framework that identifies three kinds of supply chain strategies: lean strategy, agile strategy, and lean/agile strategy based on in-depth case studies. Extant research also suggests that supply chain strategies must be matched with product characteristics in order for firms to achieve better performance. This article investigates supply chain strategies and empirically tests the supply chain strategy model that posits lean, agile, and lean/agile approaches using data collected from 604 manufacturing firms in China. Cluster analyses of the data indicate that Chinese firms are adopting a variation of lean, agile, and lean/agile supply chain strategies identified in the western literature. However, the data reveal that some firms have a traditional strategy that does not emphasize either lean or agile principles. These firms perform worse than firms that have a strategy focused on lean, agile, or lean/agile supply chain. The strategies are examined with respect to product characteristics and financial and operational performance. The article makes significant contributions to the supply chain management literature by examining the supply chain strategies used by Chinese firms. In addition, this work empirically tests the applicability of supply chain strategy models that have not been rigorously tested empirically or in the fast-growing Chinese economy. [source]


Flow Coordination and Information Sharing in Supply Chains: Review, Implications, and Directions for Future Research

DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 4 2002
Funda Sahin
ABSTRACT Advances in information technology, particularly in the e-business arena, are enabling firms to rethink their supply chain strategies and explore new avenues for inter-organizational cooperation. However, an incomplete understanding of the value of information sharing and physical flow coordination hinder these efforts. This research attempts to help fill these gaps by surveying prior research in the area, categorized in terms of information sharing and flow coordination. We conclude by highlighting gaps in the current body of knowledge and identifying promising areas for future research. [source]


Logistics and supply chain strategies in grain exporting

AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2004
William W. Wilson
The grain shipping industry is highly competitive and has become technically advanced during the past decade. These changes, along with the introduction of innovative shipping mechanisms, have made logistics management an important source of opportunity and risk for grain shippers. A stochastic simulation model was developed to evaluate tradeoffs and effects of key variables on logistical costs in the grain supply chain for an individual firm. Average demurrage for the supply chain was $2.14 million ($0.70/mt or 1.8 cent/bu) with the highest demurrage costs for vessels and lowest for railcars. Of the random variables modeled, unexpected changes in export demand had the greatest impact on costs. [EconLit citation: Q130.] © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 20: 449,464, 2004. [source]


ANGLES OF INTEGRATION: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ALIGNMENT OF INTERNET-BASED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN INTEGRATION

JOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2010
JÖRN-HENRIK THUN
This paper investigates the relationship between the focus and implementation degree of Internet-based information technology (IT) applications and the scope and orientation of process-oriented integration in global supply chains. Using data from 205 plants, which were collected in conjunction with the High Performance Manufacturing project, the degree of supplier and customer integration and its match with the implemented IT instruments supporting interorganizational collaboration are investigated empirically. Different types of integration are differentiated from each other with the help of factor, percentile and cluster analyses. The focus and degree of IT integration is measured for each of the resulting groups and the alignment of both aspects is analyzed with the help of an approach referred to as the angles of integration. With respect to supply chain integration and IT implementation, the analysis of different integration strategies shows that most of the plants do not align their IT implementation with their supply chain strategy. The paper helps companies to evaluate the alignment of their use of IT techniques with their global supply chain management emphases. Additionally, possible reasons for a potential missmatch of functional strategies are discussed giving managers insights for dealing more effectively with a strategic alignment. Furthermore, it refines an existing framework for the comparison of different supply chain integration strategies and applies it with IT. Based on the angles of integration, the match of supply chain integration and IT is investigated by statistical analyses. [source]