The supply chain manager as political-entrepreneur?

This paper explores the emerging role of the supply chain manager (scm) towards strategic supply chain relationship manager (scrm), where the emphasis moves from managing processes to managing relationships with suppliers. We posit that changes in role require changes in both management approaches and the skill requirement of role players.We review the literature related to both the supply chain manager and the key account manager because of the apparent similarity in the emerging boundary spanning nature of their roles and borrow the concept of the political-entrepreneur from the key account management literature and use this model to explore the emerging role of the scrm within the context of three case studies drawn from the aerospace industry.Our findings support the idea that the scm role is increasingly strategic but in addition we found that the role has moved from being that of boundary connector, to boundary spanner, where less formal mechanisms are employed to resolve problems or create value, using both political and to a lesser degree entrepreneurial skills.We believe that valuable insights are provided into the evolving role of scrms by the study with implications both for managers of scm programmes and for HR departments in terms of recruitment and development of supply chain relationship managers.     

Assessing the influence of the organization in the supply chain management using NK simulation

Supply chain management advocates that the whole supply chain (SC) from the material suppliers to the end customers must be managed by adopting an integrated approach. However, different forms of governance can be adopted to pursue integration, ranging from the pure market to the hierarchy. While integration has been extensively investigated in the literature by adopting an operative perspective, the organizational perspective has been less used. However, the way the SC is organized influences the SC performance. This topic is investigated by using a recent tool offered by complexity science, namely the NK simulation model. In the proposed NK model, N represents the decisions that SC firms should make and K the interdependencies among the SC decisions calling for integration. The model reproduces how the different SC forms of governance evolve and adapt to the landscape corresponding to a SC specific integration problem. A simulation analysis is carried out to identify the SC forms of governance appropriate to the SC integration problems.     

Enhancing the business-to-business supply chain: Insights from partitioning the supply-side

A market orientation has long been established as the key to success in supply chain management. A central concept of this orientation is market segmentation. The concept of market segmentation, however, has primarily been focused on the demand side of the supply chain; its potential application on the supply side has not thoroughly been addressed. This paper extends the purview of the concept behind segmentation by presenting the concept of “supply-side partitioning” to refer to the management of heterogeneities on the supplier side of the supply chain. Further, the concept of “transvectional alignment” is proposed for the purpose of simultaneously aligning market segments with appropriate suppliers at all levels of the supply chain by identifying, evaluating, and selecting supply groups that satisfy the demand function(s) of each segment. This paper discusses supply-side partitioning, includes a model for the supply chain utilizing transvectional alignment, and offers implications for the application of supply-side partitioning in the business-to-business marketspace.     

Relationship and quality management in the Chinese pork supply chain

This article attempts to integrate transactional and relational governance perspectives to investigate interfirm exchange relationships and quality management in the pork supply chain in China. Data from 229 pork processors from eastern China were used for analysis. Path analysis results reveal positive relationships between the degree of asset specificity and uncertainty and the degree of vertical coordination and between the degree of vertical coordination and quality management practices. However, insignificant positive relationships were found between asset specificity and relational governance in the upstream chain and between uncertainty and relational governance in the downstream chain. A discussion of the results and of the implications of the findings is provided.     

Big data analytics for supply chain relationship in banking

This paper reports how a commercial bank in Asia uses big data analytic as a tool to explore the internal B2B data to improve supply chain finance and the efficiency of marketing tactics and campaigns. A case study was conducted by analyzing two types of supply chain relationships: (1) supply chain relationships in the credit reports; (2) e-wiring transactions among supply chain companies. The results show that big data analytics is very useful in terms of improving the commercial banks' marketing and risk management performances. The case study also set a good example for B2B firms seeking to understand how they could leverage big data analytics to differentiate customer solutions, sustain profitability and generate new business values. Theorical and practical implications are also discussed.     

集群供应链网络的联结模式与共治框架

集群供应链作为一类新型网络组织形式,是依托于产业集群又突破产业集群地域限制的供应链网络的集合体,集群供应链网络治理问题对集群竞争优势创造与集群持续发展有着重要作用。本文首先阐明了供应链网络与集群供应链网络的区别,进而对集群供应链网络的结构及类型进行了分析,在此基础上研究了集群供应链网络的联结模式,提出集群供应链网络共治的参与者、集群供应链网络共治框架体系及各参与主体在集群供应链共治中的作用分工,以期对集群供应链网络的治理活动起到借鉴作用。     

Competitive pricing decisions in a two-echelon supply chain with horizontal and vertical competition

This study investigates the pricing decisions in a non-cooperative supply chain that consists of two retailers and one common supplier. The retailers order from the common supplier and compete in the same market. We analyze six power structures that characterize exclusively horizontal competition between the retailers and vertical competition between the supplier and the retailers, leading to different sequences of moves among the chain members. We derive the analytical forms of the equilibrium quantities under each power structure and explore the effect of retail substitutability on the equilibrium quantities among all power structures. We further investigate the performances of the game models as compared with the integrated model.     

Relationship marketing and contract theory

The theoretical foundation of contracts and their limitations in governing exchange between firms is a current area of research in economics and business. The relationship marketing approach in business-to-business markets focuses on aspects in interfirm exchange that contracts cannot deal with efficiently. However, the ability to use contractual forms of governance where possible is crucial to the enhanced scope of relationship marketing management. We argue that contracts and relationships are complementary and that contracts provide an evolving governance structure for relationships. We examine the evolution of interfirm exchange theories in this framework and illustrate the convergence between contract theory and relationship marketing management, with examples from procurement in the supply chain, capacity reservation contracts, and program management.     

Illegal activity in the UK halal (sheep) supply chain: Towards greater understanding

Food supply chain theory and practice assumes that the processes involved are legal and value adding. In this paper, using examples from the UK halal (sheep) meat supply chain, we outline a value extracting value chain through a mixed methods qualitative approach consisting of face-to-face-interviews and a documentary research strategy underpinned by Narrative Inquiry. Building on previous theoretical work on Illegal Rural Enterprise, we present a narrative of an individual rogue-farmer, and explore his involvement in the illegal halal (‘smokies’) trade over a fifteen-year period. The paper provides a compelling story that will enable investigators to better understand illegal enterprise from a supply chain perspective and more adequately address the concerns stated in the UK Fraud Act 2006. The paper will be useful to food standards agencies in that furthers our understanding of entrepreneurial practice and morality in the food industry. The results demonstrate that illegal rural enterprise is a multi-faceted concept that requires an understanding of business practices and processes alongside a multi-agency approach to enterprise orientated crime. Our approach suggests that supply chains can be ‘flipped’ in order to understand illegal processes in addition to conventional legal processes.     

面向供应链的环境治理组织模式研究——基于交易费用视角的考察

环境治理的组织形式既可以是单个企业的末端治理，也可以是具有纵向关系的企业间合作治理。后一种环境治理组织方式在激励机制、节约信息成本和治理成本等方面具有的优势．已经越来越成为政府环境治理和企业提高竞争力的重要途径。本文试图借助交易费用理论．从供应链的视角考察具有纵向关系的企业间合作环境治理的组织形式与结构，并进一步探讨供应链上环境治理的驱动者与驱动方式的选择问题。分析表明．面向供应链的环境政策是末端治理政策一个很好的补充与替代。但面向供应链的环境政策必须能够降低供应链上企业环境治理的交易成本．并依据纵向关系或供应链的组织特征而有所差异．才能提高企业问协调环境治理效率。     

The Chinese paradigm of global supplier relationships: Social control,formal interactions and the mediating role of culture

This paper reports the results of a study that examined how firms can establish successful business relationships with Chinese suppliers. Its aim is to explore salient characteristics of the nature of buyer supplier relationships with the emergence of China as a dominant economic power. Two surveys have been conducted that investigated several factors that inhibit and enable effective supplier relationship management (SRM) between organisations sourcing from China and Chinese suppliers, and explored the impact of cultural characteristics of Chinese management on the nature and performance of supplier relationships. The research highlights the importance of the social control aspect of governance structure of supplier relationships and stresses that both social and formal control mechanisms should be implemented for more effective relationships with Chinese suppliers. It also demonstrates the need for companies to recognise the importance of guanxi and several cultural characteristics of the Chinese style of management in SRM and advocates the need for the development of a hybrid Sino-Japanese and global supplier relationship management paradigm that incorporates elements from the existing SRM models. It generates insights into how the cultural context of emerging markets affects the nature of business relationships and generates a research agenda in the field of supply chain management that can explore the development of new paradigms in supplier relationships management. The main theoretical argument put forward centres on the need for the development of a new global supplier relationship management paradigm that will take into account the cultural elements of the Chinese society.     

The paradoxes of food waste reduction in the horticultural supply chain

Research on on food waste is often reductionist, in that it attempts to measure food waste at single points within the supply chain. While this enables consideration of where food is being wasted within the supply chain, it does not necessarily answer why and how food is wasted across an entire supply chain. Using a paradox theory approach, the aim of this paper is to address these knowledge gaps by exploring the inherent paradoxes in resolving food waste across a supply chain. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research within the Australian horticulture industry, the findings reveal four macro-level paradoxes relating to policy, markets, responsibility, and marketing. This paper makes a novel contribution through consideration of a holistic, whole of chain perspective in relation to food waste. It also extends paradox theory into food waste scholarship. From a managerial perspective, the visibility of paradoxes highlights the need for organisations in the food supply chain to look beyond their own organisational boundaries and adopt a whole-of-chain approach in an attempt to address food waste.     

Aligning the sustainable supply chain to green marketing needs: A case study

The research explores the challenges facing organisations in aligning sustainable procurement requirements and marketing needs and the attendant shifts in supply chain management practices. Whilst external influences are readily understood (e.g. regulation and customer demand), less is understood about the implications for suppliers trying to meet sustainable procurement requirements and the organisational challenges of aligning marketing with sustainable supply chain management. An exploratory case study of a UK University catering department has been undertaken, to explore the strategies, processes and relationships associated with synthesising sustainable supply chain and green marketing needs. The empirical findings illustrate the divergence between organisational perspectives on sustainability and procuring sustainable products with marketing demands. Thus, the findings extend the theoretical discussion on sustainable supply chains by providing empirical data based on real-life implementation and from this an emergent aligned supply chain model is proposed, which confirms two drivers for alignment, ‘lean and resource efficient’ and ‘local and seasonal’ — contingent on market demand. The findings emphasise the benefits of a reverse information flow, the importance of intermediaries, and relationships in its fulfilment, while indicating the resurgence of a supply ‘push’ of sustainable products into core markets. Future research directions are also posited.     

试论我国农产品物流供应链管理

从农产品物流供应链管理的最终目标：用系统的管理思想最大限度地降低农产品进入市场的成本（成本最小化）,获得最大利润（利润最大化）,同时使用户的价值最大化和用户的成本最小化出发,针对我国农产品物流供应链中存在的成本过高的问题,进行了分析探讨,提出了我国农产品物流供应链管理的对策。     

Value innovation,deliberate learning mechanisms and information from supply chain partners

Although marketing scholars have emphasized both the importance of internal learning mechanisms and of external learning through supply chain partners research findings on how these factors influence each other are merely lacking. Analyzing survey data of 182 industrial firms, we examine how information provision by upstream and downstream supply chain parties moderates the effect of internal deliberate learning mechanisms on value innovation ability. Results of the PLS analysis suggest that internal learning mechanisms and external information exchange do not always work symbiotically. Our findings provide interesting results for (the management of) innovation processes and supply chain relations.     

Designing supply chains: Towards theory development

This paper describes a typology for designing supply chains that work in harmony to design, produce, and deliver products with different characteristics and customer expectations. This research discusses supply chain types that are necessary for success across three types of products: standard, innovative, and hybrid. It develops a framework for categorizing the supply chain types according to product characteristics and stage of the product life cycle. The key success factor for a product change as the product moves through its life cycle, and this may require different supply chain characteristics and capabilities. The paper blends literature and theory development with cases study research to create the typology and develop a set of research questions for further investigation.     

Integration of third parties within existing dyads: An exploratory study of category management programs (CMPs)

In this study, we focus on the pursuit of cross-functional integration between suppliers and retailers along the different phases of a collaborative project. More specifically, we explore why and how, a supplier and retailer would want to shift the locus of integration from the dyadic to the network level by adding a third party to an ongoing relationship.A case study is developed to analyze the process of integration in the context of category management programs. The analysis reports on a program developed by a regional retailing chain based in the south of Italy, with the collaboration of a national coffee blends supplier and a third-party leader in the market analysis service business.The findings offer a novel view of third parties' role, which broadens the scope from a typical, initial support of negotiations to an evolving modality of intervention during the different phases of the collaborative project. More precisely, the third party enables the sequential and joint activation of alternative forms of interaction between the parties, which is pivotal for enacting the integration mechanism that is most suitable for each program phase.These findings offer a rich set of insights for the analysis of integration within distribution channel and supply chains, as well as for category management and, more generally, for knowledge management in marketing relationships.     

Demand chain management-integrating marketing and supply chain management

This paper endorses demand chain management as a new business model aimed at creating value in today's marketplace, and combining the strengths of marketing and supply chain competencies. Demand chain design is based on a thorough market understanding and has to be managed in such a way as to effectively meet differing customer needs. Based on a literature review as well as the findings from a co-development workshop and focus group discussions with marketing and supply chain professionals, a conceptual foundation for demand chain management is proposed. Demand chain management involves (1) managing the integration between demand and supply processes; (2) managing the structure between the integrated processes and customer segments and (3) managing the working relationships between marketing and supply chain management. Propositions for the role of marketing within demand chain management and implications for further research in marketing are derived.     

A diagnostic model of private control and collective control in buyer-supplier relationships

This study examines the control-based governance in buyer-supplier relationships. Building on boundary spanning theory and governance literature, we propose an integrated model that consists of exchange parties' private control (aimed at individual gains) and collective control (aimed at joint gains) in boundary spanning activities, along with their structural antecedents and relationship consequences in interorganizational governance. Using data collected from manufacturer-distributor dyads, we demonstrate that a buyer-supplier relationship characterized by a high degree of distributive justice and low degrees of goal difference and power asymmetry promotes exchange parties' collective control while inhibiting private control in boundary spanning conduct. The impact of private and collective controls on dyadic relationship performance is further mediated through governance costs and returns. Specifically, private control results in conflict and transaction costs that undermine dyadic relationship performance, whereas collective control leads to solidarity and reciprocity that sustain dyadic relationship performance. Recognizing and distinguishing between private control and collective control is essential to managing boundary-spanning behavior in buyer-supplier relationships and to solidifying relationship performance in supply chain and channel management.     

基于 DEA 方法的企业绿色供应链运营效率评价研究

绿色供应链在传统供应链的基础上兼顾了经济与环境效益，是社会可持续发展的重要推动力。对绿色供应链运营效率进行评价有助于企业了解自身的不足，从而对企业绿色供应链管理做出反馈，促进企业绿色供应链运营的良好发展。本文通过文献梳理与总结，构建了企业绿色供应链运营效率评价的投入、产出指标，在此基础上，利用 DEA 方法并通过算例进行实证研究，以期为改善企业绿色供应链运营效率、促进企业更好地实施经济效益与环境效益“双赢”的绿色供应链管理模式提出更加有益的建议。