The link between supply chain fit and financial performance of the firm

The bottom-line financial impact of supply chain management has been of continuing interest. Building on the operations strategy literature, Fisher's (1997) conceptual framework, a survey of 259 U.S. and European manufacturing firms, and secondary financial data, we investigate the relationship between supply chain fit (i.e., strategic consistencies between the products’ supply and demand uncertainty and the underlying supply chain design) and the financial performance of the firm. The findings indicate that the higher the supply chain fit, the higher the Return on Assets (ROA) of the firm, and that firms with a negative misfit show a lower performance than firms with a positive misfit.     

Supply chain practice and information sharing

Effective supply chain practice and information sharing enhances the current supply chain management environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the integration of information sharing and supply chain practice in supply chain management. Data from 125 North American manufacturing firms were collected. The results show that (1) effective information sharing significantly enhances effective supply chain practice; (2) supply chain dynamism has significant positive influence on effective information sharing as well as effective supply chain practice. Supply chain dynamism has more influence on information sharing than supply chain practice; (3) and effective supply chain practice becomes more important when the level of information sharing increases. The findings show that both effective information sharing and effective supply chain practice are critical in achieving good supply chain performance.     

Demand chain management in manufacturing and services: web-based integration, drivers and performance

This paper investigated the relationship between Internet-enabled supply chain integration strategies and performance in manufacturing and services. It summarizes the literature on demand and supply integration and describes four web-based strategies. A stratified random sample was collected from UK manufacturers and services, and there was strong evidence that demand chain management (DCM) led to the highest performance in manufacturing, but few signs of DCM in services. Manufacturers and services relying on only web-based demand or supply integration outperformed their low integration counterparts, but lagged DCM in manufacturing. The study also investigated DCM adoption drivers and found that rational efficiency and bandwagon effects drove change. The findings have some important implications for theory as well as for manufacturing and service companies interested in improving their performance.     

Customer-facing supply chain practices—The impact of demand and distribution management on supply chain success

Traditionally, distribution has been viewed as the key (physical) link between a company's internal supply chain activities and its customers. More recently, demand management has emerged as a new dimension at the customer interface. Although it has become increasing popular in industry, it has not yet been analyzed in depth with respect to its impact on supply chain performance. Both distribution management and demand management entail customer-facing processes and practices and that are interrelated and (may) jointly determine supply chain performance. In this paper we seek to extend the stream of research in supply chain management by systematically investigating the impact of customer-facing supply chain practices on supply chain performance. Specifically, the paper examines the relative impact of relevant practices associated with demand and distribution management. To this end, we collected data from 116 multi-national companies based in Europe and analyzed it using structural equation modeling techniques. Our results suggest that (i) high demand management performance has a substantial positive impact on the overall supply chain performance, (ii) this effect is stronger than that of distribution management performance, and (iii) there is no evidence that demand management might be an enabler for effective distribution management. Among the individual practices that constitute demand and distribution management, adherence to the demand and distribution management processes and demand segmentation emerged as the strongest performance levers. Based upon additional in-depth interviews conducted with selected companies from our sample, we shed light on some of the most important findings that emerged from our survey analysis.     

The effects of IT-enabled supply chain process change on job and process outcomes: A longitudinal investigation

Prior research on information technology (IT)-enabled supply chain management (SCM) has primarily focused on macro-level issues (e.g., IT capabilities related to SCM, and SCM design and optimization) and outcomes (e.g., firm performance). There has been limited research that focuses on micro-level outcomes related to employees who actually execute SCM processes in organizations. These employee-level outcomes are important because successful implementation of SCM systems and processes hinges on SCM employees’ support and commitment. I develop and test a model positing that SCM employees’ perceptions of changes in their work process characteristics, i.e., process complexity and process rigidity, following a new SCM system implementation will influence their job outcomes, i.e., job performance, job satisfaction, job anxiety, and job security, and their perceptions of process outcomes, i.e., process performance and relationship quality. The model incorporates a holistic appraisal of the extent of change—change radicalness—as a mechanism between work process characteristics and outcomes. The model is supported in three studies conducted in the context of three different SCM system implementations (N = 278, 282, and 304, respectively). In particular, I found that individuals perceived a significant change in their work process characteristics following an SCM system implementation, and changes in work process characteristics had a significant impact on job and process outcomes. These findings contribute to the information systems and operations management literatures and their intersections by offering insights on challenges related to IT-enabled SCM innovation implementation in organizations.     

Supply chain collaboration: Impact on collaborative advantage and firm performance

Facing uncertain environments, firms have strived to achieve greater supply chain collaboration to leverage the resources and knowledge of their suppliers and customers. The objective of the study is to uncover the nature of supply chain collaboration and explore its impact on firm performance based on a paradigm of collaborative advantage. Reliable and valid instruments of these constructs were developed through rigorous empirical analysis. Data were collected through a Web survey of U.S. manufacturing firms in various industries. The statistical methods used include confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (i.e., LISREL). The results indicate that supply chain collaboration improves collaborative advantage and indeed has a bottom-line influence on firm performance, and collaborative advantage is an intermediate variable that enables supply chain partners to achieve synergies and create superior performance. A further analysis of the moderation effect of firm size reveals that collaborative advantage completely mediates the relationship between supply chain collaboration and firm performance for small firms while it partially mediates the relationship for medium and large firms.     

Structural drivers of upstream supply chain complexity and the frequency of supply chain disruptions

A great deal of research has focused on supply chain risk management, but the question “Which supply chain characteristics increase the frequency of supply chain disruptions?” has not received much attention from empirical research. This is a relevant question, because firms seek stability in their operations, and therefore managers need to know how the structure of their supply chains affects the occurrence of disruptions. The present study addresses this issue with a specific focus on upstream supply chain (supply-side) disruptions. Drawing on the literature on supply chain complexity, we devise and test a model that predicts the frequency of supply chain disruptions based on a multi-dimensional conceptualization of upstream supply chain complexity. Not only do the empirical findings suggest that all of the three investigated complexity drivers – horizontal, vertical, and spatial complexity – increase the frequency of disruptions, but also that they interact and amplify each other's effects in a synergistic fashion.     

Green logistics in food distribution – a case study

Environmental impacts, such as Green House gas emissions, have been introduced to supply chain management as an additional parameter to traditional key performance indicators such as cost, lead-time and on-time delivery. This paper analyses a case example from the food industry on how CO₂ emissions are structured in a value chain. The focus of the analysis covers food factory order-picking operations, transportation, warehousing and distribution aspects. The paper aims to demonstrate greening and CO₂ saving potential areas of development for thermo-controlled food logistics. The results show the energy-saving potential of several supply chain processes giving examples of distribution logistic online-temperature controlling possibilities. Greening decisions in supply chain design in the food industry are considered.     

Supply chain vulnerability assessment: A network based visualization and clustering analysis approach

Supply chains are large, complex, and often unpredictable. Purchasing and supply managers and supply chain risk managers need methods and tools to enable them to quickly understand how unexpected disruptions in the supply chain start and grow and to what extent will they negatively impact the flow of goods and services. This paper introduces a methodological approach that can be used by both researchers and managers to quickly visualize a supply chain, map out the propagation path of disruptive events from the supply side to the end customer and understand potential weaknesses in the supply chain design; taking into account the structure, connectivity, and dependence within the supply chain. The approach incorporates a Petri net and Triangularization Clustering Algorithm to offer insights into a supply chain network's vulnerabilities and can be used to efficiently assess supply chain disruption mitigation strategies, especially in complex and difficulty to analyze supply chain systems.     

Antecedents of supply chain visibility in retail supply chains: A resource-based theory perspective

Although visibility has become a popular buzzword in the supply chain literature it remains an ill-defined and poorly understood concept. It is assumed that if companies across supply chains have visibility of demand, inventory levels, processes, etc., that organizational performance improves. This research explores the antecedents of high levels of supply chain visibility from a resource-based theory perspective across five different external supply chain linkages. We find that the level of visibility across these linkages differs considerably based on various contributing factors which are both technology and non-technology based. Using resource-based theory, we identify those factors that can give a sustainable competitive advantage to a supply chain linkage through a “distinctive” or high level of visibility.     

An empirical study of the impact of e-business technologies on organizational collaboration and performance

The use of e-business technologies between supply chain organizations has been thematic in recent literature. Organizational collaboration, the foundation of supply chain management, has been enabled by the development and use of e-business technologies. Organizational collaboration and information sharing, in turn, are expected to improve organizational performance. We propose and test a model of the relationship between organizational use of e-business technologies, organizational collaboration, and performance, using empirical data. Our model differs from past studies in that collaboration is viewed as two unique constructs, differentiating between intra- and inter-organizational collaboration. Our findings show that use of e-business technologies impacts performance both directly and indirectly by promoting both measures of collaboration. Intra-firm collaboration is also found to have a direct impact on organizational performance. However, the impact of inter-organizational collaboration on performance is found to be only indirect, through the impact of intra-organizational collaboration. These findings reveal the complexity of organizational collaboration, underscore the importance for companies to promote internal collaboration, and invest in information technologies that facilitate it.     

A replication and extension of quality management into the supply chain

As competition moves beyond a single firm into the supply chain, researchers are beginning to explore quality management (QM) in a supply chain context. The literature suggests that supply chain management (SCM) consists of internal practices, which are contained within a firm, and external practices, which cross organizational boundaries integrating a firm with its customers and suppliers. Supplier quality management and customer focus are two QM practices that are also clearly in the domain of SCM. In this study we investigate how these two supply chain management-related quality practices lead to improved performance and examine the practices that precede and mediate those relationships. In doing so, we replicate and extend the relationships among the QM practices and their effects on firm performance suggested in Kaynak [Kaynak, H., 2003. The relationship between total quality management practices and their effects on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management 21, 405–435] using survey data gathered from firms operating in the U.S. The inclusion of customer focus and supplier quality management in the QM model supports the importance of internal and external integration for quality performance. Implications of the results for researchers and practitioners are discussed, and further research implications are suggested.     

You'll never walk alone: Why we need a supply chain practice view on digital procurement

This paper conceptualizes digital procurement readiness as a dyadic construct and introduces the supply chain practice view (SCPV) as a theoretical lens that can help guide future research on digital procurement. We build on a literature review and on dyadic, explanatory case studies to provide a nuanced understanding of how the digital readiness of supply chain partners—on both sides of the dyad—needs to co-evolve for the implementation of digital procurement practices. Specifically, we outline how the SCPV can serve as both a holistic and a supply chain-specific framework for future research on the following: 1) the antecedents that help explain why supply chain partners adopt inter-organizational digital procurement practices, and 2) the relational performance outcomes derived from their use. For managers, this study implies the need to explicitly consider interactions with and influences of supply chain partners in their quest to rapidly and effectively digitalize procurement.     

How supply chain architecture and product architecture impact firm performance: An empirical examination

In order to enhance performance, manufacturing firms are building various capabilities and utilizing supply chain networks that are geographically dispersed around the globe. This study examines how decisions related to supply chain architecture and product architecture influence organizational competitiveness. Building on the co-specialization perspective, we evaluate the performance implications of product modularity and supply chain agility. While, product modularity constitutes a product configuration related to sourcing and assembling of products, supply chain agility is a supply chain configuration related to velocity (sensing, comprehending, and responding) and visibility (supplier network, internal operations, and external environment). Both the product and supply chain architectural decisions can impact performance, individually and in conjunction with each other. We empirically test the hypothesized relationships using data collected from 103 manufacturing firms. Results show that supply chain agility and product modularity directly enhance responsiveness and enable organizations to reduce cost. Furthermore, supply chain agility partially mediates the relationship between product modularity and both responsiveness and cost reduction. We elaborate on the key contributions of this study for both research and practice, discuss limitations, and also offer various avenues for further research.     

The impact of supply chain quality management practices and knowledge transfer on organisational performance: an empirical investigation from China

In recent years, both quality management practices (QMP) and knowledge transfer (KT) have been studied extensively from inter-organisational and intra-organisational perspectives. However, to the best of our knowledge, the interaction between QMP and KT in a supply chain and their joint effects on organisational performance have not been addressed fully. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights for improving performance by mapping the relationship between supply chain quality management practices (SCQMP) and KT. A survey of 157 Chinese manufacturing firms is used to test a conceptual model that proposes relationship among SCQMP, KT and organisational performance (including operational performance and innovation performance). Structural equation modelling reveals that internal QMP have significantly positive effect on internal KT, while QMP at supply chain level have highly positive effect on cross-organisational KT. Furthermore, the results show that both internal KT and cross-organisational KT can promote operational and innovation performance, although the influence from internal KT is much more significant than cross-organisational KT for Chinese firms. The findings contribute to theory as well as practice by increasing understanding of how to improve the operational and innovation performance through enhancing SCQMP and KT.     

The geography of suppliers and retailers

In the last decades, supply chains have increasingly transcended national boundaries developing into global supply chains. Along with the many opportunities arising from international sourcing and the extended commercial presence over the world, the management of a globally dispersed supply chain is highly complex. A key issue to consider when dealing with the global supply chain design is the location of facilities, not only with respect to firms' owned facilities but also the supply and distribution side as factors that affect supply chain complexity and operational performance. This paper sets out a methodological framework to characterize the geographical configuration of a firm's suppliers and retailer networks. Quantitative indexes of network spatial concentration and relative proximity measures based on a nonparametric kernel density estimator are developed to identify both intra- and inter-firm patterns between the supply and point of sales' distributions. The method is first described by means of a series of theoretical-illustrative examples and exemplified by analyzing the geographical dispersion of four practical cases from the fashion-textile industry (i.e., Adidas, Benetton, C&A, and Puma). Subsequently, managerial implications and potential use of the metrics are discussed, showing how the proposed approach can support researchers and practitioners to improve supply chain location decisions and logistic integration, and evaluate changes in either the purchasing or distribution strategy.     

Firm's resilience to supply chain disruptions: Scale development and empirical examination

This paper expands our understanding of factors that contribute to development of firm resilience to supply chain disruptions. In doing so, we operationalize firm resilience to understand how supply chain disruption orientated firms can develop resilience to supply chain disruptions. We find that supply chain disruption orientation alone is not enough for a firm to develop resilience. Supply chain disruption oriented firms require the ability to reconfigure resources or have a risk management resource infrastructure to develop resilience. The way in which supply chain disruption oriented firms develop resilience through resource reconfiguration or risk management infrastructure depends on the context of the disruption as high impact or low impact. In a high impact disruption context, resource reconfiguration fully mediates the relationship between supply chain disruption orientation and firm resilience. In a low impact disruption context, supply chain disruption orientation and risk management infrastructure have a synergistic effect on developing firm resilience.     

The effect of cross-organizational governance on supply chain resilience: A mediating and moderating model

This study examines the effect of a novel antecedent, namely cross-organizational governance (which can be further divided into contractual and relational governance), on supply chain resilience. Additionally, it explores the mediating and moderating effects of supply chain collaboration and institutional environment, respectively, on the relationship between cross-organizational governance and supply chain resilience. Accordingly, a research model, together with four hypotheses, is constructed based on institutional theory. These are further tested based on data collected from a single-respondent survey of 358 Chinese manufacturing companies. The results reveal that contractual and relational governance have significant positive effects on supply chain resilience; supply chain collaboration plays a partially mediating role and institutional environment plays a moderating role in the effects of contractual and relational governance on supply chain resilience. This study enriches the understanding of the relationships between cross-organizational governance, supply chain collaboration, supply chain resilience, and institutional environment. It also provides a reference for supply chain managers’ decision-making activities.     

Remote control and maintenance outsourcing networks and its applications in supply chain management

The paper analyzes the impact of e-business technologies on maintenance management and supply chain operations. The aim of this work is to investigate the network organization level of supply chains in case of remote maintenance application and to understand how maintenance policies are coupled with information technology (IT) solutions. To this purpose two literature reviews are presented: firstly, on the supply chain and network integration, and then on the evolution of maintenance using information technology. Following this, the paper present four specific industrial case-studies of eMRO network organisation. They have been chosen as reference models from a set of practical applications and pilot tests performed by the authors in different production sectors in the last 5 years. Technology complexity environments, maintenance outsourcing level, and supply chain integration context are discussed for each case-studies with particular regards to the profitable forms of collaboration provided by the introduction of IT and the Web. This analysis work toward the development of a framework useful to: (1) classify different e-maintenance systems and understand the relationships between the different members of the network, and (2) identify the variables which can influence the introduction and development of the systems.     

The role of supply management innovativeness and supplier orientation in firms’ sustainability performance

Questions about the influencing factors and measurement of firms' sustainability performance have attracted growing research interest, as the requirements for sustainability have steadily increased. This study examines whether supply management innovativeness and supplier orientation make positive impacts on firms' overall sustainability performance. An empirical study based on a survey targeting large- and medium-sized manufacturing companies in Finland shows that innovativeness in supply management considerably influences a firm's overall sustainability performance and that supplier orientation positively relates to sustainability performance. The benefits of innovativeness in supply management and strategic supplier orientation are directly realised in sustainability performance. Therefore, supply management is not only a gatekeeper against sustainability risks arising from the supply base but is also a function by which new ideas aiming to influence supply markets and firms' sustainability are presented.