Supply Chain Strategies: Changes in Customer Order‐Based Production

Supply chain development is debated in terms of whether lean and agile supply chain strategies will work simultaneously and whether “leagile” strategies are possible. This study explores complexity and dynamics of the mixed strategy in a longitudinal automotive industry case study and contributes with four propositions related to the debate and practices of supply chain strategies.     

Firm Growth and Supply Chain Partnerships: An Empirical Analysis of U.K. SME Subcontractors

This paper examines the performance of a sample of 211 U.K.subcontractors to evaluate whether differences in how they manage their supply chain relationships are associated with differences in (sales and employment)growth rates over two consecutive 3 year periods from 1993 to 1999.We identified 34 firms that had close partnership relationships with members of their supply chain. Our empirical findings indicate that firms with inter-firm partnership arrangements with members of their supply chain experienced significantly higher growth rates. These results suggest that inter-firm partnerships may facilitate more rapid and sustained SME growth,though further research is required to determine the role played by partnerships and the extent to which this may vary to reflect differing owner-manager motivations and growth opportunities.     

Recognizing and Resolving Social Dilemmas in Supply Chain Public–Private Partnerships

The public–private partnership (PPP) is a popular strategy for creating global sustainable value. However, many PPPs struggle to realize their value‐added potential. Why do some public–private partnerships succeed while others fail, and how may those struggling succeed? Combining supply‐chain integration and social dilemma perspectives into the conversation of PPPs, we examine the dynamics and psychology of cooperation necessary for PPP success. Addressing the first part of our research question, we recognize three social dilemmas that can manifest while managing PPP supply chains: a give‐some dilemma, a take‐some dilemma, and a give‐or‐take‐some dilemma. To address the second part of our research question, we present a taxonomy of strategies resolving these PPP social dilemmas through the enhancement of trust, self‐efficacy, and social responsibility. We discuss implications for PPPs, supply‐chain, and social dilemma literatures.     

基于知识交易视角的供应链伙伴关系与创新绩效实证研究

以供应链企业间知识交易为视角,构建了供应链伙伴关系、知识交易与创新绩效之间关系的概念模型,其中供应链伙伴关系包括信任与关系承诺两个维度。利用结构方程模型结合256家供应链上下游企业的调查数据对上述概念模型进行了实证研究。研究结果表明,供应链企业间信任对关系承诺、知识交易与创新绩效有显著的正向影响;关系承诺对创新绩效有显著的正向影响,但其对知识交易的影响并不显著;知识交易对创新绩效有显著的正向影响。     

Home-owned versus foreign-owned firms in the UK automotive industry: Exploring the microfoundations of ambidextrous production and supply chain positioning

The UK automotive industry is home to a large number of foreign firms, demonstrating the open nature of competition. However, the industry necessitates both exploitative and explorative capabilities. Contingency theory suggests that firms align their internal structure with contextual factors. As such, the aims of this study were to investigate whether it was possible to distinguish home-owned (UK) and foreign-owned firms based upon: a) the microfoundations of ambidextrous production, which are conceptualised as lean and agile routines; and b) the tier at which these firms operate in the automotive supply chain. Survey data were collected from 85 home-owned and 55 foreign-owned firms within the UK Midlands automotive industry. Logistic regression results revealed that home-owned firms were significantly more likely to be implementing explorative (agile) production methods, whereas foreign-owned firms were significantly more likely to be implementing exploitative (lean) production. Home-owned and foreign-owned firms were found to be significantly more likely to be operating upstream and downstream in the automotive supply chain respectively. Thus, the findings support a contingency theory explanation, suggesting that firms align their performance priorities with contextual factors, but we argue that home-owned and foreign-owned firms have evolved to compete based on their different innovative capabilities, which are located at different tiers of the automotive supply chain. On this basis, although neither home-owned nor foreign-owned firms were found to be endogenously ambidextrous, we argue that foreign-owned firms internationalise into the UK automotive sector to exploit the explorative capabilities acquired by home-owned firms operating upstream in automotive supply chains, thus enabling ambidextrous capabilities at an exogenous, industrial level.     

MODELING LEAN,AGILE, AND LEAGILE SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES

The merits of lean and agile supply chain strategies have been much debated among practitioners and academics. While these strategies are often viewed as opposites, this research supports the view that they must not necessarily compete and can, in fact, be employed simultaneously through a so‐called “leagile” approach. Lean, agile, and leagile strategies are illustrated by modeling their respective applications at a tier‐1 supplier to the Heating, Ventilating, and Air‐Conditioning (HVAC) industry. Simulation analyses indicate that the lean system excels in customer service performance while the leagile system results in lower enterprise‐wide inventory levels under modeled circumstances. Subsequent analysis suggests that trade‐offs exist among the systems in the base case and under varying cost conditions.     

一体化供应链组合战略的构建

随着供应链之间竞争的加剧,单一地采用精细思想和敏捷思想设计供应链已经不能满足客户的要求。只有合理地运用精细思想和敏捷思想的组合战略,才能使供应链能够同时达到满足终端顾客的产品可获性和有能力购买性的双重需求。同时,使用模块化设计能够降低供应链组合策略的复杂性,增强供应链的适用性和通用性,使供应链结构变得简单化。     

服装业供应链协同运作策略研究

随着国内经济的发展和对外交流的不断加强,供应链管理模式得到大多数人的理解和接受。但如何才能发挥供应链管理理念的最大优势,还需要大家不断的研究、探索和实践。我国是公认的世界服装大国,服装业对于我国经济的发展和解决国内就业压力发挥了巨大的作用。但如何将我国服装业提升为世界服装强国,发挥出我国服装业更大的作用,还是一个未完成的艰巨任务。我国服装业经营者必须改变传统的经营思想,与国际接轨,采用供应链管理理念,融入供应链协同运作模式。     

Public–Private Partnerships and Supply Chain Security: C‐TPAT as an Indicator of Relational Security

Following the attacks of September 11th, public and private entities recognized a need to protect the global supply chain from terrorist disruption. In response to this need, the U.S. Government partnered with industry to create the Customs‐Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C‐TPAT) program. This research investigates the public–private partnership (PPP) relational aspects of C‐TPAT. C‐TPAT encourages firms to voluntarily improve their security competence and that of their supply chain partners. We introduce the concept of relational security in the context of PPPs. We define relational security as all activities that establish, cultivate, and maintain successful security exchanges between parties. We establish C‐TPAT as one indicator of relational security by demonstrating its ability to establish, cultivate, and maintain successful security exchanges between parties. Results indicate certified firms outperform noncertified firms in security performance, firm performance, and resilience.     

Just‐in‐Time Retail Distribution: A Systems Perspective on Cross‐Docking

Cross‐docking is a just‐in‐time strategy for distribution logistics. It is aimed at reducing inventory levels and distribution lead times by creating a seamless flow of products from suppliers to customers. Prior supply chain literature has argued that creating such a seamless product flows requires a holistic view on cross‐docking management, aimed at synchronizing cross‐docking operations at the distribution center with its inbound and outbound network logistics. This paper provides an in‐depth case study illustrating how cross‐docking operations can be managed more holistically in a retail distribution context. A discrete event simulation model has been developed to understand and improve the cross‐docking operations of a large grocery retailer in the Netherlands. The model is used to quantitatively evaluate two proposed changes that exploit opportunities in the design and control of the retailer's distribution network. An extensive real‐world data set is used as input to the model. Overall, the case and simulation results show that a holistic cross‐docking management approach can indeed improve system‐wide performance, which further stresses the importance of making cross‐dock operational decisions making and network decisions together.     

辽宁省装备制造业供应链治理结构与供应链绩效关系研究

以辽宁省装备制造业为研究对象,通过对供应链治理结构与供应链绩效之间关系的分析得出:关系型和合同型两种治理结构都能对供应链绩效产生正向影响,但随着供应链合作伙伴关系进一步推进,关系型治理对供应链绩效的贡献程度更高。辽宁省装备制造企业应该根据供应链的内部特点、外部环境等积极进行相应治理,来提高供应链响应速度、顾客满意度等,最终提高供应链绩效。此外,辽宁省装备制造业应该准确识别供应链柔性程度,根据其来选择不同类型治理结构,确保能够避免过分依赖合同治理或关系治理来降低供应链合作伙伴关系中效率低下或机会主义风险。     

电商情境下弱势企业驱动的供应链合作伙伴关系构建：上佰电商案例研究

现有供应链合作伙伴关系理论主要以强势的制造型企业作为合作关系构建的主导者，缺乏从弱势企业驱动的视角考察供应链合作伙伴关系发展的研究。文章通过电商代运营企业上佰电商的案例研究发现：在快速变化的电商环境中，弱势企业可以凭借其动态能力的不断演化影响强势企业的行为，由此提出弱势企业驱动供应链合作伙伴关系构建的概念模型，认为弱势企业的动态能力有三种，即觉察并降低认知差异的能力、分析并运用运营数据的能力以及改进并协调战略决策的能力，并进一步指出合作伙伴关系的构建分为引导型和协同型两个阶段。这一研究将供应链合作伙伴关系构建的驱动方从强势企业拓展到了弱势企业，并从动态能力视角给予了合理解释，丰富了供应链合作伙伴关系理论的内涵，对中国中小电商企业的供应链管理创新具有启发和指导意义。     

Translating strategy into action: The importance of an agile mindset and agile slack in international business

There is growing recognition that agility, the ability to respond quickly, is essential for international business (IB) in times of daunting challenges. Drawing on the resource-based view, we argue that agility is more than a capability and therefore should be investigated from a broader perspective. The current study offers insights for the IB literature by introducing agile resources (mindset and slack) as drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness capability. An agile mindset drives firms to seek out and introduce new management methods and approaches by encouraging their members to be alert to new and innovative ways of doing things. Agile slack refers to unutilized resources that can be quickly deployed in new strategic initiatives. An analysis of survey data from 179 managers via structural equation modeling shows that an agile mindset and agile slack strongly drive marketing strategy effectiveness capability. Marketing strategy effectiveness is a crucial driver of international performance. Nevertheless, the results suggest that while agile resources are important drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness, they do not influence performance directly. Hence, a firm’s ability to exploit resources through capabilities is critical, and to be truly agile, firms must invest in agile slack resources. Managers are advised to improve their firm’s effectiveness and performance by adopting an agile mindset while relying on agile slack resources.     

供应链伙伴关系对客户整合的影响——基于物流能力视角的实证研究

建立紧密的伙伴关系通常被认为是提升供应链整合的重要手段,但由于多数研究者忽略了伙伴关系的文化差异和企业间物流能力的差异,因而造成研究结论与实际情况不符。为了弥补这一不足,文章基于来自218家供应链上下游企业的调查数据,采用结构方程模型(SEM)的方法,分析伙伴关系、物流能力和客户整合之间的关系。研究结果显示：伙伴关系对物流能力和客户整合均存在着显著的正向影响,且透过物流能力,伙伴关系对客户整合的间接影响高于其直接影响。此外研究结果还显示,不同行业企业的伙伴关系和物流能力对客户整合的作用大不相同。文章不仅为研究伙伴关系对客户整合的影响路径和作用机理提供了一个新的视角,而且还为我国不同行业企业如何利用伙伴关系和物流能力来提升客户整合提供了决策的依据。     

IT and Coordination Modes: The Case of the Garment Industry in France and US

The aim of this article is to illuminate the relations between information technologies (IT) and modes of coordination among firms. Does IT strengthen existing partnerships, accentuate market volatility or facilitate integration strategies ? Up to what point do the institutional environment and organisational forms favour the diffusion of IT or not? What may be said about the role of IT in the reorganisation of a supply chain ? Through a study of the garment industry we will try to throw light on these subjects, presenting here some preliminary results of our investigations. We first explain previous research and then show the interest of studying the garment industry as a supply chain comparing the two supply chains in France and the United States. The transaction cost perspective will help us to explore how IT affects relationships between companies. In this context the diffusion of electronic networks should be a major stake in rationalising inter-firm coordination modes. But we will see that this stake remains imperfectly strengthened: complex and rich social networks in some crucial stages of the supply chain offer a significant explanation.     

Small business and supply chain management: is there a fit?

Conflict exists over how supply chain management (SCM) affects small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On one hand, SCM can provide quality, cost, customer service, leverage and even risk reduction benefits for the SME. On the other hand, SCM exposes the SME to greater management and control hazards while reducing its private differentiation advantages. We test hypotheses relevant to the performance effects of SCM on SMEs using data collected from a recent survey of senior production managers. We find that SCM is negatively associated with SME performance after controlling for self-selection bias. We discuss several explanations for the result.     

Disaster Resilience Through Public–Private Short‐Term Collaboration

While contingency planning may provide a perspective for anticipating critical incidents, supply chain managers must develop competencies to address the long‐term disruptions that stem from both natural and man‐made disasters. The broad‐reaching nature of disasters brings public and private entities together and often requires collaboration to revitalize disrupted supply chains. Leveraging supply chain governance logic through the dual lenses of resource management and competing values, a research framework is introduced to address the nature of public–private short‐term collaboration and its influence on supply chain resilience. The largely unstudied concept of short‐term collaboration is at the heart of a model focusing on the alignment and adjustment of potentially disparate organizational values (public/private) to establish collective responsiveness while facilitating the fulfillment of mutual goals for a single event and/or discrete repeat events. We offer research propositions pertaining to the model and conclude with a discussion of managerial implications and the dire need for future research.     

Contextual ambidexterity in SMEs: the roles of internal and external rivalry

This article seeks to extend research on small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ambidexterity by investigating contingency factors that influence the relationship between contextual ambidexterity and SME performance. Acknowledging the importance of internal knowledge flows in leveraging ambidexterity, it offers unique insights into how internal and external rivalry conditions influence performance outcomes related to an ambidextrous posture. Using a sample of Canadian-based SMEs, the study shows that the contextual ambidexterity–performance relationship is suppressed at higher levels of internal rivalry and amplified at higher levels of external rivalry. The findings suggest that developing an ambidextrous posture should not be an end by itself, and they point to the need for SMEs to understand how the features of their internal and external environments affect the performance consequences of such posture.