Getting Innovations Out of the Supplier Networks

Current research on purchasing is very much characterized by an interest in relationships. The earlier emphasis (within research as well as among practitioners) on the independence of the buying company-on handling suppliers at arm's length-has gradually been replaced by a more "cooperative" approach. Suppliers are generally more looked upon as external resources, which can be more efficiently used within the frame of close and long-term relationships. A corresponding interest for relationships can be found within research on technical development. There is an emphasis on the importance of relating their own development activities to the development of important counterparts and several studies point to the advantages of technical cooperation. The topic of this article thus involves two different, but in many aspects closely related problem areas, i.e., purchasing and innovation, and in order to treat them in an integrated way and to handle the connections that exist between them we use a network approach. The article is based upon two types of empirical data regarding corporate collaboration in technical development. First, material from a cross-sectional study is used to describe some general characteristics of innovative relationships. Secondly, there are two case studies which illustrate the situation where a buying company tries to combine several relationships in a development project. There are a number of opportunities and problems facing a company which tries to involve its suppliers in technical development, and this article puts forward four key issues concerning the handling of cooperative development processes: the problem of choosing partners as well as of trying to interest and engage those chosen; the problem of synchronization, in technical and other dimensions, of the actors involved in the development process; the problem of timing within and between various relationships; and, as there will always be some resistance to technical change within an industrial network structure, there must also be a mobilization of forces in favour of the development. In conclusion, a penetration of the four key issues in light of the empirical findings gives rise to some managerial implications regarding the use of network relationships in technical development.     

The role of buyer and supplier relationships in integrating TQM through the supply chain

Many academics and practitioners have alluded to the importance of total quality management (TQM) principles and the important role the purchasing function plays in the quality process. However, the role of the buyer–supplier relationship in the TQM process has not been directly investigated to any large extent. Three hypotheses concerning the role of buyer–supplier relationships in the success of TQM implementation were tested. The results demonstrate that buyer–supplier relationships are different in firms with successful TQM programs. Hypothesis 1 suggests that those firms with successful TQM programs will have more formal mechanisms for interacting with suppliers. The second hypothesis suggests that business units with more successful TQM programs exhibit a greater degree of competitive focus and single sourcing. The third hypothesis relates to a higher level understanding of internal and external customer needs by successful TQM adopters. All hypotheses were supported. The buyer–supplier relationships in firms with successful TQM programs are different than firms with less successful TQM programs.     

Measuring effectiveness of TQM training: an Indian study

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a never ending process of improving work processes. It operates according to the premise that organisations cannot rest comfortably without continuously improving whatever is being done. There has to be a culture of continuous improvement and everyone in the organisation must strive towards it. This could be accomplished only through continuous training. The present study seeks to examine the role of training as well as measuring its effectiveness for successful implementation of TQM. For this purpose, data have been retrieved from a public sector enterprise manufacturing crude steel in India. The findings of the study are based purely on primary survey. Pearson's Correlation Coefficient with their significance levels have been used to measure the effectiveness of TQM training and the correlation between TQM training and selected factors. The authors have found that training creates awareness, builds employees’ commitment to quality policy and strategy, facilitates teamwork, enhances performance standards, and bolsters the skills and abilities of employees. However, the organisation needs to focus more upon improving communication competencies, multiple skill development and customer value training. Successful TQM training in the organisation needs more budgetary allocation and commitment, support and enthusiasm of the top management.     

The FairWear Campaign: An Ethical Network in the Australian Garment Industry

In many parts of the world, homework is a form of labour characterised by precariousness, lack of regulation, and invisibility and lack of protection of the workers who are often amongst the world’s poorest and most exploited. Homework is spreading, due to firm practices such as outsourcing. The analysis and understanding of complex corporate networks may assist with the identification and protection of those most at risk within the supply chain network. It can also expose some of the key ethical issues and dilemmas of supply chain management and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a case-study of the Australian FairWear Campaign (FWC), this article identifies an ethical network that aims to increase corporate accountability (CA) via greater transparency in corporate supply chains and improve work conditions for homeworkers and increase their recognition in the supply chain.     

Supply Chain Specific? Understanding the Patchy Success of Ethical Sourcing Initiatives

As a number of high profile companies have found to their cost, corporate reputations can be significantly affected by firms' management of sustainability issue, including those that are outside their direct control, such as the environmental and social impacts of their supply networks. This paper begins by examining the relationship between corporate social responsibility, reputation, and supply network conditions. It then looks at the effectiveness of one tool for managing supply network sustainability issues, ethical sourcing codes of conduct, by examining how the characteristics of three supply networks branded clothes, DIY wood products and branded confectionary affects the implementation ethical sourcing codes of conduct. It ends by setting out conclusions on why implementation of such codes has been so much more successful in some sectors than others and recommendations on effective approaches to managing sustainability issues in supply networks.     

The influence of guanxi on physical distribution service quality availability in e-commerce sourcing fashion garments from China

The purpose was to investigate the influence of guanxi (personal relationships) on availability within physical distribution service quality (PDSQ) for sourcing high street fashion garments from China via e-commerce. The research reviewed articles on guanxi and although it is still widely considered important its contribution and nature appears to be changing as Chinese business practises and sourcing policy have matured over time. Qualitative research was used in two Chinese based case study companies with detailed access through semi structured face-to-face and telephone interviews. The findings suggest that personal relationships through guanxi can facilitate e-commerce availability of fashion product, particularly where there is limited lead time in the sourcing activity, although its form and application in each case study company and their respective supply network was not as widespread as had been previously reported. The form of guanxi was observed as personal relationships but some aspects of co-operative relationships were also found. Since the paper is based on a phenomenological ontology the findings are largely exploratory. Future research should focus on understanding physical distribution service quality and personal relationships in other sectors. Guanxi by definition is an unstructured array of socially-based relationships without a simplistic rationale or logic. By understanding how guanxi is applied in a supply chain management context will aid those practitioners involved in an e-commerce Chinese business practise.     

SUPPLY CHAIN CAPITAL: THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL AND RELATIONAL LINKAGES ON FIRM EXECUTION AND INNOVATION

Firms invest millions of dollars annually in developing their supply chains, with the broad goal of increasing their own performance. However, despite the significant resources deployed for supply chain development, the extent to which initiating, maintaining, and managing supply chain relationships contributes to firm success remains unclear. The current article provides conceptual development supporting the valuation of firm‐to‐firm supply chain connections from the perspective of the focal firm. Based on the social network and economics literatures, the article introduces the concept of supply chain capital, which comprises the value of both the structural configuration and relationship content of the firm's supply chain network. Following theoretical development, a non‐exhaustive set of propositions are constructed illustrating multiple ways that supply chain capital can be accrued and exploited for firm‐level benefit. Managerial recommendations for investment in supply chain capital are included, as are future directions for research in the area of supply chain networks.     

Supply base rationalisation: myth or reality?

Companies throughout the UK have been claiming for some time that in order to become more competitive and flexible, and to reduce costs, they must reduce the size of their supplier bases. In recent years, extensive supply base reduction strategies have been witnessed in a wide range of firms in differing sectors. This article seeks to explore whether these strategies are truly being followed, how they have been implemented, and how successful they have been. The author finds that whilst companies have significantly reduced the number of their suppliers, such strategies have not led to the rewards that were first envisaged. It appears that this is mainly due to a haphazard approach to rationalisation, a focus on transaction cost information, and poor management of highly dependent relationships. In addition, there is now evidence that some firms are actually increasing the size of their supply bases once more, to mitigate these problems. The research found that whilst companies claimed that they had reduced their supply bases, the reality was that they still had the same numbers of suppliers — they had delegated control to `first-tier’ suppliers as opposed to reducing the supply base. This article concludes that supply base delegation may be a useful strategy; it allows firms to focus on fewer suppliers, build high-dependency relationships, share technological advantages and spend time and effort on improving fewer relationships, thus leading to more efficient resource utilisation and consequent cost reduction. However, this process needs to be conducted within a strategic framework.     

Supply Chain Networks With Multiple Retailers: A Test of the Emerging Theory on Inventories,Stockouts, and Bullwhips

While various approaches to mitigating the bullwhip effect have been proposed, the composition of the underlying supply chain is often taken for granted. This article develops a set of simulation models to investigate changes to the supply chain itself and their impact on the bullwhip effect, on‐hand inventory, and stockouts. It is shown that particular supply chain networks have an impact on the bullwhip effect. Furthermore, the impact of supply chain networks on the bullwhip effect is moderated by the demand forecasting technique used. Finally, supply chain networks, forecasting techniques, and their interactions are found to influence on‐hand inventory levels and stockout rates for firms within the supply chain. Results also suggest that no one particular type of supply chain network dominates in terms of dampening the bullwhip effect, lowering on‐hand inventory levels, or reducing stockout rates. The optimal network depends on the forecasting technique used and other supply chain factors.     

Selecting quality based programs in small firms

Over the last decades, the quality issues have received increased attention from top managers and academics. The international debate mainly focused on managerial and economical implications resulting from the implementation of TQM programs in large companies, thus not considering peculiarities that such investments present within small firms. As a matter of fact, many small firms have adopted quality based programs and, unfortunately, failed to achieve the planned results: a major reason of the failure of TQM initiatives is due to the lack of effective decisional tools aimed at identifying the most suitable quality related investments.Hence, the objective of the paper is to define a model that supports managers of small firms in the identification of most effective quality related priorities: to this end, a contingent approach that identifies different contexts according to the environment where the company operates and to the relationships between the firm and its stakeholders is suggested. Guide-lines for choosing a specific decisional technique aimed at selecting the most effective choice among the identified feasible priorities are suggested, too.     

Power Imbalance in UK Agri-Food Supply Channels: Learning to Live with the Supermarkets?

This study investigates the issue of power in the context of UK agri-food industry vertical business-to-business relationships, where the majority of control lies in the hands of large multiple retailers. Predominant in agri-food channels is the reduced supplier sourcing model; featured is the widespread application of Category Management (CM) and network supply co-ordination, through a new breed of super middlemen. The received view from the Relationship Marketing (RM) literature with its emphasis on trust, dyadic symmetry and mutuality is questioned. It is contended, alternatively that other types of relationships, for example, those based on selfishness are equally relevant; and that power imbalanced business relationships are just as important to the understanding of business exchange. Further, power should be a central consideration when concerned with business relationships and imbalance in power is no specific barrier to parties entering into collaborative relationships or to their success. This article contends that acceptance of power-imbalance is a key first-step to successful relationship building in agri-food channels and although collaborative chain activity is endorsed, suppliers are advised that this still means operating within conditions of imbalanced power and reward.     

TQM and performance: Is the relationship so obvious?

This study explores the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and firm performance taking TQM as an internally consistent system of practices. The study tests the link between the two variables using the universal approach, analyzes whether the most competitive firms are those adopting TQM, and tests for an isomorphic effect on other firms. The study uses a sample of Spanish firms that have received TQM prizes at the national or regional level between 1997 and 2003 and a control sample for comparison. The findings indicate that in the absence of any evidence to confirm the universal hypothesis, TQM pioneers experience performance gains, because of the early implementation of the system; however, late adopters do not experience similar results. Firms using a TQM system are not necessarily better than their counterparts are, before putting the system into action. The study uses panel data that takes into account the unobservable heterogeneity between individuals and the dynamics of firms' financial variables.     

Channel Network Structure and the Product Assortment Function

Abstract

Although business networks provide value for many of their participants, the ability of network systems to perform product assortment functions is unclear. After raising several related research questions about network structure and product matching, this paper reviews some conceptual foundations of the network approach. In particular, the paper reviews and develops the distinction between network positions and distribution functions. It then assesses the functions performed within channel network structures in several published case studies. Some of these network structures exhibit low densities and closely resemble rather conventional vertical supply systems. It appears, though, that such more vertical networks perform a speculative matching function for product assortments when supply and demand are heterogeneous and volatile. Under more rigid and stable conditions, vertical networks may engage in product customisation to postpone product form. Horizontal networks (when they exist), may facilitate product standardisation and thus may contribute to beneficial diversities in supply.     

Personal networks and firm competitive strategy—A strategic or coincidental match?

This article is based upon the premise that the personal network of the owner-manager is the most important resource upon which he or she can draw in the early days of the firm's development. This is particularly the case as the concept of personal networks is sufficiently general to include dimensions that include, for example, attention to customers, understanding of the business, market orientation, or stress on quality. As such, it is intuitively obvious that the nature and use of these networks must impinge upon the resultant strategy adopted in the firm, albeit often implicit rather than explicit. However, as yet there is no empirical evidence to support this conclusion. Therefore, this article probes one question: how do the characteristics of the owner-manager's network relate to the competitive strategy of new ventures? Clearly, within this, we expected to find relationships that were logically consistent.The research was conducted in two counties in England that possessed similar industrial structures and equal rates of new firm formation. A list of firms was obtained from local business directories, and all 629 firms that fit the criteria were contacted by telephone. Validation of the firms at this point resulted in a significant reduction in those that fit the sampling criteria.Four hundred twenty-three firms were mailed an 11-page questionnaire resulting in a 52% response rate.Preliminary analysis of the strategy variables identified six components that were consistent with previous literature. These were labeled as marketing differentiation, product innovation, market segmentation, distribution, growth through outside capital, and differentiation through quality. Correlation of these components with the networking characteristics of propensity to network, network activity, network density, network intensity, and content of network exchanges supports our proposition that entrepreneurs differ in their networking activities according to the competitive strategy pursued by the firm.Further classification of the owner-managers into strategic clusters demonstrates that most firms appear to follow multiple patterns of strategic behavior. Moreover, the comparison with the networking characteristics shows that owner-managers appear to differ in a logical manner in the use of their networks. Bailey, Montera, and Cardow (1992) argue that a firm's resource base consists of financial, physical, and human resources, and that the manner in which those resources interact is determined by the firm's strategy. Previous research on entrepreneurial networks has shown the amount of time and energy the owner-manager devotes to the development and maintenance of contacts. The underlying assumption of social-network theory is that through a personal network, the owner-manager of a new venture gathers access to critical resources, which for a variety of reasons the new firm does not possess internally. Consequently, this research has argued that this resource base cannot be ignored when attempting to understand the concept of “strategy” among new and small firms. In fact, this resource base may play a dominant role in formulating as well as implementing “strategy.”     

基于Internet的供应链管理

随着网络的发展,基于Internet的供应链管理日益变得可行和必要。对企业供应链进行研究分析, 给出了一个基于Internet的供应链的通用模型,并对其中的部分实现进行了详细分析。     

运用TQM提升供应链稳定性

全面质量管理（TQM）作为供应链管理（SCM）质量的关键成功因素，越来越引起业界重视。从信息技术和绩效衡量两个维度来探讨TQM提升供应链稳定性的方法，并以美国汽车业的成功案例进行说明。     

网络嵌入对大型复杂产品制造业供应链绩效的影响研究

网络嵌入已经成为影响大型复杂产品制造业供应链绩效的主要因素之一。本文以我国航空制造业供应链为例,在分析网络结构嵌入和关系嵌入维度的基础上,提出供应链网络嵌入与供应链绩效之间关系的研究假设,并构建相应理论模型,通过实证分析来探究供应链网络嵌入对供应链绩效的影响机理。研究结果显示,供应链网络结构嵌入（节点度和中介中心度）和关系嵌入（信任、信息共享和共同解决问题）对大型复杂产品制造业供应链绩效具有显著影响,并且结构嵌入与关系嵌入之间存在理论上的结构关系。     

The effect of consumer's psychographic variables upon deal-proneness

Companies are increasingly attaching more importance to sales promotion within their communication programs. The main reason for the increase in the use of promotions is their immediate effect on the consumers. However, there are some consumers that do not respond to promotions. This study analyses the psychographic traits associated with deal-proneness. A personal survey has been conducted with a sample of 425 individuals who regularly buy package food and cleaning products. In the study, three kinds of deal-proneness are differentiated: proneness towards store flyers, proneness towards coupons and proneness towards in-store promotions. The results prove that there are relationships between some psychographic characteristics of consumers and deal-proneness. In general, price-conscious consumers are deal-prone. However, savings are not the only reason to buy a product on promotion. Deal-proneness is influenced by other aspects as impulsiveness, innovativeness or shopping enjoyment.     

Interorganizational Ethics: Standards of Behavior

The traditional basis for advocating ethical business conduct has been morality defined in philosophical or religious terms. However, fairness and moral obligation have provided little incentive for anything like universal ethical business behavior.The idea that "good ethics is good business" as an incentive is looked upon with skepticism by those with bottom line responsibility. However, if managers were aware of the extent to which certain business behaviors impose significant costs on individual transactions and relationships, a valid incentive would exist.The need for such standards has intensified with the fundamental shifts in business philosophy, structure, and practice along with profound changes in product markets and supply sources. The universal standards, ISO 9000 for product and service quality, and ISO 14000 for environmental issues were created and implemented to cope with problems in their respective areas and they providea model which can be adapted to the realms of ethics.