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.     

The role and relevance of refocused inventory: Supply chain management solutions

Practitioners and academics continue to note that there is no shortage of inventory in many, if not most, supply chains. Rather, the historical notion holds true: the right product is not in the right place at the right time to meet demand. In order to impact supply chain performance positively, it is necessary to re-address inventory's role and relevance with respect to the development, maintenance, and control of product flows. This paper suggests that examining such flows from a three-fold perspective can be beneficial to firms by providing a framework to assess efforts to achieve lowest total cost and expected customer service.     

An integrated approach to managing extended supply chain networks

In an effort to improve their competitive position in a rapidly changing marketplace, many companies have replaced their traditional supply chains with extended supply chain networks built on a foundation of supply chain collaboration. These extended networks require the use of decision support tools and technologies to improve both operating efficiencies and customer service, but many companies have struggled to realize the expected benefits of these tools and the increased collaboration. This article recommends that companies adopt an integrated strategy of people, processes, and technology to achieve their competitive supply chain goals. Our recommendation is backed by the results of a survey we conducted of senior-level practitioners concerning the importance and challenges of supply chain collaboration. The article concludes with a set of managerial recommendations to improve a company’s collaborative efforts within its supply chain.     

Supplier diversity and supply chain management: A strategic approach

Although purchasing trends are moving toward consolidation, a strong economic argument can be made for supplier diversity. In fact, most Fortune 500 companies currently employ supplier diversity initiatives. If integrated into the overall corporate strategy, supplier diversity can become a source of competitive advantage for corporations. In order for such integration to successfully occur, however, the initiative must have top management commitment, a supportive culture, and the availability of champions to promote the proposal. Minority suppliers, in turn, need to realize that their failure or success in this highly competitive environment depends on their ability to continually develop overall competences, to be learning organizations, and to become increasingly attuned to and adept at building strategic alliances amongst themselves and with their corporate customers. In these respects, they can make use of intermediary organizations (such as local supplier councils) to improve their competences and competitive edge.     

Retail supply chain management practices in India: A business intelligence perspective

The study surveyed executives of a major food retailer in India and explored their perspectives on supply chain management practices, competitive advantage and firm performance; to assess the importance accorded to application of business intelligence (BI) in their operations. Nine dimensions for SCM practices and four dimensions for competitive advantage are identified which are found to strongly relate to each other. The dimensions of SCM also strongly relate to firm performance. Though information sharing with suppliers and their inclusion in strategic decision-making emerge as key dimensions of SCM, their impact on competitive advantage is perceived to be insignificant by retailers.     

Addressing skills mismatch: Utilizing talent supply chain management to enhance collaboration between companies and talent suppliers

Talent management continues to be a topic of interest for employers who face significant challenges dealing with the uncertainty of the supply and demand of talent in organizations. In particular, employers often speak of a talent gap that exists between the skills possessed by applicants and the skills needed in organizations. Supply chain management (SCM), a field that focuses on matching product supply with consumer demand, offers several concepts and models that could apply to and help resolve issues related to the skills mismatch. In order to address this issue, we base our conceptual development on a theoretical framework used in SCM called the collaborative, planning, forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) approach. We use this approach to develop a comprehensive model of talent supply chain management (TSCM) that applies concepts related to the field of SCM to managing the development and flow of talent. We further go on to describe how organizations can utilize TSCM to enhance connections with talent suppliers to get their labor demands fulfilled with individuals who have the necessary skills for success.     

How policy is shaping the macro healthcare delivery supply chain: The emergence of a new tier of retail medical clinics

The healthcare industry continues to face substantial pressure to simultaneously improve costs and patient centricity. Much of the focus to date has concerned policy interventions capable of improving these performance measures for traditional healthcare providers, such as hospitals. But recently, nontraditional healthcare providers like Walmart Health and Amazon have made forays into the industry by establishing retail medical clinics (RMCs). These efforts constitute a redistribution of how services are organized across the macro healthcare delivery supply chain. While RMCs stand to bring innovative models of service delivery to patients, the policy environment can both enable and inhibit their involvement in the industry. We develop a framework that explains how structural and conduct regulations have historically influenced demand for and supply of healthcare services. We then describe how these regulatory factors can support nontraditional healthcare providers as they launch innovative service delivery models aimed at efficiency and customer centricity.