航运供应链上的品牌价值、公平关切与契约协调

航运供应链上的船公司提高企业品牌价值需要付出大量的投资成本,因此将会更加关注供应链上利润分配的公平。本文以单个船公司和单个货代公司构成的两级航运供应链为研究对象,运用博弈论分析船公司的公平关切行为和品牌投入意愿对航运供应链上各方利润的影响,探讨决策者非理性条件下航运供应链的合作模式和协调机制。研究表明:1)船公司的公平关切提高了其在供应链上利润分配占比,但降低了整个航运供应链的利润和效率;2)随着品牌投入意愿的提高,船公司的公平关切对航运供应链上各方决策的负作用就越明显;3)"收益共享成本共担"式契约能够消除公平关切的负作用,达到航运供应链纵向联盟的最优收益和整体效率。     

RFID technology for increasing visibility in ETO supply chains: a case study

This paper presents the application of an innovative system for increasing visibility along an Engineer-To-Order supply chain. The system has been applied in a leading Italian company that manufactures vessels and tube heat exchangers. By means of this method, the company shares information about its shop floor activities with other actors in the supply chain, i.e. clients and suppliers. The system elements are as follows: Radio-frequency identification transponders (to identify either components, operators, tooling machines (e.g. welding machines) or production phases), a Wi-Fi network (to communicate data) and a web-based application that is accessible by the company’s clients. This paper shows the methodology that is used to define the system’s architecture and the technical solutions adopted. Benefits in terms of reduction in costs for monitoring and control have been observed. Moreover, customers perceived the increased visibility of the production process to be a valuable service.     

Improving coordination in an engineer-to-order supply chain using a soft systems approach

An empirical study in the ship-building sector has been undertaken to understand the problems associated with the coordination of engineer-to-order (ETO) supply chains and to reveal insights into opportunities for improvements based on the application of soft systems methodology. A number of alternatives to improve coordination of supply chain have been proposed based on the comparison between a soft systems model and actual practice. These alternatives were summarised into seven general principles that help define the role of individual companies in coordinating ETO supply chains, highlighting the company’s structures and interdependencies that lead to project tardiness. Due to the specific nature of a project which changes according to the context, it is difficult to generalise the soft systems model. Nevertheless, future research can further explore some of the principles proposed to deal with coordination problems experienced in other types of ETO project operations, such as construction and oil and gas.     

Sustainable planning strategies in supply chain systems: proposal and applications with a real case study in fashion

Abstract

Pollution generated by the fashion industry drives people to pay attention to fashion companies’ sustainability practice. This increase in attention has induced vast literature studying the related area. Since the fashion apparel supply chain is complicated which involves a lot of interrelated steps and decisions, how fashion companies can identify the demand in sustainable fashion and make the right decision in resource allocation throughout the supply chain becomes a critical issue. As a result, this paper examines how a fashion company can develop a successful sustainable planning strategy throughout the sustainable fashion supply chain. The sustainability attributes and the sustainable planning strategy mechanism are also discussed. Based on the institutional theory and resource-based theory, we first analyse the external pressure and internal motivations for companies to adopt a sustainable planning strategy in the fashion supply chain. We then identify the core stakeholders related to the sustainable planning strategy and propose how the decision-making theory can help develop the sustainable supply chain management mechanism. Next, we establish a sustainable planning strategy framework. Finally, via a case study with public data on the fashion giant brand Nike, we explore the application of our proposed sustainable planning strategy framework. The finding suggests that the strategic planning of fashion companies on sustainability can improve the performance of the stakeholders throughout the whole sustainable fashion supply chain.     

考虑双重努力因素的制造商和零售商投资机制设计

以往研究主要集中在制造商的质量提高和零售商的销售努力投资。而本文在需求依赖于质量努力和销售努力的前提下,制造商和零售商遵循Stackelberg博弈情形,研究不同供应链成员承担质量努力和销售努力成本对产品定价和利润的影响。商业实践表明,制造商和零售商都有动机对质量努力和销售努力进行投资,由此制定三种投资决策模式：制造商和零售商分别投资、仅制造商投资和仅零售商投资质量努力和销售努力。研究结果表明,零售价格、订购量、质量努力和销售努力水平均随着质量和销售努力成本的增大而递减;制造商更愿意让零售商投资质量努力和销售努力,而零售商可能不愿意让制造商进行投资;在零售商独立投资的情形下,供应链成员的利润以及质量努力和销售努力水平大于其他情形。     

基于经典扎根理论的虚拟企业供应链形成机理研究

管理学术界对实体企业的供应链研究已形成较系统的知识体系,而与虚拟企业有关的供应链研究才刚刚起步。企业间动态联合后会对供应链产生不同于企业单兵作战时的影响,这种影响广泛存在于企业实践中却较少被理论界所研究。因此,本文选择典型的虚拟企业为案例,运用经典扎根理论研究方法并采用认知地图工具,对虚拟企业供应链的动态变化进行了深入研究。研究发现,处于不同发展阶段的虚拟企业供应链形成过程有明显不同,该过程具有阶段性特征,并共同呈现虚拟企业供应链形成的内在机理。另外,在品牌影响力和供应链控制力的作用下,虚拟企业供应链的形式会产生由简入繁的变化,同时,其整体构型也出现了从“积木”组件向“积木”模型的蜕变,本文构建的“积木”模型形象地表达了上述机理。本文还发现,实体企业演化为虚拟企业的速度是影响虚拟企业供应链结构复杂程度的关键因素,两者呈现出相互关联的特性,可通过函数图形来表征。本文的研究弥补了虚拟企业供应链研究的不足,为更加深入研究相关问题奠定了理论基础。     

Improving the efficiency of IT help-desk service by Six Sigma management methodology (DMAIC) – a case study of C company

Six Sigma concept depicts a ‘Triangle Relationship’ that integrates three attributes such as customer quality, science manners and team work. By employing this concept with the required survey and data collection to carry out the continuous improvement, a company can truly take advantage of the minimum set of operational variables and the lowest cost procedures, and hence, result in an increasing competitive value for/to the company. This research is conducted based on the Six Sigma methodology, DMAIC (definition, measurement, analysis, improvement and control) principle, and it deals with project-related issues to improve the efficiency of information technology (IT) help-desk service through an eHelp-desk system. It is the authors’ belief that the use of eHelp-desk system can help case company to improve its service quality and efficiency. In addition, managerial implications and research limitations are discussed at the end of this article.     

Modelling critical success factors for sustainability initiatives in supply chains in Indian context using Grey-DEMATEL

Sustainability assists organisations to enhance ecological, financial and societal performances of their entire supply chains. The present paper uncovers the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for effective adoption of sustainability initiatives in the supply chain in Indian context. Fifteen CSFs for the successful adoption of sustainability initiatives were identified and finalised firstly from the literature and followed by expert inputs. A methodology based on Grey-Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was used to envisage the organisation of complex causal relationships between the recognised CSFs. ‘Government Legalisation’ has been found to be the most influential factor and ‘Community Welfare and Development’ is most easily influenced factor. A multiple case example of three automotive companies operating in India is conducted. To the end, some important policy measures and recommendations are proposed to help practicing managers and government bodies to adopt and effectively manage the concepts of sustainability oriented supply chains in India.     

Development and validation of a lean supply chain management measurement instrument

It is widely argued that to be competitive, a company not only needs to focus on internal aspects but on the entire supply chain. Lean supply chain management has become a means of enhancing competitiveness by improving efficiency and increasing flexibility at all stages of the supply chain. This research develops and validates a lean supply chain management measurement instrument. A two-phase approach is used for scale development and refinement. In the first phase, a literature review is conducted to identify definitions of lean supply chain management and agile supply chain management and their corresponding measurement items. In the second phase, the lean supply chain management measurement instrument is validated using survey data based on scales developed in the first phase by 59 scholars with experience in lean management and/or supply chain management. The results provide a structured and comprehensive measure of lean supply chain management indicating that there are two differentiated dimensions in the measurement instrument: one related to the operational aspects of lean supply chain strategy implementation and the second related to lean supply chain planning.     

Enhancing competitive advantage by constructing supply chains to achieve superior performance

This paper studies the impact of configuring supply chain design strategies on performance using real-world example of aligning different supply chain practices to supply chain strategies to achieve competitive advantage. The paper first carries out a synthesis of literature categorising the supply chain strategies, practices and linking them to contexts and competitive advantage. The paper then uses a case study methodology to explore the process of adjusting supply chain strategies and aligned practices to gain competitive advantage in different contexts. The paper reports two case examples of a leaf tobacco company and a mosquito coil manufacturer from India facing different demand characteristics and implementing different supply chain strategies for enhancing performance objectives. Both companies faced a change in their business environment and competitive priorities. In both the examples, companies used a combination of practices for implementing appropriate supply chain strategies to gain competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the academic discipline of supply chain management through developing theory showing the transition of supply chain strategies for achieving superior performance in different business environments. The paper has wide managerial implications by reporting real-life implementation of different supply chain strategies thus bridging the practice-theory gap.     

内外部碳配额交易路径下供应链减排决策研究

供应链内外部碳配额交易是碳配额政策下供应链协调碳配额的重要途径,对供应链成员企业碳减排决策产生重要影响。本文以单供应商和单制造商组成的二级供应链为研究对象,在完善的碳配额交易市场情况下,通过构建供应链外部碳交易路径和内外部碳配额交易路径共存的博弈模型,分析了碳配额政策下内外部碳配额交易条件、企业减排策略和利润影响因素。研究结果表明,在外部碳交易路径下,供应链上、下游企业的减排决策相互影响,且当单位碳排放量和碳减排成本系数相等时,上游企业碳减排率是下游企业的两倍;同时进行内外部碳配额交易能降低中间产品批发价格,提高供应链成员企业碳减排率、增加企业利润。算例验证了结论的有效性,并发现企业碳配额和内部碳交易价格在一定区间内才能使内部碳交易达成,此时制造商会分担供应商的碳减排费用。     

Information models: a precursor to software interoperability

This paper aims at investigating a new methodology to evaluate supply chain integration by applying the fuzzy sets theory. Fuzzy sets proved successful in environments similar to supply chain management in that they help to formalise human reasoning patterns and to develop high-performance expert systems in contexts where data are affected by uncertainty and/or vagueness: e.g. fuzzy sets have been already used in inventory planning, to improve organisational effectiveness, to perform suppliers’ evaluation etc. In particular, the study presented here deals with the ways to measure and achieve supply chain integration and it mainly focuses on the external integration (i.e. on the ability to leverage partnerships within the chain), clustered in two areas, i.e. the network design and the management policies. The new methodology has been applied to a case study which consists of a 3-stage supply chain belonging to the beauty and personal care industry. Results of the case-study indicate that the companies still have important edges for improvement towards a complete integration of their supply processes. In particular, the considered supply chain should prioritise the integration of technology-driven investments and in the distribution area.     

Modeling Supply Chain Dynamics: A Multiagent Approach*

A global economy and increase in customer expectations in terms of cost and services have put a premium on effective supply chain reengineering. It is essential to perform risk-benefit analysis of reengineering alternatives before making a final decision. Simulation provides an effective pragmatic approach to detailed analysis and evaluation of supply chain design and management alternatives. However, the utility of this methodology is hampered by the time and effort required to develop models with sufficient fidelity to the actual supply chain of interest. In this paper, we describe a supply chain modeling framework designed to overcome this difficulty. Using our approach, supply chain models are composed from software components that represent types of supply chain agents (e.g., retailers, manufacturers, transporters), their constituent control elements (e.g., inventory policy), and their interaction protocols (e.g., message types). The underlying library of supply chain modeling components has been derived from analysis of several different supply chains. It provides a reusable base of domain-specific primitives that enables rapid development of customized decision support tools.     

A contingency view on the impact of supplier development on design and conformance quality performance

This study extends contingency theory’s account of organisational size and culture by exploring the relationship between supplier development and internal quality performance. Drawing on supplier development research, the study aims to examine the moderating impact of organisational size and culture on the relationship between supplier development and design and conformance quality dimensions. Using survey data of 518 UK manufacturing organisations, we found that larger organisations with greater access to resources and a strong supply chain orientation culture tend to place the most weight on supplier development programmes which in turn yield higher internal quality performance. These findings contribute to ‘Operations Management Practice Contingency Research (OM PCR)’ and will raise awareness among operations managers of their future sourcing decisions.     

两级供应链产品质量控制契约模型分析

基于博弈论和委托代理理论,研究在两级供应链中如何进行质量控制契约设计的问题。建立生产商和购买商的期望收益函数模型,生产商对其生产过程投资水平进行决策并确定其产品质量预防水平;购买商进行质量评价决策并确定其产品质量检验水平。生产商存在降低其生产过程投资水平的道德风险问题,在生产过程中将"削减投资",购买商为激励生产商提高其生产过程投资水平将支付"信息租金"的成本。购买商在进行产品质量检验决策时,存在夸大产品质量缺陷率的道德风险问题,在产品质量检验过程中将"过度检验"。运用最优化原理,求解生产商的最优生产过程投资水平、产品质量预防水平和价格折扣额与购买商的最优质量检验水平和外部损失分摊比例,并进行了算例分析,结果表明:当生产商提高其生产过程投资水平时,其质量预防水平将显著增加,购买商的质量检验水平将显著下降;随着购买商质量检验水平的提高,生产商所提供的价格折扣额先增大后减少,生产商所承担的外部损失分摊比例将会下降,其期望收益增加,购买商的期望收益将会减少,供应链联合期望收益将呈现"倒U"型,求解了期望收益的最大值及各契约参数的值,结果证明所提出的质量控制契约模型是可行的。     

A network-based approach to integrated supply chain design

The inherent complexity of supply chains, combined with their economic importance, has prompted research in supply chain management. While there has been a significant amount of work reported in modelling supply chains, the effectiveness of these models in addressing the complex area of supply chain management is questionable. What is giving added urgency to the need for research in this area are the recent developments in communications that offer the promise of connecting suppliers, assemblers and customers in a seamless network of information that can form integrated supply chain management. This paper aims to address the deficiency in modelling by proposing a methodology that models the integrated supply chain as an abstracted network, called a Trans-Net. The Trans-Net approach offers three main potential advantages. First, the multiple participants in a supply chain can be modelled without undue complexity. Second, it is an approach that allows users to examine the interactions between different considerations so that important attributes such as cost and lead-time can be readily calculated and bottleneck areas identified. Third, it applies a mathematical formalism to the problem, with the potential of being relatively straightforward to computerize.     

O2O模式下考虑消费者参考效应和成员互惠利他的产品——服务供应链微分博弈

成员的互惠利他行为是影响企业决策的重要行为因素,消费者的质量和服务水平参考效应也是影响消费者购买决策的重要行为因素,本文将三者纳入到一个制造商和一个O2O销售模式的零售商构成的产品-服务供应链中,同时考虑运作模式的内在动态性,构建了制造商和零售商间的微分博弈模型。借助贝尔曼连续型动态规划理论,分析了分散、集中、互惠利他三种决策模式下的制造商质量水平策略、零售商服务水平策略以及供应链系统绩效,并对其进行了对比分析。研究表明:相比于分散决策模式,互惠利他行为有助于成员制定更高的质量和服务水平,提高品牌商誉,获得更大效用。数值算例验证了所得结论,并进行了消费者质量和服务水平参考效应、渠道偏好以及成员互惠利他行为对供应链绩效影响的敏感性分析。算例结果表明:1)消费者的参考效应使消费者产生“锚定心理”,导致制造商降低质量水平,零售商降低服务水平,也损害了产品-服务供应链的绩效。消费者的渠道偏好对供应链成员策略和绩效有着重要影响;2)零售商应鼓励消费者进行线上购买产品,并以线下渠道的服务作为销售辅助措施,满足消费者的体验效用;3)成员的互惠利他行为作为一种正向社会偏好能够对分散决策模型下的供应链绩效进行帕累托改进,并且会获得额外的社会福利;4)当且仅当制造商和零售商具有纯利他行为偏好,即具有最低回报程度和最高利他程度时,供应链的总利润能够达到集中决策情形。     

Sustainable supply chain network design: A case of the wine industry in Australia

This paper comes at a time when many companies and people are increasingly facing various global problems linked to sustainability challenges, and when the literature is still scarce on research incorporating all three dimensions of sustainability in supply chain analytical models. The paper conducts a case-based modeling study to address this gap in the area of supply chain network design. We investigate the wine supply chain and propose a generic model for sustainable wine supply chain network design encompassing economic, environmental and social objectives. The case company is a real large-sized wine company located in Australia, for which a customized model is provided. Both models are formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer program and solved using the augmented ϵ-constraint method by CPLEX. Social implications of the feasible scenarios are examined through introducing social impact coefficients. Non-dominated solutions are obtained and some balanced scenarios are proposed. The results show trade-offs between the objectives, yet more interestingly demonstrate how large is the gap between the existing supply chain configuration and the proposed scenarios in terms of supply chain cost and emissions.     

供应链中的信息共享激励:动态模型

信息共享对促进整个供应链的绩效极为关键,但是供应链中的成员缺乏进行信息共享的激励。本文以一个两阶段的多任务委托-代理模型来研究供应链中的核心企业对其供应商进行供应活动和信息共享活动的最优激励问题,并用它来解释供应链中合作伙伴关系的持续改善过程。结果表明:供应商努力成本的边际替代率在信息共享以及正常供应活动的激励中起着关键性的作用。