The Effects of Strategic and Structural Supply Chain Orientation on Operational and Customer‐Focused Performance

Supply chain orientation (SCO), or the implementation of a supply chain management philosophy, consists of two distinct, yet interdependent elements, namely strategic SCO and structural SCO. Strategic SCO involves integrating an SCM philosophy into the firm's strategy development, while structural SCO encompasses operational‐level behaviors and actions that reflect such a philosophy. This study extends the research on SCO by developing hypotheses on the contingent effects of strategic SCO and structural SCO on a firm's operational and customer‐focused performance. Drawing on the strategy‐structure‐performance framework, the study proposes that strategic SCO and structural SCO positively affect different dimensions of performance and that structural SCO plays a mediating role in the relationship between strategic SCO and performance. These relationships are tested using primary survey data and archival data from 183 manufacturers in the Midwestern US. Results confirm that strategic SCO is associated with both operational performance and customer‐focused performance, but structural SCO is only related to operational performance. Structural SCO acts as a mediator in linking strategic SCO with operational performance and customer‐focused performance and mediation effects are strengthened at higher levels of environmental dynamism.     

博彩品种的适度供给与市场、政府约束

世界博彩业的供给种类有彩票、赛马、赌场三大类;供给规模具有全球性;供给约束包括资源约束、需求约束等.世界各国政府为了保持社会的控制能力和发展社会公益福利事业的双重需要,陆续采取了有条件的适度供给,大体按照彩票-赛马-赌场顺序开放并逐渐形成一套特殊的约束机制.博彩业发达国家和地区的约束力量因政府制度安排的渐趋完善而逐渐转为市场,而发展中国家的约束力量主要是在政府方面.     

论精益经营理念及其实践

精益经营(LeanOperation)理念是由日本丰田公司在20世纪70年代中期首先推行的,进而在80年代传到美国。JIT(just-in-time),即所谓零库存的物流管理,是精益经营理念的主要体现方式。本文对JIT的理论范畴从基本含义到实现条件,作了一定的阐述,从而引证了JIT理念在日本的实践所得到的三个基本点:消除浪费、全员涉入、不断提高。文章进一步列举了西方国家对JIT的成功实践,强调指出,提高经济效益重要渠道之一是减少成本,而减少成本必须消除浪费,JIT就是消除浪费的十分有效的方法。本文旨在倡导中国汽车行业应更好地借鉴精益经营理念和更广泛地应用JIT管理方式。     

基于货架空间成本共担的不同权力供应链均衡分析

针对产品需求受货架空间与零售价格共同影响的两级供应链,通过比较供应商主导、零售商主导和权力均等三种不同权力结构供应链均衡结果,分析了供应商与零售商共同承担货架空间成本对供应链定价、货架空间分配和利润的影响。研究结果表明:供应商与零售商共同承担货架空间成本会减少供应商主导供应链的整体利润,但会使零售商主导和权力均等供应链通过分配更多的货架空间增加产品销量,在一定范围内使得供应链整体利润得到提高。由于三种不同权力结构供应链均未达到整体最优,提出了基于货架成本共担的收入共享合同,并给出了供应商和零售商均能接受的分配方案。     

Systemic approach to supply chain management through the viable system model and the theory of constraints

In today’s environment, Supply Chain Management (SCM) takes a key role in business strategy. A major challenge is achieving high customer service level under a reasonable operating expense and investment. The traditional approach to SCM, based on local optimisation, is a proven cause of meaningful inefficiencies – e.g. the Bullwhip Effect – that obstruct the throughput. The systemic (holistic) approach, based on global optimisation, has been shown to perform significantly better. Nevertheless, it is not widely expanded, since the implementation of an efficient solution requires a suitable scheme. Under these circumstances, this paper proposes an integrative framework for supply chain collaboration aimed at increasing its efficiency. This is based on the combined application of the Beer’s Viable System Model (VSM) and the Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (TOC). VSM defines the systemic structure of the supply chain and orchestrates the collaboration, while TOC implements the systemic behaviour – i.e. integrate processes – and define performance measures. To support this proposal, we detail its application to the widely used Beer Game scenario. In addition, we discuss its implementation in real supply chains, highlighting the key points that must be considered.     

Supply chain optimisation and protocol environment (SCOPE) for rapid prototyping and analysis of complex supply chains

There is a strong need for modelling tools that allow decision makers to rapidly develop aggregate models of supply chains, including both material and information flow, that they can use to gain insights and assess alternative configurations. We present a prototype implementation of such a system and apply it to a simple supply chain for validation purposes, and to a real world case study from the consumer packaged goods industry.     

Performance measurement of supply chain management using the analytical hierarchy process

Performance measurement of supply chain management (SCM) is a rapidly growing multi-criteria decision-making problem owing to the large number of factors affecting decision-making. The right choice of performance metrics and measures is critical to the success and competitiveness of the firms in the era of globalisation. Recognising the multiple objective nature of the problem, this paper proposes the use of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology as aid in making SCM evaluation decisions. For pair-wise comparison in AHP, a survey methodology is used. The methodology presented can help firms to prioritise and formulate viable performance measurement strategies in the volatile and complex global decision environment from different balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives. A demonstration of the application of this methodology in a real life problem is presented.     

The construction and analysis of a consistent set of input–output tables for the Irish economy

Summary.  We analyse input–output tables to see what structural changes have occurred in the Irish economy over time. First we produce a consistent set of input–output tables by aligning classifications and deriving a sequence of supply tables. The resulting tables are then smoothed to make the underlying distributions symmetric. We then compare the smoothed tables by using biproportional adjustment. We identify and analyse structural change that has taken place in the Irish economy since 1975.     

Inventory control for the supply chain: An adaptive control approach based on the identification of the lead-time

In this paper, an Internal Model Control (IMC) scheme is incorporated in production inventory control systems in a complete supply chain. This control scheme presents a good target inventory tracking under the perfect knowledge of the system. Furthermore, the inventory tracking and load disturbance rejection control problems can be tackled separately. However, the closed-loop performance of the IMC scheme may be degraded due to a mismatch between the modelled and actual delay or to the fact that delays may be time-varying. Thus, the IMC control scheme is enhanced in this work with a novel method for the online identification of lead times based on a multimodel scheme. In this way, all benefits of the IMC scheme can be exploited. A detailed discussion of the proposed production inventory system is provided including a stability and performance analysis as well as the identification capabilities of the algorithm. Several simulation examples illustrate the efficiency of the approach.