Ana Cristina Barros

Resource-efficient supply chains: a research framework, literature review and research agenda

Purpose – The study aims to define a research agenda for creating resource-efficient supply chains (RESCs) by identifying and analysing their key characteristics as well as future research opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – We follow a systematic review method to analyse the literature and to understand RESC, taking a substantive theory approach. Our approach is grounded in a specific domain, the agri-food sector, because it is an intensive user of an extensive range of resources. Findings – The review shows that works of literature has looked at the use of resources primarily from the environmental impact perspective. There is a need to explore whether or not and how logistics/supply chain decisions will affect the overall configuration of future food supply chains in an era of resource scarcity and depletion and what the trade-offs will be. Research limitations/implications – The paper proposes an agenda for future research in the area of RESC. The framework proposed along with the key charact...

Selection of tailored practices for supply chain management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what hinders businesses to achieve superior supply chain performance and how this knowledge may be used in the process of selection of tailored practices for supply chain management (SCM).Design/methodology/approach – Literature review and secondary case studies were used to identify hinders of superior supply chain performance. A method for the selection of tailored practices for SCM is developed. Case study research is used to validate the value of the developed method for practice and research.Findings – This research identifies detrimental phenomena that are observed in the management of supply chains: waste, uncertainty, vulnerability, congestion, bullwhip, diseconomies of scale and self‐interest. It develops and illustrates a method for the selection of tailored SCM practices.Research limitations/implications – This research did not verify the completeness of the list of phenomena identified. The implementation of the selected practices was not i...

Business Model Development for Virtual Enterprises

Virtual Enterprise is one form of collaborative networks that allows partners to exploit emerging business opportunities in a flexible way. Moreover, in the competitive landscape of the twenty-first century, the business model innovation has become increasingly a key element for companies’ positioning in the market. Consequently, this paper aims at proposing a set of business model elements to be used by a virtual enterprise in order to explore a new business opportunity for its network. Literature review is used to identify the business model elements and evidence from a pilot case study confirms that these elements are considered in practice.

Intentional Creation of Innovation Networks: An Exploratory Multi-case Study from German Industry

Due to its promising effects on the economic development, innovation networks have been recognized as an important instrument for the industrialization of regions and nations. Therefore, the creation of innovation networks has been fostered by national and regional innovation systems, as several EU nations are launching clustering and networking incentive programs. For example, the German Government initiated in 2002 an incentive program to foster the creation of innovation networks between SMEs, large enterprises, and research institutes. This research aims at identifying different strategies used in practice for the intentional creation of innovation networks by means of a multi-case study on a German enterprise that adhered to the German Government incentive in order to create nine networks during the past three years. Through this exploratory study, we were able to identify three distinctive strategies used by the network managers for the intentional creation of innovation networks: Cooperation Project, Partner Alignment, and Activity Alignment.

RFID Implementation in the Footwear Supply Chain: From Production Line to Retail Store and Back

Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is one of the most promising technologies in recent years with the potential to radically improve the performance of supply chains, its adoption has been slower than anticipated in supply chain applications. This fact, led researchers to investigate the impediments and challenges of RFID implementations, as well as its critical success factors. Consequently, there is a need to understand how these challenges are being addressed during the implementation of RFID systems by organizations along the supply chain. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating, by means of action research, and the solutions implemented in a footwear supply chain. The results of the study present the approaches developed to address six RFID implementation challenges, namely: forming the implementation team, selecting the RFID technology, and defining the RFID system infrastructure, overcoming technical problems, redesigning supply chain processes, integrating the RFID system with existent information systems, and measuring the RFID implementation performance.

An Information Management Perspective of Supplier Selection Process in Manufacturing Networks

The past decades have been characterized by an increasing interest of companies in international trade and significant foreign direct investments, which led to a shift from localized manufacturing companies to global manufacturing networks. The main goal of this research is to analyze the management of information within the process of supplier selection in the context of manufacturing networks. The adoption of field study methodology allows understanding how the supplier selection process is carried out in Multinational Companies (MNCs) in different manufacturing sectors. In particular, this paper aims at identifying the information that mother company and their subsidiary companies share during the supplier selection process, and how they access to this information.

Knowledge Sharing in Industrial Associations and Science and Technology Parks

Knowledge management practices are used in collaborative networks promoting innovation in order to share critical knowledge among network members towards improving organizational results. This paper proposes to explore the channels and practices for knowledge sharing in collaborative networks, by means of an exploratory multiple case study carried out in two types of collaborative networks: (i) industrial associations; and (ii) science and technology parks. Empirical evidence has been collected from interviews with managers of the collaborative networks and of organizations participating in the collaborative networks. The contribution of this paper to the knowledge management literature is twofold: (i) it provides a characterization of the channels and technology used for knowledge sharing in collaborative networks based on empirical evidence and (ii) it describes knowledge sharing practices used among organizations to foster new forms of connectivity between groups and individuals.

Using an Information Management Model as a Roadmap for Information Systems Implementation in Supply Networks

In the era of information overflow, the effective implementation of models for managing multiple information streams may contribute to organizations’ decision-making capabilities. Even though literature has proposed several information management models, little has been described about their implementation in real-world settings. This paper presents a case study on the usage of an information management model in the implementation of a collaborative system in a supply network. The case application analysis reinforces the value of using information management models to account for cultural aspects in the mapping of information needs and in the analysis of multiple stakeholders’ requirements.

Conceptual Reference Model for Virtual Factory: Potentials for Collaborative Business

The concept of combining the power of several independent factories to achieve complex manufacturing processes as so-called virtual manufacturing enterprises is not new and has been addressed by several research projects in recent years. However, there is still a need for adequate methodological support and tools for modelling, structuring and controlling of the next generation of manufacturing systems, such as the virtual factory. In this research, a conceptual virtual factory reference model is presented with the goal to provide companies with general guidelines to manage and monitor the business processes that are needed to create, execute, and dissolve a virtual factory. The virtual factory reference model was built taking into account industrial’s requirements and by reviewing the literature in several relevant fields of research such as collaborative networks, supply networks, manufacturing networks, supply chain management, and business processes. Afterwards, it has been validated through its application to future virtual factories of three different industrial sectors: machinery, energy, and semiconductor.