Damien Power

Supply chain management integration and implementation: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review a sample of the literature relating to the integration and implementation of supply chain management practices from a strategic viewpoint.Design/methodology/approach – The literature is examined from three perspectives. First, supply chain integration covers issues relating to integration of core processes across organizational boundaries through improved communication, partnerships, alliances and cooperation. Second, strategy and planning examines supply chain management as a strategic matter for trading partners, along with factors relating to the amount of planning required. Third, implementation issues concern factors critical for successful implementation, as well as issues specific to inter and intra‐organizational aspects of supply chain initiatives are contained in this sub‐groupFindings – An important emergent theme from the literature is the importance of taking a holistic view, and the systemic nature of interactions between the participants. At ...

Use the supply relationship to develop lean and green suppliers

Purpose – To investigate the relationship between a supplier and firms level of environmental management activity and the structure of the customer‐supplier manufacturing relationship.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a conceptual framework and looks at the literature in order to investigate this relationship. Three main concepts (supply relationship, lean manufacturing, and environmental management practices) and their relationship to one another are described and the discussion concludes with major hypotheses for further research in this area.Findings – A major literature review reveals that efforts to improve or influence a suppliers environmental management practice raises critical issues of transaction costs and efficacy of approach for the buyer. The review allowed development of a model for approaching issues of supplier environmental performance through lean supply.Originality/value – The environmental performance of suppliers to the supply function can prove to be a costly endea...

The longitudinal effects of the ISO 9000 certification process on business performance

Abstract This paper develops and tests several hypotheses relating to ISO 9000 quality system certification process using data collected in a cross-sectional study undertaken in Australia. Multivariate analysis is used to analyze the quantitative data and test the hypotheses. Our findings show that there is a significant and positive relationship between the manager’s motives for adopting ISO 9000 certification and business performance. Those organizations that pursue certification willingly and positively across a broad spread of objectives are more likely to report improved organizational performance. The individual element found to contribute most to business performance was customer focus. The principal motivation to pursue ISO 9000 certification was found to come from customer pressure. Auditing style was found to have an insignificant (positive or negative) effect on business performance. The ability of the new ISO 9001-2000 standard to capture and meet the conformance and performance requirements of the organization as part of a continuous improvement strategy will be a prime determinant of the extent to which managers embrace or reject ISO 9000 certification in the 21st century.

Critical success factors in agile supply chain management ‐ An empirical study

This paper analyses results from a survey of 962 Australian manufacturing companies in order to identify some of the factors critical for successful agile organizations in managing their supply chains. Analysis of the survey results provided some interesting insights into factors differentiating “more agile” organizations from “less agile” organizations. “More agile” companies from this study can be characterized as more customer focused, and applying a combination of “soft” and “hard” methodologies in order to meet changing customer requirements. They also see the involvement of suppliers in this process as being crucial to their ability to attain high levels of customer satisfaction. The “less agile” group, on the other hand, can be characterized as more internally focused with a bias toward internal operational outcomes. They saw no link between any of the independent variables and innovation, and appear to see technology as more closely linked to the promotion of these operational outcomes than to customer satisfaction. The role of suppliers for this group is to support productivity and process improvement rather than to promote customer satisfaction.

The nature and effectiveness of collaboration between firms, their customers and suppliers: a supply chain perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a model of collaboration based on the notion of firms having strong working relationships with their suppliers and customers. Whilst issues associated with collaborative relationships between firms and their trading partners are a key theme currently being addressed in the supply chain management literature, there appears to be a lack of clear guidelines as to how such capability can be developed in a practical sense.Design/methodology/approach – Data from 418 Australian manufacturing plants are used to test the model. Two key constructs, customer relationship and supplier involvement, are developed. For predictive validity purposes, these constructs are regressed against firm performance construct.Findings – Results of structural equation modeling analysis show, inter alia, that there is some support for this collaboration model, with both collaboration‐based constructs influencing performance.Originality/value – The results provide an insight into ho...

Fibrinogen Concentration and Risk of Ischemic Stroke and Acute Coronary Events in 5113 Patients With Transient Ischemic Attack and Minor Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose— Fibrinogen is an independent risk factor for coronary events in population-based studies and in patients with coronary heart disease, but there is uncertainty about prediction of stroke, particularly in secondary prevention. Methods— We studied unpublished data from 3 prospective studies of patients with recent transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor ischemic stroke: the United Kingdom TIA Aspirin (UK-TIA) trial (n=1860); the Dutch TIA trial (n=2960); and the Oxford TIA Study (n=293). By separate and pooled analysis, we used Cox models to determine the relationship between fibrinogen and risk of ischemic stroke and other vascular events during 23 272 patient-years of follow-up and adjusted for other risk factors. Results— There was no significant heterogeneity in fibrinogen risk associations between studies. Fibrinogen predicted subsequent ischemic stroke, with a pooled hazard ratio (HR) for values above the median of 1.34 (95% CI, 1.13 to 1.60; P= 0.001). The association tended to be stronger in patients with nonlacunar (HR=1.42; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.78; P= 0.002) than lacunar syndromes (HR=1.09; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.49; P= 0.58), but was not significantly so (P= 0.18). There was no association with hemorrhagic stroke (adjusted HR=1.09; 95% CI, 0.55 to 2.17; P= 0.81). Fibrinogen predicted acute coronary events (adjusted HR=1.42; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.70; P< 0.001) and all ischemic vascular events (adjusted HR=1.31; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.49; P< 0.001), but not nonvascular death (adjusted HR=1.24; 95% CI, 0.90 to 1.70; P= 0.19). Conclusions— In patients with a previous TIA or ischemic stroke, risks of recurrent ischemic stroke and acute coronary events increase linearly with fibrinogen levels, but the relationships are weaker than in some previous population-based studies.

Increasing ISO 9000 certification benefits: a continuous improvement approach

Purpose – To test the strength of the relationship between motivation for seeking ISO 9000 certification, quality culture, management responsibility, and the perceived benefits derived from ISO 9000 certification.Design/methodology/approach – The research involved the development and application of a survey instrument applied to a sample of 1500 ISO 9000 certified organisations. The response rate was 27 per cent (400 responses). The data was analysed using SPSS for Windows, multivariate functions.Findings – Amongst the major findings is organisations that seek ISO 9000 certification with a proactive approach driven by a continuous improvement strategy are more likely to derive significant business benefits as a result. We also found that organisations can effectively use ISO certification as a means of promoting and facilitating a quality culture, where the quality auditor is an important player in the process.Originality/value – The paper reinforces the long held anecdotal view that the development of a ...

An empirical investigation of the relationship between product nature and supply chain strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between product nature and supply chain strategy, by using Fishers model as the framework.Design/methodology/approach – The research collected quantitative data by conducting a questionnaire‐based survey, with a total of 119 respondent organisations (of which 107 were usable), at an adjusted response rate of 8 per cent. The survey results provide the basis for the testing of Fishers model relating product characteristics to supply chain strategy.Findings – The results indicate that the association between product nature and supply chain strategy as articulated in Fishers model is not significant. A hybrid strategy (pursuing both efficiency and responsiveness) is found to be employed by most organisations irrespective of the nature of the primary product they supply.Research limitations/implications – The analysis is based on survey responses gathered within the Australian manufacturing industry. The findings of the study...

Adding value through outsourcing: Contribution of 3PL services to customer performance

– The aim of this research is to understand how customers perceive their logistics service providers in terms of achieving the claimed benefits of outsourcing. This paper is based on research focusing on the state of the 3PL (Third Party Logistics) industry in Australia., – A set of typical business outcomes to which logistics outsourcing is expected to contribute were identified. Customers were asked to rate the contribution of their principal 3PL to these performance indicators. We used competitive priorities of 3PLs, the services provided by them and technologies used by them as predictors and performed regression analysis for each of these., – The results indicate that customers of 3PLs place significant value on the services they provide, technologies they use and objectives that transcend just low cost. The implication of this final finding shows that customers see a focus on service based solutions as providing a set of benefits beyond mere cost control., – The main limitation of this paper is that it is confined to Australia. So, any extensions of the findings to other regions of the world should be done with caution., – The practical implication of the study is that it provides support for the potential for an effective set of arrangements with 3PLs to help organizations to move out of the world of pure cost based competition, and into one where they could compete on multiple dimensions., – This study provides evidence from customers of logistics service providers indicating that 3PLs provide them with a means for competing through greater flexibility, at the same time as enabling better‐cost management. In this sense, customers see 3PLs as providing them with a potential pathway to more innovative business models.

Implementation and usage of electronic commerce in managing the supply chain

Changing competitive environments and technological innovation have been increasingly driving organizations to look to deriving competitive advantage through the management of their total supply chain. Ten case studies have been conducted in organizations using the European Article Numbering (EAN) system for the application of business‐to‐business e‐commerce. The evidence from these indicates that those organizations that implement this system for electronic commerce with trading partners from a “strategic” stance can reap substantial benefits. It is also apparent that adoption of this system has at times been slow, and essentially driven by trading partners. There are, however, barriers to implementation and difficult organizational issues that need to be addressed in order to ensure these potential benefits are realised. It is also apparent that these barriers have been perceived to be strong in the past. The point of convergence for all case companies is in their preparedness to adopt and apply new technologies such as the Internet, and their commonly held view that these technologies will become increasingly important enablers of business‐to‐business e‐commerce in the near future.