Gregory M. Magnan

The rhetoric and reality of supply chain integration

The terminology “supply chain management” is used frequently in today’s materials management environment and is generally associated with advanced information technologies, rapid and responsive logistics service, effective supplier management, and increasingly with customer relationship management. Most materials managers are familiar with the supply chain mantra of “suppliers’ supplier to customers’ customer”. However, experience shows that few companies are actually engaged in such extensive supply chain integration. To obtain an accurate view of SCM as it is currently practiced, the experience and insight of industry managers engaged in supply chain initiatives was sought via a multi‐method empirical approach involving both surveys and case study interviews. The findings reveal that supply chain practice seldom resembles the theoretical ideal. Three different levels of SCM implementation are identified and a series of limiting factors are discussed. Managers must recognize the tension that exists between SCM’s competitive potential and the inherent difficulty of collaboration.

Benefits, barriers, and bridges to effective supply chain management

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide academics and practitioners a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the benefits, barriers, and bridges to successful collaboration in strategic supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – A triangulation method consisting of a literature review, a cross‐functional mail survey, and 51 in‐depth case analyses was implemented. Senior managers from purchasing, manufacturing, and logistics were targeted in the mail survey. The break down by channel category interviews is as follows: 14 retailers, 13 finished goods assemblers, 12 first‐tier suppliers, three lower‐tier suppliers, and nine service providers. Findings – Customer satisfaction and service is perceived as more enduring than cost savings. All managers recognize technology, information, and measurement systems as major barriers to successful supply chain collaboration. However, the people issues – such as culture, trust, aversion to change, and willingness to collaborate – are more intractable. People are the key bridge to successful collaborative innovation and should therefore not be overlooked as companies invest in supply chain enablers such as technology, information, and measurement systems. Research limitations/implications – The average mail‐survey response rate was relatively low: 23.5 percent. The case study analyses were not consistent in frequency across channel functions. Although the majority of companies interviewed and surveyed were international, all surveys and interviews were managers based in the US. Practical implications – This study provides new insight into understanding the success and hindering factors of supply chain management. The extensive literature review, the cross‐channel analysis, and case studies provide academics and managers a macro picture of the goals, challenges, and strategies for implementing supply chain management. Originality/value – This paper uses triangulation methodology for examining key issues of supply chain management at multiple levels within the supply chain.

Information sharing and supply chain performance: the role of connectivity and willingness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how information technology (IT) is used to enhance supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approach – A large‐scale survey and semi‐structured interviews were used to collect industry data.Findings – Two distinct dimensions to information sharing – connectivity and willingness – are identified and analyzed. Both dimensions are found to impact operational performance and to be critical to the development of a real information sharing capability. However, many companies are found to have placed most of their emphasis on connectivity, often overlooking the willingness construct. As a result, information sharing seldom delivers on its promise to enable the creation of the cohesive supply chain team.Research limitations – Despite the extensive data collection, the research represents a snapshot of practice. Replication from a longitudinal perspective would help define how IT is evolving to enable supply chain management.Practical implications – A roadmap...

A Dynamic Collaboration Capability as a Source of Competitive Advantage

The resource-based view of the firm argues the essence of decision making is to determine how firm and supply chain resources can be configured to achieve inimitable advantage and superior performance. However, combining resources found among diverse members of a supply chain requires higher levels of coordination than exist at most companies. Manifest cross-functional and interorganizational conflict impedes the relational advantages of collaboration. This research employs a multimethod—survey and interview—approach to evaluate collaborations influence on operational and firm performance. Our findings show that collaboration, as a dynamic capability, mediates the conflict resulting from functional orientations, and improves performance. Specific structural enablers to enhance an organizations collaborative capability are identified and described, providing insight into how firms can exploit interfirm resources for competitive advantage.

Organizational commitment and governance for supply chain success

Purpose – To examine the nature and extent of commitment to supply chain collaboration. Also, to explore the state of supply chain governance structures.Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐method survey and in‐depth interview methodology was employed to gather data. Content analysis was then used to identify the types and extent of managerial support for supply chain initiatives.Findings – Four types of managerial support are needed to achieve the highest levels of supply chain success: top management support, broad‐based functional support, channel support, and infrastructural/governance support. None of the interview companies have put all four types of support in place. Leading‐edge governance relies on cross‐functional/inter‐organizational teams, executive governance councils, customer advisory boards, supplier advisory councils and a modified reporting structure that overseas all value‐added activities from product conceptualization to customer relationship management. Again, none of the interview ...

Supply chain information‐sharing: benchmarking a proven path

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the development and competitive influence of a supply chain (SC) information‐sharing capability over time.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected in 1999/2000 and 2005/2006. Case study interviews conducted in the same time periods are used to contextualize the survey results.Findings – The analysis shows that an overall increase in the level of investment in IT in conjunction with higher levels of willingness to share the information is needed to support SC competitiveness. Both connectivity and willingness are shown to contribute to performance improvements. Further, empirical evidence suggests that the greatest performance improvements occur when companies develop both dimensions of an information sharing capability.Originality/value – The paper uses a multi‐method, longitudinal methodology to evaluate the evolution of technology and behavioral dimensions of a SC information‐sharing capability and to document their influence on firm oper...

Benchmarking the viability of SCM for entrepreneurial business model design

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to benchmark the viability of collaborative supply chain (SC) business models for small businesses.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data was collected from 81 companies with 100 or fewer employees, 169 companies with 101‐500 employees, and 308 companies with more than 500 employees. To help contextualize the findings, eight in‐depth interviews with small firms were conducted.Findings – Benchmarking the viability of collaborative SC business models using a contingency, resource‐based‐view assessment paradigm reveals a perplexing paradox. Managers at small firms suggest that the majority of the benefits of SCM are within their reach. They also note that the barriers to implementation do not intimidate them. However, they also report that they are not actively pursuing SCM as a strategic weapon. Our research shows that the best way to avoid the cost squeeze and death spiral encountered by small business in todays global SC environment is to create the collaborative...

Why supply chain collaboration fails: the socio-structural view of resistance to relational strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to elaborate theory regarding the reasons why collaboration strategies fail. The relational view posits that supply chain integration can be a source of competitive advantage. Few firms, however, successfully co-create value to attain supernormal relational rents. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a quasi-longitudinal, multi-case interview methodology to explore the reasons why collaboration strategies fail to deliver intended results. The authors interviewed managers at 49 companies in Period 1 and managers at 57 companies in Period 2. In all, 15 companies participated in both rounds of interviews. Findings – This study builds and describes a taxonomy of relational resistors. The authors then explore how sociological and structural resistors reinforce each other to undermine collaborative behavior. Specifically, the interplay among resistors: obscures the true sources of resistance; exacerbates a sense of vulnerability to non-collaborative behavior that ...

Supply chain alliances and social dilemmas: bridging the barriers that impede collaboration

Strategic Supply Chain Management (SCM) creates and maintains collective gains through appropriate alliance relationships, which often require initial investments in an uncertain environment. The development of such relationships may be hindered because, as a form of strategic alliance, Supply Chain (SC) alliances are social dilemmas. This paper uses the social dilemma perspective and data gathered from mail survey and case study methodologies to report how strategic SC relationships navigate social dilemmas to collaboratively create and maintain collective gains.

Benchmarking manufacturing practice using the product life cycle

The dynamic nature of today’s global marketplace places a premium on a firm’s ability to anticipate and to respond to customer needs as well as changing competitive pressures. Within this environment, developing a successful manufacturing strategy can be critical to the firm’s long‐term competitive success. This paper looks at the potential for using the product life cycle (PLC) as a strategic anchor in the manufacturing strategy planning process. Results of an empirical study that investigated the fit of 44 manufacturing techniques across the PLC stage are presented. The implementation status and impact of the various manufacturing techniques is also considered.