Joe Sanderson

Supply chains, markets and power : mapping buyer and supplier power regimes

Part I: Power in Supply Chains and Markets Part II: Power Regimes in Supply and Value Chains Part III: A Research Agenda for Analysing Business Power

Managing appropriately in power regimes: relationship and performance management in 12 supply chain cases

This paper reports the findings of a two‐year EPSRC funded research project into relationship and performance strategies in power regimes. The findings from 12 very different industrial and service sector cases studies demonstrate that there is a correlation between the ability to improve the performance of suppliers and the power circumstances that exist between the buyers and suppliers. Buyers appear to be able to achieve improved performance from suppliers in situations of buyer dominance or interdependence. The research also demonstrates that whatever the objective power circumstance managers often subjectively misperceive the appropriate sourcing choices available to them. As a result business relationships can be aligned, but they are often misaligned. Furthermore, misaligned relationships may be “remediable” but they may not.

The challenges of supply strategy selection in a project environment: evidence from UK naval shipbuilding

Purpose – There is a view that firms should decide between a lean or agile approach to supply management primarily on the basis of whether their product offering is “functional” (predictable demand, low variety and a long life cycle) or “innovative” (unpredictable demand, high variety and a short life cycle). This paper aims to present and test the proposition that this dichotomy is less useful in complex, one‐off project environments, such as shipbuilding or construction, because projects typically require the assembly of many different, largely functional, products in a unique or innovative configuration.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports a case study focusing on one of the supply chains serving a major UK shipyard. The case study data were gathered by means of semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with key personnel (procurement, sales, production, materials management and engineering/design) from each company within the defined supply chain.Findings – The case study reveals that the des...

Opportunity and constraint in business‐to‐business relationships: insights from strategic choice and zones of manoeuvre

This paper has two main objectives. The first is to discuss a case study analysis of a supply network in the UK naval shipbuilding sector. The case study is designed to provide an empirical exploration of the core theoretical propositions contained in the power regimes perspective. This perspective proposes that dyadic power structures matter for an understanding of opportunity and constraint in business‐to‐business relationship management. The second objective is to discuss how this conceptualization of opportunity and constraint might be extended and made richer by a focus on strategic choice and zones of manoeuvre. Some of the core organization theory literature is reviewed and possible analytical linkages to the power regimes perspective are identified.

Passing value to customers: on the power of regulation in the industrial electricity supply chain

Provides both a descriptive and an analytical understanding of the supply chain for industrial electricity. It explains which actors in the chain have power and how this impacts upon the process of value appropriation. There are three main elements. The first is a descriptive mapping of the supply chain based on key functional stages, resources and resource ownership. The second is a descriptive mapping of the corresponding value chain based on the revenues and gross profit margins typically being earned at each functional stage. The final element is a discussion of the power resources that determine the competitive dynamics, and by extension the appropriation of value, in the chain. Regulatory intervention by the state is identified as a key mediating factor in this case.

Beyond intentional trust: supplier opportunism and management control mechanisms in public sector procurement and contracting

We test an argument, drawn from transaction cost economics, that an assumption of intentional trust should be replaced with one of supplier opportunism in public sector procurement and contract management. We use structural equation modelling to evaluate quantitative evidence from 180 public and private sector buyers on the perceived effectiveness of various management control mechanisms aimed at restraining supplier opportunism. Our findings suggest that supplier opportunism is potentially a problem and that certain procurement and contract management mechanisms can assist buying organisations in moderating that opportunism. This supports arguments in favour of a ‘cautious approach’ to procurement and contract management.

Supply chain integration capabilities, green design strategy and performance: a comparative study in the auto industry

This paper aims to examine how supply chain integration capabilities inform green design strategy adoption and whether green design strategy can lead to higher levels of environmental and economic performance.,A survey-based approach was used to empirically test the study hypotheses. Based on 216 usable responses collected from automakers around the globe, the authors compared the results from two different data groups (i.e. Chinese firms vs Western firms) using the structural equation modeling approach.,In the Chinese context, both internal and external supply chain integration capabilities are significantly related to the successful adoption of a green design strategy. However, the relationships are not significant in Western context. Green design is found to positively impact environmental performance in both contexts; however, no significant relationship is revealed between green design and economic performance in either context. Finally, environmental performance was found to have a significant and positive impact on economic performance in both contexts.,The cross-sectional survey design that was focused only on the auto industry may affect the inferences of causality and generalizability of this study.,Managers should understand their specific organizational context first, and then strategically develop their external and internal supply chain integration capabilities to maximize their green design efforts for improved environmental performance. Companies can be certain that the more gains made in environmental management, the more economic returns can be expected.,This research contributes to the existing resource-based view literature by linking supply chain integration capabilities to green design strategy adoption in different organizational contexts. It also sheds a light on the association between green design and different performance dimensions and adds value to the current debate on the association between environmental performance and economic performance.

A Curate’s Egg: On the Use and Performance of Management Tools and Techniques

The survey work reported here was predicated on the assumption that there has been only very limited systematic analysis of the use and performance of management tools and techniques. Furthermore there is anecdotal evidence that managers are often dissatisfied with the tools and techniques that they use. Finally, some writers contend that managers often feel they are taken advantage of by academics and consultants (and publishers) selling them the latest fashionable ideas. The research reported here does not support this general conclusion.

The Case For and Against the Use of Management Tools and Techniques

The amusing quote above might lead one to conclude that business managers are the unwitting dupes of unscrupulous academics and consultants selling snake oil. Yet the major argument in this volume, which reports the findings from a survey of the use and performance of business management tools and techniques across 237 firms in 16 different industrial sectors, is that managers are not always as gullible as some may believe (Micklethwaite & Wooldridge, 1996). Indeed, the research reported here shows that there is a definite link between the willingness of managers to use management tools and techniques and the risks that have to be managed given the functions and the types of industry sectors that they operate in. This implies that there is evidence of practitioners being able to understand when specific tools and techniques are appropriate (the right tools for the job) and also when they are not (the wrong tools for the job).

Tools and Techniques for Operations and Production Management

The 73 tools and techniques listed below are not definitive but they do provide a comprehensive listing of some of the major tools and techniques regularly used by managers in the production and operations function, as well as some of the most recently developed by academics and consultants. When appropriate a reference source is provided for further reading. These tools and techniques provide a basis for comparison with the actual tools and techniques found to be in use by operations and production managers in the research survey. These findings are reported in chapter 7.