Judith M. Whipple

Building supply chain collaboration: A typology of collaborative approaches

Purpose – This research aims to examine the characteristics, requirements, benefits, and barriers to various collaborative relationships and proposes a typology of collaborative approaches.Design/methodology/approach – The research discusses insights and observations from exploratory interviews with 21 managers from ten different manufacturers and retailers.Findings – A typology of three types of collaborative approaches (collaborative transaction management; collaborative event management; and collaborative process management) is proposed. The three collaborative approaches are compared and contrasted. Benefits and limitations associated with each type of collaboration are discussed.Practical implications – Managers can use the typology to assess current collaborations and seek ways to improve current collaborative efforts. Managers can also use the typology to develop collaborative strategies across a broad spectrum of relationships in order to determine which type of collaboration best fits each indivi...

Customer satisfaction in food retailing: comparing specialty and conventional grocery stores

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast customer perceptions related to satisfaction with conventional grocery stores as compared to specialty grocery stores. The study examines store attributes of product assortment, price, quality, and service in order to determine which attributes have the greatest impact on store satisfaction for each store format.Design/methodology/approach – A mail survey was sent to a sample of specialty and conventional grocery store customers. The ten state sample was drawn from US households located in postal (ZIP) codes in areas where national specialty stores (e.g. whole foods) were located.Findings – Perception of satisfaction were higher among specialty grocery store customers compared to conventional grocery store customers. For both store formats, store price, product assortment, service and quality positively influenced satisfaction. Stepwise regression indicated that each store attribute contributed differently to store satisfaction for conventiona...

Grocery Industry Collaboration in the Wake of ECR

Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) is an industry‐wide initiative that is commonly believed to have fallen far short of its promised efficiencies and value. Many believe that unrealistic expectations among grocery industry participants are primarily at fault for this shortcoming. The level of internal and external change required to make desired outcomes a reality have been underestimated and poorly understood by prospective participants. While change has been slower than desired, many firms have collaborated effectively and achieved significant results through coordinated supply chain activities. This research uses case studies to illustrate successful collaboration in the grocery supply chain and explores the success factors inherent in such efforts.

Supply chain security practices in the food industry: Do firms operating globally and domestically differ?

Purpose – This paper compares firms purchasing and/or selling food products internationally to those with domestic supply chains in order to determine if international firms: place greater managerial importance on security; and are more likely to engage supply chain partners in security‐related verification and information exchange. The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between security initiatives and firm performance in terms of security outcomes, product quality, and customer service.Design/methodology/approach – A series of one‐way ANOVA tests are used to assess the differences between firms with international and domestic supply chains. Additionally, cluster analysis is conducted to group firms based on their performance levels.Findings – Initial results indicate respondents with international supply chains perceive that their firms place more importance on security and are more likely to assess the security procedures of supply chain partners. Results further indicate that, in general, re...

Agency theory and quality fade in buyer‐supplier relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose using agency theory for assessing the likelihood of quality fade in buyer‐supplier relationships and prescribing contractual mechanisms for reducing quality fade. In this paper, quality fade, an element of supply chain vulnerability, is defined as the unforeseen deterioration of agreed to or expected quality levels with respect to product and/or service requirements. The use of outcome‐based, behavior‐based, or mix contracts can be used to reduce the likelihood of quality fade and illustrate preferred scenarios for buyer and suppliers.Design/methodology/approach – This paper proposes a conceptual model for using agency theory to explain and address a type of supply chain vulnerability called quality fade. A 2×2 matrix is proposed that contrasts outcome measurability with outcome uncertainty to illustrate buyer and supplier vulnerability and to suggest contractual mechanisms that can be used to mitigate vulnerability for both parties.Findings – A typology o...

THE ALLIANCE FORMATION PROCESS

While interest in developing strategic alliances within the food system continues to increase, there remains considerable risk when firms adopt such a cooperative strategy. The risk is due in part to the lack of concrete guidelines that illustrate the steps or stages of alliance development and the important strategic and operational decisions required at each stage. The existence of such guidelines would facilitate alliance formation and enable managers and researchers to better understand alliance practice. This paper provides an alliance formation model that incorporates the process of alliance formation with the strategic and operational considerations required for long term success. The model can be used by managers and academicians to develop and understand alliances.

Performance in Product versus Service Supplier Relationships

ABSTRACT Todays rapidly changing and competitive marketplace has forced channel members to devote increased attention and resources to providing consumers with a seamless delivery of products and services. This seamless delivery occurs through social integrative relationships between channel members, supported by the application of information technology. Achieving integration is a difficult task that may vary based on whether a product or a service is involved. This paper proposes that manufacturer integrative relationships with product suppliers may develop with lower levels of seamless delivery when compared to manufacturer integrative relationships with service suppliers. Further, the paper discusses how the application of information technology may impact manufacturer-supplier relationships and performance.

Organizational design change in multinational supply chain organizations

Purpose Managing internal supply chains is becoming increasingly complex, requiring managers to balance diverse needs. As a result, managers continuously face the need to change how they organize their internal supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to examine this phenomenon by addressing why multinational supply chain management organizations (SCMOs) change their designs, as well as how managers respond to pertinent change phenomena using complementary theoretical perspectives. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data, collected from 50 executives within 24 multinational manufacturers, is used to develop an understanding of the organizational design change phenomena. A theory elaboration approach is taken to illustrate how various theoretical perspectives explain organizational design change. Findings This study identifies and elaborates organizational design change phenomena in the context of multinational SCMOs, including internal and external drivers of design change. Managers also discussed key supply chain management capabilities that were developed in order to meet perceived changes in business needs. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to academic understanding of organizational design issues affecting SCMOs. Four theoretical perspectives are elaborated upon to illustrate their applicability for examining SCMO organizational design issues. Practical implications This study provides managerial application of several organizational design change theories by elaborating principles for framing, interpreting, and implementing design change initiatives in internal SCMOs. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to investigate organizational design change in multinational SCMOs. This research highlights the complexity and evolving nature of SCMO organizational design decisions by describing the adaption, integration, and reconfiguration of firm resources and competencies in changing environments.