Kamel Fantazy

Implementation and management framework for supply chain flexibility

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to develop a conceptual framework for implementing and managing supply chain flexibility in supply chain organizations. The framework suggests that supply chain flexibility should be implemented and managed using a three‐stage approach: required flexibility identification, implementation and shared responsibility, and feedback and control.Design/methodology/approach – The major components of the proposed framework are based on a review of research in the manufacturing flexibility literature as well as the limited research in supply chain flexibility. The strengths and weaknesses of these frameworks, combined with a published empirical study were analyzed to identify the important issues that must be considered when implementing and managing supply chain flexibility, and those components that need to be incorporated into a new integrated framework.Findings – This framework was constructed by synthesizing the strengths of other conceptual frameworks. As a result, th...

An empirical study of the relationships among strategy, flexibility, and performance in the supply chain context

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships among strategy, flexibility, and performance in the supply chain context.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey and personal interviews from a total of 175 small and medium‐sized Canadian manufacturing companies. The identified constructs have been utilized to test a theoretical model using the path analysis technique.Findings – First, the findings provide evidence of direct effects of strategy on flexibility and flexibility on performance. Second, innovative strategy firms must invest time and resources in developing new product and delivery flexibility; while customer‐oriented strategy firms are required to invest heavily in developing sourcing, product, and delivery flexibility and follower strategy firms need no investment in any specific type of flexibility. Third, results demonstrated that Canadian manufacturers must reconsider how they use information technolog...

Supply chain strategy, flexibility, and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the supply chain strategy, flexibility, and performance relationships in the context of SMEs in Canada and Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey from a total of 170 small and medium-sized Pakistani manufacturing companies. The current study draws upon the earlier work of Fantazy et al. (2009) for comparative purpose and employs path analysis technique. Findings – The results partially confirm the findings of previous study on Canadian SMEs with regard to the relationships among strategy, flexibility, and performance in the context of supply chain. The survey results revealed that SMEs in Pakistan adopt followers strategy in order to achieve financial and non-financial performance. Whereas in the previous study, Canadian SMEs adopted innovative strategy and customer-oriented strategy in order to enhance their performance. Originality/value – The literature did not reveal any stu...

Agile software development practices: evolution, principles, and criticisms

Purpose – Agile software development is an emerging approach in software engineering, initially proposed and promoted by a group of 17 software professionals who practice a set of “lightweight” methods, and share a common set of values of software development. They consolidated their thoughts, and defined these methods as “agile”. The approaches are based on experiences and best practices from the past by the above‐mentioned group of 17 software professionals. The purpose of this article is to outline the history and evolution of agile software development practices, their principles, and the criticisms as reported by the software development community.Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to do this research.Findings – Based on the literature review, this paper provides a comprehensive document that helps the practitioners working in the area of the agile software development.Originality/value – This article will provide comprehensive material for the researchers ...

The impact of information sharing on supply chain performance: an empirical study

Many studies, both theoretical and practical, have emphasised the benefits of information sharing (IFO SH). Most of the research gives mathematical algorithm models that quantify the benefits of IFO SH in the supply chain, but few studies examine the empirical side. This study has empirically tested the relationships among environmental uncertainty (EU), internal integration (INT IN), external integration (EXT IN), IFO SH, and performance. We conducted a field study of 110 firms in the automotive manufacturing industry in Canada and tested the proposed model using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Our results indicated that EU, INT IN, and EXT IN positively impact IFO SH. IFO SH has a positive and direct impact on operational and financial performance, and it enhances the supply chain performance. The study shows that IFO SH is crucial to supply chain performance because it provides the facts that supply chain managers need to make decisions.

Relationship between supply chain strategies, Logistics Flexibility and supply chain performance: evidence from Canadian manufacturing industry

This research examines the relationships among strategy, Logistics Flexibility (LOF) and performance in the supply chain context. This research was based on a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey from 115 Small- and Medium-sized (SME) Canadian manufacturing companies. The constructs identified in the research have been utilised to test a theoretical model using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). This study produced three main conclusions: (1) the direct positive effects of strategy on LOF, (2) the direct positive association between LOF and performance, and (3) the total effect (direct and indirect) of positively influenced performance. In addition, the concluding section illustrates some insights for future research.

Exploring new supply chain strategies in manufacturing SMEs

This paper addresses the empirical verification of a hypothesis relating to the different types of supply chain strategies. This verification is based on a conceptual framework that identified four supply chain strategies in the supply chain community. Using the data collected from 175 SME manufacturing firms in Canada, the identified constructs have been tested using the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) technique. Our results partially supported the proposed taxonomy of four supply chain strategy types. However, we found no support of the two underlying dimensions of supply chain strategy that were called modularising and appending. Interestingly, a new strategy called customer-oriented strategy was identified in the Canadian manufacturing data.

E-government adoption and user’s satisfaction: an empirical investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among e-government attributes in terms of social influence, perceived effectiveness, system quality, and information quality user satisfaction and intention to use e-government services in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on previous research on e-government services, and has relied partially on Delone and Mclean’s (2004) updated IS success model and the new theoretical and accepted model (UTAUT). These models were used to examine the impact of some selected attributes of e-government on the adoption of e-government services in the UAE from the perspective of a citizen. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from a total of 1,800 e-government users in the UAE and structural equation modeling was utilized to test the theoretical model. Findings – This study has identified five main findings. First, it provides evidence of the direct effects of e-government attributes on user satisfactio...

The impact of various dimensions of manufacturing capability on commercialization performance: Evidence from Canadian manufacturing sector

This paper investigates the complex relationships between the three dimensions of manufacturing capability (quality, flexibility, and cost) and commercialization performance (CP) in Canadian manufacturing environment. An empirical study of 238 Canadian manufacturing companies, using the Maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) technique, reveals that only cost is positively correlated with CP whereas flexibility is negatively correlated with CP. The results suggest that the ability to lower manufacturing cost without paying due attention to other dimensions of manufacturing capability, such as quality and manufacturing flexibility, leads to an unsatisfactory CP. Based on these findings, we suggest managerial implications and further research study.

The impact of strategy and information systems flexibility on the supply chain performance: a path analysis approach

Using the data collected from 175 small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Canada; we examine the effect that three different strategies with information systems flexibility (ISF) have on performance. The study produced three main conclusions. First, the findings provide evidence of the direct effects of strategy on ISF. Second, the total effect of strategy and ISF positively impacted non-financial performance. Third, the total effect of strategy and ISF has no effect on financial performance. The main implication is that the investment in ISF should be involved in the strategic decision-making about setting clear priorities before engaging in any flexibility investment program.