Peter Trkman

The impact of business analytics on supply chain performance

The paper investigates the relationship between analytical capabilities in the plan, source, make and deliver area of the supply chain and its performance using information system support and business process orientation as moderators. Structural equation modeling employs a sample of 310 companies from different industries from the USA, Europe, Canada, Brazil and China. The findings suggest the existence of a statistically significant relationship between analytical capabilities and performance. The moderation effect of information systems support is considerably stronger than the effect of business process orientation. The results provide a better understanding of the areas where the impact of business analytics may be the strongest.

Business Model: What It Is and What It Is Not

The term “business model” has been misinterpreted and misused over the years, and has consequently been inadequately understood and applied by both practitioners and scholars. It has been frequently confused with other popular terms in the management literature such as strategy, business concept, revenue model, economic model, or even business process modeling. This paper aims to contribute to the clarification of the meaning and use of the business model image, as well as to theorize on its logical underpinnings that we find rooted in the resource-based view and in the transaction cost economics. This paper identifies new avenues for further research, such as the investigation of path dependency in a business model and the meaning of business model innovation.

Process Approach to Supply Chain Integration

Purpose: Business renovation, the effective utilisation of information technology and the role of business process modelling and simulation are all vital in supply chain integration projects. The main idea is to show through a combination of these methods how the performance of the supply chain can be improved with the renovation and integration of processes at various tiers in the chain and by the sharing of information between companies.Methodology/Approach: Simulation-based methodology for measuring the benefits of the creation and renovation of business process models combines the methodology of developing process models and its simulation with the simulation of supply and demand. A procurement process in the oil/retail petrol industry is examined in a case study.Findings: Using the proposed methodology, different business process models can be investigated and simulated. The benefits for each company involved in the presented case are substantial and can be estimated through a simulation. Substantial benefits in costs, quality and lead times were identified, however, their distribution is not symmetric. Inter-organisational IS and applied technology were enablers for supply chain integration. However, organisational changes and new business models were prerequisites for obtaining those benefits.Practical implications: The process approach to supply chain integration presents a mechanism that can be applied to any industry. It represents a systematic methodological business renovation approach involving cost cuts, quality improvements and lead time improvements. The costs of supply chain integration projects were not studied. The benefits should be measured against the cost of testing the economic feasibility of such projects.Originality/value of paper: The effective utilisation of business process modelling and a simulation of the necessary business renovation is shown. The novel combination of business process and demand/supply simulation enables an estimation of changes in lead-times, process execution costs, quality of the process and inventory costs. Although the methodology is presented through a case study of the oil/retail petrol industry, it can also be used to estimate the benefits and monitor supply chain integration projects in other industries.

A global investigation of key turning points in business process maturity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of research into the precedence of the maturity factors, or key turning points in business process maturity (BPM) implementation efforts. A key turning point is a component of BPM that stabilizes within an organization and leads to the next maturity level.Design/methodology/approach – Several years of data from over 1,000 companies in the USA, Europe, China, and Brazil that have completed a BPM assessment are analyzed to identify which components of BPM stabilize, when and in what order. Different analysis methods are employed in order to identify global commonalities and differences.Findings – The paper identifies key turning points from several different perspectives using several different approaches and develops some conclusions common to all methods used in this research.Research limitations/implications – The relationship between the components (dependencies) is only suggested but not statistically analyzed. Several data sets are also o...

Increasing Process Orientation with Business Process Management: Critical Practices

This paper studies the role of business process management in creating a higher business process orientation. The purpose is to analyze previously suggested practices to identify those that are critical at a certain business process orientation maturity level and those that are not. A case study is used to identify the critical success factors. Then a statistical analysis of a sample of 324 companies is undertaken to operationalize the success factors in the form of critical practices. Organizations following these critical practices at a certain level will reach higher process orientation sooner.

Ten principles of good business process management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to foster a common understanding of business process management (BPM) by proposing a set of ten principles that characterize BPM as a research domain and guide its successful use in organizational practice. Design/methodology/approach – The identification and discussion of the principles reflects the viewpoint, which was informed by extant literature and focus groups, including 20 BPM experts from academia and practice. Findings – The authors identify ten principles which represent a set of capabilities essential for mastering contemporary and future challenges in BPM. Their antonyms signify potential roadblocks and bad practices in BPM. The authors also identify a set of open research questions that can guide future BPM research. Research limitations/implications – The findings suggest several areas of research regarding each of the identified principles of good BPM. Also, the principles themselves should be systematically and empirically examined in future studies....

A combined approach to the solution to the general one-dimensional cutting stock problem

In this article, a combined method for the solution of the General one-Dimensional Cutting Stock Problem (G1D-CSP) is proposed. The main characteristic of G1D-CSP is that all stock lengths can be different. The new approach combines two existing methods: Sequential Heuristic Procedure, and branch-and-bound. The algorithm based on the proposed method leads to almost optimal solutions, which are substantially better than the solutions of known methods for the cost of slightly increased time complexity, which is still low. So, the new method is suitable for all sizes of the problem. Comparison with the Sequential Heuristic Procedure is presented.

A wiki as intranet: a critical analysis using the Delone and McLean model

Purpose – To analyze the benefits and challenges of using a wiki as an intranet/content management system in a company. Design/methodology/approach – Combined with elements of action research, a longitudinal case study of implementing a wiki in a department of a Slovenian company was conducted. Interviews, surveys and a log analysis were used for the data collection. The DeLone & McLean information systems success model was the underlying theoretical approach to explore the information, systems and service quality. Findings – While a wiki may bring important benefits and change to a company’s information/knowledge management, the main challenges remain the same as with earlier technological solutions. Additional problems arise due to cultural issues, the lack of control over quality and the fact that service quality largely depends on the users. Research limitations/implications – A single case study within one company was conducted. Practical implications – The findings are important for any manager/developer intending to implement a wiki as an intranet solution as they identify and classify potential challenges. Originality/value – As one of the first longitudinal case studies of implementing a wiki, several new challenges of Web 2.0. applications and of creating online environments for knowledge sharing are identified, while well-studied problems concerning other projects seeking to develop information systems also apply. A novel extension to the DeLone & McLean model is proposed.

Business analytics in supply chains - The contingent effect of business process maturity

The paper analyzes the effect of the use of business analytics on supply chain performance. It investigates the changing information processing needs at different supply chain process maturity levels. The effects of analytics in each Supply Chain Operations Reference areas (Plan, Source, Make and Deliver) are analyzed with various statistical techniques. A worldwide sample of 788 companies from different industries is used. The results indicate the changing impact of business analytics use on performance, meaning that companies on different maturity levels should focus on different areas. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are thoroughly discussed.

Estimating the Benefits and Risks of Implementing E-Procurement

In recent years, organizations have invested heavily in e-procurement technology solutions. However, an estimation of the value of the technology-enabled procurement process is often lacking. Our paper presents a rigorous methodological approach to the analysis of e-procurement benefits. Business process simulations are used to analyze the benefits of both technological and organizational changes related to e-procurement. The approach enables an estimation of both the average and variability of procurement costs and benefits, workload, and lead times. In addition, the approach enables optimization of a procurement strategy (e.g., approval levels). Finally, an innovative approach to estimation of value at risk is shown.