Ram Narasimhan

Effect of supply chain integration on the relationship between diversification and performance: evidence from Japanese and Korean firms

Abstract Supply chain strategies and practices depend on not only the nature of the business, the competitive environment, and technological intensity of the product, but also on product and market characteristics. Consequently, supply chain integration (SCI) strategies should be evaluated in the light of a company’s market and product strategies. This paper examines the effect of SCI on the relationship between diversification and a firm’s competitive performance. The results of the study can be useful in integrating supply chain strategy into market and product diversification (PD) strategy. By comparing the main and interaction effects of SCI and diversification on performance, the paper shows that SCI strategy modifies the relationship between diversification and performance. Additionally, it is argued that coordinated use of SCI and diversification strategies has a significant effect on firm performance.

The impact of purchasing integration and practices on manufacturing performance

Abstract Purchasing integration remains an under-researched concept, despite being described as a key competence in the literature. This study explicates the concept of purchasing integration and examines its relationships with purchasing practices and manufacturing performance. Purchasing integration refers to the integration of strategic purchasing practices and goals with a firm’s objectives. Alternative models linking purchasing integration to purchasing practices and manufacturing performance are hypothesized and tested using empirical data. Purchasing integration was found to moderate the relationship between purchasing practices and manufacturing performance. Increased investments in purchasing integration were observed to lead to higher performance returns from investments in purchasing practices.

A methodology for strategic sourcing

Abstract Strategic sourcing is critical for firms practicing the principles of supply chain management. It specifically deals with managing the supply base in an effective manner by identifying and selecting suppliers for strategic long-term partnerships, involving in supplier development initiatives by effectively allocating resources to enhance supplier performance, providing benchmarks and continuous feedback to suppliers, and in some cases involving in supplier pruning activities. Currently, the methodologies in practice for strategic sourcing have mostly been subjective in nature with few objective decision models focused at supplier evaluation, which are also not devoid of limitations. This paper proposes an objective framework for effective supplier sourcing, which considers multiple strategic and operational factors in the evaluation process. Suppliers are categorized into groups based on performance, which assists managers in identifying candidates for strategic long-term partnerships, supplier development programs, and pruning. In addition, this research investigates the differences among supplier groups in proposing possible improvement strategies for ineffectively performing suppliers. Also, we demonstrate the methodological richness of our framework when compared to some of the traditional methods proposed and utilized for supplier evaluation purposes. The supplier data utilized in the study is obtained from a large multinational corporation in the telecommunications industry.

Vendor evaluation with performance variability: A max-min approach

Abstract The importance of incorporating multi-dimensional information into vendor evaluation is well established in the literature. Over the years, several multi-criteria techniques have been proposed for effective evaluation and selection of vendors. However, these models have not considered performance variability measures in evaluating alternative vendors. It is critical for the buyer to derive and incorporate such type of measures into the evaluation process because it provides for a more accurate portrayal of vendor’s performance. This paper fills this gap by proposing a max–min productivity based approach that derives vendor performance variability measures, which are then utilized in a non-parametric statistical technique in identifying vendor groups for effective selection. The primary advantage of this technique is that it provides the buyer with effective alternative choices within a vendor group. Thus, allowing the buyer to base the final decision on other intangible factors that could not be incorporated into the analysis. The model application is demonstrated through a previously reported dataset from a pharmaceutical company.

Manufacturing Practices and Strategy Integration: Effects on Cost Efficiency, Flexibility, and Market-Based Performance

Manufacturing plant managers have sought performance improvements through implementing best practices discussed in World Class Manufacturing literature. However, our collective understanding of linkages between practices and performance remains incomplete. This study seeks a more complete theory, advancing the idea that strategy integration and enhanced manufacturing capabilities such as cost efficiency and flexibility serve as intermediaries by which practices affect performance. Hypotheses related to this thesis are tested using data from 57 North American manufacturing plants that are past winners and finalists in Industry Weeks“Americas Best” competition (Drickhamer, 2001). The results suggest that strategy integration plays a strong, central role in the creation of manufacturing cost efficiency and new product flexibility capabilities. Furthermore, strategy integration moderates the influences of product-process development, supplier relationship management, workforce development, just-in-time flow, and process quality management practices on certain manufacturing capabilities. In turn, manufacturing cost efficiency and new product flexibility capabilities mediate the influence of strategy integration on market-based performance. These findings have implications for practice and for future research.

Multiproduct, Multicriteria Model for Supplier Selection with Product Life-Cycle Considerations

In industrial purchasing contexts firms often procure a set of products from the same suppliers to benefit from economies of scale and scope. These products are often at different stages of their respective product life cycles (PLCs). Firms consider multiple criteria in purchasing such products, and the relative importance of these criteria varies depending on the PLC stage of a given product. Therefore, a firm should select suppliers and choose sourcing arrangements such that product requirements across multiple criteria are satisfied over time. The extant models in sourcing literature for evaluating and selecting suppliers for a portfolio of products have not considered this important and practical issue faced by firms. This article proposes a mathematical model that effectively addresses this issue and contributes to the sourcing literature by demonstrating an approach for optimally selecting suppliers and supplier bids given the relative importance of multiple criteria across multiple products over their PLC. The application of the model on a hypothetical data set illustrates the strategic and tactical significance of such considerations.

Research Opportunities in Purchasing and Supply Management

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) are crucial for the effective and efficient operation of manufacturing firms, now more than ever. The PSM function has evolved from being routine and mechanical to a function that can deliver true competitive advantage. The trend toward increased globalisation and outsourcing, along with a focus on innovation- and capability-driven supply management, has led to an increased reliance on suppliers. This has significantly enhanced the importance of PSM for manufacturing companies. The heightened significance in practice has been paralleled by an increasing attention of researchers in developing theories and chronicling best practices. At the same time, the rapid rate of change represents both daunting challenges and exciting opportunities for research in PSM. It is the goal of this article to highlight such challenges and discuss ensuing opportunities in PSM research. This objective is accomplished via the nominal group technique involving a panel of leading scholars in the purchasing and supply management field. As such, the article presents a synthesis and discussion of important research themes, poses a set of intriguing research opportunities, and serves as a motivation for future investigation.

An exploratory study of manufacturing practice and performance interrelationships: Implications for capability progression

PurposeThis paper is an exploratory investigation of manufacturing practices, dimensions of manufacturing performance, and their relationships via an empirical study, in an effort to develop new insights into operations strategy.Design/methodology/approachBy examining manufacturing data gathered from 58 of “Americas Best Plants”, we investigate an extended core set of manufacturing practices that we use to characterize the plants. Using cluster analysis, we classified each of the plants into one of four groups.FindingsThe analysis of the practices‐performance relationships for these clusters implies a progression of capabilities linked to specific performance gains.Research limitations/implicationsWe develop the notion of “strategic capability progression”, and discuss its implications for operations strategy. The results of this exploratory study accord well with existing studies in operations strategy.Practical implicationsThe findings have broad implications for manufacturing managers regarding effective deployments of resources aimed at improving operating capabilities and manufacturing plant performance.Originality/valueThe findings point to new and promising avenues for enriching and elaborating contemporary theories of operations strategy.

A comparison of four methods for minimizing total tardiness on a single processor with sequence dependent setup times

Much of the research on operations scheduling problems has either ignored setup times or assumed that setup times on each machine are independent of the job sequence. This paper considers the problem of scheduling a single machine for minimizing total tardiness in a sequence dependent setup environment. The comparative performance of branch-and-bound, genetic search, simulated annealing and random-start pairwise interchange was evaluated in this problem setting. The experimental results suggest that simulated annealing and random-start pairwise interchange are viable solution techniques that can yield good solutions to a large combinatorial problem when considering the tardiness objective with sequence dependent setup times. However, branch-and-bound may be the preferred solution technique in solving smaller problems, and it is the only solution technique tested that will confirm an optimum solution has been reached. The methods considered in this research offer promise to deal with a class of scheduling problems, which have been considered difficult by both researchers and practitioners.

Fuzzy goal programming with nested priorities

Abstract This paper proposes a new approach to formulating fuzzy priorities in a goal programming problem. The proposed methodology remedies certain shortcomings of the composite membership function approach discussed in previous works [7, 10]. The principal advantage of the proposed method is that it leads to a formulation in which tradeoffs between goals more closely reflect the decision makers intentions than in other noninteractive approaches [8, 9, 10, 14], in some of which a fixed hierarchy of goals is assumed.