Samir Dani

Resilience: the concept, a literature review and future directions

In an ever-more interconnected world (social, technological and environmental), no organisation can retain a competitive position and survive disruptions as an independent entity. This article provides a review of resilience literature in its widest context and later its application at an organisational level context. The origins of the concept are reported and consequently, the various fields of research are analysed. The concept is shown to remain essentially constant regardless of its field of enquiry and has much to inform the fields of organisation theory, strategy and operations management. This article identifies a number of areas for advancing resilience research, in particular: the relationship between human and organisational resilience; understanding interfaces between organisational and infrastructural resilience.

Supply chain risk management: present and future scope

Purpose - This paper examines Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) from a holistic systems thinking perspective by considering the different typologies that have evolved as a result of earlier research. The aim of research reported in this paper is the identification of important strategic changes in the field and to outline future requirements and research opportunities in SCRM.Design/methodology/approach - The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) methodology employed by our research was used to evaluate and categorise a literature survey of quality articles published over a period of 10 years (2000-2010). Additionally, the findings from the SLR have been strengthened through cross validation against results obtained from an associated text mining activity.Findings - The SLR methodology has provided a rich, unbiased and holistic picture of the advances in the field of SCRM. Consequently, important new research areas have been identified based on a multi-perspective descriptive and thematic data analysis. In addition, our analysis based on evolved typologies indicates a growth of SCRM from a nascent to a fairly established activity over the past decadePractical implications - The systematic approach undertaken for the literature review will provide future researchers and managers with an insightful understanding of the scope of the SCRM field. Also, the literature review provides important clues on new research directions for SCRM through identification of gaps in current knowledge.Originality/value - The holistic approach to SCRM was found to be an important missing link in earlier literature surveys. The outcome of the Systematic Literature Review reported in this paper has provided critical insights into the present and future scope of the SCRM field. The identified research insights, gaps and future directions will encourage new research techniques with a view to managing the risks in the globalized supply chain environment.

Investigating factors affecting ERP selection in made‐to‐order SME sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of research carried out as part of an industrial project for selection of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in a made‐to‐order (MTO) small‐to‐medium enterprise (SME) scenario. It develops a framework or methodology for selection. It also highlights the areas pertaining to the unique needs of, first, the SME sector and, second, the MTO sector, to be considered while selecting a solution. A work book is developed to provide a structured ERP software selection process for SMEs using a comprehensive literature review plus practical experience. This research is potentially aimed at being useful to other SMEs as a guide for a structured selection process.Design/methodology/approach – A combination of comprehensive literature review and experience of managing the selection process for an ERP system in an SME was employed for the study.Findings – Over the past few years, the number of large companies buying new ERP systems has reached satur...

Transformational leadership and organizational culture: the situational strength perspective

Abstract This paper provides a new leadership alignment model incorporating various concepts focusing on leadership styles, organizational leadership, and situational strength. These concepts are brought together to introduce a leadership model, which looks not only at individual leadership and the effect of that on the organization but also at an organization as a system and how leadership behaviour and culture in individual departments or sections in an organization can be explained. Based on the work of Podsakoff et al., a 23-item measure of transformational leadership questionnaire was employed to evaluate transformational leaders. 339 followers from five manufacturing companies were asked to complete the questionnaire about their leaders and it was analysed to identify transformational leaders. The 76 manufacturing leaders then completed the organizational culture assessment instrument and a situational strength questionnaire, which was used to study the hypothesis.

A systems approach for modelling supply chain risks

Purpose - With increasing exposure to disruptions, it is vital for supply chains to manage the risks proactively. Prediction of potential failure points and overall impact of these risks is challenging. In this paper, systems thinking concepts are applied for modelling supply chain risks. The aim of this research is to develop a holistic, systematic and quantitative risk assessment process for measuring the overall risk behaviour.Design/Methodology/Approach - A framework for Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) is developed and tested using an industrial case study. A systematically developed research design is employed to capture the dynamic behaviour of risks. Additionally, a system based supply chain risk model is conceptualized for risk modelling. Sensitivity modelling results are combined for validating the supply chain risk model. Findings - The systems approach for modelling supply chain risks predicts the failure points along with their overall risk impact in the supply chain network. System based risk modelling provides a holistic picture of risk behavioural performance which is difficult to realise through other research methodologies commonly preferred in the SCRM research. Practical Implications - The developed framework for SCRM is tested in an industry setting for its viability. The framework for SCRM along with the supply chain risk model is expected to benefit practitioners in understanding the intricacies of supply chain risks. The system model for risk assessment is a working tool which could provide a perspective of future disruptive events.Originality - A holistic, systematic and quantitative risk modelling mechanism for capturing overall behaviour of risks is a valuable contribution of this research. The paper presents a new perspective towards using systems thinking for modelling supply chain risks.

Fragile food supply chains: reacting to risks

Despite extensive food safety legislation, there have been significant food safety incidents in the recent past. The effects of food contamination and other food safety-related incidents permeate rapidly across the different entities of the supply chain as a result of particularly complex and multi-tiered supply chains in the food sector. There is a requirement for other reactive measures to contain the spread further across the supply chain once the issue has been identified. The research approach for the paper is based around the use of secondary data on major food safety-related incidents and the after effects. The research seeks to identify and understand the varied approaches, the contributing factors and the relevant legislation towards risk control as a reactionary measure in the food sector. It then proposes a conceptual model for risk mitigation from a reactionary standpoint which is retrospectively validated using selected case studies.

The implications of organizational culture and trust in the working of virtual teams

Abstract The research described in this paper is concerned with examining trust issues in global teams and whether there are any implications for trust in respect to the cultural orientation of firms. Trust is the individuals (or groups) belief that another individual (or group) makes good faith efforts to behave in accordance with any commitments both explicit and implicit. This research was carried out as part of a collaborative project between Loughborough and Aston Universities. In this research it was decided to measure whether there was a relationship between perceived levels of trust in the organization and organizational culture as depicted by Cameron and Quinn in the working dynamics of virtual organizations. The research investigated the issue of trust in a number of business situations and showed that there does appear to be a relationship between trust and cultural orientation of firms for the working of virtual teams.

Evaluating existing approaches to product‐service system design: A comparison with industrial practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how representative the literature is in identifying industrial practice to designing product‐service systems (PSSs).Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses literature to report on the existing approaches used to design PSSs. A single exploratory case study approach, based on semi‐structured interviews and archival data analysis, was used to understand an existing product‐service organisations approach to designing PSSs. A total of 12 senior managers were interviewed from a cross section of the organisation, to gain multiple perspectives on the PSS design process and ten company reports were analysed.Findings – The research has identified that the PSS design process reported by literature is not representative, lacking inputs and outputs to some phases and feedback. In total, 18 inputs and 11 outputs have been identified from the case study that are not reported by the literature. These create five feedback loops within the PSS design process u...

Competence understanding and use in SMEs: a UK manufacturing perspective

The paper seeks to address the neglected area of competency research that is the understanding and application of core competency concepts within small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). There is little doubt that SME manufacturing organisations can possess core competencies, however it appears from the literature that this issue has not yet been adequately addressed nor is there a clarification with regards to the nature of these competencies. This paper presents the results of an exploratory research study conducted with UK SMEs. The organisations involved were diverse and included a medical products manufacturer, automotive supplier, large metal fabrication and electromechanical capital equipment integrator. This research provides an insight into how competency concepts are perceived and understood amongst SME manufacturing firms and also whether these organisations use competence concepts. The research findings are important for both practitioners and academics, indicating an apparent lack of connectedness between research into competence and its ‘real world’ understanding and practical use within manufacturing SMEs.

Demand network alignment: aligning the physical, informational and relationship issues in supply chains

The aim of this paper is to propose a model for the inter-relationship and alignment of supply and demand networks from two perspectives namely the physical/operational (including information/knowledge systems), and the relationship/behavioural that affect collaborating partners. The two perspectives need to be considered simultaneously to realize the dynamics of supply chains and the issues affecting their management. The paper presents the development of the model on a conceptual level, and utilizes the data from a case study to depict the effect of these two perspectives in understanding supply chain dynamics.