Shardul Phadnis

Eliciting and representing the supply chain strategy of a business unit

The purpose of this paper is to propose a practical method to elicit – in a manner grounded in fact – the “as is” supply chain strategy that a business unit currently has in place. It also proposes a framework to represent the supply chain strategy of a business unit in a clear and actionable manner.,A framework to represent the supply chain strategy of a business unit was developed through inductive theory generation. A method to elicit the current, “as is” supply chain strategy of a business unit was developed through collaborative management research projects and validated by several third-party projects.,In different projects – many conducted by third parties – the method was found to be a useful approach to elicit the “as is” supply chain strategy of a business unit. Practitioners found value in representing a supply chain strategy as a conceptual system serving as a logical bridge between the overall strategy and the supply chain operations of the business units.,The proposed framework may have limited scalability beyond a single business unit. The proposed method may be less useful when the supply chain strategy is undergoing a dramatic transformation, or when the participants from the company are either not fully engaged in the exercise or knowledgeable about the strategic rationale behind activities.,The paper provides an innovative approach to tap into the tacit knowledge of the organization to reveal the patterns of decisions underpinning its current supply chain strategy and to characterize the supply chain strategy of a business unit as a conceptual system.

Driving Forces Influencing Future Freight Flows

This interim report summarizes the findings from the first phase of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 20-83 (1) project. The objectives of phase 1 were to identify, categorize, and rank the driving forces and critical uncertainties that will influence the future freight transportation flows within the United States over the next 30 years. The results from phase 1 are to be used in phase 2 to help develop the set of future scenarios to utilize in the phase 3 workshops. The report is organized as follows. Section 1 gives an overview of the report. Section 2 provides details on the process and methodology used to uncover the driving forces and critical uncertainties. This includes a discussion of the Future Freight Flows Symposium, a review of the workshop materials tested, and a summary of the Stakeholders survey instrument. Section 3 presents the combined analysis of the results from these activities. Section 4 lays out the next steps by providing an update on Phase 2.

Strategic Issues Facing Transportation, Volume 1: Scenario Planning for Freight Transportation Infrastructure Investment

Major trends affecting the future of the United States and the world will dramatically reshape transportation priorities and needs. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials established the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-83 research series to examine global and domestic long-range strategic issues and their implications for departments of transportation (DOTs) to help prepare the DOTs for the challenges and benefits created by these trends. This report, the first report in this series, provides decision makers with a critical analysis of the driving forces behind high-impact economic and social changes as well as sourcing patterns that may affect the U.S. freight transportation system. It also introduces scenario planning as a tool that can be used in conjunction with other planning methods to improve the quality of long-range transportation infrastructure planning. Accompanying the report is a DVD package, CRP-CD-130, containing four future scenarios, as well as a detailed methodology for planners to follow to conduct their own scenario planning workshops.