Stanley E. Fawcett

The rhetoric and reality of supply chain integration

The terminology “supply chain management” is used frequently in today’s materials management environment and is generally associated with advanced information technologies, rapid and responsive logistics service, effective supplier management, and increasingly with customer relationship management. Most materials managers are familiar with the supply chain mantra of “suppliers’ supplier to customers’ customer”. However, experience shows that few companies are actually engaged in such extensive supply chain integration. To obtain an accurate view of SCM as it is currently practiced, the experience and insight of industry managers engaged in supply chain initiatives was sought via a multi‐method empirical approach involving both surveys and case study interviews. The findings reveal that supply chain practice seldom resembles the theoretical ideal. Three different levels of SCM implementation are identified and a series of limiting factors are discussed. Managers must recognize the tension that exists between SCM’s competitive potential and the inherent difficulty of collaboration.

Benefits, barriers, and bridges to effective supply chain management

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide academics and practitioners a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the benefits, barriers, and bridges to successful collaboration in strategic supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – A triangulation method consisting of a literature review, a cross‐functional mail survey, and 51 in‐depth case analyses was implemented. Senior managers from purchasing, manufacturing, and logistics were targeted in the mail survey. The break down by channel category interviews is as follows: 14 retailers, 13 finished goods assemblers, 12 first‐tier suppliers, three lower‐tier suppliers, and nine service providers. Findings – Customer satisfaction and service is perceived as more enduring than cost savings. All managers recognize technology, information, and measurement systems as major barriers to successful supply chain collaboration. However, the people issues – such as culture, trust, aversion to change, and willingness to collaborate – are more intractable. People are the key bridge to successful collaborative innovation and should therefore not be overlooked as companies invest in supply chain enablers such as technology, information, and measurement systems. Research limitations/implications – The average mail‐survey response rate was relatively low: 23.5 percent. The case study analyses were not consistent in frequency across channel functions. Although the majority of companies interviewed and surveyed were international, all surveys and interviews were managers based in the US. Practical implications – This study provides new insight into understanding the success and hindering factors of supply chain management. The extensive literature review, the cross‐channel analysis, and case studies provide academics and managers a macro picture of the goals, challenges, and strategies for implementing supply chain management. Originality/value – This paper uses triangulation methodology for examining key issues of supply chain management at multiple levels within the supply chain.

Information sharing and supply chain performance: the role of connectivity and willingness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand how information technology (IT) is used to enhance supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approach – A large‐scale survey and semi‐structured interviews were used to collect industry data.Findings – Two distinct dimensions to information sharing – connectivity and willingness – are identified and analyzed. Both dimensions are found to impact operational performance and to be critical to the development of a real information sharing capability. However, many companies are found to have placed most of their emphasis on connectivity, often overlooking the willingness construct. As a result, information sharing seldom delivers on its promise to enable the creation of the cohesive supply chain team.Research limitations – Despite the extensive data collection, the research represents a snapshot of practice. Replication from a longitudinal perspective would help define how IT is evolving to enable supply chain management.Practical implications – A roadmap...

Supplier Involvement in Integrated Product Development

Increasing competitive parity in the areas of cost and quality has forced global manufacturers to seek other sources of competitive advantage with new product development rapidly becoming the focal point in the quest for sustained growth and profitability. The essence of today′s new product development strategies is the simultaneous development of the new product and the accompanying manufacturing process such that quality is enhanced, costs reduced, and lead times shortened. The implementation of the integrated product development (IPD) process has come to depend on the use of multi‐functional teams. Today, outside suppliers represent increasingly important members of the new product development team. Supplier involvement promotes better resource utilization, the development and sharing of technological expertise, and network effectiveness. Explores the state of supplier involvement in the IPD process, and compares the practices of US and European firms.

The Implementation and Impact of ISO 9000 among Small Manufacturing Enterprises

Quality is essential to customer satisfaction and competitive success. Unfortunately, resource constraints can place the small‐firm manufacturer at a quality disadvantage. This paper considers the benefits and barriers to International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 certification among small‐firm manufacturers. An empirical study explores whether small manufacturers can successfully implement and benefit from a standardized and resource‐intensive program such as ISO 9000. The answer is yes if management can internalize core ISO practices. Keys to success include inculcating a quality culture, reducing behaviors that inhibit ISO adoption, performing a readiness analysis that helps tailor the ISO program to company needs, and leveraging a dynamic environment to drive quality consciousness.

Logistics Performance Measurement and Customer Success

Abstract Performance measurement is critical to the success of almost any organization because it creates understanding, molds behavior, and leads to competitive results. World-class firms recognize the central role measurement plays in their success and are therefore compulsive about their performance measurement efforts. This research presents findings from a longitudinal empirical study of logistics performance measurement practice. In addition to the survey results, findings from over 100 interviews with leading companies worldwide are discussed. The bottom line is that world-class performance requires superior process measurement both within the firm and across organizational boundaries.

A Dynamic Collaboration Capability as a Source of Competitive Advantage

The resource-based view of the firm argues the essence of decision making is to determine how firm and supply chain resources can be configured to achieve inimitable advantage and superior performance. However, combining resources found among diverse members of a supply chain requires higher levels of coordination than exist at most companies. Manifest cross-functional and interorganizational conflict impedes the relational advantages of collaboration. This research employs a multimethod—survey and interview—approach to evaluate collaborations influence on operational and firm performance. Our findings show that collaboration, as a dynamic capability, mediates the conflict resulting from functional orientations, and improves performance. Specific structural enablers to enhance an organizations collaborative capability are identified and described, providing insight into how firms can exploit interfirm resources for competitive advantage.

Organizational commitment and governance for supply chain success

Purpose – To examine the nature and extent of commitment to supply chain collaboration. Also, to explore the state of supply chain governance structures.Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐method survey and in‐depth interview methodology was employed to gather data. Content analysis was then used to identify the types and extent of managerial support for supply chain initiatives.Findings – Four types of managerial support are needed to achieve the highest levels of supply chain success: top management support, broad‐based functional support, channel support, and infrastructural/governance support. None of the interview companies have put all four types of support in place. Leading‐edge governance relies on cross‐functional/inter‐organizational teams, executive governance councils, customer advisory boards, supplier advisory councils and a modified reporting structure that overseas all value‐added activities from product conceptualization to customer relationship management. Again, none of the interview ...

The moderating role of barriers on the relationship between drivers to supply chain integration and firm performance

Purpose – Implementation of supply chain management techniques requires thorough integration of processes between supply chain partners in all functional areas, including sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution. Yet insufficient attention has been given to the means by which firms achieve high levels of integration. This study aims to examine moderators impacting supply chain integration barriers.Design/methodology/approach – Supply chain integration drivers and moderating barriers to supply chain integration were identified by extensive search of the literature, and in‐depth interviews with supply chain managers. A survey was developed to measure levels of supply chain integration drivers, barriers to supply chain integration, and firm performance. The measures were validated using EFA, and the responses analyzed using multiple regression.Findings – The study finds that firms with a desire to improve, operating in a challenging competitive environment typically experience high levels of performance. Fu...

Quality-Driven Change and Its Effects on Financial Performance

Instituting continuous improvement within organization has been recognized as a pervasive part of business thinking, and has ever been recently recognized as a type of intangible resource by researchers. In this paper, a model that maps the quality tran..