Vijay Aggarwal

Measuring information distortion in real-world supply chains

After years of being thought to be an inevitable fact of life, demand information distortion (Bullwhip effect) is now increasingly coming under scrutiny by researchers, with conflicting findings being reported about its existence. The conflicting reports are partly due to the measurement issues surrounding Bullwhip, and partly due to the changed business practices in some sectors which the Bullwhip construct was perhaps not originally designed to capture. This article attempts to reconcile these issues. It integrates two distinct dimensions of information distortion: amplification of order variance and schedule instability, and proposes a framework to capture the underlying information distortion more comprehensively. The framework is illustrated through a case study of an automotive supply chain under real-world considerations such as capacity limits and contemporary IT-enabled information sharing practices. The ‘degree of over-ordering’ was found to be a good indicator of information distortion.

A simulation-based methodology to analyse production line disruptions

This article proposes a discrete event simulation (DES) framework to analyse the impact of disturbances, their parameter values, and their interactions, on production line efficiency. The framework is demonstrated by means of a case study of a manufacturing process in an Indian automotive manufacturer. Various scenarios are generated and studied using design of experiment (DOE) to investigate the effects of changes in product, technology, cycle time, and worker competency, and to derive the optimal set of process and decision parameters.

The behavioural causes of the bullwhip effect: breaking the mould

The Bullwhip Effect (BWE) has been a major challenge facing supply chains for several decades. An important stream of literature has developed around Supply Line Underweighting (SLU) and hoarding behaviour as the behavioural causes of BWE. The present study builds on these studies and devises novel experiments to replicate and verify them. The findings suggest that the aforementioned behavioural causes do not hold and point to a need to break new ground on this well-researched topic. The paper concludes with the managerial and research implications.

Analytical modelling of multi stage convergent supply chain system under just-in-time

The main objective of this paper is to develop an analytical model for operational level decisions for convergent supply chain system controlled by kanban under JIT where a product is assembled from a number of components supplied by many multistage supply chains. It integrates production and shipment lot size across the various stages of supply chain so that components travel through the supply chain in a coordinated way without any mismatch and final product reaches the customer in time. A quantitative analytical approach has been followed to develop the non-linear integer program (NLIP) and a generic LINGO program also has been developed for NLIP using branch and bound method for optimisation. This model facilitates integrated supply chain optimisation for system wide inventory, logistic and production setup costs optimisation. The model has been validated using automotive supply chain data. However, it can be applied to any industry.

Drivers Enabling Value Co-creation: A Study of Select IT-services Outsourcing Firms (Client vis-a-vis Service Provider)

Abstract The phenomenon of value creation is witnessing a shift towards value co-creation, particularly in collaborative relationship. This study explores and prioritizes drivers enabling value co-creation from the perspectives of client and service provider in the context of IT-services outsourcing. An extensive literature review and subsequent pilot study suggest six probable value drivers that are further, statistically validated and prioritized. The unit of analysis is front-line professionals, working with either party. A web-based survey was administered to collect data from 256 respondents, drawn using judgemental sampling. Strategic Intent and Service Actualization are found to be significant and common value drivers for both parties (client and service provider), though with different priorities. The other significant value drivers are found to be Collective Capabilities for client and Intrapreneurship for service provider (these value drivers are not common to the client and service provider). This study reiterates and crystallizes the understanding of value co-creation process in the context of IT-services outsourcing. The identified drivers would enable practitioners to understand and to reconcile the drivers for client(s) and service provider(s) in order to realize the respective value outcome. The commonality of two value drivers; strategic intent and service actualization for both clients and service providers indicates the opportunity for co-creation of value.

Gender Diversity on Boards: Global Experience and Measures Initiated

The article deals with gender issues in relation to developmental thrust and opinion of ideation and expression. The measures adopted in this article are the indications of local and global issues in the form of data and indicators in a manner of existentialist approach and dimensions of opinion to the cohesive and metaphysical considerations as well. Gender diversity is a central and integral theme which needs clinical eye to mitigate with utmost dexterity and briskness.