Wesley S. Randall

An inventory of theory in logistics and SCM research

Purpose – Theory is needed for a discipline to mature. This research aims to provide a summary analysis of the theories being used in contemporary logistics and supply chain management (SCM) studies.Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive literature review of articles appearing in five top tier logistics and SCM journals is conducted in order to identify how often theory is used and to classify the specific theories used. An analysis of the theoretical categories is presented to explain the type and frequency of theory usage.Findings – Over 180 specific theories were found within the sampled articles. Theories grouped under the competitive and microeconomics categories made up over 40 per cent of the theoretical incidences. This does not imply all articles utilize theory. The research found that theory was explicitly used in approximately 53 per cent of the sampled articles.Practical implications – Two implications are central. First, in the minds of editors, reviewers and authors is approximately 5...

Supply chain financing: using cash‐to‐cash variables to strengthen the supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how firm financial management techniques may be used to improve over all supply chain profitability and performance.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a case‐based approach to demonstrate how supply chain financial management techniques, such as cash‐to‐cash and shared weighted average cost of capital (WACC), can reduce the financial costs experience by a supply chain.Findings – This paper provides a methodology to identify and quantify the potential opportunities to increase profitability throughout the supply. Scenarios are offered that illuminate potential supply chain improvements gained by collaborative management of cash‐to‐cash cycles and sharing WACC with trading partners.Research limitations/implications – These financial techniques are readily available for use in collaborative supply chain structures.Practical implications – Coordinating financial management across the supply chain is a potential tool to align and improve the financial p...

Connection, trust, and commitment: dimensions of co-creation?

The purpose of this research is to identify a key driver of relationship closeness for service organizations. Based upon the co-creation concept from Service-Dominant Logic, connection is proposed as a new construct rooted in emotional attachment that bolsters the effect of trust and commitment on future intention among customers of a service-intense organization. Causal models are verified with a large empirical sample drawn from an organization in the process of dealing with the increasing sense of depersonalization that has afflicted growing organizations in a variety of industries. The paper distinguishes an important dimension of customer relationships that can be affected by service managers in order to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Explaining the effectiveness of performance‐based logistics: a quantitative examination

Purpose – Performance‐based logistics (PBL) strategies are providing governments and for‐profit organizations with a contractual mechanism that reduces the life cycle costs of their systems. PBL accomplishes this by establishing contracts that focus on the delivery of performance not parts. PBL establishes a metric based governance structure where suppliers make more profit when they invest in logistics process improvements, or system redesign, that reduces total cost of ownership. While work has been done to outline an overall PBL theoretical framework, the underlying theory explaining the enablers that lead to organizational and team‐level, team‐goal alignment associated with the PBL governance structure requires testing. The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively test previously posited relationships between enablers of PBL and PBL effectiveness. An additional objective is to explore any differences in PBL effectiveness between different business sectors.Design/methodology/approach – A multiple reg...

Retail supply chain management : key priorities and practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unique supply chain strategies employed by retailers.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods approach was employed involving analysis of depth interviews with 27 retail supply chain executives combined with a follow‐up survey capturing over 200 responses.Findings – In light of uncertain economic conditions, retailers appear to be developing more agile/responsive supply chain management (SCM) strategies. Additionally, retailers are putting greater emphasis on maintaining a balance of cost versus service than the cost‐centered focus found in a prior study.Research limitations/implications – This study focused on US retailers and therefore results should be cautiously extended to the retailing environment in other countries.Practical implications – Retailing is not a “one size fits all” business, and study results suggest the SCM strategies used by retailers depend greatly on the nature of each retailers model. However, the need to create agile...

Assessing the managerial relevance of contemporary supply chain management research

Purpose – Discussions about the managerial relevance of scholarly research have been taking place for decades and the topic continues to be a source of debate in a number of business disciplines. The purpose of this paper is to make an initial attempt to empirically assess the relevance of supply chain management research.Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative methods were utilized to provide some initial evidence that can help validate or refute assumptions about perceived relevance in contemporary supply chain management research.Findings – Findings of this research indicate that the most impactful supply chain management issues for managers are internal supply chain organizational structure, communication and information exchange, information technology, forecasting and sales and operations planning, and strategic leadership. Some of these managerial issues appear to be well aligned with recent research trends, but other issues are not frequently researched.Research limitations/implications – Future...

Investigating the role of knowledge in alliance performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that following from the premise that knowledge comprises the fundamental source of competitive advantage, this study provides results of a meta‐analysis that examines whether and how alliance performance is influenced by the role knowledge plays in a strategic alliance.Design/methodology/approach – Meta‐analysis is employed as the driving methodology in this study. The meta‐analysis approach permits the literature on interfirm knowledge management to be reviewed and synthesized such that the role of knowledge in the alliance, environmental risk, and alliance performance can be thoroughly and validly investigated.Findings – The findings suggest that the level of risk associated with the environment in which the alliance partners join forces does not moderate the relationship between the various “roles” of knowledge and alliance performance, whereas the magnitude and type of interfirm cohesiveness enjoyed or endured by the alliance participants does materially ...

Service-dominant logic and supply chain management: are we there yet?

Purpose – Research suggests that service-dominant logic (SDL) is well suited to support supply chain management (SCM) research and practice. Qualitative research has shown that SDL is particularly consistent with an outcome-based supply chain strategy known as performance-based logistics (PBL). The purpose of this paper is to extend theory and practice by exploring the degree to which SDL is utilized in practice. Specifically, PBL is examined for consistency with the underlying fundamental premises (FPs) of SDL. In doing so, this paper answers the positive question, “what exists”, at the intersection of SDL and SCM. Design/methodology/approach – This study employs a mixed methodological approach. First, the FPs of SDL are operationalized using the language of PBL. The PBL FPs are tested quantitatively through an online survey of 52 supply chain PBL experts. A qualitative analysis is conducted using comments associated with each premise. Findings – The survey results suggest that PBL is consistent with SDL...

Utilizing cash‐to‐cash to benchmark company performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how the cash‐to‐cash (C2C) metric may be used to benchmark supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes C2C variables as a means to benchmark company performance.Findings – Three case studies are offered where firms have benchmarked to: review their internal accounts payable policies; linked results of their benchmarking to profitability to help focus implementation efforts; and served as a call to action to proactively seek improvements with key trading partners. The models developed in this paper provide a benchmark approach to inter‐firm supply chain financial management. These models have direct application in a cost conscious economy and represent a non‐zero sum gain for cooperating corporations.Research limitations/implications – C2C variables are readily available for use in benchmarking.Practical implications – C2C benchmarking allows the firm to identify where to focus improvements with their supply chain trading partners...

Improving the computational efficiency of metric-based spares algorithms

We propose a new heuristic algorithm to improve the computational efficiency of the general class of Multi-Echelon Technique for Recoverable Item Control (METRIC) problems. The objective of a METRIC-based decision problem is to systematically determine the location and quantity of spares that either maximizes the operational availability of a system subject to a budget constraint or minimizes its cost subject to an operational availability target. This type of sparing analysis has proven essential when analyzing the sustainment policies of large-scale, complex repairable systems such as those prevalent in the defense and aerospace industries. Additionally, the frequency of these sparing studies has recently increased as the adoption of performance-based logistics (PBL) has increased. PBL represents a class of business strategies that converts the recurring cost associated with maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) into cost avoidance streams. Central to a PBL contract is a requirement to perform a business case analysis (BCA) and central to a BCA is the frequent need to use METRIC-based approaches to evaluate how a supplier and customer will engage in a performance based logistics arrangement where spares decisions are critical. Due to the size and frequency of the problem there exists a need to improve the efficiency of the computationally intensive METRIC-based solutions. We develop and validate a practical algorithm for improving the computational efficiency of a METRIC-based approach. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are analyzed through a numerical study. The algorithm shows a 94% improvement in computational efficiency while maintaining 99.9% accuracy.