Blandine Ageron, Olivier Lavastre and Alain Spalanzani
This research aims to explore innovation in supply chain management. Innovation has often been studied in supply chain relationships and specifically from a product point of view…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explore innovation in supply chain management. Innovation has often been studied in supply chain relationships and specifically from a product point of view. The authors aim to observe innovation by focusing on the different practices and collaborations suppliers and customers are developing to improve their competitiveness and the performance of the whole supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of previous literature on innovation in supply chain management is presented and the authors design an interview guide for their data collection that is developed from their previous literature review on innovation in supply chain management. Data are collected from 68 innovations in French companies and subsequently analyzed to identify the major elements of innovations in supply chain management.
Findings
The key findings of the paper identify the major components affecting innovative supply chain practices and SC performance. The results suggest that innovation is essential in supply chain management and can be characterized according to its degree of novelty and rupture, its distribution throughout the SC and the level at which it occurs. In addition, a typology of innovative supply chain practices is proposed.
Originality/value
The authors' study is exploratory and examines the state of practices concerning innovation in supply chain management. The authors identify the major elements of innovations and propose a typology of these innovative supply chain practices.
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Blandine Ageron, Angappa Gunasekaran and Alain Spalanzani
This exploratory research aims to examine and evaluate the importance of IS/IT criterion in the suppliers selection process. The paper attempts to assess if there is superior…
Abstract
Purpose
This exploratory research aims to examine and evaluate the importance of IS/IT criterion in the suppliers selection process. The paper attempts to assess if there is superior supply chain performance arising from the integration of this criterion and to determine difficulties companies face resulting from this deployment.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of previous literature on supplier selection is presented and the authors designed a structured questionnaire for their data collection. Data were collected from 90 French companies and subsequently analyzed to understand the IS/IT criterion used for supplier selection along the upstream value chain.
Findings
The results suggest that IT/IS is a significant supplier selection criterion within supply chain context because of the rapid proliferation of information sharing across upstream chains.
Research limitations/implications
Since this empirical investigation has been limited to French companies, further studies can be done for comparison with similar western countries or different countries (on economic, environmental, social, political dimensions).
Practical implications
This research has several implications for the decision makers in the management of their suppliers. It informs them on the necessity to integrate IS/IT in their suppliers selection. Meaning while, it indicates which IS/IT must be emphasized and which difficulties will be faced by integrating this criterion. It also gives some insights concerning the supplier relationship development.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the relative importance of IS/IT criterion in the supplier selection process. IT/IS has a role to play as it has helped improve the dynamics of both externalization and internationalization, notably by solving problems and by encouraging development of upstream relationships.
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The purpose of this paper is to address the discourse of Romanian universities as a mirror of the reformation process in the national higher educational system.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the discourse of Romanian universities as a mirror of the reformation process in the national higher educational system.
Design/methodology/approach
The focus of this paper is on external and internal communication, on institutional identity and the symbiosis of orders of discourse. The paper highlights the prospective EU integration as a major trigger of change in the Romanian educational system. It then draws upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a relevant research approach and presents the results of conducting critical discourse analysis on a corpus consisting of the web site presentation of ten public and private universities, on three faculty and university prospectuses, and one promotional CD. Finally, the paper briefly compares the discourse of Romanian universities with the discourse of universities from the UK, France, Italy and Germany, and suggest lines for improvement.
Findings
Romanian society is currently the site of ample reformation and one of the factors that trigger change is the prospective integration in the European Union. In higher education, change is enacted discursively though the emergence of new genres as the generalization of promotion as a discursive practice. The discourse of Romanian universities is heavily colonized by the EU discourse, but factors pertaining to local culture also resurface openly. Discourse is, indeed, a factor of change, but not the only one affecting it. The westernizing of Romanian university discourse needs to be backed up by a westernizing of patterns of thinking and behaving.
Originality/value
The paper presents insights into the discourse of Romanian universities.
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Federico Caniato, Luca Mattia Gelsomino, Alessandro Perego and Stefano Ronchi
Recently, in response to the credit crunch and the increased costs of financing, new solutions for supporting the financial management of supply chains, known as supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
Recently, in response to the credit crunch and the increased costs of financing, new solutions for supporting the financial management of supply chains, known as supply chain finance (SCF), have been developed. They exploit the strengths of supply chain links to optimise working capital. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference framework that links together the objectives leading to the adoption of SCF solutions and several moderating variables.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a multiple case study methodology, analysing 14 cases of the application of SCF solutions among Italian companies.
Findings
The main findings are the identification of the different objectives leading to the adoption of SCF; the analysis of the impact of moderating variables (the level of inter- and intra-firm collaboration, the level of the trade process digitalisation and the bargaining power and financial strength of the leading firm) on SCF adoption; and the formulation of a reference framework supporting the effective adoption of SCF solutions.
Research limitations/implications
This contribution is exploratory in nature; theory-testing contributions should be the focus of further research. Also, the sample is limited to Italian companies. Finally, the service provider’s point of view has been marginally taken into consideration in this study.
Originality/value
The article addresses the need for more empirical research on SCF. It provides a reference framework focused on the objectives and moderating variables leading to effective SCF adoption, providing a theory-building contribution on the general topic of SCF and on the specific topic of the adoption process of different SCF solutions.
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Ricardo Zimmermann, Luís Miguel D.F. Ferreira and Antonio Carrizo Moreira
The importance of innovation as a generator of competitive advantage and the collaborative nature of this process are recurring themes in the literature. This paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of innovation as a generator of competitive advantage and the collaborative nature of this process are recurring themes in the literature. This paper aims to contribute to the improvement of knowledge about the relationship between supply chains and the innovation process by means of a systematic literature review.
Methodology/approach
The method used consists of the identification, selection, analysis and synthesis of existing research on the subject and aims to ensure that the review is transparent, auditable and replicable. This paper presents the analysis of 94 papers from 37 journals and the major contributions are explored.
Findings
The identification and analysis of relevant articles showed the complexity, timeliness and the wide-ranging character of the theme. The analysis of articles allowed the identification of facilitators of the innovation process, as well as five approaches applicable to supply chains to drive the innovation process. From these analyses, a model synthesising the main practices identified for improving innovation performance is presented.
Research limitations/implications
When carrying out literature reviews, the selection of articles might be considered subjective. To circumvent this limitation, the papers have been assessed by three researchers.
Practical implications
The results presented can be applied in the decision-making process by managers in the areas of innovation and supply chain.
Originality/value
This paper synthesises knowledge involving the relationships between supply chains and the innovation process. The analysis is based on quantitative and qualitative criteria.
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Green supply chain management (GSCM) has become the driver of sustainable strategy. This topic has been gaining increasing attention within both academia and industry for making…
Abstract
Purpose
Green supply chain management (GSCM) has become the driver of sustainable strategy. This topic has been gaining increasing attention within both academia and industry for making the industry competitive. With the ever increasing demand for reducing carbon foot prints and greenhouse gas emission, there is a need to study the various parameters and drivers of sustainable development, especially in supply chain management. The need for developing the sustainable model including the drivers of sustainability needs to be designed. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using resource-based theory and value chain analysis; the authors have developed a model for sustainable strategy. The data were collected and analyzed to find the key drivers of sustainability. The data were analyzed with the help of regression and correlation analysis.
Findings
After providing a background discussion on GSCM, the authors categorize and review recent GSCM literature under three broad categories, with a special emphasis on investigation of adoption, diffusion, and outcomes of GSCM practices. Within this review framework, the authors also identified GSCM research questions that are worthy of investigation. The study suggests that the main drivers of GSCM include the environmental policy and the green human resource management by providing them training for adopting sustainability practices. Besides this, another key driver is the sustainability criteria in supplier selection which was found to be enhancing the outcomes of sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
The model suggests that we need to have management support for implementing the sustainability strategy in the organization.
Practical implications
The study guides the managers for implementing sustainable supply chain management practices in the organization.
Social implications
The model including the environment policy (adoption), green human resource management (diffusion), green technology (diffusion), and GSCM.
Originality/value
Additional organizational theories which are considered valuable for future GSCM research are also identified with a conclusion for this review.