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South Sudanese people form the largest number of resettled refugees in Australia between 2003 and 2004. This study aims to explore how this community understands and responds to health and illness. No study has specifically examined the concept of health and illness in the broader socio-cultural context of the South Sudanese people in Australia.

The design was a qualitative study using interviews and focus group discussions with 33 South Sudanese people in Adelaide, South Australia. Participants were asked to reflect on their understanding of health and illness and influences on their access and use of health and other services. Data were electronically audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.

Three main themes emerged from the analysis demonstrating complex and multifaceted views on health and illness. Participants described health as both a lack of disease and wider issues involving social belonging and participation, cultural well-being, living conditions and harmony in the society. They revealed that illnesses are predetermined by God or caused by a curse, breaking a cultural taboo, disharmony with the environment, community and ancestral spirits. Participants deeply tied their beliefs about illness causation and treatment to their historical, social and cultural lived realities, shaping their responses and health-care-seeking decisions.

The current study revealed a complex understanding of health and health-care-seeking practices amongst South Sudanese Australians. The multifaceted views of health and health-care-seeking practices underscore the importance of person-centred care for culturally and linguistically diverse people.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the moderating effect of uncertainty impacts the relationship of operational responsiveness and firm performance. Research on the relationship of supply chain fit and firm performance is discussed in isolation in different streams of research – such as in studies on responsiveness, agility, flexibility, efficiency and lean – without promptly recognising cross-stream contributions. This, at worst, prevents theory development. Therefore, the authors build a synthesis of literature from these streams. Grounded in the synthesis, a well-positioned empirical study that uses best research practices of past studies on the phenomenon is presented.

A cross-sectional survey sample of 875 Russian manufacturing firms was analysed with hierarchical regression.

The findings show that operational responsiveness leads to superior organisational performance if the relationship is moderated by uncertainty and supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, a direct relationship between operational responsiveness and operational performance was found. These results imply that efficiency is a precursor to responsiveness.

This paper contributes to the unification of practice–performance studies on lean, agility, flexibility, efficiency and responsiveness into a single stream of research: supply chain fit. The empirical results support contingency theory in the context of supply chain design. This paper also contributes by shedding light on supply chain dynamics of an under-researched national context. For managers, this paper offers concrete advice on decision-making regarding supply chain strategy trade-offs.

This paper aims to investigate supply chain (SC) strategies, analyzing the adoption of lean, agile, leagile and traditional SC strategies with respect to product characteristics, environmental uncertainty, business performance and innovation performance.

The paper presents an empirical analysis carried out on a sample of 329 companies. Cluster analysis was applied, based on lean and agile SC characteristics, to identify patterns among different SC strategies. One-way analysis of variance of different constructs by types of SC clusters was conducted to test the research hypotheses.

Cluster analysis indicates that the companies studied adopt four types of SC strategies – lean, agile, leagile and traditional. The differences between the clusters are identified and discussed, highlighting that companies adopting a leagile SC strategy present the highest performance, while those that adopt a traditional SC present the lowest; companies adopting an agile SC compete in the most complex and dynamic environments, while companies with a lean SC present a clear predominance of functional rather than innovative products.

This paper provides empirical evidence of the antecedents and consequences of the adoption of different SC strategies. As a limitation, the results are based on a survey research with a limited sample size.

Based on the analysis of the relationship between constructs that have not been addressed previously, the paper adds to the knowledge regarding the role of SC strategies, as well as the antecedents and consequences of their adoption. The results may support managers in the difficult task of choosing the “right” SC strategy.

Defence supply chains (SCs) aim at operational outcomes, and armed forces depend on them to provide availability and preparedness in peace and sustainability in war. Previous research has focussed on strategies for SCs aiming at financial outcomes. This raises the question of how suitable commercial supply chain strategies (SCSs) are for supply chain design (SCD) in defence. The purpose of this paper is to explain the constructs of SCSs that satisfy military operational requirements and to propose SCSs that are appropriate in defence.

This paper reports on a Delphi study with 20 experts from Swedish defence authorities. Through three Delphi rounds, two workshops and a validation round, these experts contributed to the reported findings.

The findings demonstrate that commercial SC constructs are acceptable and applicable in defence but not sufficient. An additional strategy is required to satisfy requirements on availability, preparedness and sustainability. The paper shows that different requirements in peace and war make it challenging to design suitable defence SCs and proposes eight SCSs that satisfy these requirements.

The results emanate from the Swedish defence context and further research is required for generalisation.

This paper extends theory by investigating SCs aiming at operational outcomes. For managers in companies and defence authorities, it explicates how the unique issues in defence must influence SCD to satisfy operational requirements.

Aims to identify the importance of segmentation both as part of the network design process and as an operational tool for correctly allocating products to appropriate supply chains.

The allocation is based upon a wide range of possible factors relating to the characteristics of the product, to the market, to the source and to the geographic/commercial context. The application of this framework is presented in a case study of a global electronics company, where large costs savings were achieved through the segmentation of supply chains.

A logical basis for segmentation is derived and an operational framework developed, which highlights the importance of product value density (PVD), throughput volume and product availability.

Demonstrates the paramount importance of throughput, demand variability/service factor and PVD as the key drivers in the segmentation process.

This paper aims to investigate the characteristics of demand and supply in relation to the real-world supply chain strategies of local urban fresh food supply chains (FFSC). It generates insights into how a range of strategies is adopted by urban retailer businesses in attempting to cater for the particular requirements of food-literate urban consumers and small-scale local growers.

Using a multiple case study method, 12 urban local fresh food retailers in Sydney were studied and interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Local fresh produce has characteristics of both functional and innovative products. Retailers with strong upstream and downstream collaborations adopt hybrid strategies for increased time efficiency and product variety. The dominance of strategies for time efficiency in downstream activities is aimed at maximising the product’s freshness and taste, while product range improvement strategies mean innovative retailers are working with growers to introduce new product types and offering new recipes to consumers that encourage a wider use of products. Urban retailers of local fresh produce leverage on their relationships with upstream and downstream supply chain entities in implementing hybrid strategies.

Policymakers will make use of the new knowledge generated about the real enablers of contemporary urban food systems in designing developmental policies; findings will inform urban FFSC retailers about how harmonious relationships can be leveraged for sustainability.

The study generates new knowledge on the implementation of a leagile approach by studying the adoption of innovative hybrid strategies by urban local FFSCs in relations to demand and supply characteristics and the utilization of strong vertical relationships in a short supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to research the nature of supply chain strategy (SCS). It represents one stage of an on‐going research initiative aimed at providing a framework for systematic understanding of the linkages between corporate strategy (CS) making and supply chain management (SCM).

The paper explored the theory and literature related to strategic management and SCM. Four generic levels of strategy were linked to SCM, and synthesized into an explanatory SCS‐framework. Propositions for future research were presented based on the framework.

The paper shows that most of the literature on SCS relates to the functional level. Largely undiscovered are the links between corporate and business unit strategies with supply chain strategies and capabilities, especially on the network level (NL).

A fit between CS and SCM positively impacts the performance of a firm. The framework developed can be used by managers to assist in thinking through possibilities to link supply chain capabilities with the CS making processes.

By distinguishing between functional, business, corporate, and NLs, the paper provides a framework for future research to enhance knowledge related to supply chain strategies and capabilities.

This paper investigates the effect of the fit between supply and demand uncertainty (SDU) and supply chain responsiveness (SCR) (SC fit) on business and innovation performance in Brazilian companies.

The study presented an analysis carried out on an empirical study based on a sample of 150 manufacturing companies. Business and innovation performance of companies with different types of SC fit ( high–high and low–low fits) and misfit (positive and negative) are compared and discussed.

The results indicated that SC fit had a positive effect on both business and innovation performance. Further analyses suggested that companies with SC fit present similar business performance, independent of the level of SDU that characterizes the environment where they compete, while companies in environments with higher levels of uncertainty tend to present superior innovation performance. Companies with positive and negative misfit present similar performance.

An analysis of the literature showed that there is no consensus when it comes to the definitions and measurements of SC fit. The paper investigates the effects of SC fit on business and innovation performance, while previous empirical studies have mainly addressed its impact on financial performance. Moreover, this study compares the effects of two types of fit and two types of misfit and assesses SC fit in Brazilian manufacturing companies, analyzing the context of an under-researched reality.

This study aims to examine the effects of strategic sourcing (SS) on lean supply chain (LSC) and agile supply chain (ASC) strategies and investigate the role of these concepts on development of competitive performance.

A proposed research model and hypotheses are tested by using cross-sectional e-mail survey data collected from the manufacturing firms operating in Turkey. SS is conceptualized as a second-order factor. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed hypotheses.

This study reached the conclusion that SS affects LSC and ASC strategies positively. Additionally, it is seen that these concepts are effective in improvement of competitive performance.

The results are important in terms of emphasizing the significance of SS in improvement of the lean and agile nature of the supply chain.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the relationships among SS, supply chain strategies and competitive performance.

This study was carried out on the plant level where one person from each organization responded to the survey.

Vehicle manufacturer “CarCo” has spent decades developing its supply strategy based on customer ordered production. Yet the combination of an over‐crowded European market and the need to grow sales poses a dilemma: what strategy does it adopt to manage its global operations? This research aims to examine the implementation of responsive operations and supply strategy to analyse how and why a firm's strategy changes over time.

Based on the observations from a two‐day workshop held for 50 managers at the firm's headquarters, the paper explores theoretical and practitioner implications for the continued development and implementation of build‐to‐order (BTO) as a cornerstone of supply strategy.

Despite considerable capability at functional and business level, CarCo must address corporate and industry factors in order to raise responsiveness. Managers understand the conflict between operational and supply strategies presented here, yet are limited in the extent they can act on this knowledge due to the multi‐level aspect of strategy and difficulties over control beyond the boundary of the firm.

Key performance indicators need to be modified to gauge individual sale profitability, alongside new incentives and measures to overcome demand distortion and supplier game‐playing. Further, the balance between flexibility investment and better customer fulfilment should be explored through cost analysis.

Presents a managerial perspective of supply chain strategy development, analysed through a structured academic lens. The paper illustrates the increasingly dynamic nature of supply chains and the importance of connections between retail distribution, manufacturing, and in‐bound supply as part of the global operation.