The paper seeks to test the relationships among product design and supply chain design, with specific reference to the product‐supply chain model by Fisher.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to test the relationships among product design and supply chain design, with specific reference to the product‐supply chain model by Fisher.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive empirical survey with data from 128 companies; the approach is basically theory testing, in that it investigates an existing framework, and discusses extensions.
Findings
Significant relationships are found between product types and supply chain types, as well as concerning the impact of alignment on performance.
Research limitations/implications
Instead of treating the supply chain characteristics associated with different supply chain types as either/or choices, some companies select properties from both supply chain types in order to gain additional benefits. This creates a supply chain frontier of physical efficiency and market responsiveness; a concept that deserves further attention by researchers. A limitation is that it would be interesting to perform a longitudinal study.
Practical implications
Different product types call for different types of supply chains. Alignment between the type of product and the type of supply chain is important, and significant for delivery speed, delivery dependability, and cost performance.
Originality/value
This research empirically tests a model that has received considerable attention in the research literature as well as acting as guidelines in practice, but that has not been tested explicitly before.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to present results from a survey that investigates the situation in real world supply chains concerning logistics collaboration.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present results from a survey that investigates the situation in real world supply chains concerning logistics collaboration.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on supply chain management literature, a questionnaire was developed covering important topics from the literature. The questionnaire was sent to the logistics manager at Swedish manufacturing companies and a net response rate of 37.8 percent (177/482) was achieved. Apart from purely descriptive statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and cross tabulations with χ 2 tests were used for the analysis.
Findings
From the results, three major conclusions are drawn. First, there is a clear relationship between the intensity of the collaboration and the positive effects experienced from the collaboration. Second, the results indicate that top management is an important driver for higher intensity collaboration. Third, there are serious differences between supply chain management (SCM) theory and practice, due to the absence of strategic elements in the collaboration and the different ways in which supplier and customer collaborations are managed.
Research limitations/implications
Related to SCM theory, the lack of strategic elements in the collaboration might prevent or decrease the expected positive effects of the collaboration. It is therefore important to increase the strategic level component in the collaboration. Top management involvement is likely to be important to achieve this and hence more research on the topic is suggested.
Originality/value
The study presents a broad overview concerning logistics collaboration that covers many of the most important supply chain management issues. In addition, their relationship is discussed.