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Article
Publication date: 4 July 2024

Chris Lonsdale, Joe Sanderson and Ali Esfahbodi

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of the use of sourcing teams (STs) by organisations in their procurement and supply chain management. The paper achieves this by…

333

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of the use of sourcing teams (STs) by organisations in their procurement and supply chain management. The paper achieves this by exploring, within the context of the supply chain directorate of a global aerospace manufacturing company (GAMC), both the relationship between sourcing teamwork effectiveness (TE) and sourcing task-work effectiveness (TA) and the relationship between individual team member knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) and TE.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop a theoretical model positing positive links between both KSAs and TE and TE and TA. The model is empirically validated using partial least squares structural equation modelling in a survey of 108 ST members from a GAMC.

Findings

The authors identify that, within GAMC, four of five KSAs drive TE and further discover the direct effects of TE on improved TA. Additionally, the authors observe within GAMC the indirect effects of KSAs on TA cascading through TE.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include the use of a single firm and self-report measures for data collection. In spite of this, the paper has numerous research implications. Previous research on STs has combined factors related to TE and TA. In this paper, TE and TA were disaggregated, and the relationships between them were explored. The relationships were found to be positive within GAMC, a finding that strengthens the evidence base supporting the use of STs by organisations in their procurement and supply chain management. In addition, the paper also strengthened the evidence base regarding the importance of KSAs to TE, which complements existing research highlighting the importance of team-level factors and individual technical attributes.

Practical implications

The findings from GAMC suggest that executives/managers should take an individual as well as a team-level perspective when developing STs and should consider KSAs as well as technical knowledge when judging individuals’ suitability for inclusion within an ST. There are established KSA tests in the literature that could be used by managers for this task. The findings also inform executives/managers that TE matters for TA and needs attention and investment, especially where sourcing tasks concern high-value areas and/or critical incidents within supply chains.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to explore the relationship between TE and TA. Establishing that this relationship is a positive one provides critically important evidence regarding the efficacy of STs, which are widely used within procurement and supply chain management. It is also a rare study looking at TE from the perspective of individual team member KSAs, with further positive relationships revealed. Both findings enhance what is a very limited literature on a widely used practice within procurement and supply chain management.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

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Article
Publication date: 12 October 2018

Yang Liu, Constantin Blome, Joe Sanderson and Antony Paulraj

This paper aims to examine how supply chain integration capabilities inform green design strategy adoption and whether green design strategy can lead to higher levels of…

2412

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how supply chain integration capabilities inform green design strategy adoption and whether green design strategy can lead to higher levels of environmental and economic performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey-based approach was used to empirically test the study hypotheses. Based on 216 usable responses collected from automakers around the globe, the authors compared the results from two different data groups (i.e. Chinese firms vs Western firms) using the structural equation modeling approach.

Findings

In the Chinese context, both internal and external supply chain integration capabilities are significantly related to the successful adoption of a green design strategy. However, the relationships are not significant in Western context. Green design is found to positively impact environmental performance in both contexts; however, no significant relationship is revealed between green design and economic performance in either context. Finally, environmental performance was found to have a significant and positive impact on economic performance in both contexts.

Research limitations/implications

The cross-sectional survey design that was focused only on the auto industry may affect the inferences of causality and generalizability of this study.

Practical implications

Managers should understand their specific organizational context first, and then strategically develop their external and internal supply chain integration capabilities to maximize their green design efforts for improved environmental performance. Companies can be certain that the more gains made in environmental management, the more economic returns can be expected.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the existing resource-based view literature by linking supply chain integration capabilities to green design strategy adoption in different organizational contexts. It also sheds a light on the association between green design and different performance dimensions and adds value to the current debate on the association between environmental performance and economic performance.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 23 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

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Article
Publication date: 21 June 2022

Joe Sanderson, Ali Esfahbodi and Chris Lonsdale

A lack of sourcing-specific team research prevents a full understanding of sourcing teamwork effectiveness (STE). Moreover, the limited purchasing and supply management (PSM) team…

1282

Abstract

Purpose

A lack of sourcing-specific team research prevents a full understanding of sourcing teamwork effectiveness (STE). Moreover, the limited purchasing and supply management (PSM) team literature often tends to focus on an aggregate group level. The paper makes a step towards adopting an individual actor perspective on teamwork effectiveness with an emphasis on the context of sourcing, explicating the effects of team-member knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), and examining how these relationships are moderated by a common learning experience of strategic sourcing masterclass.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a cross-sectional survey, this study analyses a sample of 90 sourcing team members from a global aerospace manufacturing company using hierarchical regression analysis.

Findings

The results suggest that four of the five KSAs positively and significantly affect STE; the exception was collaborative problem solving. Masterclass learning outcomes were found to positively moderate the effects of these KSAs on STE, again exclusive of the collaborative problem-solving KSA.

Research limitations/implications

Cross-sectional design focused only on the aerospace sector may affect generalizability. Further, longitudinal research designs would capture the effects of the common learning experience over an extended period.

Practical implications

Sourcing team members could be selected based on having KSAs which significantly affect teamwork effectiveness. Training and development for sourcing teams should combine guided reflexivity and cross-training to deliver learning outcomes that create similar team mental models.

Originality/value

The study provides an individual team-member perspective on the functioning of sourcing teams which is absent in the extant research. It contributes to the very limited research base on skills in PSM.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 52 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 1999

Joe Sanderson

Provides both a descriptive and an analytical understanding of the supply chain for industrial electricity. It explains which actors in the chain have power and how this impacts…

2613

Abstract

Provides both a descriptive and an analytical understanding of the supply chain for industrial electricity. It explains which actors in the chain have power and how this impacts upon the process of value appropriation. There are three main elements. The first is a descriptive mapping of the supply chain based on key functional stages, resources and resource ownership. The second is a descriptive mapping of the corresponding value chain based on the revenues and gross profit margins typically being earned at each functional stage. The final element is a discussion of the power resources that determine the competitive dynamics, and by extension the appropriation of value, in the chain. Regulatory intervention by the state is identified as a key mediating factor in this case.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

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Article
Publication date: 25 January 2008

Joe Sanderson and Andrew Cox

There is a view that firms should decide between a lean or agile approach to supply management primarily on the basis of whether their product offering is “functional”…

4882

Abstract

Purpose

There is a view that firms should decide between a lean or agile approach to supply management primarily on the basis of whether their product offering is “functional” (predictable demand, low variety and a long life cycle) or “innovative” (unpredictable demand, high variety and a short life cycle). This paper aims to present and test the proposition that this dichotomy is less useful in complex, one‐off project environments, such as shipbuilding or construction, because projects typically require the assembly of many different, largely functional, products in a unique or innovative configuration.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports a case study focusing on one of the supply chains serving a major UK shipyard. The case study data were gathered by means of semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with key personnel (procurement, sales, production, materials management and engineering/design) from each company within the defined supply chain.

Findings

The case study reveals that the design and build process used in the shipyard introduces radical unpredictability into the demand for “functional” components of naval vessels.

Originality/value

The paper raises important questions as to the conceptual robustness and the empirical generalisability of some of the extant literature on supply strategy selection. In particular, the case study suggests that a core assumption – that the demand for functional products is relatively predictable – is not sustainable in the context of project specific supply chains where the ultimate demand is generated by an active organisational buyer.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Joe Sanderson

This paper has two main objectives. The first is to discuss a case study analysis of a supply network in the UK naval shipbuilding sector. The case study is designed to provide an…

3044

Abstract

This paper has two main objectives. The first is to discuss a case study analysis of a supply network in the UK naval shipbuilding sector. The case study is designed to provide an empirical exploration of the core theoretical propositions contained in the power regimes perspective. This perspective proposes that dyadic power structures matter for an understanding of opportunity and constraint in business‐to‐business relationship management. The second objective is to discuss how this conceptualization of opportunity and constraint might be extended and made richer by a focus on strategic choice and zones of manoeuvre. Some of the core organization theory literature is reviewed and possible analytical linkages to the power regimes perspective are identified.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Andrew Cox, Glyn Watson, Chris Lonsdale and Joe Sanderson

This paper reports the findings of a two‐year EPSRC funded research project into relationship and performance strategies in power regimes. The findings from 12 very different…

8560

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a two‐year EPSRC funded research project into relationship and performance strategies in power regimes. The findings from 12 very different industrial and service sector cases studies demonstrate that there is a correlation between the ability to improve the performance of suppliers and the power circumstances that exist between the buyers and suppliers. Buyers appear to be able to achieve improved performance from suppliers in situations of buyer dominance or interdependence. The research also demonstrates that whatever the objective power circumstance managers often subjectively misperceive the appropriate sourcing choices available to them. As a result business relationships can be aligned, but they are often misaligned. Furthermore, misaligned relationships may be “remediable” but they may not.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 1999

Andrew Cox

Explains some of the thinking that informs both the case study articles that appear in the same issue of Supply Chain Management: An International Journal and the EPSRC funded…

66807

Abstract

Explains some of the thinking that informs both the case study articles that appear in the same issue of Supply Chain Management: An International Journal and the EPSRC funded research project currently being undertaken at the Centre for Business Strategy and Procurement. A review is provided of the dominant ideas that currently inform “supply chain management thinking”. This paradigm is characterised as operational effectiveness and efficiency. A case is made for understanding supply chains from a strategic as well as from an operational perspective. Current supply chain management thinking is criticised for being atheoretical and descriptive, and a case is made for an analytical approach to supply chain thinking based around the concepts of power and value appropriation. A more analytically robust way of understanding supply chains is laid out.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

Available. Content available

Abstract

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 39 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Andrew Cox

This paper outlines the general theoretical approach adopted in the power regime perspective on sourcing and relationship management. The paper focuses on the art of the possible…

18614

Abstract

This paper outlines the general theoretical approach adopted in the power regime perspective on sourcing and relationship management. The paper focuses on the art of the possible. This means that managers have to develop sourcing relationships that are appropriate given the circumstances in which they find themselves. To understand appropriateness it is argued that buyers and suppliers must understand the five sourcing choices available and the power circumstances that exist between them in supply chain networks. Only by understanding the power regime that exists can buyers and suppliers fully understand what is the appropriate way for them to manage relationships.

Details

Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8546

Keywords

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