Fazleena Badurdeen, Mohannad Shuaib, Ken Wijekoon, Adam Brown, William Faulkner, Joseph Amundson, I.S. Jawahir, Thomas J. Goldsby, Deepak Iyengar and Brench Boden
Globally expanding supply chains (SCs) have grown in complexity increasing the nature and magnitude of risks companies are exposed to. Effective methods to identify, model and…
Abstract
Purpose
Globally expanding supply chains (SCs) have grown in complexity increasing the nature and magnitude of risks companies are exposed to. Effective methods to identify, model and analyze these risks are needed. Risk events often influence each other and rarely act independently. The SC risk management practices currently used are mostly qualitative in nature and are unable to fully capture this interdependent influence of risks. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology and tool developed for multi-tier SC risk modeling and analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
SC risk taxonomy is developed to identify and document all potential risks in SCs and a risk network map that captures the interdependencies between risks is presented. A Bayesian Theory-based approach, that is capable of analyzing the conditional relationships between events, is used to develop the methodology to assess the influence of risks on SC performance
Findings
Application of the methodology to an industry case study for validation reveals the usefulness of the Bayesian Theory-based approach and the tool developed. Back propagation to identify root causes and sensitivity of risk events in multi-tier SCs is discussed.
Practical implications
SC risk management has grown in significance over the past decade. However, the methods used to model and analyze these risks by practitioners is still limited to basic qualitative approaches that cannot account for the interdependent effect of risk events. The method presented in this paper and the tool developed demonstrates the potential of using Bayesian Belief Networks to comprehensively model and study the effects or SC risks. The taxonomy presented will also be very useful for managers as a reference guide to begin risk identification.
Originality/value
The taxonomy developed presents a comprehensive compilation of SC risks at organizational, industry, and external levels. A generic, customizable software tool developed to apply the Bayesian approach permits capturing risks and the influence of their interdependence to quantitatively model and analyze SC risks, which is lacking.
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Fazleena Badurdeen, Ken Wijekoon and Phillip Marksberry
True lean transformation has proved notoriously difficult for non‐Toyota companies. One hypothesis is excessive focus on tools/techniques without building the necessary…
Abstract
Purpose
True lean transformation has proved notoriously difficult for non‐Toyota companies. One hypothesis is excessive focus on tools/techniques without building the necessary organizational culture. However, empirical evidence is not available to confirm (or refute) this hypothesis. The complex question of the relationship between an organization's culture and its ability to implement lean is a long‐term effort. As a first step, the purpose of this paper is to offer the results of a survey conducted to discover the relative (in)consistency of lean cultures in terms of values held explicitly.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey tool was developed to compare what employees of lean (or attempting to be lean) organizations say explicitly about what their culture values. The Toyota Way, considered by Toyota as guiding its values, was used as the basis to develop the survey which was administered to individuals in several different organizations.
Findings
A higher degree of lean implementation in a company was assumed to show more consistent organizational values (in explicit form). However, the responses varied even from the company considered a leader in lean implementation. Though not conclusive, these preliminary findings suggest that the relationship between cultural type, explicit values and successful lean practice should be examined further.
Originality/value
No empirical studies have investigated the role of culture in success with lean transformations. This paper presents an initial attempt at addressing that issue with a tool developed to evaluate what an organization's culture says its values are, in terms of what is important for lean implementation.
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Cristina Machado Guimarães and José Crespo de Carvalho
Considering lean thinking inside and beyond the organisation's boundaries, in the extended supply chain, this paper aims to fill a literature gap clearly stating some outsourcing…
Abstract
Purpose
Considering lean thinking inside and beyond the organisation's boundaries, in the extended supply chain, this paper aims to fill a literature gap clearly stating some outsourcing practices as lean practices and establishing a deployment evolution parallel between both practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was carried out collecting cases of lean deployment in healthcare, from both scientific and grey literature. Cases were classified according to lean deployment taxonomy in healthcare settings, showing some differences in lean journey stages in 15 countries.
Findings
There is an alignment between SCM thinking in healthcare and lean thinking that places a SCM decision as outsourcing as a lean practice serving not only strategic intent but solving operational efficiency. There is a match between different outsourcing drivers (transactional, strategic and transformational) and lean maturity levels. The main constraint to deployment of both lean and outsourcing practices are cultural differences.
Practical implications
Understanding lean and outsourcing different deployment maturity levels under the national cultural umbrella can open new perspectives to study lean sustainability factors and better outsourcing relationships in healthcare organisations.
Originality/value
This paper presents a merger between the state‐of‐the art of both lean and outsourcing practices in healthcare settings and suggests an outsourcing and lean evolving pathway.