M. Caridi, R. Cigolini and D. De Marco
The standpoint of this research lies in the study of the CPFR process for trading partners (belonging to the same supply chain) who are willing to collaborate in exchanging sales…
Abstract
Purpose
The standpoint of this research lies in the study of the CPFR process for trading partners (belonging to the same supply chain) who are willing to collaborate in exchanging sales and order forecast. This points out the need for providing a collaboration process with an intelligent tool to optimise negotiation.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review and classification has been carried out concerning autonomous agents used to manage supply chain processes. To evaluate the strengths coming from an intelligent system embedded within the CPFR process, several experiments in different conditions were conducted using simulation tool.
Findings
The analysis of experimental results points out that the agent‐driven negotiation process (by comparison to CPFR without intelligent agents) benefits in terms of costs, inventory level, stock‐out level and sales.
Research limitations/implications
The study represents a one‐to‐one scenario, in which only two trading partners collaborate. Further, research has been identified to extend the work.
Practical implications
The study represents a first step towards the analysis of a multi‐agent system being used to automate and optimise collaboration along a supply chain.
Originality/value
The study represents a novel approach to resolving exceptions concerning sales and forecast data.
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Ramin Rostamkhani and Thurasamy Ramayah
This chapter of the book aims to achieve sustainability and productivity in light of the interaction between managers and engineers in a lean and agile supply chain management…
Abstract
This chapter of the book aims to achieve sustainability and productivity in light of the interaction between managers and engineers in a lean and agile supply chain management system in today’s organizations. The main innovation of this chapter is the use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) model and fuzzy analysis network process (FANP) to create a suitable platform for the realization of this interaction between managers and engineers and to identify exactly which expert system is ideal for the main purpose. Indeed, this chapter introduces its readers to the application of strategic management tools such as the BSC accompanied by FANP in the elements of supply chain management where data analysis of lean and agile networks in supply chain management can create a competitive advantage in the organization.
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Michael Rogerson and Glenn C. Parry
This paper aims to investigate how blockchain has moved beyond cryptocurrencies and is being deployed to enhance visibility and trust in supply chains, their limitations and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how blockchain has moved beyond cryptocurrencies and is being deployed to enhance visibility and trust in supply chains, their limitations and potential impact.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative analysis are undertaken via case studies drawn from food companies using semi-structured interviews.
Findings
Blockchain is demonstrated as an enabler of visibility in supply chains. Applications at scale are most likely for products where the end consumer is prepared to pay the premium currently required to fund the technology, e.g. baby food. Challenges remain in four areas: trust of the technology, human error and fraud at the boundaries, governance, consumer data access and willingness to pay.
Research limitations/implications
The paper shows that blockchain can be utilised as part of a system generating visibility and trust in supply chains. Research directs academic attention to issues that remain to be addressed. The challenges pertaining to the technology itself we believe to be generalisable; those specific to the food industry may not hold elsewhere.
Practical implications
From live case studies, we provide empirical evidence that blockchain provides visibility of exchanges and reliable data in fully digitised supply chains. This provides provenance and guards against counterfeit goods. However, firms will need to work to gain consumer buy-in for the technology following repeated past claims of trustworthiness.
Originality/value
This paper provides primary evidence from blockchain use cases “in the wild”. The exploratory case studies examine application of blockchain for supply chain visibility.
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Maria Caridi, Alessandro Perego and Angela Tumino
The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative quantitative approach to measure visibility in outbound supply chains and to implement it in order to evaluate the current degree…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative quantitative approach to measure visibility in outbound supply chains and to implement it in order to evaluate the current degree of visibility that focal companies operating in the apparel industry have on their supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on an in‐depth literature review on supply chain visibility and on 11 case studies in the apparel industry.
Findings
The outcome of the paper is twofold. First, it proposes a metric for measuring visibility in complex outbound supply chains. Second, it analyses the quantity and quality of visible information in eleven companies belonging to the apparel industry, comparing visibility on outbound supply chains vs inbound supply chains.
Research limitations/implications
Although the paper shows the usefulness of the proposed metrics in supporting value assessment, a structured tool is still to be developed. Moreover, the visibility metric is suitable for benchmarking analyses, but the sample presented in the study is still limited and should be enlarged by further studies, also considering other industries.
Originality/value
The metrics so far proposed by researchers to assess the level of visibility in complex supply networks are mainly focused on the upstream supply chain; this paper fills the gap by proposing a quantitative metric for assessing the degree of visibility on the outbound supply chain. Moreover, some interesting insights about visibility in the apparel industry have been found on the basis of 11 case studies.
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Sirirat Somapa, Martine Cools and Wout Dullaert
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review that aims to provide insight into the characteristics and effectiveness of supply chain visibility (SCV), as well as to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review that aims to provide insight into the characteristics and effectiveness of supply chain visibility (SCV), as well as to identify metrics that capture these aspects in business processes.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the supply chain literature is conducted to identify the characteristics and the effectiveness of SCV. The synthesis of SCV effectiveness and its metrics are based on the process-oriented approach which relates the effectiveness of SCV to improved business performance.
Findings
This study reveals that the characteristics of SCV can be captured in terms of the accessibility, quality, and usefulness of information. The benefits of SCV are found to extend beyond improvements to operational efficiency of business processes or to the strategic competencies of an organization.
Practical implications
This study underlines that clear agreements between all players involved in the SC can help to solve problems caused by information completeness (type and amount of information), and unlock the full potential of SCV projects.
Originality/value
By using a process-oriented approach, this review provides a comprehensive explanation of the functions of SCV, as well as its first-order effects, in terms of automational, informational, and transformational characteristics.
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Maria Caridi, Margherita Pero and Andrea Sianesi
Researchers ascertain that the more the activities of new product development (NPD) process are outsourced to partners, the higher the need for integration. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Researchers ascertain that the more the activities of new product development (NPD) process are outsourced to partners, the higher the need for integration. The purpose of this paper is to study: the extent to which the amount of information shared with the partners during NPD projects (DC visibility) depends on the degree of outsourcing (DC virtuality), and what are the context variables (product features and business relationship features) that influence this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides two sets of quantitative indexes to measure: the relevance of the activities outsourced during the NPD project (i.e. virtuality), in terms of the spread of the outsourced technological knowledge, and in terms of outsourced workload; and the amount of information that a focal company shares with product development partners (i.e. visibility). Seven NPD projects in different companies have been analyzed to investigate visibility, virtuality, and the implications of contingencies.
Findings
The cross-case analysis shows that the amount of information shared with the partners during the NPD project varies with the relevance of outsourced activities. In particular, the higher the relevance, the higher the amount of information shared with the partner. Partner location and integration, trust, and ICT support have a role in determining the amount of information shared with each single partner.
Originality/value
This study adopts an original network perspective in that the whole set of partners involved in the NPD process is analyzed. New quantitative indexes of visibility and virtuality of NPD projects are proposed, along with original insights about the impact of context variables. The quantitative indexes also provide a useful managerial tool to evaluate whether a focal company has the possibility to build competitive advantages that exploit unique resources beyond the boundaries of the company.
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Piyya Muhammad Rafi-Ul-Shan, David B. Grant, Patsy Perry and Shehzad Ahmed
Fashion supply chain (FSC) research has identified two important issues of sustainability management and risk management. However, investigation of these issues is relatively…
Abstract
Purpose
Fashion supply chain (FSC) research has identified two important issues of sustainability management and risk management. However, investigation of these issues is relatively sparse and has primarily been independent with little combinatory research, despite their important interrelationships. The purpose of this paper is to address that gap by critically reviewing extant literature to synthesise important sustainability risk issues in FSCs and proposing an empirical research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a structured literature review approach and Denyer and Tranfield’s (2009) context, intervention, mechanisms and outcome (CIMO) criteria for critical analysis to enable the development of future empirical research areas.
Findings
While sustainability and risk are discussed independently in the supply chain literature, combinatory discussions are very limited, despite the interdependence of these concepts. There is little substantial research on sustainability risk in global FSCs and therefore, an empirical research agenda is proposed with the four research directions to address the gap and take forward the notion of supply chain sustainability risk management in FSCs: definition; organisation and management; influence on performance; and development of a conceptual framework.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides a critical literature review and thus lacks empirical study.
Practical implications
This paper highlights important issues in sustainability risk management for FSCs and presents an agenda for future empirical research.
Originality/value
This paper contributes by providing a combinatory synthesis of sustainability and risk management in FSC literature and an agenda for future empirical research.
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Ramin Sadeghi Asl, Majid Bagherzadeh Khajeh, Mohammad Pasban and Reza Rostamzadeh
The purpose of this paper is to present green supply chain, resilient supply chain, agile supply chain, cold supply chain and lean supply chain (GRACL SC) procedures based on a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present green supply chain, resilient supply chain, agile supply chain, cold supply chain and lean supply chain (GRACL SC) procedures based on a detailed perspective, analyzing subjects in the past 19 years with a systematic literature review (SLR) of the papers reported from 2000 to 2019, and offering information and guidelines for further studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on 17 keywords in the title and topic of the articles and collects data from Web of Science (WOS) databases and objectively chooses 1,190 articles and performs meta-data analyses. Tables and statistical reports are based on the following three filters: publication year, authors and document type. At least, 39 publications from the ISI WOS has been examined for presenting information of categorization of the conducted research with regard to the content analysis, comprising the conceptual development and obstacles, cooperation with the supply chain elements, as well as mathematical and other optimization models.
Findings
Finally, this study answered three main questions in the research and demonstrates that the majority studies in the green supply chain (GSC) and a minimum number of studies on the cold supply chain have been conducted and 27 factors are chosen to achieve the 2000 to 2019 GRACL SCM model which robust and fit for Iranian food industries. The model shows that the agile, resilient and lean supply chain have direct effect on GSC and it can be said that all 27 groups which are selected for the final model of this research can be the main groups in the supply chain.
Originality/value
This paper was actually conducted by authors who reported it. To prevent plagiarized, redoubled efforts have been made and actually this paper is based on SLR methodology and the results are real and the researcher discusses the results appropriately. This investigation can have a positive impact within the field of expanding supply chain flexibility and lessening squander within the Iranian generation framework.
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Raquel Ottoboni Pavan, Marco Antonio Ferreira, Nelson Oliveira Stefanelli and Gislaine Camila Lapasini Leal
This research analyzes the current knowledge regarding the use of maturity models (MMs) in SSCM, aiming to identify the main characteristics, trends and research gaps on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research analyzes the current knowledge regarding the use of maturity models (MMs) in SSCM, aiming to identify the main characteristics, trends and research gaps on the subject. Facing the growing interest in carrying out studies directed at sustainability, to the detriment of more prescient environmental and social impacts and the need to consolidate the concepts present in the literature regarding the SSCM, an absence of similar studies in the current literature was found. The authors have selected articles to compose a database that allows users to analyze and classify publications on MMs in SSCM, being those subdivided into 7 categories: focus, methodology, analyzed sector, sustainable practices, dimensions of sustainable development, type of MM and model/framework validation method.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve this purpose, a literature systematization was conducted by searching publications using defined keywords in two databases and following a process of classification. The systematic process has five steps, from the selection of databases to the filtering of publications, review of information and analysis of the sample.
Findings
The topic under study is promising, with a few publications dealing with it, mainly in Brazil, and there is a trend to exploit more of the area in future research.
Originality/value
This research provides a detailed analysis of an emerging theme, divided into seven thematic categories. Results demonstrate that the topic is still underexplored, indicating an important research gap to be filled.
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Laura Macchion, Antonella Maria Moretto, Federico Caniato, Maria Caridi, Pamela Danese and Andrea Vinelli
The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the adoption of e-commerce improves company business, innovation and operational performance and whether sales internationalisation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the adoption of e-commerce improves company business, innovation and operational performance and whether sales internationalisation might moderate this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a survey within the fashion industry and a multi-step linear regression model investigating the relationships between e-commerce and performance.
Findings
Results reveal that e-commerce improves innovation performance but has no significant relationship with business and operational performance. Also investigating whether the sales internationalisation might moderate the relationship between e-commerce and performance, the findings reveal that the adoption of these tools might even be negative when applied at the international level in particular by considering innovation operational practices, and the research suggests for fashion companies the necessity to develop strong markets’ knowledge and brand awareness among foreign markets and customers before investing internationally.
Originality/value
This paper offers an original analytical approach to identifying the relationships between a company’s adoption of e-commerce, performance and internationalisation within the fashion industry.