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Improving competitive advantage to the first‐tier echelon of automotive supply chains is enabled via the requirement for transparent information flows in both the order‐generating and order fulfilment channels. However, four generic areas are identified which are barriers to improving performance. These are cultural (is it in our interests?); organisational (does the supply chain have the right structure?); technological (what common format and standards are required?); and financial (who pays the bill?). How these barriers may be overcome to the benefit of all “players” in the chain is discussed, plus benchmarking of current best practice. Exemplar supply chains are identified as noteworthy for the emergence of supply chain “product champions”. These have the vision, authority, and drive to implement new systems and set in place mechanisms to minimise regression to old working practices.

There are three possible outcomes following the undertaking of BPR projects. First, a BPR programme may fail in the short or long term either because it is improperly implemented or because there is no effective follow‐up. Second, a BPR programme may be deemed satisfactory in outcome yet still does not appear to significantly improve bottom‐line performance. Finally, there is the BPR programme which is highly successful and significantly improves the bottom‐line performance. It is identifying the last category which is the subject of this paper. In our view, to maximise the probability of making a major impact on the supply chain bottom line, BPR programmes should be planned to have adequate SCOPE. This is a three‐dimensional model of the change process with breadth, depth and width axes. Our approach to evaluating BPR impact is illustrated by application to the product delivery process of an electronics products supply chain. The prediction of improved performance is demonstrated via a dynamic simulation model of a real‐world supply chain as a function of the particular implementation phase of the BPR programme. The eventual improvement in performance obtained after a number of years progress is very significant. Indeed, in material flow terms, it is now a structurally much improved, robust and internationally competitive supply chain.

The automotive industry acts as a barometer and flagship of the national economy. First tier suppliers are essential enablers in the success of the sector. Here we identify present practices concerning information flow as perceived by typical first tier suppliers. Observations are made via “top pain analysis” facing an individual supplier and “quick scan analysis” on a range of automotive value streams. Major information flow weaknesses encountered in real‐world value streams are highlighted. To conclude, we show the “well‐trodden path” established for performance improvement as enabled in real‐world supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how decisions regarding organisational flexibility can be improved through targeted resource allocation, by focusing on the supply chain's level of uncertainty exposure. Specifically, the issue of where and in what ways flexibility has been incorporated across the organisation's supply chain is addressed.

A two-phase methodology design based on literature review and case study was used. Using 83 journal articles in the areas of uncertainty and flexibility an analytical process for assessing uncertainty-flexibility mismatches was developed. Furthermore, results from ten interviews with senior/middle managers within the Australian manufacturing sector were used to provide preliminary insights on the usefulness and importance of the analytical process and its relationship with organisational practice.

The paper emphasises the importance of having a systematic and encompassing view of uncertainty-flexibility mismatches across the supply chain, as well as the significance of socio-technical engagement. The paper both conceptually and empirically illustrates how, using a structured analytical process, flexibility requirements across the supply, process, control and demand segments of a supply chain might be assessed. A four-step analytical process was accordingly developed and, its application, usefulness and importance discussed using empirical data.

The analytical process presented in this paper can assist managers to obtain a comprehensive overview of supply chain flexibility when dealing with situations involving uncertainty. This can facilitate and improve their decision-making with respect to prioritising attention on identified flexibility gaps in order to ensure stability of their performance.

The paper presents a supply chain-wide discussion on the difficulties that uncertainty brings to organisations, and how organisational flexibility might serve to moderate those challenges for supply chain management. It discusses how to identify the flexibility gap and proposes an original analytical process for systematic assessment of uncertainty-flexibility mismatches.

There are three possible outcomes following the undertaking of BPR projects. First, a BPR programme may fail either in the short or in the long term because it is improperly implemented or because there is no effective follow‐up. Second, a BPR programme may be deemed satisfactory but does not appear to significantly improve bottom‐line performance. Finally there is the BPR programme which is highly successful and significantly improves bottom line performance. This paper is concerned with the identification of opportunities in the last category and involves estimating the scope of the proposed BPR programme. The scope paradigm is based on the classification of BPR characteristics into three dimensions. These are width (the flow dimension), breadth (the activities dimension), and depth (the infrastructure dimension). We conclude that the achievement of significant business gains depends on designing programmes to exceed threshold values along all three dimensions. This defines a target scope zone for BPR working to enable real improvements to bottom‐line performance.

With the emergence of the concepts of lean, agile and leagile paradigms for supply chains, organizations have little idea as to which model suits them based on the their supply chain's ability to counter risks and take on the challenges of the fast changing customer preferences. This paper aims to map supply chains on these two dimensions.

A model is proposed by which suitable supply chain strategy can be selected based on customer sensitivity and risk alleviation competency dimension. Graph theoretic approach is applied to quantify these dimensions for three case supply chains.

The proposed model was tested for three Indian SMEs clusters and suitable supply chain strategy was suggested.

It is recommended that the model be tested for those supply chains which have established themselves as lean, agile or leagile entities.

Suggested model would help organizations to select suitable supply chain strategy based on customer sensitivity and risk alleviation competency and the transition required in tune with the market requirements in which they operate. Also the areas which need improvements from the perspective of risk alleviation competency or customer sensitivity can be easily delineated.

Mapping supply chains based on quantification of customer sensitivity and risk alleviation competency dimension is a novel effort in the area of supply chain management.

In this paper, we show that reducing supply chain uncertainty increases responsiveness and thereby benefits bottom line performance as assessed via total cycle time reduction. We term this effect as the uncertainty reduction principle. To enable uncertainty reduction we use the uncertainty circle to focus on the sources to be eliminated. We also show that these sources of uncertainty can react and magnify in a flywheel effect caused by poor supply chain management. A supply chain audit methodology is described for identifying and codifying uncertainty. The proposition advanced herein is that smooth material flow leads to and statistically correlates with uncertainty reduction. Examples are given of good real‐world supply chain practices thus identified and subsequently improved. Transferability of the uncertainty reduction principle is assured by establishing readily assimilated “best practice” guidelines via the study of “exemplar” operating characteristics.

Multi-tier supply chain risk management (MSCRM) is an evolving and dynamic field, as any defaults or glitches in supply chains can potentially harm the efficiency and competitiveness of the entire supply chain. This study aims to investigate barriers to MSCRM in the automotive and civil aircraft industries.

This study adopts an inductive case study research design. The case analysis includes two parts. First, the within-case analysis develops case profiles and identifies critical categories. Second, the cross-case analysis compares MSCRM patterns across the cases.

This study argues that narrow information sharing and communication covering only the immediate supply chain partners obstruct the efficiency of MSCRM. Similarly, high dependency on strategic alliances with suppliers hinders efficient MSCRM. Additionally, relying on information and communication technologies (ICT) increases companies' exposure to risks and poses another barrier to efficient MSCRM.

Further research should be pursued to expand generalizability and test the validity of the findings using other forms of data collection and methodologies, such as large-scale surveys, experiments or secondary data across different sectors and typical supply networks.

This study provides empirical evidence on the obstacles faced by companies during the process of MSCRM. These findings can guide practitioners in developing initiatives to overcome these challenges.

This study is among the first to investigate the barriers to MSCRM in the automotive and civil aircraft industries using in-depth case studies across three tiers of the supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of industrial service uncertainties and the approaches for mitigating these uncertainties. The paper also sheds light on how the interplay of potential uncertainties due to service operation challenges shapes the decisiveness of product-centric businesses.

To better understand how industrial firms mitigate uncertainties of industrial service provision by their supply chains, the authors adopted a qualitative multi-case logic methodology. The approach is based on a research model of uncertainty avoidance and uncertainty reduction which the authors applied in an exploratory study with three major multi-national firms in the aerospace industry: BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce.

From the analysis, the authors found that to mitigate industrial service uncertainty, there is a need for aftermarket-oriented organisation, audit-oriented governance, relationship-oriented intelligence and lifecycle-oriented contracts. The authors also found that value uncertainty originating from unpredictability in client needs and project scope and structural uncertainty caused by volatility and variability of business structures are also important quandaries in decision making situations of firms towards their supply chains for industrial services.

The paper makes two useful contributions. First, it provides an assessment of the nature of uncertainty within operations for providing industrial services. Second, the paper identifies orientations for industrial service uncertainty mitigation. Whereas product-centric businesses firms tend to vary in their states for uncertainty avoidance and reduction, the work suggest similar orientations for uncertainty mitigation across these firms.

A conceptual framework of supply chain volatility (SCV) is developed to help researchers and practitioners converge their discussions and understandings on this vital phenomenon. Sources, dimensions and moderators of SCV are investigated and a conceptual framework is proposed. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Data triangulation was performed through reviewing 2,789 peer-reviewed articles and conducting a group exercise with 23 practitioners. Consequently, 364 sources were identified. Through a structured synthesis process that built on the Q-methodology with multiple academics, a framework of meta-level sources, dimensions and moderators of SCV was developed. An additional on-site meeting with 17 practitioners was conducted aiming at delineating the dimensions by their effect on SCV.

The authors propose 20 meta-level sources that contribute to five distinct dimensions of SCV, proposing behavior of customers and decision makers as contextual moderating variables. A classification scheme consisting of three descriptive SCV-affecting characteristics is proposed to delineate the dimension’s effect on SCV: relative deviating impact, repetitiveness and influenceability. Results are summarized in 15 propositions.

The paper extends knowledge on SCV and provides a coherent conceptualization of the phenomenon for future research. The proposed framework demands quantitative testing to derive more reliable conclusions.

The framework aims at reducing the gap between research and practice. It helps managers to understand researchers’ discussions and how to derive expedient implications from them.

It is the first study that systematically synthesizes widely spread literature in this field to derive a conceptual framework that seeks to explain SCV in a holistic way.