Predicting the relationships between virtual enterprises and agility in supply chains

In the recent advanced information communications and technology (ICT) era, collaborating virtually and temporarily in supply chains (SCs) to receive mutual benefits such as agility while sharing resources and information becomes an important strategy for enterprises that seek to increase their competitiveness and to optimise their processes and resource usage. As a dynamic and temporary form of alliance from the resource perspective, virtual enterprises (VEs) may contribute network resource heterogeneity and sustain competitive advantage. In addition, agility is suggested as a rare, valuable, network resource that is difficult to imitate and that cannot easily be substituted by other attributes.Although many researchers have investigated VEs and their agility, the research pays less attention to the relationship between VEs and agility in complex SC situations. This paper therefore investigates the relationship between VE and agility in SCs (ASCs) and explores drivers and enablers of agility and outcomes. To clarify the relationships between factors a structural equation model (SEM) is adopted to examine the model fit according to the measurement variables and supporting hypotheses. The results provide rich empirical evidence of the beneficial impact of VEs on ASCs, and theoretical and managerial insights that can be used to strengthen the drivers, enablers and capabilities to enhance the effectiveness of VE collaboration in ASCs in a global and dynamic context. Also, the analysis results can aid a decision maker which ones of the factors are the important ones that he or she should devote more resources and efforts on

Analysis of the Disparity between Recurring and Temporary Collaborative Performance: A Literature Review between 1994 and 2021

Performance frameworks are common ways to guarantee the success of a collaboration by assessment/improvement of the organisations. However, collaborative performance in recurring collaborations (RC) and temporary ones (TC) are being measured differently due to their inherent characteristics. A systematic review of 282 existing studies, from 2000 onwards, into collaborative networks divided between RC and TC based on the duration of collaboration and the application of the studies was performed. The result gave rise to the thematic analysis of the textual narratives, as well as a quantitative meta-summary of the synthesis. The review shows two different approaches to guarantee the performance of the collaboration. The first group provide a recipe for success by recognizing the causal relationship between nine collaborative measures, including information and risk sharing, trust, commitment, agility, power balance, leadership, prior-experience, and alignment. The second group ensures the success of collaboration by selecting suitable partners based on their previous performance emerging through synergy, readiness, agility and internal–external factors. The reasoning behind these differences are discussed and the current gaps in research are outlined

Integrating information and knowledge for enterprise innovation

It has widely been accepted that enterprise integration, can be a source of socio-technical and cultural problems within organisations wishing to provide a focussed end-to-end business service. This can cause possible “straitjacketing” of business process architectures, thus suppressing responsive business re-engineering and competitive advantage for some companies. Accordingly, the current typology and emergent forms of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies are set in the context of understanding information and knowledge integration philosophies. As such, key influences and trends in emerging IS integration choices, for end-to-end, cost-effective and flexible knowledge integration, are examined. As touch points across and outside organisations proliferate, via work-flow and relationship management-driven value innovation, aspects of knowledge refinement and knowledge integration pose challenges to maximising the potential of innovation and sustainable success, within enterprises. This is in terms of the increasing propensity for data fragmentation and the lack of effective information management, in the light of information overload. Furthermore, the nature of IS mediation which is inherent within decision making and workflow-based business processes, provides the basis for evaluation of the effects of information and knowledge integration. Hence, the authors propose a conceptual, holistic evaluation framework which encompasses these ideas. It is thus argued that such trends, and their implications regarding enterprise IS integration to engender sustainable competitive advantage, require fundamental re-thinking

The impact of Industry 4.0 implementation on supply chains

Purpose The study aims to analyse the impact of Industry 4.0 implementation on supply chains and develop an implementation framework by considering potential drivers and barriers for the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Design/methodology/approach A critical literature review is performed to explore the key drivers and barriers for Industry 4.0 implementation under four business dimensions: strategic, organisational, technological and legal and ethical. A system dynamics model is later developed to understand the impact of Industry 4.0 implementation on supply chain parameters, by including both the identified driving forces and barriers for this technological transformation. The results of the simulation model are utilised to develop a conceptual model for a successful implementation and acceleration of Industry 4.0 in supply chains. Findings Industry 4.0 is predicted to bring new challenges and opportunities for future supply chains. The study discussed several implementation challenges and proposed a framework for an effective adaption and transition of the Industry 4.0 concept into supply chains. Research limitations/implications The results of the simulation model are utilised to develop a conceptual model for a successful implementation and acceleration of Industry 4.0 in supply chains. Practical implications The study is expected to benefit supply chain managers in understanding the challenges for implementing Industry 4.0 in their network. Originality/value Simulation analysis provides examination of Industry 4.0 adoption in terms of its impact on supply chain performance and allows incorporation of both the drivers and barriers of this technological transformation into the analysis. Besides providing an empirical basis for this relationship, a new conceptual framework is proposed for Industry 4.0 implementation in supply chains

Information technology for competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains: a review

This paper offers a systematic review of the literature on the use of information technology (IT) in logistics and supply chain management to achieve competitive advantage. While IT has revolutionized traditional logistics and supply chains to achieve numerous benefits such as increased efficiency and responsiveness, it is not still clear to what extend IT has contributed to competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains. This paper contributes to this debate by: (i) reporting the literature on the role of IT in achieving competitive advantage within logistics and supply chains based on the linkages between ‘adaptation’, ‘alignment’, and ‘agility’, (triple A’s) (Lee, 2004), and (ii) discussing managerial implications and identifying future research directions

Diffusion of agile supply chains attributes: a study of the UK upstream oil and gas industry cluster

This study examines agile supply chain capabilities in oil and gas clusters, in the light of cluster and industrial district theory. The aim is to provide evidence of their potential impact on competitiveness and business performance within the UK upstream oil and gas cluster. Agility is the ability of organisations to operate and prosper in market conditions characterised by dynamism and constantly changing customer tastes. Clusters and industrial districts refer to the geographic concentration of firms in an industry that enables the firms to benefit from competition and cooperation as well as enhanced productivity within the cluster.A review of past theoretical and empirical studies on supply chain management, agility and clusters identifies four dimensions of agility: customer enrichment, cooperating to compete, mastering change and uncertainty, and leveraging the impact of people and information. The cluster theory points to the competitive advantage of being in geographic proximity to the members of a supply chain, including enhanced productivity, easy access to enriched and high quality factors of production, reduction of transaction and transportation costs as well as increased innovativeness. These all contribute to improving the competitive capability of a firm as well as having impact on the business performance of organisations. A survey of 880 firms in the UK upstream oil and gas cluster was conducted to determine the specific impact of cluster location attributes on the agility of supply chains. Six case studies involving the three tiers of the supply chain and supporting organisation were carried out.Structural equation modelling revealed strong impact of clusters on competitive objectives but weak impact on business performance. Results from the survey show that cluster agility has strong impact on both competitive objectives and business performance. The case study revealed that agility is a strategic tool adopted by the smaller organisations within the supply chain to mitigate the scale of large organisations. Equally, SMEs consider that being in UK oil and gas cluster enhances their responsiveness

An Adaptive Framework for Improving the Effectiveness of Virtual Enterprises in the Supply Chain

This thesis describes a research project that develops an adaptive framework for improving the effectiveness of virtual enterprises in the supply chains in Mongolia. The research takes empirical and quantitative approach to study the phenomenon of virtual enterprises. Based on a literature review, the factors that influence organisations to join in virtual enterprises are studied by a higher-order factor analysis. As a result, agility is identified as one of the main benefits organisations can gain by joining a virtual enterprise temporarily and changes in business performance are conceived as the measures of effectiveness. Next, a taxonomy of enterprises is developed with five distinguishing clusters that achieve differing levels of agility and business performance. This study suggests that enterprises that are monitoring changes in their business environment take most advantage of agility and achieve the best levels of performance. These findings then allow an adaptive framework based on common reference architectures to be developed as a main contribution of this study. The framework includes a breeding environment as a ‘pool’ of prepared enterprises with the ability to form temporary collaborations to react responsively, rapidly and effectively to the fast-changing opportunities. A structural equation model was used to examine the model fit with the supporting hypotheses, based on the observed data. Then, a powerful clustered expectation maximisation algorithm was applied to the analysis of the grouped enterprises. Finally, a simulation-based case study was conducted to validate the developed framework. The results provide rich empirical evidence of the beneficial impact of virtual enterprises on agile supply chains. The research provides rich empirical evidence of the beneficial impact of virtual enterprises on agile supply chains. It also provides theoretical and managerial insights that can be used to strengthen the drivers, enablers and capabilities that enhance the effectiveness of virtual enterprises collaboration in agile supply chains that can be translated to a global context. These are major contributions the ‘body of knowledge’ in themselves, but the research also adds usefully to the study of applied research methodologies in the area

A Proposed Architecture for Big Data Driven Supply Chain Analytics

Advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) has given rise to explosion of data in every field of operations. Working with the enormous volume of data (or Big Data, as it is popularly known as) for extraction of useful information to support decision making is one of the sources of competitive advantage for organizations today. Enterprises are leveraging the power of analytics in formulating business strategy in every facet of their operations to mitigate business risk. Volatile global market scenario has compelled the organizations to redefine their supply chain management (SCM). In this paper, we have delineated the relevance of Big Data and its importance in managing end to end supply chains for achieving business excellence. A Big Data-centric architecture for SCM has been proposed that exploits the current state of the art technology of data management, analytics and visualization. The security and privacy requirements of a Big Data system have also been highlighted and several mechanisms have been discussed to implement these features in a real world Big Data system deployment in the context of SCM. Some future scope of work has also been pointed out. Keyword: Big Data, Analytics, Cloud, Architecture, Protocols, Supply Chain Management, Security, Privacy.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

Relationship of supply chain capabilities and supply chain technology adoption towards supply chain operational performance in textile and apparel industry

In today’s dynamic business environment, competition is no longer between firms, but between supply chains. The supply chain dependency leads the business focused on supply chain performance. Considering the importance given to the third industrial master plan by the Malaysia government, current supply chain environment accentuated the need of supply chain technology adoption to facilitate supply chain management. To explain the concerns, this study examined the impact of supply chain capabilities namely, relational capability, information technology capability, and organizational culture capability on supply chain operational performance and supply chain technology adoption. This study also examines the successive impact of supply chain technology adoption on supply chain operational performance and investigates whether supply chain technology adoption mediates supply chain capabilities and performance relationship under study. In order to achieve the research objectives, a two-step approach namely quantitative research method and a triangulation research approach are necessitated. 201 survey questionnaires were distributed to respondents in Malaysian textile and apparel organizations. 121 usable responses representing 60% response rate were empirically tested through structural equation modeling by using SPSS and SmartPLS. Research findings revealed that relational capability, organizational culture capability, and supply chain technology adoption contributed to firm’s supply chain operational performance, whereas, information technology capability was insignificant. The findings further revealed that supply chain capabilities have a positive influence to supply chain technology adoption. The findings also revealed a significant mediation effect of supply chain technology adoption in the model under study. A triangulation research approach was employed through face-to-face interviews with four industry practitioners to get their in-depth experiences and perceptions on the model under study. ATLAS.ti results showed that developed model had achieved agreement of industry experts with the suggestion of two emerging terms (human support and work experience) as moderators for future study on the model. Limitations and recommendations for future study are discussed