A supplier selection strategy within the Malaysian telecommunications industry

The telecommunication industry in Malaysia has grown rapidly over the last 15 years, with effective supply chain management becoming increasing important within the sector. A multitude of providers and part owned Malaysian government companies, vendors and suppliers are involved in generating and creating value-adding products and services within this sector (across wireless, wireline, broadband business and consumer lines of business). This paper describes key challenges facing a major telecoms service provider in Malaysia with regards to drivers involved in the overall procurement and supplier selection with regards to components of performance management, decision-making, selection techniques, quality and cost management, procurement policy and procurement ethics. This paper further focuses on defining and detailing research currently being undertaken to develop a framework for identifying supplier selection drivers that are inherent within the sector and suggests a research approach to investigate and develop strategies for supplier selection for the telecommunications industry in Malaysia

Supply chain decision making supported by an Open books policy

Based on a study of a buyer–seller relationship in the automotive industry, this article identifies 17 different decision-making processes where openly sharing cost data—a so-called open books policy—plays an important supporting role. These processes relate to supplier selection, various activities that occur prior to production, and the full-speed production stage of the exchange process. Overall, open books plays the greatest role in the pre-production stage, although it is found to support decision-making relating to supplier selection and decision-making during full-speed production to a greater extent than the literature recognizes

To Greener Pastures: An Action Research Study on the Environmental Sustainability of Humanitarian Supply Chains

Purpose: While humanitarian supply chains (HSCs) inherently contribute to social sustainability by alleviating the suffering of afflicted communities, their unintended adverse environmental impact has been overlooked hitherto. This paper draws upon contingency theory to synthesize green practices for HSCs, identify the contingency factors that impact on greening HSCs and explore how focal humanitarian organizations (HOs) can cope with such contingency factors. Design/methodology/approach: Deploying an action research methodology, two-and-a-half cycles of collaboration between researchers and a United Nations agency were completed. The first half-cycle developed a deductive greening framework, synthesizing extant green practices from the literature. In the second and third cycles, green practices were adopted/customized/developed reflecting organizational and contextual contingency factors. Action steps were implemented in the HSC for prophylactics, involving an operational mix of disaster relief and development programs. Findings: First, the study presents a greening framework that synthesizes extant green practices in a suitable form for HOs. Second, it identifies the contingency factors associated with greening HSCs regarding funding environment, stakeholders, field of activity and organizational management. Third, it outlines the mechanisms for coping with the contingency factors identified, inter alia, improving the visibility of headquarters over field operations, promoting collaboration and resource sharing with other HOs as well as among different implementing partners in each country, and working with suppliers for greener packaging. The study advances a set of actionable propositions for greening HSCs. Practical implications: Using an action research methodology, the study makes strong practical contributions. Humanitarian practitioners can adopt the greening framework and the lessons learnt from the implementation cycles presented in this study. Originality/value: This is one of the first empirical studies to integrate environmental sustainability and HSCs using an action research methodology

SME Food Suppliers Versus Large Retailers: Perspectives in the International Supply Chains

The market share of international retail chains substantially increased from the beginning of the nineties. The supplier’s market has been adapted to the evolutions of retailers’ market in terms of modified purchasing processes. Due to these changes, the requirements for food industry suppliers grew in number and quality. The paper shows how the relationship between suppliers and retailers is affected by several important changes, above all at international level. In particular, the analysis is focused on the Italian food SME suppliers related with large retailers. In-depth interviews to 89 Italian food SME suppliers have been conducted in 2008. Results have been analyzed and compared to the retailers’ point of view, resulting from public reports (such as Annual report, CSR report, etc.). Considering the selection criteria used by retailers, one of the main results of the analysis is that the growth of small and medium suppliers is stimulated when they operate with international large retailers. At the same time, the pressure on price and the required organizational qualifications lead to a selection process in which smaller manufacturers seem to be the more vulnerable actors.Supplier-Retailer Relations; Italian Food SME; Large Retailers; International Supply Chains

Supplier base management : the contrast between Germany and the UK

Supplier base management is an important aspect of the management of manufacturing operations, as reducing the number of suppliers – the supplier base – is a key approach in many companies including the US and the UK. By having fewer suppliers, manufacturers have more time to work closely with each remaining supplier, for instance, on improving quality and product innovation. However, is this approach being adopted in Germany as fast as it has been in the UK? This paper describes research which addresses this question and which also investigates how German companies are managing contacts with their suppliers. The study was conducted in two stages. Firstly, a survey of manufacturers in Germany and the UK identified the trends in the supplier base of companies in each country. Secondly, a follow-up telephone survey was carried through with purchasing managers at a random sample of 34 German plants to identify, for example, the advantages experienced by manufacturers, which had reduced their supplier base. The findings show that German manufacturers have not reduced their supplier base by as much as companies in the UK. The second part of the research showed that German manufacturers, which have reduced their supplier base, perceive the benefits of this. However, other companies appear to have failed to take the opportunity to gain advantages from a reduced supplier base

Value-driven partner search for <i>Energy from Waste</i> projects

Energy from Waste (EfW) projects require complex value chains to operate effectively. To identify business partners, plant operators need to network with organisations whose strategic objectives are aligned with their own. Supplier organisations need to work out where they fit in the value chain. Our aim is to support people in identifying potential business partners, based on their organisation’s interpretation of value. Value for an organisation should reflect its strategy and may be interpreted using key priorities and KPIs (key performance indicators). KPIs may comprise any or all of knowledge, operational, economic, social and convenience indicators. This paper presents an ontology for modelling and prioritising connections within the business environment, and in the process provides means for defining value and mapping these to corresponding KPIs. The ontology is used to guide the design of a visual representation of the environment to aid partner search

Employing dynamic fuzzy membership functions to assess environmental performance in the supplier selection process

The proposed system illustrates that logic fuzzy can be used to aid management in assessing a supplier's environmental performance in the supplier selection process. A user-centred hierarchical system employing scalable fuzzy membership functions implement human priorities in the supplier selection process, with particular focus on a supplier's environmental performance. Traditionally, when evaluating supplier performance, companies have considered criteria such as price, quality, flexibility, etc. These criteria are of varying importance to individual companies pertaining to their own specific objectives. However, with environmental pressures increasing, many companies have begun to give more attention to environmental issues and, in particular, to their suppliers’ environmental performance. The framework presented here was developed to introduce efficiently environmental criteria into the existing supplier selection process and to reflect on its relevant importance to individual companies. The system presented attempts to simulate the human preference given to particular supplier selection criteria with particular focus on environmental issues when considering supplier selection. The system considers environmental data from multiple aspects of a suppliers business, and based on the relevant impact this will have on a Buying Organization, a decision is reached on the suitability of the supplier. This enables a particular supplier's strengths and weaknesses to be considered as well as considering their significance and relevance to the Buying OrganizationPeer reviewe