How do supply chain management and information systems practices influence operational performance?:Evidence from emerging country SMEs

This study first provides a comparative analysis of the impact of supply chain management (SCM) and information systems (IS) practices on operational performance (OPER) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in two neighbouring emerging country markets of Turkey and Bulgaria. Then, we investigate moderating effects of both SCM–IS-linked enablers and inhibitors on the links between SCM and IS practices and OPER of SMEs. To this end, we first empirically identify the underlying dimensions of SCM and IS practices, and SCM–IS-related enabling and inhibiting factors. Second, a series of regression analyses are undertaken to estimate the impact of the study's constructs on OPER of SMEs. The results are discussed comparatively within the contexts of both Turkish and Bulgarian SMEs and beyond. The study makes a significant contribution to the extant literature through obtaining and analysing cross-national survey data of SCM and IS practices in emerging country markets

The Knowledge Economy

We are living through a period of profound change and transformation of the shape of society and its underlying economic base .The nature of production, trade, employment and work in the coming decades will be very different from what it is today. In an agricultural economy land is the key resource. In industrial economy natural resources, such as coal and iron ore and labour are the main resources. A knowledge economy is one in which knowledge is the key resource. One in which the generation and the exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth.Key words: knowledge economy, globalization, organization, comparative advantage

The Knowledge Economy

We are living through a period of profound change and transformation of the shape of society and its underlying economic base .The nature of production, trade, employment and work in the coming decades will be very different from what it is today. In an agricultural economy land is the key resource. In industrial economy natural resources, such as coal and iron ore and labour are the main resources. A knowledge economy is one in which knowledge is the key resource. One in which the generation and the exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth.knowledge economy, globalization, organization, comparative advantage

Supply chain knowledge management: A conceptual framework

The supply chain literature still largely focuses on asset, alphanumeric data and information (in the form of documents and files) elements of exchange between supply chain partners, despite the fact that increased integration and collaboration clearly require development of more complex elements of expertise and knowledge. In this respect, this paper recognizes the knowledge management (KM) literature as a potential source of new insights to add conceptual depth and understanding to managing 21st century supply chains. Specific KM theories and constructs are identified as potentially contributing to theory and practice in supply chain contexts. An overall framework for supply chain knowledge management is developed, along with literature-based definitions of supply chain knowledge transfer, competence and maturity constructs. The "knowledge lens" theory building approach is applied to import these perspectives into supply chain domains, with efforts to maintain conceptual consistency across the two literature streams.Knowledge Management; Supply Chains; Conceptual Framework;

Resource-Based View and SMEs Performance Exporting through Foreign Intermediaries: The Mediating Effect of Management Controls

Following the resource-based view, this research empirically explores the role of formal and informal management control in mobilizing export resources to develop export capabilities, influencing the export performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an interorganizational relationship context. Empirical data were collected using a survey administrated online to finance managers in Spanish SMEs which use foreign intermediaries to access export markets. In this setting, evidence mainly suggests, first, that management control systems (MCSs) play a relevant mediating role between the effect of, on the one hand, resources on capabilities, and, on the other hand, resources and capabilities on performance. Second, that MCSs and capabilities play a interrelated double mediating effect between the impact of resources on performance; more specifically, a significant double indirect effect is found (1) between financial resources, behavior control, customer relationship building capability and performance, and (2) between physical resources, behavior control, customer relationship building capability and performanc

Multi Agent Systems in Logistics: A Literature and State-of-the-art Review

Based on a literature survey, we aim to answer our main question: “How should we plan and execute logistics in supply chains that aim to meet today’s requirements, and how can we support such planning and execution using IT?†Today’s requirements in supply chains include inter-organizational collaboration and more responsive and tailored supply to meet specific demand. Enterprise systems fall short in meeting these requirements The focus of planning and execution systems should move towards an inter-enterprise and event-driven mode. Inter-organizational systems may support planning going from supporting information exchange and henceforth enable synchronized planning within the organizations towards the capability to do network planning based on available information throughout the network. We provide a framework for planning systems, constituting a rich landscape of possible configurations, where the centralized and fully decentralized approaches are two extremes. We define and discuss agent based systems and in particular multi agent systems (MAS). We emphasize the issue of the role of MAS coordination architectures, and then explain that transportation is, next to production, an important domain in which MAS can and actually are applied. However, implementation is not widespread and some implementation issues are explored. In this manner, we conclude that planning problems in transportation have characteristics that comply with the specific capabilities of agent systems. In particular, these systems are capable to deal with inter-organizational and event-driven planning settings, hence meeting today’s requirements in supply chain planning and execution.supply chain;MAS;multi agent systems

Good Partners or Good Politicians: An Exploration of Politics in Supply Chain Management

This dissertation explores the impact of politics on internal and external supply chain management initiatives. From an intra-firm perspective, the impact of organizational politics and political skill on supply chain dynamics and processes is investigated in two quantitative articles. Article 1 is a constituency-based view perspective using survey methodology that explores the impact of organizational politics and political skill on cross-functional integration and supply chain orientation. This article finds that there is a negative relationship between organizational politics and cross-functional integration and a positive relationship between organizational politics and supply chain orientation when political skill of the top supply chain executive is present. Comparatively Article 2 resource management theory perspective using survey methodology and secondary data to explore organizational politics impact on firm supply chain performance variables of cash to cash cycle and operating expense per sales dollar. This research finds that organizational politics has a positive relationship with firm supply chain performance. Alternatively, the inter-firm perspective explores supply chain politics using a grounded theory approach in article 3. The findings of article 3 suggest that there are different political strategies that are employed by supply chain employees when balancing inter-firm and intra-firm politics. Overall, this dissertation provides insight into how organizational politics impact processes and dynamics while challenging the notion that organizational politics may be detrimental for performance. Furthermore, this research introduces supply chain politics and explores the social dynamics that supply chain employees must navigate to be successful in their roles and further supply chain objectives

The Role of Supply Chain Integration in Sustainable Performance of Thai Manufacturing Organizations: A Mediation effect of Supply Chain Performance

Sustainable performance is a serious concern for manufacturing organizations and a challenge for supply chain in the 21st century. Particularly a challenge is how to stimulate firms’ social and environmental attentiveness and put integrated activates into practice for sustainable performances. This study examine the role of supply chain integration in sustainable performance of Thai manufacturing firm with mediating role of supply chain performance. For the fulfillment of the objective of this research, the data was collected from the plant managers and supply chain managers via questioners. It is found that internal integration and logistic integration positively influence the sustainable performance of manufacturing organizations. Supply chain integration could enhance the supply chain performance of the firm that ultimately increases the sustainable performance of the organizations. The study offers a new empirical evidence for managerial decision and it can contribute valued perceptions for manufacturing firms in the strategy development regarding supply chain. However, this study used only internal integration and logistic integration, the other important element of supply chain such as customer integration and supplier integration, could be used by researchers for future research

Business process management and supply chain collaboration: effects on performance and competitiveness

Purpose: This study aims to examine the interrelationships among business process management (BPM), supply chain collaboration (SCC), collaborative advantage and organisational performance. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 204 manufacturing firms in Thailand, and the interrelationships proposed in the framework were tested via structural equation modelling. Findings: This study highlights the role of intra- and inter-organisational practices and clearly demonstrates the joint role and impact of BPM and SCC, respectively. The results provide empirical evidence that BPM improves both organisational performance and collaborative activities. Also, SCC and collaborative advantage can have indirect positive impacts on organisational performance. Research limitations/implications: This work could be expanded by adopting a supplementary dyadic or extended supply chain (SC) approach and could also consider contextual factors, which were outside of the scope of this study. Practical implications: The BPM approach has a positive impact on organisational performance, which is essential for collaborative activities between a firm and its SC partners. Further, effective BPM and SCC practices lead to enhanced performance and collaborative benefits. Practitioners should be better able to define and measure specific actions relating to their BPM and SCC practices. Originality value: This paper stresses the need to consider the interrelationships between BPM, SCC, collaborative advantage and organisational performance for both direct and indirect effects. Rather than focusing only on improvement at individual firm level, SCC is vital to compete in the market. Improving the effectiveness of SC allows higher organisational performance levels than those that could be achieved in isolatio

Can Intra-Firm IT Skills Benefit Supply Chain Integration and Performance?

While inter-firm collaboration and integration remain critical for supply chain performance and information technology (IT) has been playing an increasingly important role in inter-firm cooperation, whether intra-firm IT skills can impact the inter-firm integration of IT has not been explored in the IS area. IT human capital involving soft skills and hard skills is a relatively unexplored topic, especially in the supply chain context. This study develops a model to examine whether intra-firm IT skills can have cross-boundary effects on supply chain collaboration and integration, which then can lead to greater supply chain performance. Accordingly, eight hypotheses were proposed and the model was tested with Partial Least Square technique based on the data collected from a survey of 250 manufacturing firms in Taiwan. The results largely support our model with seven hypotheses confirmed. By focusing on the supply chain context, this study thus extends and integrates the literatures on IT skills and supply chain management by showing the boundary-spanning effect of intra-firm capabilities on inter-firm collaboration, integration and performance. Implications of the results are provided and limitations and future research directions are discussed