Small and Medium sized Enterprises’ Collaborative Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Boundary Spanning Individual Perspectives

Boundary-spanning individuals (BSIs) play a critical role in supply chain management, especially in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) where interactions with buyers and suppliers can depend heavily on just a few individuals. This study, utilizing data from Korean manufacturing-sector SMEs, explores whether cooperative social value orientations of SMEs’ BSIs influence the effects of collaborative buyer-supplier initiatives. The results suggested that the performance implication of decision-sharing initiative increases when BSIs have a high level of cooperative social value orientation. However, it also negatively moderates the relationship between risk/benefit sharing (involving financial losses or gains) and performance suggesting possible negative side-effects. However, we found that such orientation also negatively moderates the relationship between risk/benefit sharing (involving direct financial losses or gains) and relationship performance suggesting possible negative side-effects

Supply chain collaboration

In the past, research in operations management focused on single-firm analysis. Its goal was to provide managers in practice with suitable tools to improve the performance of their firm by calculating optimal inventory quantities, among others. Nowadays, business decisions are dominated by the globalization of markets and increased competition among firms. Further, more and more products reach the customer through supply chains that are composed of independent firms. Following these trends, research in operations management has shifted its focus from single-firm analysis to multi-firm analysis, in particular to improving the efficiency and performance of supply chains under decentralized control. The main characteristics of such chains are that the firms in the chain are independent actors who try to optimize their individual objectives, and that the decisions taken by a firm do also affect the performance of the other parties in the supply chain. These interactions among firms’ decisions ask for alignment and coordination of actions. Therefore, game theory, the study of situations of cooperation or conflict among heterogenous actors, is very well suited to deal with these interactions. This has been recognized by researchers in the field, since there are an ever increasing number of papers that applies tools, methods and models from game theory to supply chain problems

Value Creation in Category Management Relationships: A Comparative Analysis

Category management is a collaborative approach between food manufacturers and retailers to manage product categories rather than individual brands. The purpose of the research is to explore value creation within category management and category partnership relationships through data resource sharing to meet changing consumer needs. Consumers are switching to unbranded label products in food retail categories for improved value. The research focuses on creating value in a collaborative relationship comparing branded and non-branded suppliers. It looks at the situation from both the manufacturer and retailer perspectives, and the pilot research findings have shown the role of the category captain is changing and becoming an integral part of the research. Category management is evolving to meet changing consumer and shopper needs. The shopper is the person who purchases the product on behalf of the final consumer. The role played by all the suppliers' is changing and the data findings are uncovering that a trusted relationship with the supplier is becoming more important than the traditional reliance on the category captain who was always seen as the most knowledgeable and trusted supplier. An understanding of retailer needs through a stronger collaborative relationship focused predominantly around the retailer strategies, along with the provision of more detailed and consumer focused insight are emerging as the secret to a long and collaborative category management relationship. Literature reviews had previously revealed the importance of data sharing from the growth in the use of technology by both the supplier and the retailer, however the interviews are starting to reveal that direct shopper feedback from face to face discussions is providing more valuable and meaningful insight to underpin the traditional quantitative data. The research methodology is taking a phenomenological stance using predominantly qualitative interviews. The pilot findings have indicated the need for deeper research using 'participant observation' by observing the supplier category manager and the retail buyer in their natural working environments, and tracing the relationship process from the activity at the supplier end through to the final meeting with the retail buyer. The author who is a newcomer to research is also completing an interview diary after each interview to assess his own performance and seek to make ongoing improvements to the interviews. There will be 20 interviews completed by Easter 2017, half with suppliers and the remainder with the full tier range of retailers. The analysis is currently in progress alongside further interviews and planned to be completed by September 2017. The final thesis write-up will be completed by December 2017, and the DBA viva planned for March 2018

Knowledge acquisition in supply chain partnerships: The role of power

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in International Journal of Production Economics. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.Knowledge is recognised as an important source of competitive advantage and hence there has been increasing academic and practitioner interest in understanding and isolating the factors that contribute to effective knowledge transfer between supply chain actors. The literature identifies power as a salient contributor to the effective operation of a supply chain partnership. However, there is a paucity of empirical research examining how power among actors influences knowledge acquisition and in turn the performance of supply chain partners. The aim of this research is to address this gap by examining the relationship between power, knowledge acquisition and supply chain performance among the supply chain partners of a focal Chinese steel manufacturer. A structured survey was used to collect the necessary data. Two conceptually independent variables – ‘availability of alternatives’ and ‘restraint in the use of power’ – were used to assess actual and realised power, respectively. Controlling for contingencies, we found that the flow of knowledge increased when supply chain actors had limited alternatives and when the more powerful actor exercised restraint in the use of power. Moreover, we found a positive relationship between knowledge acquisition and supply chain performance. This paper enriches the literature by empirically extending our understanding of how power affects knowledge acquisition and performance

Knowledge management: Using a knowledge requirements framework to enhance UK health sector supply chains

The gaps of mismatch both knowledge and understanding of beneficiaries and solution providers at the initial stage of developing projects have led to the failures of many projects including supply chains (SC) and related information technology systems (ITS) projects (Lyytinen and Hirschheim, 1987) . The aims of this paper are first, to address theoretical framework by bridging the gaps of different types of knowledge. Second, to establishing business requirements and the flow of information in supply chains between beneficiaries and solution providers in the long and complicated supply chains of the UK’s Health Sector. On the basis of brief introduction to knowledge, knowledge management and supply chain, the paper presents a practical framework that has been developed through critical and relevant literatures in the above three subject areas. Techniques and Tools stem from both management science and information systems were used to provide a possible solution for the problem in bridging the gaps of mismatch knowledge and understanding at the initial stage of identifying requirements in projects through knowledge sharing and transfer

Building Stronger Channel Relationships Through Information Sharing

Does sharing market information help channel partners to buildstronger mutual relationships? Is low initial trust really animpediment for further relationship development by means ofinformation sharing? How do connections with other competingchannel partners affect the relationship building process? Toaddress these questions, we conducted an experimental study.Our findings show that retailer information sharing helps todevelop higher quality supplier relationships. Interestingly,even if the initial level of trust in the retailer is low, therelationship quality substantially improves. In a morecompetitive situation the suppliers respond more favorably tothe retailer?s information-sharing initiative.experimental design;information-sharing;interfirm collaboration;marketing channels

Opportunities for greater Lincolnshire's supply chains: full report

A study of the key sector supply chains across Greater Lincolnshire, and identification of barriers and opportuniteis for growth