Developing a framework to identify and manage the impacts of human factors on the main activities of an agile supply chain

Supply chains are increasingly challenged to satisfy changeable market requirements whilst shortening lead times; leading them to embrace agile philosophy in the pursuit of greater flexibility and responsiveness. Although these agile supply chains have focused predominantly on automation, they still rely greatly on their employees to make strategic decisions at every stage of the supply chain. Therefore, it is of great importance to recognise the impacts of these human factors along the supply chain and how to best minimise them. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a framework to identify the human factors affecting the main activities of an agile supply chain. To do so, a thorough and extensive literature review was undertaken, divided into three parts that studied first, the agile supply chains, then human resource management practices and lastly, the human factors affecting agility in these supply chains. From the analysis of this comprehensive literature review, the primary findings were the identification of the human factors that form the agile culture. These were said to be the foundation of the process of becoming agile. These so called ‘agile culture human factors’ were recognised to affect all the activities along the agile supply chain; furthermore, specific human factors affecting each single activity were also identified. As a result of this, the framework was constructed, graphically depicting these findings. Additionally, a list of suggestions was provided for better managing the human factors impacting only the planning stage; the activity most affected by human factors as illustrated in the framework. The results obtained here are of great relevance for organisations in their transition towards achieving agility. The framework developed is a useful tool that guides managers in the identification and control of human impacts when attaining agility. Moreover, as the framework identifies the factors impacting each activity of the supply chain individually, it can also prove useful to assist line managers, especially in the planning stage. However, further studies should be conducted to test the framework in real life scenarios in order to verify its validity. Keywords: human factors, agile supply chains, agile culture, human resource practices

Developing a framework to identify and manage the impacts of human factors on the main activities of an agile supply chain

Supply chains are increasingly challenged to satisfy changeable market requirements whilst shortening lead times; leading them to embrace agile philosophy in the pursuit of greater flexibility and responsiveness. Although these agile supply chains have focused predominantly on automation, they still rely greatly on their employees to make strategic decisions at every stage of the supply chain. Therefore, it is of great importance to recognise the impacts of these human factors along the supply chain and how to best minimise them. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a framework to identify the human factors affecting the main activities of an agile supply chain. To do so, a thorough and extensive literature review was undertaken, divided into three parts that studied first, the agile supply chains, then human resource management practices and lastly, the human factors affecting agility in these supply chains. From the analysis of this comprehensive literature review, the primary findings were the identification of the human factors that form the agile culture. These were said to be the foundation of the process of becoming agile. These so called ‘agile culture human factors’ were recognised to affect all the activities along the agile supply chain; furthermore, specific human factors affecting each single activity were also identified. As a result of this, the framework was constructed, graphically depicting these findings. Additionally, a list of suggestions was provided for better managing the human factors impacting only the planning stage; the activity most affected by human factors as illustrated in the framework. The results obtained here are of great relevance for organisations in their transition towards achieving agility. The framework developed is a useful tool that guides managers in the identification and control of human impacts when attaining agility. Moreover, as the framework identifies the factors impacting each activity of the supply chain individually, it can also prove useful to assist line managers, especially in the planning stage. However, further studies should be conducted to test the framework in real life scenarios in order to verify its validity. Keywords: human factors, agile supply chains, agile culture, human resource practices