Benchmarking the triple-A supply chain: orchestrating agility, adaptability, and alignment

Purpose Limited research examines the triple-A supply chain of agility, adaptability and alignment. The purpose of this paper is to draw on extant literature under the lens of resource orchestration theory to develop a comprehensive framework of antecedents and consequences of triple-A supply chains, allowing both scholars and practitioners to benchmark and prioritize triple-A capabilities. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review focusing on four supply chain journals is conducted to integrate the distinct bodies of knowledge on supply chain agility, adaptability and alignment. Findings The integration of this literature identifies common and distinct antecedents and consequences of each, developing a comprehensive model of triple-A supply chains as well as proposing opportunities for further study. Originality/value Limited studies to date have an integrated agility, adaptability and alignment, thus lacking a comprehensive framework of triple-A supply chains. Managers can use the findings to determine actions needed to deploy triple-A capabilities and better understand the resulting potential benefits

The impact of the supply chain orientation fit between supply chain members: A triadic perspective

Existing literature has established supply chain orientation (SCO) as a critical enabler of supply chain management. Although SCO is predicated on alignment across supply chain members, it has primarily been examined at the individual firm level. Given this limitation, we collected triadic archival and survey data from multiple levels of the supply chain to introduce the concepts of SCO supplier fit (i.e., firm\u27s SCO matches its supplier) and SCO customer fit (i.e., firm\u27s SCO matches its customer). The results reveal that SCO supplier fit and SCO customer fit each positively impacts firm operational and customer performance in return on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS). More specifically, a firm with an SCO matching its primary upstream or downstream partners performs significantly better than a firm with a higher or lower SCO. In fact, firms with relatively more SCO than key supply chain partners perform significantly worse than those having relatively less SCO. Finally, firms with both SCO supplier fit and SCO customer fit perform better than firms with SCO supplier or customer fit alone. Ultimately, SCO alignment across the supply chain appears to be more important than the level of SCO itself

The triple-a supply chain and strategic resources: developing competitive advantage

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Scholars have recently begun to empirically evaluate the triple-A supply chain, which emphasizes concurrent capabilities in agility, adaptability and alignment across the supply chain to develop sustainable competitive advantage. Complexity theory suggests however that other combinations of triple-A capabilities may be equally effective, especially given a firm\u27s strategic orientation relative to its market and its supply chain. Our research objective was to examine what combinations of these capabilities lead to the same outcome (i.e. high firm performance). Design/methodology/approach: We collected 182 survey responses from a global sample of supply chain managers. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was employed to assess effective recipes of agility, adaptability, alignment, supply chain orientation, and market orientation. Findings: Our results revealed four distinct “recipes” (i.e. combinations of agility, adaptability, alignment, supply chain orientation and market orientation) that lead to high levels of firm performance. Originality/value: Our results indicate that firms currently do not necessarily have to concomitantly develop capabilities across all triple-A components. Considering the costs associated with developing each of these capabilities, the findings allow us to derive several theoretical and managerial insights

Cytochrome CYP141: A new target for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical specimens

Cytochrome P450 CYP141 is an intermediary metabolic and respiratory protein that interferes with oxidation reduction in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This conserved protein has also been debated as a hypothetical target for therapeutics. We used the sequences of CYP141 gene to develop a PCR for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from respiratory specimens. The sensitivity of this PCR for culture positive-smear positive and culture positive-smear negative samples were 92% and 62.5%, respectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity of this PCR was 85.7% and 97.8%. As compared with other studies, it appears that the CYP141 gene is a good target for direct detection of M. tuberculosis from respiratory specimens

High genetic diversity among Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in Tehran, Iran

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) still remains an important public health problem in Iran. The genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates is expected to lead to a better understanding of M. tuberculosis transmission in Tehran, the most populated city of Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 2300 clinical specimens were obtained from TB suspected patients who were referred to a TB center in Tehran from Jan 2014 to Dec 2016. Identification was performed using both conventional and molecular methods. The presence of resistance to rifampicin was examined by the GeneXpert MTB/RIF. The standard 15-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) typing method was applied to genotype of clinical isolates. Results: Of 2300 specimens, 80 isolates were identified as M. tuberculosis by using biochemical and molecular tests. Of 80 M. tuberculosis isolates, 76 (95%) had unique genotypic profiles and 4 (5%) shared a profile with one or more other strains. Based on single loci variation (SLV) 4 clonal complexes were observed. NEW-1 was found to be the most predominant lineage (22.5%) followed by West African (1.25%), Central Asian (CAS)/Delhi (1.25%), Bovis (1.25%), H37Rv (1.25%) and multiple matches (1.25%). Loci MIRU10, MIRU26, MTUB21 and QUB26 were found as highly discriminative. No mutation was detected in the hotspot region of rifampicin by using GeneXpert MTB/RIF. Conclusions: Our study findings show that there was considerable genotypic diversity among M. tuberculosis isolates in Tehran. The 15-locus MIRU-VNTR showed high HGDI and could be used as a first-line genotyping method for epidemiological studies. Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Genotyping, MIRU-VNTR, Tehran, Ira