Ethical sourcing : an analysis of the literature and implications for future research

The purpose of this study is to present a rigorous, focused review on how this field of ethical sourcing research has grown and evolved over the decades, providing implications for future research. We combine two research methodologies in this study: a systematic literature review and a citation network analysis. The former is used as a scientific tool to select the most relevant ethical sourcing articles, while the latter is then applied as a research technique to analyse these selected articles. Such a combined approach allows for a rigorous investigation into this field of research in a more scientific and objective way. Based on this approach, we identify (1) distinctive features of ethical sourcing studies such as growth trends and content issues; (2) important articles that have played a significant role in developing this field; (3) evolutionary paths that show how its knowledge has been created and transferred; (4) emerging trends that have received growing attention in the recent literature; (5) main research areas that underlie the entire ethical sourcing studies; and (6) major implications that need to be pursued in future research. The results of this study provide not only the current status of the literature but also the patters of evolution in this field of research, thus contributing to the existing literature

Investigating SME participation in the UK offshore wind supply chain

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: The UK is the world’s offshore wind (OW) market leader in terms of installed capacity. OW is one of the main renewable energy technologies contributing to the UK’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and given its shallow seabed and vast amount of the wind resources around its coasts, the UK in general (and the Humber region in particular) offers a great advantage to further develop this technology and bring economic value to its domestic market in the third round of OW farm development. However, discussions around these opportunities raise questions as to how businesses may take advantage of them and what is expected of them. This paper presents the results of a research project investigating participation of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the UK OW supply chain. Research Approach: Exploratory techniques were used to collect data from different perspectives to provide a comprehensive review of the industry and its supply chain structures and identify the main requirements that are expected of suppliers interested to be part of this industry through a literature review and interviews. Findings and originality: The study found that the UK OW sector’s supply chain structure varies according to one of four project execution strategies employed by the project owner, e.g. EPIC/EPC, DIY, multi-contracting and alliancing. The study also found that OW farm development and construction involves a lot of different industries each requiring specific qualifications and certifications. However, there are three common requirements, of which ISO 9001 is a prerequisite that SMEs should ideally already have or are working towards obtaining. Research Impact: The study adds to a sparse literature on how SMEs can effectively develop appropriate supply chain strategies, particularly in the OW sector by providing the findings on different supply chain strategies affecting their structures. Practical Impact: The study found that the OW sector does represent a good opportunity for SMEs in light of the upcoming Round 3 OW development in the UK. The study identifies the key requirements and expectations SMEs need to adhere to in order to enter the OW market

Capabilities of logistics and ports in the Humber region

Paper presented at Logistics Research Network Annual Conference 2014, 3rd-5th September 2014, Huddersfield

Smooth Sailing or Rough Seas: The Future of International Liner Shipping

The last 5 years have been exciting for the world of international liner shipping. Mergers, new and larger vessels, charter rates becoming more volatile and demand continuing to increase are just part of this world of liner shipping. This article is an attempt to highlight some of the issues that will be affecting international shipping in the forthcoming years. At its best, this article will be right on the money. At its worst, readers will look back at this article and wonder how the author could have been so wrong. More likely is that some things will occur as predicted, while others have not even been thought of yet

Using portfolio optimisation to calculate the efficient relationship between maritime port security residual risk and security investment

The research employs an adaptive cross-disciplinary research strategy in an industrial example to address container port facilities’ inability to assess whether their security systems are efficient. The research combines subjective assessments of the performances of the port facilities’ security systems with estimates of terrorism risk from a specialist terrorism underwriter. The research constructs the optimum theoretical portfolio of the three different security systems (access control, biometrics and detection systems) drawn from six different container port facilities owned by a major international ports company to calculate the efficient relationship between maritime port security residual risk and security investment. The research builds on the existing literature and proposes new definitions of security, port security, port security risk and port security risk management. The research also highlights the managerial impact of a chief financial officer’s ability to assess the efficiency of security budget allocation through the residual risk – security investment ratio. The contribution which the research makes is in terms of modelling and measurement of the impact of the introduction of new port security technology and changes to background port security threat levels. The research also juxtaposes for the first time the performance of port security systems with estimates of terrorism risk from a specialist Lloyd’s terrorism underwriter

Mergers and alliances in the liner shipping industry: an historical perspective

This article chronicles the history of mergers and alliances in the liner shipping industry during the past century before focusing on the latest wave of mergers to hit the industry Each merger wave in the liner shipping industry generally coincided with merger waves from the general industrial world. The incentive for each wave of mergers seemed to be different, with the most recent wave focusing on synergy between the merging companies. The reduction of competing firms through mergers has implications for the shipper and these are also examined

Comparing decision support tools for cargo screening processes

When planning to change operations at ports there are two key stake holders with very different interests involved in the decision making processes. Port operators are attentive to their standards, a smooth service flow and economic viability while border agencies are concerned about national security. The time taken for security checks often interferes with the compliance to service standards that port operators would like to achieve. Decision support tools as for example Cost-Benefit Analysis or Multi Criteria Analysis are useful helpers to better understand the impact of changes to a system. They allow investigating future scenarios and helping to find solutions that are acceptable for all parties involved in port operations. In this paper we evaluate two different modelling methods, namely scenario analysis and discrete event simulation. These are useful for driving the decision support tools (i.e. they provide the inputs the decision support tools require). Our aims are, on the one hand, to guide the reader through the modelling processes and, on the other hand, to demonstrate what kind of decision support information one can obtain from the different modelling methods presented

Modelling and analysing cargo screening processes: a project outline

The efficiency of current cargo screening processes at sea and air ports is unknown as no benchmarks exists against which they could be measured. Some manufacturer benchmarks exist for individual sensors but we have not found any benchmarks that take a holistic view of the screening procedures assessing a combination of sensors and also taking operator variability into account. Just adding up resources and manpower used is not an effective way for assessing systems where human decision-making and operator compliance to rules play a vital role. For such systems more advanced assessment methods need to be used, taking into account that the cargo screening process is of a dynamic and stochastic nature. Our project aim is to develop a decision support tool (cargo-screening system simulator) that will map the right technology and manpower to the right commodity-threat combination in order to maximize detection rates. In this paper we present a project outline and highlight the research challenges we have identified so far. In addition we introduce our first case study, where we investigate the cargo screening process at the ferry port in Calais