Supply network science: Emergence of a new perspective on a classical field.

Supply networks emerge as companies procure goods from one another to produce their own products. Due to a chronic lack of data, studies on these emergent structures have long focussed on local neighbourhoods, assuming simple, chain-like structures. However, studies conducted since 2001 have shown that supply chains are indeed complex networks that exhibit similar organisational patterns to other network types. In this paper, we present a critical review of theoretical and model based studies which conceptualise supply chains from a network science perspective, showing that empirical data do not always support theoretical models that were developed, and argue that different industrial settings may present different characteristics. Consequently, a need that arises is the development and reconciliation of interpretation across different supply network layers such as contractual relations, material flow, financial links, and co-patenting, as these different projections tend to remain in disciplinary siloes. Other gaps include a lack of null models that show whether the observed properties are meaningful, a lack of dynamical models that can inform how layers evolve and adopt to changes, and a lack of studies that investigate how local decisions enable emergent outcomes. We conclude by asking the network science community to help bridge these gaps by engaging with this important area of research

What Factors Determine the Number of Trading Partners?

The purpose of the paper is to provide a simple model explaining buyer-supplier relationships and show what factors determine the number of trading partners. We show that when the supplier is able to determine the number of trading partners, the optimal number is small if the supplier's bargaining power with them is weak, the economy of scope in the supplier's variable costs is significant, and that in its sunk investment is weak. Investment may be greater when the number of trading partners is small. The results may be consistent with the formation of Japanese buyer-supplier relations

Implementing component reuse strategy in complex products environments

10.1145/1323688.1323696Communications of the ACM501263-67CACM

Changes and Determinants of Suppliers' Customer Scope in the Korean Automobile Industry after the Asian Financial Crisis

This paper investigates changes in suppliers' customer scope in the Korean automobile industry after the Asian financial crisis as well as causes for those changes. The paper found that the “customer scope” of suppliers, i.e. the number of assemblers that suppliers traded with, had increased compared with the past. This suggests that the closed and exclusive buyer-supplier relationship that existed in the Korean automobile industry before the crisis has somewhat loosened. Causes behind these changes can be attributed to the severe economic recession that occurred just after the Asian crisis and the changing competitiveness of suppliers in cost and quality. Foreign investments in Korean suppliers and the capability of suppliers in R&D did not have the expected influences in increasing customer scope. The results of this analysis can be used as a reference in analyzing the effect of current global financial crisis on the buyer-supplier relationship in the automobile industry.Buyer-supplier relationship, customer scope of suppliers, Korean automobile industry, Asian financial crisis,

The matrix as a transitory form: the evolution of FMC technologies 2001–2016

Abstract Introduction The matrix structure is sometimes presented as an inevitable “end point” for organizations that must adapt to an increasingly complex business environment. However, observations of the structure of firms do not always confirm this view. Case description The paper describes the evolution of FMC Subsea, a large division of the global technology firm FMC Technologies (now TechnipFMC). Discussion and evaluation During the 2001–2016 time period, the firm’s organizational structure underwent three significant changes. The firm was originally organized by geography. In 2011, it introduced global product units, which resulted in dual reporting lines (i.e., a matrix structure) for some regional managers. However, in 2015, it separated the product lines from the regional units, thereby eliminating the need for dual reporting. Conclusion This example suggests that the matrix structure may sometimes be a transitory form that eventually gives way to a simpler—yet still multidimensional—structure