June '20
The IUP Journal of Supply Chain Management
Focus
The first paper, "The Influence of Various Factors on Online Food Delivery Services", by Devipriya P J, Aswathy A, Jishnu Mohan and Anil B Gowda, highlights the transformation brought about by e-commerce to the traditional business model. The competitive business environment has forced companies to shift online transactions for buying and selling of various types of goods. The same shift can be witnessed in the food and restaurant industry which has adopted online food delivery services. The authors have highlighted that there are several companies such as Just Eat, Grubhub, Uber Eats, Swiggy, Zomato, Food-Panda and Domino's delivering food door-to-door based on orders placed online. Given the perishable nature of the food, different approaches should be adopted for the management of online food delivery system. This paper analyzes various critical services related to food supply chain and explores the possibility of integrating additional services that ensure the food delivery services are on time. The data was collected randomly through a survey to get a general view of the food service delivery system. The relationship between the various factors that affect the food delivery process has been analyzed.
The second paper, "Covid-19 Crisis: Logistical Challenges Linked to Lockdown Exit", by Gilles Pache, suggests lockdown exit strategies which countries should adopt in order to avoid any disruption in the supply chain management of various businesses. The authors have highlighted that most countries in the world have been strongly affected since March 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the countries chose a nation-wide lockdown strategy to avoid or control the health crisis and reduce the spread of the virus. Since the lockdown has a negative impact on the economy, countries are slowly ending the lockdown. The authors have suggested that countries should adopt gradual lockdown exit strategies which will boost consumption while limiting the negative impact of logistical counter shock.
The third paper, "Logistics Competitiveness Index-Based Comparison of BRICS and G7 Countries: An Integrated PSI-PIV Approach", by Sanjib Biswas and Om Prakash Anand, highlights the importance of logistics management in supply chain. The authors have made a comparative analysis of G7 and BRICS countries based on logistics competitiveness. They have extended the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) framework of the World Bank by incorporating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption and CO2 intensity as proxy measures of technology readiness and environmental concern, respectively. For the purpose of analysis, an integrated multi-criteria decision-making framework using the Preference Selection Index (PSI) method and Proximity Index Value (PIV) approach was used. The result shows that mostly the developed nations in the G7 group are more competitive than BRICS countries. The authors have reiterated that logistics management has emerged as an important source of competitive advantage for the companies.
Consulting Editor
The Influence of Various Factors on Online Food Delivery Services
E-commerce is bringing changes to the traditional way of doing business. More and more enterprises are shifting to online transactions for buying and selling of various types of goods. One such market which is gaining popularity is the online food delivery service. Food supply is one such supply services where the online system controlling the supply chain has to be dealt with a different approach because food is a perishable product. Hence there is a need to deliver food on-time to the consumer. There are a number of companies working on the food supply chain, delivering food door-to-door based on orders placed online. Some of the popular companies working on such online food delivery system model are the Just Eat, Grubhub, Uber Eats, Swiggy, Zomato, Food-Panda, Domino's etc. This paper aims at analyzing the various critical services related to food supply chain and exploring the possibility of integrating additional services that enhance the food delivery services to ensure on-time food supply. The main linkage in the entire food supply chain is the delivery system where the delivery agents play a key role. Data was collected randomly through a survey to get a general view of the food service delivery system. The relationship between the various factors that affect the food delivery process has been analyzed.
Covid-19 Crisis: Logistical Challenges Linked to Lockdown Exit
Most countries in the world have been strongly affected since March 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to face the health crisis and reduce the spread of the virus, they have chosen a lockdown strategy, which is progressively ending in Spring 2020. The lockdown exit is likely to lead to supply chain disruptions with a potential increase in demand. From this point of view, a gradual lockdown exit is necessary to avoid a 'logistical counter-shock' with negative impacts, as explained in this study.
Logistics Competitiveness Index-Based Comparison of BRICS and G7 Countries: An Integrated PSI-PIV Approach
Over the years, Logistics Management (LM) has emerged as a source of competitive advantage. In this paper, a comparative analysis of G7 and BRICS countries is carried out based on logistics competitiveness. The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) framework of the World Bank is extended by incorporating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption and CO2 intensity as proxy measures of technology readiness and environmental concern, respectively. For the purpose of analysis, an integrated multi-criteria decision-making framework using the Preference Selection Index (PSI) method and Proximity Index Value (PIV) approach is used. The result shows that mostly the developed nations enlisted in the G7 group are more competitive than BRICS countries.