Models and Methodologies in Supply Chain Management: Review and Reflections

--Rajkumar Ohdar and Pradip Kumar Ray

In today’s global market place, as individual firms working as a part of an integrated Supply Chain Management (SCM) system no longer compete as independent entities, the key to improved performance of a firm is its managerial ability to integrate and coordinate the intricate network of business relationships among Supply Chain (SC) partners. In this context, analysis of the impact of an integrated SC on business performance has assumed significance due to the emergence of information-empowered customers demanding greater responsiveness, and existence of competitive global rivals imposing increased cost and reduced profit. In this paper, the existing SCM models and methodologies classified under ten different categories have been critically reviewed leading to identification of several potential areas of research in SCM. A research framework involving the identified research issues has been proposed. Also highlighted are the benefit and usefulness of such a framework in a systematic approach for SCM.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

An Empirical Investigation into Supply Chain Resilience

-- Santanu Mandal

Supply chain resilience has been growing in its importance in the last few years due to the occurrence of a number of natural and man-made disasters that have threatened the very existence of supply chain operations at a global level. Information technology has greatly helped in information sharing and other allied activities in the supply chain, thereby promoting transparency and fairness in the supply chain operations. Since many executives of the IT industry are involved in designing supply chain operations and providing allied solutions coupled with the fact that supply chain operations are still at a nascent stage in India, it gave us an impetus to study the various antecedents of supply chain resilience in the Indian context from a survey of 141 IT executives. Till now, most of the studies on supply chain resilience are anecdotal or conceptual in nature. By empirically exploring the factors like supply chain reengineering, agility, collaboration and risk management as antecedents to supply chain resilience, this study makes an important contribution to the literature of supply chain resilience from a methodology perspective.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Vendor Base Rationalization: An Opportunity to View Supply Chain Through a Single Pane of Glass

-- Sourodweep Mitra and Kumar Anshul

Vendor base rationalization is a crucial element of overall supplier relationship management strategy as it not only aligns but also synergizes the competencies, resulting in a win-win situation for both supplier and buyer. This is done by managing the supplier base in an effective manner by identifying and selecting suppliers for strategic long-term partnerships, involving them in early design phase of the product or new processes, allocating resources to enhance supplier performance by providing them the necessary and relevant benchmarks and continuous feedbacks. Rationalization of the supplier base requires one to create quantifiers which monitor vendor’s performance and create a platform to evaluate their progress in terms of buyer’s strategic objective. This paper aims to sensitize the need for vendor base rationalization, followed by a generic approach to achieve the same and details out a step-by-step approach.

© 2012 IUP. All Rights Reserved.