Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe concept of buyer focus has recently been introduced as a new supply chain strategy, although the design and operation of buyer‐focused cells have hardly been investigated. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buyer‐focused cells realise responsiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores the origins of buyer focus by synthesising the literature on focus and supply chain management (SCM). The recent model of responsiveness by Holweg is used to analyse two cases in the semi‐conductor industry. Based on the literature and the case‐findings the model is further developed.FindingsThe main findings of the paper are that: the model of responsiveness can be used to better understand buyer‐focused cells as a supply chain strategy, but needs to be enhanced with additional elements; two of the dimensions of Holweg's model (product and volume) seem to determine the third (process) dimension; designing and operating buyer‐focused cells is a blend of well‐chosen and proven solutions combined with close integration with the buyer.Research limitations/implicationsThe extended model and the operation of buyer‐focused cells need further refinement and research using the key factors so far established.Practical implicationsThe paper explores both the contingency factors and the major design and operating factors related to a new supply chain strategy (buyer‐focused cells) which is aimed at increasing responsiveness, and investigates two practical cases. Managers can use the developed framework to better understand their own situation and guide decision making.Originality/valueThe paper aims at further developing and understanding the responsiveness of buyer‐focused cells by drawing on previous contributions in the literature on SCM and the focused factory. Through this, the authors add to the theory of responsiveness and to empirical knowledge on the design and operation of buyer‐focused cells.

PurposeBuyer‐focused operations aim at a high level of supply chain alignment by singling out resources for one buyer in order to serve this buyer optimally. The purpose of this paper is to identify what business characteristics make suppliers choose buyer‐focused operations as a supply chain strategy in their relationships with key buyers.Design/methodology/approachA broad range of qualitative and quantitative data was collected during interviews and plant visits in a multi‐case study research design. Nine units and 42 supply links with key buyers were investigated and analysed.FindingsThe suppliers choose buyer‐focused operations for different reasons. As expected, some of them choose buyer‐focused operations to fulfil the buyer's requirements in terms of flexibility (mix, volume, specification and timing). However, in other situations, buyer‐focus is used for other reasons: mostly to perform additional assembly operations. Suppliers rarely consider buyer‐focus of core production technology in relationships with buyers for which cost and speed are the main order‐winners.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a relatively small number of cases. Although the findings confirm the theoretical framework, more empirical work is needed to better understand different forms of buyer‐focus. Further research should also point out if and how mutual trust and risk dispersal influence decisions to invest in buyer‐focused resources.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper help managers in choosing between different forms of buyer‐focus, based on the specific characteristics of a supply chain link.Originality/valueThe paper introduces focus into the domain of supply chain management and shows that striving for close cooperation in a supply relationship needs to be carefully considered and depends on the business characteristics. The paper contributes also to a better understanding of the concept of buyer‐focus and distinguishes different types.

Background Healthcare purchasers such as health insurers and governmental bodies are expected to strategically manage chronic care chains. In doing so, purchasers can contribute to the goal of improving task division and collaboration between chronic care providers as has been recommended by numerous studies. However, healthcare purchasing research indicates that, in most countries, purchasers still struggle to fulfil a proactive, strategic approach. Consequently, a typical pattern occurs in which care improvement initiatives are instigated, but not transformed into regular care. By acknowledging that healthcare purchasers are embedded in a care chain of stakeholders who have different, sometimes conflicting, interests and, by taking an institutional logics lens, we seek to explain why achieving strategic purchasing and sustainable improvement is so elusive. Method and findings We present a longitudinal case study in which we follow a health insurer and care providers aiming to improve the care of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in a region of the Netherlands. Taking a theoretical lens of institutional logics, our aim was to answer 'how stakeholder pressures influence a purchaser's use of institutional logics when pursuing the right care at the right place'. The insurer by default predominantly expressed a bookkeeper's logic, reflecting a focus on controlling short-term care costs by managing individual providers. Over time, a contrasting orchestrator's logic emerged in an attempt to achieve chain-wide improvement, striving for better health outcomes and lower long-term costs. We established five types of stakeholder pressure to explain the shift in logic adoption: relationship pressures, cost pressures, medical demands, public health demands and uncertainty. Linking the changes in logic over time with stakeholder pressures showed that, firstly, the different pressures interact in influencing the purchaser. Secondly, we saw that the lack of intra-organisational alignment affects how ...

Background Healthcare purchasers such as health insurers and governmental bodies are expected to strategically manage chronic care chains. In doing so, purchasers can contribute to the goal of improving task division and collaboration between chronic care providers as has been recommended by numerous studies. However, healthcare purchasing research indicates that, in most countries, purchasers still struggle to fulfil a proactive, strategic approach. Consequently, a typical pattern occurs in which care improvement initiatives are instigated, but not transformed into regular care. By acknowledging that healthcare purchasers are embedded in a care chain of stakeholders who have different, sometimes conflicting, interests and, by taking an institutional logics lens, we seek to explain why achieving strategic purchasing and sustainable improvement is so elusive. Method and findings We present a longitudinal case study in which we follow a health insurer and care providers aiming to improve the care of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in a region of the Netherlands. Taking a theoretical lens of institutional logics, our aim was to answer 'how stakeholder pressures influence a purchaser's use of institutional logics when pursuing the right care at the right place'. The insurer by default predominantly expressed a bookkeeper's logic, reflecting a focus on controlling short-term care costs by managing individual providers. Over time, a contrasting orchestrator's logic emerged in an attempt to achieve chain-wide improvement, striving for better health outcomes and lower long-term costs. We established five types of stakeholder pressure to explain the shift in logic adoption: relationship pressures, cost pressures, medical demands, public health demands and uncertainty. Linking the changes in logic over time with stakeholder pressures showed that, firstly, the different pressures interact in influencing the purchaser. Secondly, we saw that the lack of intra-organisational alignment affects how ...

Purpose
– Hospitals struggle to integrate the planning from different departments; resulting in unacceptable waiting times for patients. The literature mainly addresses general, organizational factors inhibiting or enabling integration and omits important factors stemming from the care delivery process. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to uncover operational antecedents and to assess their effect on the integration of hospital planning.


Design/methodology/approach
– The study is based on a three-hospital multi-case study. The main findings stem from over 40 in-depth interviews with specialists, nurses, planners, and managers of four specialties that are all involved in the orthopedic internal supply chain.


Findings
– This study identifies five critical operational antecedents: performance management, shared resources, information technology, process visibility, and uncertainty/variability. The latter two are of specific importance in a healthcare context. Three distinctive roles are identified; initiating (performance management and process visibility), facilitating (information technology), and inhibiting (shared resources and uncertainty/variability).


Practical implications
– The authors address how integration can be achieved, rather than merely prescribing integration as a means to improve performance. The identification of specific operational antecedents and their role help managers to find tangible ways to effectively integrate hospital planning which increases hospital performance.


Originality/value
– First, the identified operational antecedents are essential supplementary factors to more common organizational and behavioral antecedents. Second, in contrast to earlier contributions the authors show the effects of antecedents on three different stages of integration, rather than on integration in general.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to clarify the different roles of intra- and inter-organizational information and communication technology (ICT) in improving supply chain performance. It proposes different mechanisms to explain how intra- and inter-organizational ICT interact with supply chain integration, and contribute to supply chain performance. The main research question is: What are the distinctive roles of inter-organizational ICT and intra-organizational ICT in improving supply chain performance?


Design/methodology/approach
– The paper builds on original survey data of 320 Chinese manufacturing firms gathered in China.


Findings
– The paper shows that inter-organizational ICT has a positive direct relationship with supply chain performance and this relationship is mediated by supply chain integration. Intra-organizational ICT has no direct relationship with supply chain performance. However, intra-organizational ICT moderates the effect of the supply chain integration on supply chain performance.


Research limitations/implications
– The paper argues that more research into the specific roles and interaction of ICT with business processes is needed in order to better understand its role in improving supply chain performance.


Practical implications
– For managers the findings show that inter- and intra-organizational ICT play a different role in the improvement of supply chain performance: the first leading to more supply chain integration, which in turn improves performance, while the second needs additional investment in integrative practices to help improve supply chain performance.


Originality/value
– This paper adds to the debate on the role of ICT in improving supply chain performance and shows that a detailed investigation into underlying mechanisms, and the interaction of ICT with other business processes is valuable.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of supply chain integration in different contexts. More specifically, it aims to show that supply chain integration is only effective in buyer‐supplier relationships characterised by high supply complexity.Design/methodology/approachA survey‐based research design is developed to measure different dimensions or aspects of supply chain integration and supply complexity. Data were collected among manufacturers in The Netherlands and Spain.FindingsThis research shows that supply chain integration increases performance if supply complexity is high, while a very limited or no influence of supply chain integration can be detected in case of low supply complexity. The results also show that in high supply complexity environments the use of structured communication means to achieve supply chain integration has a negative effect on cost performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe limited sample size prohibits estimating and testing of more comprehensive models of the relationship between supply chain integration and performance. Specifically, the authors were not able to further investigate how different supply chain integration dimensions are inter‐related and mutually reinforce one another to improve performance.Practical implicationsThe main managerial lesson is that, in contrast to what has been written in many books and other popular publications, high levels of supply chain integration are only necessary in environments characterised by high supply complexity.Originality/valueThis study helps to better understand context in supply chain management research. Specifically, it investigates the moderating effect of supply complexity on the integration‐performance relationship, a topic suggested by Bozarth et al. as a line for further research.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and classify survey‐based research connecting information and communication technology (ICT), supply chain management (SCM), and supply chain (SC) performance. The review evaluates present empirical results and aims at detecting explanations for similarities and differences in reported findings in the current literature.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based upon a structured literature review of the major journals in the fields of operations management, logistics, and information systems.FindingsThe point of departure in this paper is the possible inconsistency in reported findings within this field of research. The paper finds that measurements and constructs in all three major variables (ICT, SCM, SC performance) are different and often incomparable, and contextual factors are not systematically considered. Surprisingly, despite these differences, the papers reviewed show that generally, there is a positive direct or indirect effect of ICT on performance and SCM.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper aims at reviewing the survey‐based literature only. Findings from case studies and other types of studies are not considered. An implication of this paper might be to reconsider how future survey studies should be designed and what constructs and issues need to be incorporated. Specifically, the relationships between single technologies, aspects of SCM and performance dimensions need specific attention in future research.Originality/valueThe paper offers a systematic review that helps to further develop our understanding of the relationship of SCM, ICT, and SC performance.

Host governments severely impact international relief operations. An openness to assistance can lead to the timely delivery of aid whereas a reluctance to receive assistance can have devastating consequences. With lives at stake and no time to lose in humanitarian crises, understanding the host government's impact on the logistics performance of international humanitarian organisations (IHOs) is crucial. In this paper, we present an in-depth multiple-case study that explores this aspect. Results show that host government actions are explained by their dependency on IHOs and the levels of tensions between their interests (i.e., conflicting strategic goals). In addition, a host government's regulatory and enforcement capabilities are important for ensuring that they can safeguard their interests. We derive four stances that host governments can adopt in regulating logistics-related activities: non-restrictive, opportunistic, selectively accommodating and uncompromising. Each of these has different implications for the logistics performance of IHOs.

PurposeEmergency care delivery is a process requiring input from various healthcare professionals within the hospital. To deliver efficient and effective emergency care, professionals must integrate rapidly at multiple interfaces, working across functional, spatial and professional boundaries. Yet, the interdisciplinary nature of emergency care presents a challenge to the optimization of patient flow, as specialization and functional differentiation restrict integration efforts. This study aims to question what boundaries exist at the level of professionals and explores how these boundaries may come to influence integration and operational performance.Design/methodology/approachTo provide a more holistic understanding of the inherent challenges to integration at the level of professionals and in contexts where professionals play a key role in determining operational performance, the authors carried out an in-depth case study at a busy, Level 1 trauma center in The Netherlands. In total, 28 interviews were conducted over an 18-month period.FindingsThe authors reveal the existence of structural, relational and cultural barriers between (medical) professionals from different disciplines. The study findings demonstrate how relational and cultural boundaries between professionals interrupt flows and delay service processes.Originality/valueThis study highlights the importance of interpersonal and cultural dynamics for internal integration and operational performance in emergency care processes. The authors unveil how the presence of professional boundaries creates opportunity for conflict and delays at important interfaces within the emergency care process, and can ultimately accumulate, disrupting patient flow and increasing lead times.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of different dimensions of supply chain integration on performance, while considering both the interconnections between these supply chain integration dimensions and the effect of context. Specifically, the authors investigate the relationship between two enablers (communication infrastructure and cooperative behaviour) and two practices (planning information and joint improvement), and the moderating effect of supply complexity on their relationship with performance.Design/methodology/approachA survey among 145 Dutch and Spanish manufacturers is used to gather data on the buyer‐supplier relationship. Both the sample and two subsamples – for high and low supply complexity – are analysed using SmartPLS.FindingsThe paper finds that two dimensions – communication infrastructure and cooperative behaviour – enable the two collaborative practices: joint improvement and planning information. All mentioned supply chain integration dimensions, except joint improvement are related to performance, but specifically if the supply complexity is high. Among these dimensions the effect of cooperative behaviour is relatively high.Originality/valueThis paper adds to our understanding of how contingencies influence the supply chain. It is the first paper that investigates the moderating effect of the complexity of the process of delivery (supply complexity) on the effectiveness of supply chain integration practices.