Maturity Model for Supply Chain Relationships in Construction

This study explores the special characteristics of the construction industry and develops a maturity model for measuring and improving the relationships between the key players of a construction supply chain. The model adopts the capability maturity methodology and defines four maturity levels of construction supply chain relationships. It is in a matrix format, consisting of 24 assessment criteria in eight categories at each maturity level. It also provides three different ways of using the model. The model is evaluated through a series of expert interviews. A case study is also presented to demonstrate the application of this model in practice.

The Effect of Risk Sensitivity on Collaborative New Product Development in a Supply Chain

The increasing risks and costs of new product development require firms to collaborate with their supply chain partners in product management. In this paper, a supply chain model is proposed with one risk-neutral supplier and one risk-averse manufacturer. The manufacturer has an opportunity to enhance demand by developing a new product, but both the actual demand for new product and the supplier’s wholesale price are uncertain. The supplier has an incentive to share risks of new product development via an advance commitment to wholesale price for its own profit maximization. The effects of the manufacturer’s risk sensitivity on the players’ optimal strategies are analyzed and the trade-off between innovation incentives and pricing flexibility is investigated from the perspective of the supplier. The results highlight the significant role of risk sensitivity in collaborative new product development, and it is found that the manufacturer’s innovation level and retail price are always decreasing in the risk sensitivity, and the supplier prefers commitment to wholesale price only when the risk sensitivity is below a certain threshold.

Environmental and social supply chain management sustainability practices: construct development and measurement

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and operationalise the concept of supply chain management sustainability practices. Based on a multi-stage procedure involving a literature review, expert Q-sort and pre-test process, pilot test and survey of 156 supply chain directors and managers in Ireland, we develop a multidimensional conceptualisation and measure of social and environmental supply chain management sustainability practices. The research findings show theoretically sound constructs based on four underlying sustainable supply chain management practices: monitoring, implementing systems, new product and process development and strategy redefinition. A two-factor model is then identified as the most reliable: comprising process-based and market-based practices.

Assessment framework for construction supply chain relationships: Development and evaluation

The change of supply chain relationships from the traditional adversarial to the collaborative has been increasing in the UK construction industry. To reflect this change, some attempts have been made to establish models for measuring and improving supply chain relationships in construction. However, there are obvious deficiencies in these existing models. This highlights the need for a systematic model for the assessment of construction supply chain relationships. Based on a review of the literature and an expert group discussion, an assessment framework is developed in this paper, which consists of assessment criteria, relationship levels, detailed descriptions, assessment classes and assessment procedures. The proposed framework is evaluated through expert interviews and case studies. This framework provides a roadmap for the improvement of supply chain relationships. It can help construction organisations to position their current relationship and identify key areas for relationship improvement in the future.

Values based supply chain management and emergent organizational structure

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an emergent supply chain management system that supports a sustainable values based organization (VBO) using a structuration theory-based framework.

Design/methodology/approach – A case study of a sustainable beef cooperative employing a structuration theory framework provides insights into sustainable supply chain management models.

Findings – The supply chain design and management afford the key to the VBO’s success. In order to attain the necessary price premium, the unique product attributes acquired through the natural beef production process must be sustained along the entire supply chain and communicated to the end customer. Structuration theory is useful in understanding supply chain management in VBOs.
Research limitations/implications – The paper has implications for studying VBOs, particularly those prioritizing sustainability values. The descriptive model presented is useful in settings where organizational structure and the supply chain are needed to support sustainable products and processes and whose success is facilitated by establishing strategic partners, especially those that make possible economies of scale. The study is limited to one, privately owned firm, operating in a specialty industry sector.

Practical implications – The paper has implications for those entities with an identified values set that endows the product with unique characteristics that must be conveyed to their end consumer in order to command a price premium and/or differentiate the product from a commodity. The case study provides an example of how a unique product as well as a facilitating organizational structure and supply chain emerge out of the application of a set of core values.

Originality/value – Little previous research focuses on implications of supply chain management in VBOs. In addition, the paper contributes to both the supply chain management and sustainability literature by relating supply chain management to a more comprehensive sustainability agenda including social, environmental, and long-term economic sustainability and by a theoretically based structuring.

Keywords Sustainable development, Supply chain management, Food industry, Organizational culture, Animal husbandry

The Bright Side of Manufacturing–Remanufacturing Conflict in a Decentralised Closed-Loop Supply Chain

Researchers and managers broadly agree that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which have opportunities to produce both new and remanufactured products, are better off by centrally controlling their manufacturing and remanufacturing activities. Thus, OEMs should not remanufacture used products until the remanufacturing cost is sufficiently low to overcome the negative impact of new product cannibalisation. In this paper, we present a contrasting view of the manufacturing–remanufacturing conflict: OEMs sometimes benefit from the decentralised control mode under which they ignore the internal cannibalisation rather than the remanufacturing option. We consider a decentralised closed-loop supply chain in which one OEM can purchase new components from one supplier to produce new products and collect used products from consumers to produce remanufactured products. The key feature of our model is that the OEM can select a centralised or decentralised control mode to manage its manufacturing and remanufacturing activities before the supplier prices the new component. In a steady state period setting, we analyse the players’ optimal decisions and compare the OEM's profits under centralised and decentralised control modes. Our analytic results reveal that the decentralised control within the OEM can outperform the centralised control when the cost structure of producing new and remanufactured products satisfies certain conditions. Finally, the key findings are distilled in a conceptual framework and its managerial implications are discussed.

Selenium Characterization in the Global Rice Supply Chain

For up to 1 billion people worldwide, insufficient dietary intake of selenium (Se) is a serious health constraint Cereals are the dominant Se source for those on low protein diets, as typified by the global malnourished population. With crop Se content constrained largely by underlying geology, regional soil Se variations are often mirrored by their locally grown staples. Despite this, the Se concentrations of much of the world's rice, the mainstay of so many, is poorly characterized, for both total Se content and Se speciation. In this study, 1092 samples of market sourced polished rice were obtained. The sampled rice encompassed dominant rice producing and exporting countries. Rice from the U.S. and India were found to be the most enriched, while mean average levels were lowest in Egyptian rice: similar to 32-fold less than their North American equivalents. By weighting country averages by contribution to either global production or export, modeled baseline values for both were produced. Based on a daily rice consumption of 300 g day(-1), around 75% of the grains from the production and export pools would fail to provide 70% of daily recommended Se intakes. Furthermore, Se localization and speciation characterization using X-ray fluorescence (mu-XRF) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (mu-XANES) techniques were investigated in a Se-rich sample. The results revealed that the large majority of Se in the endosperm was present in organic forms.

Cost Estimation of Machined Parts within an Aerospace Supply Chain

A generic, hierarchical, and multifidelity unit cost of acquisition estimating methodology for outside production machined parts is presented. The originality of the work lies with the method’s inherent capability of being able to generate multilevel and multifidelity cost relations for large volumes of parts utilizing process, supply chain costing data, and varying degrees of part design definition information. Estimates can be generated throughout the life cycle of a part using different grades of the combined information available. Considering design development for a given part, additional design definition may be used as it becomes available within the developed method to improve the quality of the resulting estimate. Via a process of analogous classification, parts are classified into groups of increasing similarity using design-based descriptors. A parametric estimating method is then applied to each subgroup of the machined part commodity in the direction of improved classification and using which, a relationship which links design variables to manufacturing cycle time may be generated. A rate cost reflective of the supply chain is then applied to the cycle time estimate for a given part to arrive at an estimate of make cost which is then totalled with the material and treatments cost components respectively to give an overall estimate of unit acquisition cost. Both the rate charge applied and the treatments cost calculated for a given procured part is derived via the use of ratio analysis.

An empirical study of green supply chain management practices amongst UK manufacturers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent and nature of greening the supply chain (SC) in the UK manufacturing sector; and the factors that influence the breadth and depth of this activity.

Design/methodology/approach: Based on the findings from a sample of manufacturing organisations drawn from the membership of The Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply. Data are collected using a questionnaire, piloted and pre-tested before distribution with responses from 60 manufacturing companies.

Findings: On average manufacturers perceive the greatest pressure to improve environmental performance through legislation and internal drivers (IDs). The least influential pressures are related to societal drivers and SC pressures from individual customers. Green supply chain management (GSCM) practices amongst this “average” group of UK manufacturing organisations are focusing on internal, higher risk, descriptive activities, rather than proactive, external engagement processes. Environmental attitude (EA) is a key predictor of GSCM activity and those organisations that have a progressive attitude are also operationally very active. EA shows some relationship to legislative drivers but other factors are also influential. Operational activity may also be moderated by organisational contingencies such as risk, size, and nationality.

Research limitations/implications: The main limitation to this paper is the relatively small manufacturing sample.

Practical implications: This paper presents a series of constructs that identify GSCM operational activities companies to benchmark themselves against. It suggests which factors are driving these operational changes and how industry contingencies may be influential.

Originality/value: This paper explores what is driving environmental behaviour amongst an “average” sample of manufacturers, what specific management practices take place and the relationships between them.

Keywords: Manufacturing industries, Environmental management, Supply chain management, Sustainable development, United Kingdom
Paper type: Research paper