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Purpose — This paper aims to present results from a survey that investigates the situation in real world supply chains concerning logistics collaboration. Design/methodology/approach — Based on supply chain management literature, a questionnaire was developed covering important topics from the literature. The questionnaire was sent to the logistics manager at Swedish manufacturing companies and a net response rate of 37.8 percent (177/482) was achieved. Apart from purely descriptive statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and cross tabulations with X² tests were used for the analysis. Findings — From the results, three major conclusions are drawn. First, there is a clear relationship between the intensity of the collaboration and the positive effects experienced from the collaboration. Second, the results indicate that top management is an important driver for higher intensity collaboration. Third, there are serious differences between supply chain management (SCM) theory and practice, due to the absence of strategic elements in the collaboration and the different ways in which supplier and customer collaborations are managed. Research limitations/implications — Related to SCM theory, the lack of strategic elements in the collaboration might prevent or decrease the expected positive effects of the collaboration. It is therefore important to increase the strategic level component in the collaboration. Top management involvement is likely to be important to achieve this and hence more research on the topic is suggested. Originality/value — The study presents a broad overview concerning logistics collaboration that covers many of the most important supply chain management issues. In addition, their relationship is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This reflective paper aims to identify and discuss key areas for the development of, and research into, supply network performance measurement systems. Design/methodology/approach — The paper traces the broad history of performance measurement before identifying the specific issues that performance measurement has raised in the supply network environment from both local and global managerial perspectives. Having laid this foundation, the paper continues to examine the likely future challenges that managers of supply networks face. Findings — Four outstanding challenges are identified and discussed: the response to the increasing environmental challenges; the effect of the lean/agile debate on the development of supply networks and their measurement systems; the need to develop performance measurement systems to break through the ‘dyadic relationship’ barrier and make management of the supply network a more realistic aspiration; and challenges faced in making performance measurement a multi-cultural phenomenon and through this make management of international supply chains more effective. Originality/value — The paper identifies some of the outstanding issues in current and future network performance measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to examine the agile supply chain management practices adopted by UK clothing retailers in order to effectively manage the supply of innovative, high-margin, high-fashion content product offerings in a complex global environment. Design/methodology/approach — A case study approach was adopted examining the whole of the global retail fashion supply chain, from typical UK-based retailers through to their main production and logistics suppliers based in two low-cost locations, China and Romania. The cases of the UK retailers were followed by a study tour of China and Romania, where ten cases of fabric and finishing manufacturers, intermediaries and logistic providers were carried out. Findings — Many aspects of accepted risk management and agile practice, such as market sensitivity, postponement activities and collaborative information-sharing partnerships were apparent in the early product definition and the later product delivery stages of the supply chain. However, the responsibility for supply, including the key aspect of managing the complex supply network, was almost exclusively left to intermediaries located in low-cost countries. These intermediaries in the main could best achieve agile supply from a significantly underutilized low-cost country supply network through a traditional adversarial price and lead time auction sourcing process. Research limitations/implications — While the cases considered reflected what seemed to be a typical and widely adopted approach to managing such a supply chain, this may not, of course, be the only approach taken by organisations in the clothing industry. Originality/value — By examining a whole supply chain associated with agile supply in an important sector, the paper identifies the relative importance of some existing practices and brings into sharper focus those most relevant to this type of supply. The paper also identifies key elements of contemporary supply chain management practice, namely the growing use of global supply for innovative products and the essential and valuable role played by intermediaries in such supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper seeks to investigate the links between different types of visibility, joint initiatives and business performance using the concepts of transparency as a measure of visibility in supply chains. The prognosis that increased supply chain visibility can be achieved through suppliers and customers working on joint initiative(s), the deployment of which leads to collaborative successes, is tested. Design/methodology/approach — Lamming et al's transparency concept was used as a basis for the development of a framework for assessing the visibility gaps between the focal company — Rolls-Royce (RR) — and their suppliers. The framework was applied to a particular supplier to identify visibility gaps; subsequently a joint initiative was launched across the supply chain and the benefits measured and assessed. A case study approach was followed due to the contemporary nature of the work undertaken. Findings — The supply chain's performance vis-à-vis schedule adherence was significantly improved as a result of the initiative launched. Additionally, there were improvements in visibility across capacity planning, material ordering and inventory management. Practical implications — The study demonstrated the value of using the developed transparency framework in a structured manner to generate improvements in the supply chain. RR will look to extend its use across other supply chains; the approach could also be extended out to other sectors. Originality/value — The development and application of the transparency frameworks in the aerospace sector are unique and have shown the value of the approach. The work has demonstrated tangibly that the exchange of high-quality information as part of an improvement initiative does lead to significant improvements in the overall performance of the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper aims to develop the concept of interorganizational adaptation (lOAD) in customer-supplier dyads, and more specifically its behavioral dimension and its main impacting factor constituted by power. Design/methodology/approach — Building on social capital literature, the paper develops a comprehensive classification of behavioral lOAD. The proposed cognitive, relational and structural sub-dimensions are explored through an embedded multi-case study in the European food industry. Data are collected at both sides of the dyads, providing a rich account of supply chain partnering. Findings — The cases show that acknowledgement and understanding of the behavioral dimension of lOAD, besides the more elaborate technical dimension, aids in explaining several paradoxical situations. Furthermore, the case data confirm the projected relationship between power and technical lOAD; dominated relationships present unilateral technical IOAD, whereas reciprocal relationships present bilateral technical lOAD. Analysis of a deviant case, however, suggests that the impact of power is weakened by the presence of behavioral lOAD. Research limitations/implications — A longitudinal rather than the cross-sectional research design used might shed additional light on the phenomenon. Nonetheless, the relationship age of the six cases varies from three to 50 years providing data related to different stages of partnering. Practical implications — The paper fosters practitioners' attention for behavioral aspects of supply chain partnering in order to understand actual successes and failures. Originality/value — The paper shows that social capital theory contributes to one's understanding of IOAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The aim of this paper is to develop a research agenda for risk and supply chain management. This is achieved by reviewing the literature on supply chain risk and locating it within the general literature on risk. Design/methodology/approach — A review of the general literature on risk and the specific literature on supply chain risk was undertaken. Findings — The paper shows that there are a number of key debates in the general literature on risk, especially in terms of qualitative versus quantitative approaches, which need to be recognised by those seeking to apply risk theory and risk management approaches to supply chains. In addition, the paper shows that the application of risk theory to supply chain management is still in its early stages and that the models of supply chain risk which have been proposed need to be tested empirically. Research limitations/implications — This is a literature review and, therefore, is based on secondary rather than primary sources. Practical implications — The paper proposes a research agenda aimed at developing models of supply chain risk management based on combining the wider theory and practice of risk management with the needs and practices of supply chain management. Originality/value — This paper brings together the literatures on general risk and supply chain risk; and identifies key issues and research questions which need to be addressed in applying risk management to supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]