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\"Preface This book started out as an interesting set of conversations with some very insightful and intelligent people. For twenty-five years, I've studied supply chains in almost every industry, including oil and gas, automotive, electronics, industrial production, and even financial services. And every time I met with executives, I met with the same statements: \"We're different-- you don't understand.\" But in the end, after spending enough time with these executives, it became clear that the same principles of supply chain management applied. Perhaps a different context, different terminology, but in the end, the same rules applied. When I started dabbling in healthcare, I originally encountered the same sets of objections. \"Healthcare is different,\" I would hear, \"After all, you have to consider the patient.\" But as I spent more and more time with healthcare executives, I only rarely heard the patient mentioned in the discussion. More often than not, the discussion focused on compliance, reimbursement, diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), and other terms that had very little to do with patient care. And as I studied the industry more, it became clear that organizations in the healthcare value chain, from the patient through hospitals, wholesalers, through insurance payers, manufacturers, and finally research and development (R&D), were not very well connected at all\"-- Provided by publisher.

PurposeUsing the constructal law of physics this study aims to provide guidance to future scholarship on global supply chain management. Further, through two case studies the authors are developing, the authors report interview findings with two senior VPs from two multi-national corporations being disrupted by COVID-19. This study suggests how this and recent events will impact on the design of future global supply chains.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply the constructal law to explain the recent disruptions to the global supply chain orthodoxy. Two interviews are presented from case studies the authors are developing in the USA and UK – one a multi-national automobile parts supplier and the other is a earth-moving equipment manufacture. Specifically, this is an exploratory pathway work trying to make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on supply chain scholarship.FindingsAdopting the approach of Bejan, the authors believe that what is happening today with COVID-19 and other trade disruptions such as Brexit and the USA imposing tariffs is creating new obstacles that will redirect the future flow of supply chains.Research limitations/implicationsIt is clear that the COVID-19 response introduced a bullwhip effect in the manufacturing sector on a scale never-before seen. For scholars, the authors would suggest there are four pathway topics going forward. These topics include: the future state of global sourcing, the unique nature of a combined “demand” and “supply shortage” bullwhip effect, the resurrection of lean and local production systems and the development of risk-recovery contingency strategies to deal with pandemics.Practical implicationsSupply chain managers tend to be iterative and focused on making small and subtle changes to their current system and way of thinking, very often seeking to optimize cost or negotiate better contracts with suppliers. In the current environment, however, such activities have proved to be of little consequence compared to the massive forces of economic disruption of the past three years. Organizations that have more tightly compressed supply chains are enjoying a significant benefit during the COVID-19 crisis and are no longer being held hostage to governments of another country.Social implicationsAn implicit assumption in the press is that COVID-19 caught everyone by surprise, and that executives foolishly ignored the risks of outsourcing to China and are now paying the price. However, noted scholars and epidemiologists have been warning of the threats of pandemics since the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus. The pundits would further posit that in their pursuit of low-cost production, global corporations made naive assumptions that nothing could disrupt them. Both the firms the authors have interviewed had to close plants to protect their workforce. It was indicated in the cases the authors are developing that it is going to take manufacturers on average one month to recover from 4–6 days of disruption. These companies employ many thousands of people, and direct and ancillary workers are now temporarily laid off and face an uncertain future as/when they will recover back to normal production.Originality/valueUsing the constructal law of physics, the authors seek to provide guidance to future scholarship on global supply chain management. Further, through two case studies, the authors provide the first insight from two senior VPs from two leading multi-national corporations in their respective sectors being disrupted by COVID-19. This study is the first indication to how this and recent disruptive events will impact on the design of future global supply chains. Unlike the generic work, which has recently appeared in HBR and Forbes, it is grounded in real operational insight.

Supply chain disruptions and the associated operational and financial risks represent the most pressing concern facing firms that compete in today's global marketplace. Extant research has not only confirmed the costly nature of supply chain disruptions but has also contributed relevant insights on such related issues as supply chain risks, vulnerability, resilience, and continuity. In this conceptual note, we focus on a relatively unexplored issue, asking and answering the question of how and why one supply chain disruption would be more severe than another. In doing so, we argue, de facto, that supply chain disruptions are unavoidable and, as a consequence, that all supply chains are inherently risky. Employing a multiple‐method, multiple‐source empirical research design, we derive novel insights, presented as six propositions that relate the severity of supply chain disruptions (i) to the three supply chain design characteristics of density, complexity, and node criticality and (ii) to the two supply chain mitigation capabilities of recovery and warning. These findings not only augment existing knowledge related to supply chain risk, vulnerability, resilience, and business continuity planning but also call into question the wisdom of pursuing such practices as supply base reduction, global sourcing, and sourcing from supply clusters.

PurposeWhy do managers redesign global supply chains in a particular manner when faced with compounding geopolitical disruptions? In answering this research question, this study identifies a constrained system of reasoning (decision-making logic) employed by managers when they redesign their supply chains in situations of heightened uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted 40 elite interviews with senior supply chain executives in 28 companies across nine industries from November 2019 to June 2020, when the UK was preparing to leave the European Union, the US–China trade war was escalating, and Covid-19 was spreading rapidly around the globe.FindingsWhen redesigning global supply chains, the authors find that managerial decision-making logic is constrained by three distinct environmental ecosystem conditions: (1) the perceived intensity of institutional pressures; (2) the relative mobility of suppliers and supply chain assets; and (3) the perceived severity of the potential disruption risk. Intense government pressure and persistent geopolitical risk tend to impact firms in the same industry, resulting in similar approaches to decision-making regarding supply chain design. However, where suppliers are relatively immobile and supply chain assets are relatively fixed, a dominant logic is consistently present.Originality/valueBuilding on an institutional logics perspective, this study finds that managerial decision-making under heightened uncertainty is not solely guided by institutional pressures but also by perceptions of the severity of risk related to potential supply chain disruption and the immobility of supply chain assets. These findings support the theoretical development of a novel construct that the authors term ‘supply chain logics’. Finally, this study provides a decision-making framework for Senior Executives competing in an increasingly complex and unstable business environment.

Creates a managerial compass for entering into the LIVING (Live, Intelligent, Velocity, Interactive, Networked, and Good) era of supply chain management and defines the imperative for creating Velocity and Visibility as the focal point for exploiting new digital, mobile, and cloud-based technologies Written by well-known researchers in the field, this book addresses the changes that have occurred and are still unfolding at various organizations that are involved in building real-time supply chains. The authors draw on their experiences with multiple companies, along with references to the natural evolution of ecosystems throughout to help identify the \"new rules of supply chain management.\" The LIVING principles associated with the rapid digitization and technology changes occurring in the global economy are discussed, along with the push to become more sustainable and responsive to customer needs. \" Handfield and Linton reveal the \"secret ingredient\" to leveraging the power of a well managed supply chain….will revolutionize the way companies approach supply chain management.\" Frank Crespo, Vice President, Global Supply Network Division (CPO/Logistics/IoT Analytics), Caterpillar Inc. \" The LIVING supply chain is a wake up call to any enterprise that depends on suppliers and contractors. Be fast, be nimble and make supply chain transparency the nucleus of your operations or become endangered.\" Paul Massih, Vice President, BP PSCM \" …a fascinating journey through the future of supply chain management … a must read for every supplychain professional.\" Yossi Sheffi, Professor, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics \" … a great \"living\" reading on how to bring supply chains to a powerful living state. The idea of Live-Interactive-Velocity–Intelligent–Networked-Good is the foundation of how supply chains can be agile, adaptive and aligned. …of value to every supply chain executive and practitioner.\" Hau Lee, Professor, Stanford University \" Successful businesses are those that support the success of their customers. This book captures the essence of our volatile, uncertain world and the opportunities that exist for the commercially astute, organizationally integrated business. More important, it offers insight to the recipe for 21st century operations and the management of complex supply ecosystems.\" Tim Cummins, CEO, International Association of Commercial and Contract Management \" A LIVING supply chain requires a living company. The authors make a great case for how Flex is creating a living company to thrive in the living supply chain.\" Tom Choi, Harold E. Fear on Eminent Scholar Chair of Purchasing Management, Arizona State University, Executive Director, CAPS Research \" To survive we need to have an adaptive supply chain and capability to both optimize and adapt simultaneously. This book begins to describe the ability to shift from functional silos to E2E Frictionless flow with the maturity to make E2E tradeoff decisions as a key enabler for success.\" Wayne Rothman, Vice President, Enterprise Supply Chain Planning, Johnson & Johnson \"A fantastic read and excellent stories from Dr. Handfield and Tom.\" Joanne E. Wright, Vice President, IBM Supply Chain ROBERT HANDFIELD, PhD, is Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management and Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at North Carolina State University. The author of four books and over 150 journal articles, Dr. Handfield received his PhD in Operations Management from The University of North Carolina in 1990. TOM LINTON is Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer at Flex. A recognized industry and functional expert, he has 30 years of international industrial experience in procurement and supply chain management. Tom Linton is also the recipient of the Procurement Leaders Lifetime Achievement Award in May, 2017.

Background: Research on Additive Manufacturing [AM] provides few guidelines for successful adoption of the technology in different market environments. This paper seeks to address this gap by developing a framework that suggests market attributes for which the technology will successfully meet a need. We rely on classical technology adoption theory to evaluate the challenges and opportunities proffered by AM. Methods: We apply a framework of technology adoption and assess these parameters using seven case studies of businesses that have successfully adopted AM technology. Results: We find that successful business adoption is highly associated with the relative advantage of AM to rapidly deliver customized products targeted to niche market opportunities. Conclusions: Our findings provide a decision framework for AM equipment manufacturers to employ when evaluating AM technology across various market environments. All five adoption characteristics were found to be important however, the primary decision criterion is based on the relative advantage of AM over other, traditional, technologies. From a practitioner perspective, our research highlights the importance of AM in attaining a competitive advantage through responsive, customized production which can address the needs of niche markets.

PurposeThe authors identify the critical bottlenecks that exist in the vaccine supply chain that are preventing a robust coronavirus disease (COVID) response. The authors posit that improved supply chain signals can result in improved handling and distribution of vaccines in a post-COVID world and identify recommendations for redesign of the vaccine supply chain as well as future research questions for scholars.Design/methodology/approachThe supply chain operating reference (SCOR) model is used as a framework to identify each of the major gaps that exist in the supply chain for the COVID vaccine. The critical bottlenecks and delays that exist within this supply chain are identified through this framework and validated through the ongoing research and interviews in the field.FindingsWhilst the vaccine supply chain for influenza is perfectly sized for development and distribution of this cyclical virus, the emergence of a new virus created a pandemic, which has exposed a number of critical shortages. The authors find that the design of the COVID vaccine supply chain suffers from a flawed structure. To date, less than 3% of the United States and global population has been fully vaccinated. The authors advocate a “back to front design”, beginning with demand planning for actual vaccinations and working backwards toward supply planning and distribution planning. These lessons may be helpful for capacity planning and supply chain strategy for future vaccinations as variants of the COVID vaccine emerge.Originality/valueThe authors provide a unique approach for viewing the current shortages that exist in the vaccine supply chain and offer suggestions for new variants of this supply chain for the future.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the selection of ERP vendors on supply management performance for Fortune 500. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts the supply chain maturity model adopted by Gupta and Handfield (2011) and used publicly available information such as articles, research report, newspapers to develop objective maturity ratings for four key indicators – strategic sourcing, category management, and supplier relationship management. Findings – The analysis results suggest ERP users are more mature than non-ERP users in three key indicators: strategic sourcing, category management, and supplier relationship management. Moreover, SAP ERP users are more mature than non-ERP users in strategic sourcing, category management, and supplier relationship management. Research limitations/implications – This study does not account for the longitudinal performance of ERP systems, nor does it account for differences between organizational scope of ERP deployment, global reach, or implementation duration. The authors also did not include other measures of supply chain performance outside of the procurement area. These factors could provide further insights to supply chain performance, and will be an interesting topic for future research. Practical implications – This study provides an extensive analysis of how the deployment of ERP systems and the selection of ERP vendors can benefit a company’s supply chain performance. This information is valuable for companies that are considering adapting an ERP system. Originality/value – This paper uses innovative an maturity assessment rating approach with publicly available resources to measure supply management performance across different companies. This method is novel and provides valuable insights to how ERP systems and their vendors’ impact supply chain management performance.

Prior research has underscored the importance of internal and external supply chain integration, but the growing role of the supply management organization in developing this capability is not well specified. In this research, we explore the concept of supply management alignment, defined as the behavioral characteristics and process requirements for understanding and explicitly outlining internal stakeholder needs, and linking these to supplier performance agreements. Using the lens of dynamic capabilities, we propose a theoretical model for creating supply management alignment. This model presents the synergistic effects derived through strong internal lines of communication combined with external supply relationships based on defined metrics and processes. The underlying set of requirements to achieve supply management alignment is proposed and tested in this model, thereby enhancing our understanding of the processes and behaviors required for integration of internal stakeholder needs with external suppliers, which can lead to improved performance. We explore the complementary effects of supply management alignment on network agility and supplier performance improvements. Data from 151 UK manufacturing firms are used to test the model. The results provide a unifying framework tying together many of the prescriptive elements of strategic sourcing into a more coherent theoretical model and establish the basis for future studies of supply management alignment capabilities.

While executives emphasize that human resources (HR) are a firm's biggest asset, the level of research attention devoted to planning talent pipelines for complex global organizational environments does not reflect this emphasis. Numerous challenges exist in establishing human resource management strategies aligned with strategic operations planning and growth strategies. We generalize the problem of managing talent from a supply-demand standpoint through a resource acquisition lens, to an industrial business case where an organization recruits for multiple roles given a limited pool of potential candidates acquired through a limited number of recruiting channels. In this context, we develop an innovative analytical model in a stochastic environment to assist managers with talent planning in their organizations. We apply supply chain concepts to the problem, whereby individuals with specific competencies are treated as unique products. We first develop a multi-period mixed integer nonlinear programming model and then exploit chance-constrained programming to a linearized instance of the model to handle stochastic parameters, which follow any arbitrary distribution functions. Next, we use an empirical study to validate the model with a large global manufacturing company, and demonstrate how the proposed model can effectively manage talents in a practical context. A stochastic analysis on the implemented case study reveals that a reasonable improvement is derived from incorporating randomness into the problem.