Journal of Operations and Supply Chain Management

Do analytically-oriented supply chains better manage risks?

2019-02-15T16:21:48-02:00

Risk management has emerged as a field of operations management research due to the greater exposure of organizations to internal and external risks, as a result of globalization, outsourcing, reduction in the number of suppliers, and the need to improve cost and inventory management. Although this subject has received attention in recent years, the relationship between analytical orientation and supply chain risk management is little explored. Thus, this research verifies the impact of analytical orientation over supply chain risk management. A questionnaire was applied with micro, small and medium-sized firms of Brazilian Southeast region, obtaining 111 responses. The structural equation modeling was used for analysis and the main conclusions indicate that analytical orientation has a strong and significant impact over supply chain risk management. In this sense, those supply chains that are more analytical manage their risks better, resulting in lower perception of uncertainty.

Analytical supply chains: Are they more resilient? A model’s proposition

2019-02-15T16:21:48-02:00

Understanding that disruptions can be devastating, the ability of supply chains to return, as quickly as possible, to their normal state, after disruptions, has been considered as important as optimizing their flows. According to the literature, companies must develop capabilities and invest in risk management to improve their supply chain resilience, however almost nothing has been investigated about the role of the analytical orientation for those purposes. Assuming that analytical orientation is essential for supply chains to recover from interruptions, this theoretical essay aimed at proposing its inclusion in an initial supply chain resilience model, based on literature review. As a contribution, this paper aims at presenting a model that will enlarge the discussion about this theme, which can be empirically tested in a future research.

Principal-agent problems in implementation of Ghana’s health insurance scheme

2019-02-15T16:21:49-02:00

Principal-agent relationship exists between health service providers and their authority and clients. It asserts that health service providers as ‘imperfect agents’ of the authority and clients will take actions that aim to maximise profits at the expense of authority and clients (principal). The situation is possible when reimbursement is based on fee-for-service or a diagnosis-related groups. It looks at relationships between health service providers as agents and health insurance authority, and clients as principals in areas of provision of health services, supply of drugs, medicines and reimbursement. Results showed the private health service providers prescribed more drugs and medicines for clients towards profit maximisation (agency) than their public counterparts. Also, it was found that the public health service providers continued to provide health services and drugs despite health insurance authority indebtedness to them exhibiting more stewardship towards health insurance authority. It recommends strict regulations in tariffs/vetting claims and prompt reimbursement.

The Brazilian ocean freight oscillation: The experts’ explanation to the USA, Europe and China trade

2019-02-15T16:21:49-02:00

This study aimed to identify the variables that contribute to the oscillation of the international ocean freight of the Brazilian trade of containerized cargoes. The ocean freight from and to East Coast of United States, Northern Europe and China to Brazil was studied by a qualitative approach through in-depth interviews with a panel of seven experts in charge of pricing the international ocean freight in the largest international shipping companies operating in Brazil. After a first round with the experts, a table that tried to capture the causal relationship among variables and their influence in Brazilian ocean freight was developed. In a second round of interviews, the final table was submitted to the judgment of the experts. Considering the experts’ opinion on the trade routes studied, it was noticed that the relationship between supply and demand with ocean freight is the variable that influences freight rates in Brazil’s trade the most. Other variables such as vessels capacity, operating costs and competitors are among the variables that experts have identified as those that most contribute in Brazilian ocean freight oscillation.

Modeling and optimization of multi-layer aggregate production planning

2019-02-15T16:21:48-02:00

Aggregate production planning has attracted the attention of researchers for quite a long time now; and the continued researches depict the significance and scope for improvement in this arena. Here, a multi-product, multi-level and multi-period model has been formulated to identify the required aggregate plan for meeting the forecast demand, by regulating production rates, inventory, workforce, various production costs, and other controllable variables. Several new contributing factors, such as costs related to material handling, raw material inventory and worker training have been included in the objective function and constraint equations to make the model more realistic. A case study has been presented for a cosmetics and toiletries manufacturer in Bangladesh. Eventually, the problem has been solved using Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization approach. The solution illustrates that the model can be applied in a real world scenario to enhance productivity and profitability.

Rudimentary causes and impacts of supply chain risks in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019-02-15T16:21:48-02:00

Identification of the causes of supply chain risks is a logical step towards its effective management. The purpose of this study is to explore the causes of supply chain risks, their impacts, and the mitigating strategies used among the manufacturing firms in Nigeria. An exploratory qualitative multiple case research methodology combined with the quantitative content analysis is used for this study. A sample of ten manufacturing firms cutting across three different sub-sectors (Pharmaceutical & Health, Food & Beverage, and Conglomerate) was chosen for the study. Partial and complete open-ended questions in the interview guide were used for the interviews conducted among the respondents. The study revealed the common causes of supply chain risks in manufacturing firms in Nigeria which include; transportation delays, variation in raw material prices and quantities, unexpected customer demands, and constant power outages.

Editorial Information 2018

2019-02-15T16:21:49-02:00

Editorial Information 2018

Sustainable practices in the coffee supply chain in the cerrado mineiro region, Brazil

2019-02-15T16:21:49-02:00

The incorporation of sustainable practices in the supply chain management (SCM) has become recurrent in the business environment, resulting from a social reflection on the need to seek new development alternatives. In this context, the objective of this paper is to verify the existence of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain of coffee in the Cerrado Mineiro Region (CMR) and to understand the effects of this adoption regarding Green SCM. This paper focus on the relationship between producers and collective organizations, such as cooperatives and development foundations. To this end, a case study was carried out with the representatives of the supply chain members in CMR, which included coffee producers, cooperatives and a development foundation. It was verified the predominance of practices focused on environmental issues, followed by social and, finally, economic ones. It is also highlighted that the data identified allow us to understand that the development of sustainable strategies can bring positive effects to the agents studied. Considering that these aspects, evidently, improve the relationship of supply chain members, making it more collaborative. The results contribute to the systemic understanding of the way in which sustainability has been incorporated and operationalized in coffe supply chains in CMR.

The moderate effect of analytics capabilities on the service quality

2019-02-15T16:21:49-02:00

This paper intends to analyze the moderate effect of organizational analytics capabilities in the development and service delivery processes, using as reference the gaps described in the Service Quality Model developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985). As a result of the analysis, five theoretical propositions were proposed, which elucidate the existing relationships between analytics capabilities and the Service Quality Model gaps, in order to generate future empirical research.