Role of Supply Chain in the Operational Efficiency of a Firm

Thousands of activities are performed and coordinated within an organization, and every company at least one supply chain relationship with another organization. Research has led to the conclusion that "the structure of activities within and between companies is a critical cornerstone of creating unique and superior supply chain performance" (Lambert, 2005). Successful supply chain management requires integrating business processes with key members of the supply chain, because valuable resources are wasted when supply chains are not effectively managed. Standard business processes enable managers from different organizations in the supply chain to use a common language and link-up their organizations' processes with other members of the

Cooperated with partners and leaders in the field of supply chains and transport, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Logistics and Transportation started to conduct research on the supply chain. The report “Beyond Supply Chains Empowering Responsible Value Chains” analyses the impact that supply chain practices has brought to business, society and environment, and explores the issue how shared value can be made through better supply chain decisions. The report identifies “a set of 31 proven supply chain practices which provide companies with a blueprint of where they can gain both commercial and socio-environmental advantage (both environment and local economic development)—driving a triple advantage” (). In addition, the report “provides a framework for evaluating the potential value at stake behind each of these practices, and an implementation framework for

Supply chain, its management, performance measures and improvement approaches. As an extension of the systems point of view, the system dynamics inherent in the supply chain are illustrated and the coordination in the supply chain is emphasized. Five areas where measurement of supply chain performance should be made are discussed. The five areas are on-time delivery, quality, time (business cycle) total delivered cost and flexibility.

In the business world ,fiscal command frequently triumph over the values, the values of social responsibility and ethical behavior as corporations endeavor to relieve costs and reduce contingencies in future ,nowhere is that drive for certainty and cost reduction is more enthralling then in the corporate supply chain, the global market place demands that supply chains be fleet-footed and scatter ,an efficient supply chain is responsible for changing the organization priorities by keeping the cost of the company intact and giving company the room for growth and increase productivity ( Attaran,attaran,2007)

The ultimate goal of strategy for organizations is long-term, sustainable superior performance, and such superior performance depends on the ability of organizations to become a fully integrated partner within a supply chain context (Green, Whitten and Inman, 2008). Organizations began to realize that it is not enough to improve efficiencies within an organization, but their whole supply chain has to be made competitive and thus

Supply chain management is an integral component of operation management and has a direct effect on how successfully organizations function. The purpose of supply chain management is to remove communication barriers and eliminate redundancies by coordinating, monitoring, and controlling processes within an organization. Identifying the components of the supply chain, facilitating better decision-making, creating improved communication, and identifying weak links in the chain causing bottlenecks in an organization are crucial to supply chain integration. There are three principle elements of supply chain integration: management of information and financial flows, inventory management, and management of relationships of

There is an increasing focus towards business sustainability in the present times. Companies are expected to operate in a manner that they do not harm the environment or impact stakeholders in negatively (Daft, 2008). Unethical and unsustainable practices are condemned with stakeholders particularly the consumers, governments and pressure groups openly pressurizing companies to change their practices and accept responsibility for their actions (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2011). For multinational corporations, attaining sustainability within their supply chains is important. Even though supply chain sustainability is an emerging concept, large corporations are showing interest towards developing sustainable supply chain.

The importance of the supply chain hasn’t always been so critical. It wasn’t until the railroad industry in the early 20th century that we first started to see real focus given to the supply chain. World War II put an even greater focus on the importance of a good supply chain and that emphasis was felt on a global scale. In the 1970s the oil embargo and shortages of other raw materials brought the attention of purchasing and supply management to a new level, once again. As more companies began competing on a global scale, innovative strategies arose. In the 1980s

Supply Chain Management has significantly evolved in recent time with the new technology that is now available for organizations. With the creation of new systems and enhanced technologies, organizations have been given the opportunity to improve their operations with new Supply Chain Management systems by having access to the tools necessary to understand issues in their supply chain and look for opportunities to become more efficient while minimizing costs and keeping their customers happy. Supply Chain Management is a systematic and strategic function within an organization that works cross functionally amongst the different departments from the creation of a service or product to the end consumer. This report

The topic of the research has been discussed that what actually supply chain management (SCM) is, where it is utilized and what its importance in a business are, and why it is necessary to go for a research in this field. Additionally, opinions of different authors has been given that how an organisation could reduce their costs on the basis of supply chain management and why should the managers reshape or reconstruct this section of their business and what will be the benefits of those changes.

There are numerous definitions of the terms ‘Sustainable’ and ‘Supply Chain’. For the simplistic but practical definition is “Management of raw materials and services from suppliers to manufacturer/ service provider to customer and back with improvement of the social and environmental impacts explicitly considered”. The supply chain considers the interactions between a business and its customers and suppliers. The greatest benefits are derived by extending the focus as far as possible upstream towards the raw materials, downstream towards the consumer and then back again as the product and wastes are recycled. Sustainable supply chains are among the biggest responsible business challenges. Accomplishing sustainable supply

In order to reach supply chain “nirvana” several principles should be considered and followed. While these principles are not a “be all, end all” they will help guide the management to achieve an efficient and sustainable supply chain.

The first metric used to measure the supply chain’s performance is called the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). (Kaplan and Norton, 1996) This model is valuable as it informs the company about the level of efficiency of the supply chain in the following four areas: financial, customer satisfaction, internal processes and learning and growth ability. Moreover, it allows to identify which sector is underperforming and requires more attention. Each of the four dimensions has a specific objective and target that are set by the company and are then matched with a metric which will assess performance in each dimension. For instance, related to the financial aspect, if the company’s objective is a 10 percent turnover rise compared to the previous year, it will use the monthly turnover rate to keep track of the progress. The same procedure is to be followed for the three other areas, using different metrics as objectives will be different. The selected measurements must be meaningful to the firm as this model will be used to guide the organisation’s strategy on the long-run.

A supply chain may be defined as an integrated process wherein a number of various business entities (i.e., suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers) work together in an effort to: (1) acquire raw materials, (2) convert these raw materials into specified final products, and (3) deliver these final products to retailers. This chain is traditionally characterized by a forward flow of materials and a backward flow of information. For years, researchers and practitioners have primarily investigated the various processes of the supply chain individually. Recently, however, there has been increasing attention placed on the performance, design, and analysis of the supply chain as a whole. From a practical standpoint, the supply chain

Discuss appropriate ‘green’ strategies that can be implemented in supply chains and analyse the impact on all supply chain members