| Author: | Holweg, M. (et al.) |
| Title: | Supply chain collaboration: Making sense of the strategy continuum |
| Journal: | European Management Journal
2005 : APR, VOL 23:2, p. 170-181 |
| Index terms: | Strategy Management Supply chain Co-operation |
| Language: | eng |
| Abstract: | Large-scale projects like the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) in the fast moving consumer goods sector, or Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) or Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) initiatives (hereafter as: inits.) provide a rich continuum of strategies (here as: strs.) for collaboration (here as: coll.) amongst supply chain partners. This paper sets out to classify coll. inits. using a conceptual water-tank analogy, and discusses their dynamic behaviour and key characteristics. Case studies are drawn upon from both successful and less successful implementations to illustrate what companies need to do to fully benefit from their collaborative efforts, given their particular circumstances. It is concluded that the effectiveness of supply chain coll. relies on two factors, that is, the level to which 1. it integrates internal and external operations, 2. the efforts are aligned to the supply chain settings in terms of the geographical dispersion, the demand pattern, and the product characteristics. |
SCIMA