Organizing Supply Chains in a Time of Change

Organizing Supply Chains in a Time of Change
Although supply chain management has evolved over the past several decades, it faces perhaps its greatest evolution in the coming years as firms continue to address the challenges and opportunities of globalization in an ever-changing and highly-competitive marketplace. As firms begin to better recognize the potential for supply chain management’s contribution to overall competitive advantage, supply chain management has gained more prominence at the corporate table. This research effort is focused on understanding how leading firms are shaping their supply chain organizations to respond to changing business conditions, as well as to contribute to the firm’s strategy. The research examines two elements of supply chain organizations: reporting structures and coordinating structures. Reporting structures are the formal reporting relationships that illustrate where the control of supply chain functions reside and what functional responsibilities are under the authority of the supply chain management organization (SCMO). Reporting structures represent the vertical configuration of the firm’s functional activities. Coordinating structures are the mechanisms that firms use to cross responsibilities, functions, and vertical lines of authority. In this sense, coordination structures are the lateral activities that enable the firm to accomplish supply chain tasks.
Authors: Dr. Morgan Swink, Professor and Eli Broad Legacy Fellow, Operations and Supply ChainManagement, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University; Dr. Judith Whipple, Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University; Mr. Joseph Roh, Doctoral Candidate, Supply Chain Management, Eli Broad College of Business Michigan State University; and Dr. Virpi Turkulainen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Industrial Management, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland.
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