Originally published as Supply Chain Management: An International Journal Volume 10 Number 5, 2005
ISBN: 1 84544 813 8
Guest edited by: Gary Graham, Manchester Business School, UK.
SCM is a rapidly emerging paradigm that is transforming the organisation of business operations as firms seek ever new and innovative ways of finding the elusive mantra of competitive advantage.
Little work to date has been undertaken on the creative sector. This Special Issue hopes to address this, by offering some interesting and informative exploratory work in different areas of the sector. One aim was to offer some insights and lessons that could be drawn on by the wider business community.
Contents:
Corporate turnaround through effective supply chain management: the case of a leading jewellery manufacturer in India
This paper aims to examine how creative industries can adopt supply chain management (SCM) approaches to achieve business excellence. It is based on case research of supply chain integration in a jewellery-manufacturing organisation.
Evaluating the impact of the internet on barriers to entry in the music industry
Music can be copied and distributed almost without cost via the internet, while payment and distribution technologies are reducing the transaction costs of its commercial exchange. In the case of MP3 the cost of swapping music files is negligible, for both the supplier uploading the file and the receiver who is downloading the music. In light of these developments, this paper seeks to put forward the proposition that the main barrier to entry in the music sector has been the ownership and protection of artistic content in the supply chain.
Developing a strategic framework for efficient and effective optimisation of information in the supply chains of the UK clothing manufacture industry
The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges that small firms in the UK clothing manufacturing sector encounter. It has been suggested that small manufacturers' main problems are based on an inadequate information-sharing structure. This research will explore the strategic significance of information to effective supply chain decisions in small garment-manufacturing firms.
Supply chain management practices in toy supply chains
Innovative products usually experience highly unpredictable and variable demand. This is especially valid for the volatile and seasonal toy industry, which produces high obsolete inventory, lost sales and markdown. In such a volatile industry, what supply chain management practices are applicable and effective? This study seeks to explore SCM practices, and identify practical and theoretical gaps in toy supply chains.
Supply chain integration and performance: US versus East Asian companies
Though there is a wide acceptance of the strategic importance of integrating operations with suppliers and customers in the supply chain, many questions remain unanswered about how best to characterize supply chain strategies. Is it more important to link with suppliers, customers, or both? Similarly, little is known about the connections between supplier and customer integration and improved operations performance. This article seeks to investigate supplier and customer integration strategies by comparing US and East Asian companies.
Systems thinking ability for supply chain management
This study suggests that the rationality of managers in the decision-making process is good – for the supply chain. To improve the supply chain efficiency with a more realistic solution, inventory and production managers have to make decisions with the systems' thinking ability and the consistency.
The perceived impact of successful outsourcing on customer service management
This paper offers an approach to measure the effects of multiple independent variables on multiple dependent variables. Using structural equation modelling, multivariate analyses were mathematically represented in a single equation. In this equation, companies could holistically compose strategies to optimise their management in customer service.
About Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
Supply Chain Management: An International Journal (SCM) is targeted at academics and practitioners in both public and private sector organisations working on all aspects of vertical co-ordination and process integration.
The journal promotes the exchange of knowledge, experience and new ideas between researchers and practitioners and encourages a multi-disciplinary and cross-functional approach to the resolution of problems and the exploitation of opportunities within supply chains that extend beyond the buyer-supply interface. SCM provides a vital link between practitioners and academics pursuing excellence in supply chain management.
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