Investigating Supply Chains Models and Enabling Technologies Towards Collaborative Networks

SUMMARY Important elements in the curriculum at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Linköping are vertical integration, i.e. integration between the clinical and basic science sections of the curriculum, and horizontal integration between different subject areas. Integration throughout the whole curriculum is time-consuming for both teachers and students and hard work is required for planning, organization and execution. The aim was to assess the importance of vertical and horizontal integration in an undergraduate medical curriculum, according to opinions among students and teachers. In a questionnaire 102 faculty teachers and 106 students were asked about the importance of 14 different components of the undergraduate medical curriculum including vertical and horizontal integration. They were asked to assign between one and six points to each component (6 points = extremely important for the quality of the curriculum; 1 point = unimportant). Students as well as teachers appreciated highly both forms of integration. Students scored horizontal integration slightly but significantly higher than the teachers (median 6 vs 5 points; p=0.009, Mann-Whitney U-test), whereas teachers scored vertical integration higher than students (6 vs 5; p=0.019, Mann-Whitney U-test). Both students and teachers considered horizontal and vertical integration to be highly important components of the undergraduate medical programme. We believe both kinds of integration support problem-based learning and stimulate deep and lifelong learning and suggest that integration should always be considered deeply when a new curriculum is planned for undergraduate medical education.

This study analyzes how exchange rates affect corporate investment by scrutinizing firms' global value chain (GVC) networks. A salient feature of our analysis is that we adopt novel GVC datasets and methodologies to construct upstream- and downstream-specific exchange rates. We couple these GVC-integrated real exchange rates with global firm-level data and document that unfavorable exchange rate movements hinder operating performance and, therefore, corporate investment, especially among financially constrained firms. We use two large currency shocks in Brazil and Sweden to provide causal evidence. The results highlight nonnegligible frictions of how GVC-integrated real exchange rates affect corporate investment.

The study is an exploratory exercise to assess the transparency and quality of supply chain reporting through ESG factors. A qualitative thematic content analysis of sustainability and integrated reports was employed on a sample constituted by Romanian listed companies, following the topic of supply and value chain reporting and transparency. The textual analysis was carried out with NVivo 15 after manual data gathering of reports publicly available for 2024. Afterward, a qualitative assessment was employed on the quality of supply and value chain reporting. For both qualitative assessments, the scoring method was used. The qualitative analysis revealed that the sustainability themes regarding “Value chain policies and codes of business conduct” and “ESRS value chain reporting” are the most transparently presented, obtaining the highest scores, followed by “Supply chain impact” and “Due diligence and ESG risk management in the value chain”. The least transparent topics are “ESG criteria integrated into supply chain management and suppliers selection” and “Communication and grievance mechanisms for value chain workers”. The supply chain reporting quality was assessed through the lens of robust points and weaknesses. The results showed that three companies have a good to outstanding quality of reporting, with a clear understanding of ESRS requirements and concrete steps integrated to improve supply chain transparency through ESG reporting. The paper enriches the knowledge in the field of assessing the supply chain ESG reporting transparency by adding value through the thematic qualitative analysis and evaluation of supply chain reporting quality, following the ESRS reporting framework. The results of the study can be helpful in the process of improving supply chain reporting, integrating ESG, and increasing the transparency of information by offering managers possible options for developing appropriate reporting tools.

The digital transformation of the construction industry offers opportunities to address its inherent complexity. Timber construction stands out as a sustainable alternative to traditional building methods, contributing to climate goals through carbon sequestration. However, the sector faces significant challenges, including fragmented processes, insufficient digital integration, and a lack of lifecycle-oriented approaches. This research presents a reference model that maps the entire timber value chain, from forest to city, to address these challenges. By fostering an understanding of existing processes, the model enables to navigate complexity, identify bottlenecks, and pursue lifecycle-oriented optimizations. Stakeholder workshops enrich process insights with practical experiential knowledge. Building on this foundation, a Business Intelligence tool, called Value Creation Digital Model (VCDM) was developed to support horizontal and vertical integration across stakeholders. While the VCDM is designed to show potential for optimizing regional value chains and to support circular construction, its adoption is limited by the slow pace of digitalization and data availability within the construction sector. Future scenarios envision the VCDM as a tool for planning, certification, and information dissemination, emphasizing the need for trust, participation, and standardized practices across the value chain.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how resilience at different nodes in the supply chain influences overall supply chain resilience (SCRES) during an extreme weather event.Design/methodology/approachBased on 41 in-depth interviews, this qualitative study examines two Brazilian agri-food supply chains (AFSC). The interviews explored the impacts, preparedness, response and adaptation strategies adopted by farmers, processors and manufacturers during Brazil’s extreme drought of 2014–2015.FindingsSCRES does not depend on all organizations in the supply chain but rather on the company able to reconfigure the resources to control for the disruption. In a supply chain with low interdependence among players, individual firm resilience elements might be preferable to interorganizational ones.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on the context of AFSCs with low interdependence among players and during the experience of a climatic event. The results might not be generalizable to other sectors and phenomena.Practical implicationsFirms must evaluate their positions in supply chains and their interfirm relationships to determine which resilience strategy to invest in and rely on. Moreover, to leverage resilience at the supply chain level, firms must intensify information sharing and improve proactive resilience strategies upstream as well as downstream in the supply chain.Originality/valueThis study presents a broader perspective of resilience by comparing resilience elements at both the node and supply chain levels and by discussing their interactions and trade-offs.

Industry 4.0 is driven by technologies that enable the connection of the digital and physical world throughout the entire value chain and the entire lifecycle of products. While in the past, isolated systems were preferred due to high transaction costs, reduced transaction costs driven by the Internet of Things, allow a holistic view on value chains and lifecycles. Thereby, the framework conditions for the conversion from a linear to a circular economy are created. However, in practice, data continuity across entire supply chains, functional departments, and entire lifecycle of products is not yet established. This can partly be attributed to the insufficient integration of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in supply chains. While SMEs have niche-specific know-how that is of high importance for supply chains, they also fear data transparency and have lower digitization levels. To analyze this issue more in depth, this chapter aims to shed light on challenges concerning data transparency for SMEs that hamper Industry 4.0 implementation towards a circular economy.

Improving both efficiency and security in international supply chains requires a new approach in data sharing and control measures. Instead of managing supply chain risks individually, supply chain partners need to collaborate in order to exchange cargo information and implement control measures on the level of the entire supply chain. Governmental agencies, having access to this up-to-date and complete information, can implement alternative risk assessment policies, resulting in less disruptive ways of supervising entire trade lanes. However, this paradigm shift requires awareness of these supply chain visibility concepts and increased collaboration between partners in a value chain. In order to disseminate these new concepts and initiate cooperation between key stakeholders, a serious game called ‘The Chain Game’ was designed, implemented and evaluated.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to design petroleum products’ supply chain management, which includes efficient integration of suppliers, manufacturers, storehouses and retailers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes that a three-level supply chain will be turned into a bi-level supply chain of petroleum products by simultaneous integration of the middle level with the upstream and downstream levels. Also, it is integrally optimized by considering the multiple managerial flows' mutual results at various supply chain levels. Also, it is integrally optimized by considering the multiple managerial flows' mutual results at various supply chain levels.FindingsThe concepts of the design, structure and outputs are led by the model's solution. The model also responds to the variations in the market via coordination in the related decisions to the distribution, production and inventory issues, and also coordinating between the demands and production.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper has limited its analysis to definite values due to the over-expansion of calculations and analysis. Future works can study other aspects of the proposed model for a multi-level petroleum product supply chain in different states of certain parameters and time zones.Practical implicationsThe designed model can directly and transparently help the oil managers and decision-makers lower the costs of manufacturing, distribution and sales with respect to the determined criteria.Originality/valueThis paper establishes that effectiveness of the dynamic petroleum materials supply chain design will increase by considering maintained and increased production costs and coordinate management flows at all levels by supply chain creation’s integration.

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PurposeIdentifying and prioritizing the Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) critical success factors (CSFs), based on the supplier integration and process integration factors in the supply chain of the home appliance industry.Design/methodology/approachThe literature has been reviewed and the viewpoints of 20 experts in the relevant industry have been studied. The Pareto principle has also been used to select the most important factors obtained. Finally, to prioritize the most important selected factors of DFSS, a model has been developed with a two-stage Fuzzy House of Quality (FHoQ). To perform this research and consider that Polar Heating and Cooling Manufacturing Company (PHCMC) is one of the pioneers of the home appliance industry in recent decades in Iran, the supply chain of its chimneyless gas heater product has been considered as the case study.FindingsFindings indicated that the priorities of the CSFs of DFSS based on the definite weights obtained from the results of the research model are linking Six Sigma to suppliers, project management, linking Six Sigma to business strategy, linking to organizational learning, considering customer needs and management commitment, respectively. Also, the priorities of supplier integration factors based on the definite weights obtained from the model are suppliers’ partnership, information sharing, top management commitment and support, supplier strategic integration, cost, and supplier evaluation and selection, respectively.Practical implicationsAccording to the findings, it is recommended that the design, research and development unit focus more on the processes and opinions of suppliers and with the special use of data categorization software such as MATLAB, it is also possible to improve the processes and optimize them in further integration of the supply chain. It is also possible to improve the suppliers’ integration in the supply chain with the help of correction analysis and improvement tools in the field of quality management.Originality/valueSupplier integration, process integration and DFSS are three strategic areas in supply chain management that have been addressed in this research, simultaneously. The use of two-stage FHoQ, in obtaining the priority design for the CSFs of DFSS, is one of the significant innovations of this study, which can be used for greater supplier integration and also to improve supply chain integration.

This study builds a moderated mediation model to empirically investigate the impacts of product modularity and supply chain integration (i.e. supplier, customer, and internal integration) on the flexibility and moderating effects of the product life cycle (i.e. growth and maturity stages) on the relationships using data collected from 204 Chinese manufacturers. The findings reveal that both supplier integration and internal integration mediate the relationship between product modularity and flexibility. Moreover, the indirect effect of product modularity on flexibility through supplier integration is stronger during the growth stage than during the maturity stage. There is no difference in the indirect effect of product modularity on flexibility through internal integration, which is significant in both the growth and maturity stages. In addition, the impact of product modularity on customer integration is significantly stronger, whereas that of customer integration on flexibility is significantly weaker during the growth stage than during the maturity stage.

Industry 4.0 / Industrial Internet of Things - Related Technologies and Requirements for a Successful Digital Transformation: An Investigation of Manufacturing Businesses Worldwide

The application of any e-Solution promises significant returns. In particular, using internet technologies both within enterprises and across the supply (value) chain provides real opportunity, not only for operational improvement but also for innovative strategic positioning. However, significant questions obscure potential investment; how any value will actually be created and, importantly, how this value will be shared across the value chain is not clear. This paper will describe a programme of research that is developing an enterprise simulator that will provide a more fundamental understanding of the impact of e-Solutions across operational supply chains, in terms of both standard operational and financial measures of performance. An efficient supply chain reduces total costs of operations by sharing accurate real-time information and coordinating inter-organizational business processes. This form of electronic link between organizations is known as business-to-business (B2B) e-Business. The financial measures go beyond simple cost calculations to real bottom-line performance by modelling the financial transactions that business processes generate. The paper will show how this enterprise simulator allows for a complete supply chain to be modelled in this way across four key applications: control system design, virtual enterprises, pan-supply-chain performance metrics and supporting e-Supply-chain design methodology.

Contributors

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze whether supply chain (SC) ambidexterity improves supply chain flexibility (SCF) and its impact on SC competence and firm performance. A new measurement instrument for SCF is proposed that takes into account the demands of the environment: SCF fit.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model is developed to examine the relationships proposed. The hypotheses are tested with data from 302 manufacturing firms using a structural equations model methodology.FindingsThe results show that SC ambidexterity helps to achieve the optimal level of SCF and that supply chain management (SCM) is important to firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper makes three contributions to the SCM literature: first, it develops the conceptual definition of SC ambidexterity and studies its effects at the SC level; second, it develops a new instrument to measure SCF known as SCF fit; third, it studies both the impact of SCF fit on SC competence and the importance of SC in firm performance.Practical implicationsThis paper develops a measurement instrument that permits managers to diagnose the level of SCF and the correspondence/gap between current and optimal levels and to establish comparisons between different SC. It also indicates the importance of SCM for firm performance and the need to consider the SC as a whole.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to analyze ambidexterity in an organizational network like the SC. It shows that exploitation practices do not jeopardize SCF as long as they are accompanied by exploration practices. That is, high levels of exploration and exploitation are compatible in the SC and lead to the optimal level of SCF.