How To
The contents
The book is divided into four parts: Introduction, with a general view of supply chains; Supply Chain Planning, looking at network design and resources allocation; Supply Chain Execution, detailing how to manage supplies, transportation warehousing and reverse logistics; and Supply Chain Collaboration, which I think should have been covered more in detail.
What are supply chains?
What I did like, was the author’s definition of supply chain management as concerned with
the flow and management of resources across the enterprise for the purpose of maintaining the business operations profitably
Note that this extremely generic definition looks at the supply chain as an enterprise-wide undertaking, not only something relegated to the company’s logistics department.
Supply Chain Risk?
As with many books on supply chain management, supply chain risk is not considered. Well, it’s wrong to say this it’s not considered, since the chapter on Supply Management does have a section on strategic sourcing, where the goal is to ensure that
projected business plans and demand can be fulfilled with adequate supplies, optimal costs, and minimal regulatory, financial, social (brand), and legal risks.
The strategic sourcing processes do have some elements of risk assessment in them, and so do many of the other processes that Sehgal describes. It’s an excellent book otherwise, but I wish he had spent some words on risk management, since he obviously is no stranger to supply chain risk and related topics, as this post on his blog confirms.
Conclusion
This is a book written by and for the supply chain industry. Period. It’s an excellent book for the professional, but perhaps not so excellent for the academic. That said, as an academic with little (no) hands-on supply chain experience this is an excellent book for understanding how supply chains work in real life.
Reference
Sehgal, V. (2009). Enterprise Supply Chain Management: Integrating Best-in-Class Processes. Hoboken: Wiley & Sons.
Author link
- linkedin.com: Vivek Sehgal
amazon.com
- Buy this book from amazon.com: Enterprise Supply Chain Management
Related
- husdal.com: Book Review: HBR on Supply Chain Management
- husdal.com: Book Review: Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- husdal.com: Book Review: Logistics Management and Strategy