Posts inspired by academic articles I have read
NOFOMA is the place to pick up the most recent trends in logistics and supply chain research and NOFOMA 2011 will be hosted in Harstad, Norway, June 9-10, 2011. It may be a bit early, but the deadline for paper submission is only some two months away.
In “Risk management in a dynamic society: a modelling problem” author Jens Rasmussen argues that risk management includes several levels ranging from legislators, over managers and work planners, to system operators.
Risk. The probability of an event occurring and the consequences of the event occurring. Does it have to be like that or is there a different, or perhaps even a better way?
We live in a world that is full of risk, risks that we to a large degree have created ourselves, and naturally occuring risk hardly exists anymore. That is a risk society.
This paper examines the costs and benefits of single versus multiple sourcing strategies, dependent on probability and consequences of supply disruption, vendor price escalation, inventory and schedule issues, technology access and quality control.
Choosing the right supplier is a risky decision. Chose the wrong supplier, and you may face a severe disruption in your supply chain. Chose the right supplier, and all goes well. Hopefully. But is it possible to judge risk objectively?
The numerous possibilities of disruptions and disturbances in the supply chain demand a supply chain that is responsive to a variety of threats, and the keys or tools to mitigating supply chain vulnerability are security, visibility and resilience.
This paper presents the five cornerstones of logistics as an academic discipline, and shows how logistics in fact can act as an integrative platform over a wide range of different issues at the micro meso and macro level.
This paper presents some fundamental concerns about the current trend towards global outsourcing and its consequences. Yes, it may be cutting the costs, but it is not cutting the risks.
This definition of supply risk views the supply chain from end to end, acknowledging that what you purchase as a supply, in the the end will wind up in some customer’s hand, to which you may be liable, if your product or service is faulty
Supply chain risk management must look beyond the individual supplier and look at dependencies within the entire supplier portfolio. Such dependencies may not be obvious at first sight, and this paper presents one very good approach towards discovering these dependencies.
This paper describes an infrastructure risk analysis model, considering possible threats and potential impacts. Their model follows the commonly accepted risk assessment method of fault and event trees.
The paper calculates several indices for link importance and site exposure for the Swedish road network, based on the increase in generalized travel cost when links are closed.
Guanxi: Connections and relations are what matter most, while contracts, rules and laws are to likely to be overridden if they are in conflict with harmonious relations.
Is culture shock the reason why so many global and cross-culture business relationships fail? When it comes to Western buyers and Chinese suppliers this may very well be the case, and while issues related to product quality or supplier reliability may seem as the obvious cause externally, cultural differences may be the root cause internally.
Here is a risk assessment index that can be used to measure the vulnerability of different supply chain structures. While it is apparently straightforward to calculate this risk index, it is subject to a number of assumptions that are not equally straightforward to quantify.
The timely delivery of critical goods has always been a crucial element of an effective disaster response, but an effective disaster supply chain is hard to create and maintain. What are the key supply chain factors for improving disaster supply chain management?
Logistics uncertainty – a new research strand in supply chain risk research? The logistics uncertainty pyramid is further explored in this paper. The Logistics Uncertainty Pyramid Model is an excellent tool that can be used to identify issues of uncertainty, and then map these issues against their sources, from which improvements plans can be developed.
Supply chain risk management is a process with 5 evolutionary steps, involving no less than 17 underlying principles. The conceptual framework developed in this article clearly identifies the main principles of SCRM and develops a framework and definitions for disturbance, disruption, security, resilience and risk.
Resilience, in essence, is bridging vulnerabilities by honing capabilities. Seldom have I seen such a comprehensive yet to the point article on supply chain resilience that satisfies both academia and the industry at the same time.
