Improving supply chain flexibility and agility through variety management

Um, Juneho (2017) Improving supply chain flexibility and agility through variety management. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 28 (2). pp. 464-487. ISSN 0957-4093 (Accepted for Publication)

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Abstract

Purpose – A trade-off exists between product variety and supply chain (SC) performance. To help mitigate the impact on SC of increased product variety, this paper examines how variety-management activities including variety management strategy, supplier partnerships and close customer relationships affect SC flexibility and agility at different levels of customisation.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey-research methodology is employed using data from 363 manufacturing firms from the UK and South Korea. In particular, cluster analysis and structural equation modelling were used to evaluate the proposed model according to the level of customisation.
Findings – The results suggest that internal variety-management strategy and external SC integration have a positive influence on SC flexibility and agility. Customer relationships and variety-management strategies influence SC flexibility more than partnerships with suppliers whereas variety-management strategies and partnerships with suppliers influence SC agility more than customer relationships. In fact, for external integration in particular, customer relationships influence SC flexibility (i.e., reaction capability) rather than agility (i.e., reaction time) whereas partnerships with suppliers influence SC agility rather than flexibility. In a high-customisation context, close customer relationships are the most effective way to increase SC flexibility, whereas partnerships with suppliers are the most effective way to increase SC agility. In a low-customisation context, a variety management strategy and customer relationships are the most effective way to increase both SC flexibility and agility.
Originality/Value – This paper suggests key variety management activities to aid managers to better manage product-variety ambitions in SC under varying customisation profiles through internal and external approaches.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	‘This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here http://hira.hope.ac.uk/1804/. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.'
Keywords:	Product variety management, Supply chain flexibility, Supply chain agility, Customisation
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Business, Law and Criminology > Liverpool Hope Business School
Depositing User:	Juneho Um
Date Deposited:	03 Mar 2017 16:52
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2018 15:32
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/1804

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