Books/Book chapters

The People Dimension in Logistics and Supply Chain Management – its Role and Importance

Edward Sweeney — Tue, 07 May 2013 07:40:42 PDT

It is widely recognised that the effective application of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) has a vital role to play in European economic recovery. Experience suggests that success in achieving higher levels of supply chain integration (SCI) depends on both physical and technical components (the hard-wiring), as well as human and behavioural components (the soft-wiring). There is significant evidence that the latter has been largely neglected by the logistics and SCM community. Furthermore, it appears that the majority of supply chain improvement initiatives by practitioners have been primarily concerned with technological, structural and process issues. This chapter argues that the difficulties often encountered in attempting to put logistics and SCM theory into practice are largely a consequence of a lack of focus and understanding of the people dimension. Based on this discussion, it offers some suggestions for improvement in this area to supply chain professionals.

Purchasing Green Transport and Logistics Services: Implications from the Environmental Sustainability Attitude of 3PLs

Edward Sweeney et al. — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 03:07:47 PDT

Environmental sustainability is an area of increasing importance for third party logistics (3PL) companies. As the design and implementation of services requires interaction between buyer and 3PL, the 3PLs are in a critical position to support the efforts towards greening operations of different supply chain participants. However the literature in this field reflects a gap between the perspectives of buyers and 3PLs. This chapter attempts to fill this void through an explorative case study analysis on the environmental attitude of 3PLs in order to derive implications for buyers’ behavior. The results indicate that the buyer’s role is critical in different ways in the development of green initiatives among 3PLs. An increased orientation towards longer-term contracts and joint development would likely enhance the level of green initiatives. Indirectly, the buyer has the opportunity to influence its 3PLs through interaction with employees on different levels in the company, including top management.

Assessing Aviation E-Marketplaces: a Mmulti-Criteria Approach.

Emilio Esposito et al. — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:37:41 PDT

After a proliferation of logistics e-Marketplaces during the dot.com boom of 1998-2000, there has been a high rate of failure and survivals are developing much more slowly than expected. This is the case in the aviation industry where a large number of B2B e-Marketplaces emerged according to the focus of aviation companies’ strategies on electronic B2B in the late 1990s. However, the current use of e-Marketplaces in the industry is low and many of them have ceased trading. The traditional e-Marketplaces model has been characterised by poor quality portals and a lack of technical standards. Such an approach is unsustainable in today’s competitive scenario. Improvements in website quality attributes may strongly contribute to the simplification of website functionality by users and speed up communication with all supply chain partners. In this context, it appears critical to develop models for the evaluation of e-Marketplace web sites. This chapter, after a discussion about the development of e-Marketplaces in the transport and logistics service industry and its application in the aviation industry, proposes a multi-criteria model for assessing different types of aeronautic B2B e-Marketplaces.

Supply Chain Innovation for Competing in Highly Dynamic Markets: Challenges and Solutions: Preface

Pietro Evangelista et al. — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:25:00 PDT

This book investigates the role of innovation in the management of supply chains of today, focusing on supply chain integration from both strategic and operational perspectives and the impact of information-related innovation in supply chain and logistics service industries.

Supply Chain Integration: Challenges and Solutions

Edward Sweeney — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:57:05 PDT

Rapid changes in technological development are forcing businesses to continuously innovate to improve their competitiveness, which is particularly evident in logistics and supply chain management (SCM), where innovation impacts both the strategic and operational levels. Supply Chain Innovation for Competing in Highly Dynamic Markets: Challenges and Solutions investigates the role of innovation in the management of supply chains of today. This book focuses on supply chain integration from both strategic and operational perspectives and the impact of information technology-related innovation in supply chain and logistics service industries. It also analyzes how environmental innovation affects logistical decisions throughout the supply chain and the strategies employed in managing logistics-related environmental impacts. Finally, the book explores theoretical and practical implications of innovation in the management of supply systems.

Supply Chain Software: an Overview

Ronan McDonnell et al. — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:17:57 PDT

Using Statistics in Industry - Quality Improvement Through Total Process Control

Edward Sweeney et al. — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 04:41:41 PST

The Use of Expert Systems in Demand Forecasting

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:41:53 PST

System Design in British Airways (Heathrow)

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:35:00 PST

Electronic Purchasing Consortia: a Future Procurement Direction

Bernd Huber et al. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:28:17 PST

ICT and Innovation Processes in Small Logistics Companies

Pietro Evangelista et al. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:10:52 PST

Towards the Sustainable Supply Chain of the Future

Edward Sweeney et al. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:01:31 PST

A working definition of supply chain management (SCM) – the Four Fundamentals
– was introduced in Chapter 1. This final chapter reflects on this
definition in the light of the detailed issues introduced in each subsequent
chapter. It provides a framework for looking ahead and identifying a
number of key emerging challenges that are likely to play a significant role
in the design and management of the economically, socially and environmentally
sustainable supply chain architectures of the future.

Supply Chain Management: the Business Model of the 21st Century

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:57:04 PST

Re-engineering the Supply Chain: Making SCM Work for you

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:54:29 PST

Supply Chain Benchmarking and Performance Measurement: Towards the Learning Supply Chain

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:50:53 PST

The Role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Supply Chain

Ronan McDonnell et al. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:46:04 PST

Outsourcing and its role in the Supply Chain

Edward Sweeney et al. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:42:05 PST

The Financial Dimension of SCM

Edward Sweeney et al. — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:37:40 PST

Understanding Supply Chain Management

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:33:06 PST

The Evolving Supply Chain Management Context

Edward Sweeney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:28:57 PST