فرآیندهای توسعه فرصت شبکه عرضه تقاضا در بازارهای نوظهور: موقعیت برای تحقق استراتژی در روسیه

This paper aims to shed light on the management of supply chains, or rather, demand supply networks (DSN) in emerging markets by foreign companies. According to our definition, specific DSN opportunity development processes are directed towards better functionality and coordination of product, finance and information flows across the DSN. As a consequence, improved performance of the DSN may be achieved, in order to support and realize competitive business strategy and facilitate value creation for customers. To illustrate the concepts and the model, empirical evidence is presented that establishes the role of changing network structures and incumbent capabilities as constraints for DSN opportunity capture, especially in emerging markets. Our results show that DSN positioning strategies designed to overcome these constraints and facilitate opportunity capture, must be proactive, well-timed and innovative.

International trade and investment statistics point out profound changes in the global economy: production and consumption of most products has become international in nature (UNCTAD, 2005). In line with this phenomenon, multinational enterprises (MNE) are constantly changing their location and ownership strategies to better fit the changing characteristics of environments and markets. Optimum locations are sought after for each economic activity in the global factory that spans international borders and continents (Buckley & Ghauri, 2004). There is thus a great need to understand the management of supply chains internationally and in specific foreign markets (Narasimhan & Mahapatra, 2004). Logistics and the supply chain management (SCM) are emerging as the critical success factors for companies operating in the international arena, as increasing complexity arises from a wider range of products, technological development, market growth and the number of supply chain actors (Braithwaite & Christopher, 1991). This paper aims to shed light on the management of supply chains, or rather, demand supply networks (DSN) in emerging markets by foreign companies, in order to capture value creation opportunities. By using the network metaphor in describing the structural properties of the research target, we want to emphasize the true nature of the phenomenon and the complexity involved. On the aggregate level, companies are experiencing expanding network-like structures both on the up- (supply) and downstream- (demand) sides (Christopher, 1998). However, the supply chain term may be descriptive of the actual structure in the case of an individual stock-keeping-unit (SKU). The design and management of a DSN may be essential from the firm's business model point of view in both a domestic and foreign market environment. In the internationalization process aimed at achieving a strategic position in the target market DSN, logistics flows and supplier/customer relationship related considerations may therefore be extremely important. Generally, understanding the nature and implications of factors that affect the firm's ability to exploit and develop perceived business opportunities in dynamic and uncertain EMs is crucial (Ghauri, Hadjikhani & Johanson, 2005). This understanding may be especially relevant from the DSN point of view, as the firm's sustainable competitive advantage due to, for example, strong customer orientation may be based on supply chain strategy being aligned with the firm's business strategy (e.g. Fisher, 1997 and Kumar et al., 2000). Without carefully analyzing and addressing the factors that set limits or create new opportunities for supply chain strategy implementation in the changing emerging market DSNs, business strategies may turn out to be next to impossible to implement. The paper therefore aims to address some of the challenges of establishing operations in emerging markets, with some insight into the implications for the internationalization of the firm. The research questions to be considered are as follows: RQ1: What are the characteristics of DSN opportunity development processes in emerging markets? RQ2: What are the major constraints for DSN opportunity development processes in emerging markets? RQ3: How can companies establish and manage competitive DSN positions in emerging markets? With these aims, this paper addresses some of the challenges for international business (IB) research in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) context identified by Meyer and Gelbuda (2006) by addressing the interaction of environmental change with the firms' internationalization process (IP), as well as operational issues such as sourcing. Furthermore, this study relates to the analysis of resource (SCM capabilities) adaptation and transfer from mature markets to emerging markets (Meyer & Peng, 2005).

In addition to the DSN opportunity development process model development and illustration (RQ1), this paper concentrated on addressing the research questions on major constraints for the process in emerging markets (RQ2), as well as on how companies can establish and manage competitive DSN positions in these markets (RQ3). Firstly, it appears that the DSN structure and incumbent capability did indeed present constraints for the implementation of competitive supply chain strategies for our case study companies, an indication for the support of P2. The presented empirical evidence provided highly relevant examples, such as lengthy distribution channels (structure), diverse retail sector (structure), missing or inaccessible high quality raw material suppliers (structure, capability), insufficient logistics services in terms of capacity and quality (capability), business culture averse to collaboration and forward looking planning (capability), and low comprehension level of SCM concepts and practices (capability). These constraints seemed to be a major cause for low visibility, planning inability, investment delays, relatively high logistics costs, and increased inventories; all indicators and symptoms of DSN uncertainty as indicated in the literature (e.g. Geary et al., 2002). However, companies oriented towards opportunity development, take the dynamic view on the DSN, and strive to bridge structural holes through disintermediation, as well as to build and develop incumbent capabilities, in their ultimate effort to create superior network structures that facilitate supply chain flows. One practical example is the effort to increase the sales volume of direct key accounts (retailers), by bypassing middlemen, and therefore making the implementation of interorganizational supply chain IT applications more feasible, and enabling more efficient and effective information, product and finance flows. Although the level of success due to DSN positioning varied, it seems that relationship development and collaborative integration initiatives produced positive results in terms of performance, in support of the previous supply chain integration/performance researches (e.g. Frohlich & Westbrook, 2001) and our P3. However, exceptions did exist, which could be inferred as temporary performance area specific set-backs due to functional shifts that balance out as the overall performance is examined in the long-term. A higher level of cost knowledge (Norek & Pohlen, 2001) would help negotiating the changing nature of logistics functions in the DSN, and aid in the analysis of whether the short-term cost increases due to functional shifts result in large enough increases in sales and profits. The results thus emphasize the importance of market learning, also in the group top management level, in order to purposefully develop the opportunities that may seem elusive and are blocked by popular views on market risk and tactical difficulties, or share holder pressure for business rationalization. Our empirical research provided insight to the nature of measures in the sphere of DSN positioning, aimed towards capturing DSN opportunities. It is concluded, that measures may range from strategic to tactical, for example from achieving breakthroughs in the formation of strategic supplier relationships or aligning understanding of performance measures and related policies between supply chain incumbents. In summary, in terms of our case companies, the presented model seemed to encapsulate the properties of the DSN opportunity development process reasonably well, supporting the P1. For example, the feedback loop from constraints to DSN uncertainty and onwards to opportunity perception is quite clear. Under extreme circumstances, it seems that high constraints and the inability to penetrate them could affect the opportunity perception so negatively as to prevent internationalization process or business expansion. In this vein, potentially pointing towards further research opportunities, we present a hypothetical representation of the relationships between the perceived costs of establishing and building the DSN (c1), the perceived current costs of operating a DSN under constraints and uncertainty (c2), and the perceived benefits (r) of capturing DSN opportunity through the opportunity development process. The DSN opportunity capture may result in an enhanced ability to realize supply chain strategy and ultimately business strategy. The perceived cost-benefit ratio would determine the paths and actions taken by a DSN dependent4 company in developing its foreign market and DSN position. The hypothesized model is illustrated in Fig. 6.