مدیریت مفاهیم تجارت کردن عرضه جهانی

The cost versus response trade-off is a growing logistics issue due to many markets being increasingly characterised by demand uncertainty and shorter product life cycles. This is exacerbated further with supply increasingly moving to low-cost global sources. However, the poor response implications of global supply are often not addressed or even acknowledged when undertaking such decisions. Consequently, various practical approaches to minimising, postponing or otherwise managing the impact of the demand uncertainty are often only adopted retrospectively. Even though such generic solutions are documented through case examples we lack effective tools and concepts to support the proactive identification and resolution of such trade-offs. This paper reports on case-based theory building research, involving three cases from the UK and USA used in developing a conceptual model with associated tools, in support of such a process.

Addressing the strategic as well as the cost implications of functional decisions continues to be elusive. In the past the resulting misalignment was commonly associated with the incremental nature of such change (Hill et al., 1998), but this does not fully explain the mismatch that commonly results from outsourcing decisions. Research suggests that such decisions often lack a holistic perspective (Baines, 2003) resulting in a sub-optimal cost focus. The growth in global sourcing, however, is increasingly encroaching on markets characterised by shorter product life cycles and increasing demand uncertainty. Global supply from low-cost sources is, therefore, increasingly prone to aggravating the cost versus response trade-off (Nair and Closs, 2006)—a problem that is now widely cited, particularly in the apparel industry (Lowson, 2003). Practical strategies to address such supply chain misalignments have been widely reported over the years, such as Bennetton, Sports Obermeyer (Fisher et al., 1994), Hewlett Packard (Feitzinger and Lee, 1997) and more recently Zara. However, the tendency to think functionally rather than holistically persists (Fisher et al., 1997; Fisher et al., 2000; Ferdows, 2003; Geary et al., 2006). This paper seeks to explain the growing significance of the cost versus response trade-off as well as presenting a conceptual approach to managing such trade-offs in the context of the supply chain. Three case studies, associated with outsourcing, are subsequently analysed in relation to this approach.

This research has sought to better understand how strategic decision making can be conceptually supported, with the paper specifically focusing on the strategic realignment of supply chains when being constructed around low-cost global sources. Such decisions clearly exhibit trade-off implications that need to be acknowledged and addressed at the supply chain level. The managerial decision to use offshore supply in these three cases highlights how even proactive management decisions can overlook trade-off consequences and means of mitigation. The research has addressed all the key research questions identified earlier, at least in part, and conceptually linked secondary sources with the cross-case analysis. The cases were chosen specifically to exemplify the impact of combining demand variation and uncertainty with extended supply lead-times associated with low-cost global sourcing. The research has identified how and why strategies may be practically classified as means of reducing, restricting or managing variation and uncertainty, with the management being through the strategic use of capacity and inventory. The trade-off concept very effectively highlights the need to establish the potential negative strategic implications of global supply and the paper has demonstrated how the TOC and TRIZ approaches of explicitly defining the trade-off may be used in developing tailored strategies. The additional question raised during the research concerned the role of local cost measures. In all three cases cost was a prime local measurement, which tended to drive local decision making often at the expense of responsiveness. This is exemplified in Case B by the gross margin measurement on the buyers, and in Case C the need to move mould tooling between casing suppliers to minimise both supplier and tooling costs. In Case A it was evident that the less visible strategic benefits of onshore supply were constantly being weighed against the more visible cost measures, a particularly common issue raised following any change in management. This highlights the importance of the strategic implications of such global sourcing being exposed at a high enough level to enable operational strategies and measures to be aligned in support of delivery responsiveness. This research is currently being extended to address a wider range of industries including grocery and automotive. Further research is being planned to determine and develop the practical managerial utility of the proposed approach.