Best Practices in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in the Context of the Global Research. Embracing Global Supply Chain Complexity to Drive Strategic Advantage. (original) (raw)

Supply chain best practices – identification and categorisation of measures and benefits

Purpose – This research aims to identify, categorise and compare supply chain measures and benefits listed in literature-based case studies that were named as “best practices”. Design/methodology/approach – The research applies iterative triangulation which is a method used to build theories from existing case studies. Selected case studies collected by project partners are used as a source of secondary data. The paper applies various approaches to classifying supply chains as well as identifying the difference between measures proposed in the literature and those used by case companies. Findings – The analysis of the selected sample of cases indicated that the most common measures were related to economic aspects and to operational level activities. There is a lack of shared supply chain measures at the inter-organizational level, while social and environmental aspects are largely ignored. Originality/value – The majority of the measures identified in the collected cases were economic (relating to cost, time, quality and customer). Metrics at an operational level dominate, while supply chain metrics are hardly used. Findings indicate that current performance measurement approaches do not generally include social and environmental issues, which are becoming increasingly important in business. Emerald: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1732974&show=abstract

Sustainable supply chains – a framework for best practice assessment resultas of the pilot study, BestLog project. In: Energy, environment ecosystems and sustainable

2007

www.sbs.ox.ac.uk, www.bestlog.org Abstract: This paper presents results of a pilot study completed as part of the BestLog (Best Practices in Logistics) project. BestLog (www.bestlog.org) is a research project initiated by the European Commission (EC) and financed from the 6th Framework Programme. One of the project goals is to identify and promote best sustainable practices in logistics and supply chain management. This paper focuses on the development of a framework for assessment. The research methodology is presented first, followed by an overview of the collected cases. The overview includes information related to best practice characteristics, such as: industry and sector, supply chain area and relationships, country coverage and contextual aspects. The next section reviews EC policies on sustainability in transport and logistics. The main part of the analysis concentrates on the metrics and benefits reported in the case studies. Identified benefits are listed and compared with...

The modern Supply Chain towards new 'sustainable' practices

— Academic and corporate interest in Sustainable Supply Chain Management has risen considerably in recent years. This can be seen by the number of papers published and in particular by journal special issues. Sustainable Supply Chains Management (SSCM) extends the scope of Supply Chain Management (SCM) by environmental and social issues and it attempts to consider all the dimensions of sustainability in optimizing supply chain. Indeed, suppliers, focal companies and customers are linked by information, material and capital flows. In line with the value of the product comes the environmental and social burden incurred during different stages of production. With regard to this, companies are asked to consider the environmental and social problems present in their entire supply chain. Studies linking environmental and social sustainability to firm performance have been increasing as more companies are contemplating the implementation of sustainable practices internally and in coordination with other firms along their supply chains. The integration of sustainability practices in supply chains is relatively new but growing for over a decade and the concept is receiving global acceptance In this context, the purpose of this paper is to study the practices used to develop a SCM and make it 'sustainable'. Thereby, we will carry out a review of the literature on the SSCM, then we will study the practices used to make a SCM sustainable, finally we will try to study the impact of a sustainable Supply Chain on the competitiveness of the organization.

Sustainable supply chains – a framework for best practice assessment: results of the pilot study, BestLog project

This paper presents results of a pilot study completed as part of the BestLog (Best Practices in Logistics) project. BestLog (www.bestlog.org) is a research project initiated by the European Commission (EC) and financed from the 6th Framework Programme. One of the project goals is to identify and promote best sustainable practices in logistics and supply chain management. This paper focuses on the development of a framework for assessment. The research methodology is presented first, followed by an overview of the collected cases. The overview includes information related to best practice characteristics, such as: industry and sector, supply chain area and relationships, country coverage and contextual aspects. The next section reviews EC policies on sustainability in transport and logistics. The main part of the analysis concentrates on the metrics and benefits reported in the case studies. Identified benefits are listed and compared with the EC policies as well as existing literature related to performance measurement and supply chains benchmarking. To reflect the requirement for a sustainable supply chain, the proposed framework is composed of three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Each dimension is further subdivided into categories of metrics that could be used to assess the supply chain performance. These metrics represent a mixture of both hard (quantitative) and soft (qualitative) measures. Hard metrics such as costs, utilisation or number of accidents are relatively easy to measure, while the soft metrics will require judgment to determine their relative value. The case study analysis confirmed the domination of purely economic benefits - while social and environmental aspects are often ignored. The final part of the paper provides a working version of the framework for best practice assessment, as well as conclusions and recommendations for future research. Results of the analysis are being employed in field work (based on the multi-case study design), running simultaneously in 9 European countries. Conference paper: http://www.wseas.us/e-library/conferences/2007creteeeesd/papers/562-255.pdf

Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Industrial Practices

Sustainability

Sustainable business practices are those that allow companies to increase their profit while still considering the triple bottom line of sustainability, which involves economic, environmental, and social aspects. There are a lot of studies exploring various aspects of supply chain practices. However, there remains a gap for the proposal of a complete framework concerning various industries. This research fills this gap by studying existing empirical and review studies. Based on a content analysis of 86 studies, 789 practices are derived and categorized, leading to a comprehensive classification of sustainable practices in supply chains. Moreover, the employed methods to analyze the data are investigated. The practices are cross-checked versus the studied industries showing the current sustainable industries. The details of the studied papers are presented in a comprehensive table. The sustainable framework showing the industrial solutions toward sustainable supply chains is divided ...

Supply chain management practices as a competitive tool for third party logistics providers performance

Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics , 2020

The major purpose of this research paper is to examine supply chain management practices as a strategic tool for third-party logistics firms’performance: by presenting practical and theoretical advantages by reviewing the corresponding literature, and also by proposing more forward-looking studies. A literature review was developed to help today's supply chain managers and analysts to thoroughly scrutinize what was already recognized as well as what requires further research. The research broadens, from a centered company perspective, the understanding of supply chain management practices as a tactical resource for success of third party logistics firms, as well as limitations for future studies. This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the literature to develop a proposed general framework for a strategic tool research initiative to perform TPLs' supply chain management practices. The research paper provides perspectives into deficiencies in current practices of supply chain management, along with the progress of third party logistics sector literature. The research paper proposes specific research into the logistics process, as it relates to planned and current performance. The research paper makes a series of important literary contributions. First, it provides the first comprehensive analysis of the fundamental concepts used throughout the current supply chain management activities research in relation to the performance of third party logisticscompanies. Indeed, when carrying out a similar exercise, the approach used to conduct the systematic literature review may be used as a guide for future investigators. Current research is aimed at providing a researcher who meets the needs of modern business leaders.

Sustainability of logistics and supply chain operations through Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives

Logistics and Transport, 2017

So much pressure abounds for supply chains to deliver goods and services in the right quantity, quality, to the right place and at the right time and least cost possible. It is an acceptable fact that supply chain operations, local or global, face numerous unforeseen challenges that expose them to ineffective and inefficient performance. It is evident that organisations that manage environmental, social and economic risks are better positioned to deliver sustainable supply chain operations. The next generation of supply chain management should not be comfortable with the old adage of out-of-sight out-of-mind behaviour as this presents an unacceptable reputational risk level to the sustainability of logistics business operations.