Supply Chain Management Summary Year 4 Quarter 1
Author: Marilynn Wit
(No text book, only academic articles and cases)
Contents
Supply Chain Management Summary Year 4 Quarter 1 ..................................................................... 1
Supply Chain Management Training week 1: Collaboration in Project Networks .............................. 2
Supply Chain Training week 2: Theory of the supply chain ................................................................ 5
Training week 3: Why research in sustainable SCM should have no future....................................... 6
Training week 4: Understanding and managing the services supply chain ........................................ 9
Training week 5: Managing Coopetition in Supplier Networks – a paradox perspective................. 12
Training week 6 ................................................................................................................................. 16
1
,Training week 1: Collaboration in Project Networks
The theory applied to the case study
Summary: about collaboration, communication and the supply processes within the industry.
Tina is speaking to a shipyard owner and a subcontractor. She is doing research to the
relationship between the subcontractors and shipyard owners. Processes are changing in
this industry, and Dutch industry doesn’t seem to fully adapt to this.
Why is a Dutch Government policy maker involved (why is that interesting for them)?
In the past 50 years, some of the production of vessels have moved to Asia (cheap materials
etc), and the Dutch industry lost a lot of business. It’s not good for the employment rate,
some big ship builders might go bankrupt, people go into welfare (employment benefits), the
social aspect is involved as well as the economical aspect ( most important here). The
government wants to stop this and not lose ground in the world market. And this is where the
government gets involved to see what they can do to turn it around.
Case questions
1. Why are project networks an appropriate organizational form to produce
complex products?
- Expertise: project networks mobilize multiple organizations who bring in their
specialized knowledge
- Structural flexibility: project networks can be tailored to the need of the project
and the client. Flexibility is important here, they are not building the same ships.
- Urgency: temporary undertakings create a sense of urgency which lead to task
focus and problem-solving capabilities. Because it’s not mass-production, each
project is unique and have different deadlines. Using project network as an
organizational form, creates the sense of urgency that we need here.
By having a connected network for the projects it becomes easier and more efficient
to produce complex products. It is more difficult to be efficient in a complex
processes if there is not a network but rather a chain where it takes much longer to
transfer information between subcontractors etc.
It’s not mass production, these are complex products.
2. The high (technical) complexity of the product generated by project networks
creates good learning opportunities. However, oftentimes transferring
knowledge from one project to the next one turns out to be rather difficult.
What factors hinder interproject knowledge transfer? What can (project)
managers do to mediate these problems?
- Learning paradox implies that, although much is to be learned, organizations fail
to do so due to the temporary nature of the project. (when the project is finished,
they quickly have to move on to the next one, there’s no time to learn really). →
so perhaps a solution is to give the subcontractors and the people who work here
time to learn. And then store the knowledge, and then as an organization learn
from what you did.
2
, - Lead organizations can stick to the same set of organizations
(subcontractors), so use the same painter every time for example; this
facilitates the transfer of tacit knowledge.
- Individual learning by each organization through their own processes (as written
at learning paradox).
- Network learning by joint debriefing sessions after the project. So take time to
evaluate after a project instead of going on to the next one straight away.
Trust could be an issue, if there is no trust they might not transfer the right
information. Also, communication channels and/or frequency of communication could
be hinder the transfer if not quick enough or clear enough.
To mediate these problems, managers could invest in building a relationship with the
other subcontractors to increase trust. Further, they could acquire the right
communication channels or set regular meetings with other subcontractors to make
sure the communication is continuous and accurate.
Issues that arose: trust, self-interest rather than the common goal, communication.
You work with different subcontractors, so there is dependency on each other. Think
about communication here. They can solve problems within the project.
3. Which future problems might the shipyards face if they keep outsourcing work
while clinging to their orchestrating role?
Loss of critical knowledge: subcontractors are doing most of the essential work
making the shipyard obsolete and dependent on the information of their
subcontractors. At the end of the day you might not be involved in the project at all
anymore, you have no control over the quality, and the risk of them starting their own
shipyard for example.
Perceived unfairness: subcontractors do most of the work while the power and
responsibility resides at the shipyards. This will lead to opportunistic behaviour and a
focus on self-interest. This is a problem because, the subcontractors may feel that
they are treated unfairly, because they do all the work but not getting paid as much if
getting in contact with customer directly. They lose competitive advantage if they
outsource critical parts of the projects.
Outsourcing more makes it more complex for the project network. If they keep
clinging to the way they do it now, it will be even more complex for them to
successfully finish the projects efficiently.
4. Formal contracting and interaction is used to cope with the increased network
complexity. How can the communal pride/goal-focus in shipbuilding be
restored in such a context?
Networks have become more complex and joint goal has decreased.
Complementarity: formal contracting and interaction should (only) be applied in
case of emergencies, but the day to day operations should be based upon communal
pride. Trust between organizations complement formal contracts, not substitute it.
Companies should trust each other, if you have the same goal. Trust is key.
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