Redesigning the supply chain: reengineering, outsourcing, and relational capabilities

Emerald - Tập 12 Số 4 - Trang 483-502 - 2006
Manuel Rodríguez‐Díaz1, Tomás F. Espino‐Rodríguez1
1Department of Economics and Business Management, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

Tóm tắt

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the competitive advantages of the networks of firms forming the supply chain and distribution channels through process integration, outsourcing, and creation of relational capabilities.Design/methodology/approachA four‐stage methodology is created to redesign the supply chain depending on the creation of relational capabilities: internal analysis to determine the focal company's competence; relational analysis in the outsourcing of activities; process integration; and development of relational capabilities.FindingsThe development of relational capabilities is based on two dimensions: company level of competence in performing activities, and strategic contribution of the activities to competitive advantage. Four cases are analyzed from those two dimensions: high competence/low strategic contribution; low competence/high strategic contribution; low competence/low strategic value; and relational and internal capabilities, where relational capabilities strengthen internal capabilities. Finally, it is established what actions are necessary for the activities analyzed from those dimensions to be a source of competitive advantage by means of relational capabilities created through process integration and outsourcing to highly competent firms.Practical implicationsThe development of a short self‐evaluation questionnaire that helps firms implement the methodology and creates the basis for its empirical application by researchers.Originality/valueThe paper studies relational capabilities, an aspect omitted from the internal perspective of the resource and capability theory. It also determines four ways in which relational capabilities influence the strengthening of internal capabilities. The theoretical approach is developed in the redesign of the supply chain.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Amit, R. and Schoemaker, P.J. (1993), “Strategic assets and organizational rent”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 14, pp. 33‐46. Anaya Tejero, J.J. (2000), Logística integral. La gestión operativa de la empresa, Esic Editorial. Argyres, N. (1996), “Evidence on the role of firm capabilities in vertical decisions”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, pp. 129‐50. Barney, J.B. (1991), “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage”, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, pp. 99‐120. Blumberg, D.F. (1998), “Strategic assessment of outsourcing and downsizing in the service market”, Managing service Quality, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 5‐18. Chen, F., Drezner, Z., Ryan, J.K. and Simchi‐Levi, D. (2002), “The bullwhip effect: managerial insights on the impact of forecasting and information on variability in a suply chain”, in Tayur, S., Ganeshan, R. and Magazine, M. (Eds), Quantitative Models for Supply Chain Management, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. Davenport, T.H. (1993), Process Innovation, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Davenport, T.H. and Short, J.E. (1990), “The new industrial engineering: information technology and business process redesign”, Sloan Management Review, Summer, pp. 11‐27. Day, G.S. (1994), “The capabilities of market‐driven organization”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58 No. 4, pp. 37‐52. Dess, G.G., Rasheed, A., Mclaughlin, K. and Priem, R. (1995), “The new corporate architecture”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 7‐20. Dierickx, I. and Cool, K. (1989), “Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage”, Management Science, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 1504‐11. Dooney, P.M. and Cannon, J. (1997), “An examination of the nature of trust in buyer‐seller relationships”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 61, pp. 35‐51. Dwyer, F.R., Schurr, P.H. and Oh, S. (1987), “Developing buyer‐seller relationships”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, pp. 11‐27. Dyer, J.H. and Singh, H. (1998), “The relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 660‐79. Espino Rodríguez, T.F. and Rodríguez Díaz, M. (2004), “Outsourcing of the manufacturing and distribution process from the internal an relational capability view”, paper presented at Second World Conference on POM and Fifteenth Anual POMS Conference, Cancun. Frohlich, M. and Westbrook, R. (2001), “Arcs of integration: an international study of supply chain strategies”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 185‐200. Ganesan, S. (1994), “Determinants of long‐term orientation in buyer‐seller relationships”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 1‐19. Gilley, K.M. and Rasheed, A. (2000), “Making more by doing less: analysis of outsourcing and its effects on firm performance”, Journal of Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 763‐90. Grant, R.M. (1991), “The resource‐based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation”, California Management Review, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 114‐35. Hammer, M. (1990), “Reengineering work: don't automate, obliterate”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68 No. 3, pp. 135‐44. Hamel, G. and Phaladad, C.K. (1994), Competing for the Future, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Hammer, M. (2001), “The superefficient company”, Harvard Business Review, September, pp. 82‐91. Hammer, M. and Champy, J. (1993), Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. Harrigan, K. (1985a), “Strategies for intrafirm transfers and outside sourcing”, Academy of management Journal, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 914‐25. Harrigan, K. (1985b), “Vertical integration and corporate strategy”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 397‐425. Harrington, H.J. (1993), Business Process Improvement, McGraw‐Hill, Inc., New York, NY. Kale, P., Dyer, J.H. and Singh, H. (2002), “Alliance capability, stock market response, and long‐term alliance success: the role of the alliance function”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 747‐67. Kale, P., Singh, H. and Perlmutter, H. (2000), “Learning and protection of proprietary assets in strategic alliances: building relational capital”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21, pp. 217‐37. Kotabe, M. and Murray, J. (1990), “Linking product and process innovations and models of international sourcing in global competition: a case of foreign multinational firms”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 383‐408. Lambert, D.M., Emmelhainz, M.A. and Gardner, J.T. (1996), “Developing and implementing supply chain partnerships”, The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 1‐17. Levy, M. and Grewal, D. (2000), “Supply chain management in a networked economy”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 76 No. 4, pp. 415‐29. Morgan, R.M. and Hunt, S.D. (1994), “The commitment‐trust theory of relationship marketing”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, pp. 20‐38. Pfohl, H‐Chr. and Buse, H.P. (2000), “Inter‐organizational logistics systems in flexible production networks: an organizational capabilities perspective”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 388‐408. Quinn, J.B. (1992), Intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry, Free Press, New York, NY. Quinn, J.B. (1999), “Strategic outsourcing: levereging knowledge capabilities”, Sloan Management Review, Summer, pp. 9‐21. Quinn, J.B. and Hilmer, F.G. (1994), “Strategic outsourcing”, Sloan Management Review, Summer, pp. 43‐55. Rodríguez Díaz, M. and Espino Rodríguez, T.F. (2004a), “The internal and relational view of capabilities and outsourcing”, paper presented at 33rd EMAC Conference (European Marketing Academy Conference), Murcia (España), p. 80. Rosenzweig, E.D., Roth, A.V. and Dean, J.W. Jr (2003), “The influence of an integration strategy on competitive capabilities and business performance: an exploratory study of consumer products manufacturers”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 21, pp. 437‐56. Rothery, B. and Robertson, I. (1997), Outsourcing, Editorial Limusa, Mexico. Rueda, B. (1995), “De la acción táctica a la iniciativa estratégica”, Harvard Deusto Business Review, Vol. 1, pp. 85‐92. Rumelt, R.P. (1984), “Toward a strategic theory of the firm”, in Lamb, R.B. (Ed.), Competitive Strategic Management, Prentice‐Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 483‐98. Rumelt, R.P. (1991), “How much does industry matter?”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12, pp. 167‐85. Sankaran, J., Mun, D. and Charman, Z. (2002), “Effective logistics outsourcing in New Zealand: an inductive empirical investigation”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 682‐702. Saunders, C., Gebelt, M. and Hu, Q. (1997), “Achieving success in information systems outsourcing”, California Management Review, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 63‐79. Shapiro, J.F. (2002), “Bottom‐up vs top‐down approaches to supply chain modeling”, in Tayur, S., Ganeshan, R. and Magazine, M. (Eds), Quantitative Models for Supply Chain Management, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. Sink, H.L. and Langley, C.J. (1997), “A managerial framework for the acquisition of third‐party logistics services”, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 163‐89. Stalk, G., Evans, P. and Shulman, L.E. (1992), “Competing on capabilities: the new rules of corporate strategy”, Harvard Business Review, March/April, pp. 57‐69. Talwar, R. (1993), “Business re‐engineering: a strategy‐driven approach”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 22‐40. Teece, D.J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1997), “Dynamic capabilities and strategic management”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18 No. 7, pp. 509‐33. Vázquez Casielles, R. and Trespalacios Gutiérrez, J.A. (1997), Distribución comercial: estrategias de fabricantes y detallistas, Editorial Cívitas, Madrid. Webster, F.E. (1992), “The changing role of marketing in the corporation”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, pp. 1‐17. Wernerfelt, B. (1984), “A resource based view of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 5, pp. 171‐80. Williams, L.R., Esper, T.L. and Ozment, J. (2002), “The electronic supply chain: its impact on the current and future structure of strategic alliances partnerships and logistics leadership”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 703‐19. Zhao, M. and Stank, T.P. (2003), “Interactions between operational and relational capabilities in fast food service delevery”, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 161‐73. Rodríguez Díaz, M. and Espino Rodríguez, T.F. (2004b), “Diseño de los canales de distribución en función de las capacidades relacionales y la externalización”, Revista de Empresa, Vol. 8, pp. 22‐36.