Best Practices for the Implementation of Supply Chain Management Initiatives

Effective supply chain management (SCM) can be achieved via a variety of initiatives. However, which initiative is chosen is a crucial decision because not every approach is suitable for all companies. This paper aims to facilitate this task by developing an implementation-decision framework for SCM initiatives based on best practices. In this framework, goals of supply chain management are linked with their enablers; enablers are linked with initiatives, where initiatives are linked with activities, which in turn are associated with performance measures. Based on best-practice examples found in the SCM literature, this paper identifies and conceptually develops these goals, enablers, initiatives, activities and performance measures, as well as their linkages