Green purchasing has seen an increase of attention from researchers but as yet few case studies are available. The responsibility being placed on local councils to consider not only the economic but also social and environmental impacts sets a new agenda. Both these changes suggest a new role...

Discusses the importance of achieving alignment between buyers and sellers, with specific emphasis on efforts by buyers to improve the performance of their suppliers. Describes common barriers and presents strategies and methods that were successful in educating and developing suppliers’...

There has been little conceptual work that comprehensively examines the changing role of the corporate transportation function in the modern business environment. Successful managers today require a broad view of transportation management’s role and responsibilities in an integrated supply...

Closer vertical co‐ordination of supply chains is becoming a prevalent feature in the agri‐food sectors of many countries. Presents a framework within which to analyse these changes. The framework links drivers for change to product characteristics, which in turn affect transaction...

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been widely applied to address various decision analysis problems due to its usefulness in evaluating multi‐criterion systems and providing improvement targets for such systems. A supplier selection problem is inherently a multi‐criterion decision problem,...

Argues that the existing supply chain literature provides no explanation for the role of intermediation and intermediaries and may even be said to predict their demise. This claim is made on the basis of two assumptions derived from the literature, namely that intermediation reduces supply chain...

Focuses on the failure of companies to align supply chain processes with corporate strategic goals. Presents results of research sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP and Stevens Institute of Technology in which supply chain executives were surveyed to determine which specific corporate strategies are...

One of the common problems encountered in managing a supply chain is that of synchronisation of activities throughout the life cycle of its products. Among several initiatives in the US textiles industry to deal with the problem, one in particular aims to achieve quick response (QR) in the...

Aims to conduct an exploratory study on the organisational implications of strategic alignment within the steel stockholder supply chain by analysing the responses of a case study organisation. Increasingly fragmented and volatile markets result in pressure on organisations to strategically...

As just‐in‐time delivery has become increasingly commonplace and customer demands continue to tighten, the importance of fast, reliable delivery performance cannot be overstated. This is particularly true for organisations competing internationally, where the complexity of the supply chain...