This article reports on the influence of the enterprise type on the purchasing decision process within selected product types and phases by using analysis of variance on data from Greek manufacturing and utility enterprises. Our study examined the influence of enterprise type on four parameters...

This paper examines the optimisation of purchasing for maintenance, repair and operating supplies (MRO) through purchase process re‐engineering. In particular, the use and development of the Internet as a channel for procurement of MRO items was examined from a transaction cost perspective....

Today the Internet provides a real opportunity for demand data and supply capacity data to be visible to all companies within a manufacturing supply chain. Consequently there is a need for manufacturing organisations to explore alternative mechanisms for the management of their operations...

Discusses the necessity for the conscious recognition of the phenomenon known as the extended enterprise; this demands that product, process and supply chain design are all considered simultaneously. Structure must be given to the extended enterprise in order to understand and manage it...

Firms operating in an international environment face a host of uncertainties that make it difficult to meet deadlines reliably. To be reliable in an uncertain and changing environment, firms must be able to quickly respond to changes. The ability to do this in a useful time frame is called...

Presents a case study on quick response practices in a supply chain within the Australian textiles, clothing and footwear (TCF) industry, conducted as part of a government‐led project aimed at improving the performance of the Australian TCF industry towards becoming more internationally...

As firms struggle to cope with an increasingly turbulent and uncertain economic environment there is widespread recognition of the importance of organisational learning. One option is to look at the potential of shared learning between firms, where common interests and interdependence provide...

Compares the bullwhip properties of a vendor managed inventory (VMI) supply chain with those of a traditional “serially‐linked” supply chain. The emphasis of this investigation is the comparative impact the two structures have on the “bullwhip effect” generated. Particular attention is...