{"title":"Do Flexibility and Chaining Really Help? An Empirical Analysis of Automotive Plant Networks","authors":"V. Choudhary, Sameer Hasija, Serguei Netessine","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3301302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3301302","url":null,"abstract":"We study production networks of automotive assembly plants to shed new light on the impact of flexibility on plant productivity. We observe that the contemporary manufacturing networks of automotive assembly plants of three US companies (Chrysler, Ford and General Motors) have become less flexible over the years despite the reported benefits of flexibility. To understand this phenomenon, we utilize flexibility indices that have been developed in the modeling literature to measure flexibility but have never been tested in an empirical setting. We identify shortcomings in existing indices and propose a new index to measure network flexibility. Using our proposed index, we find that both extremes of flexibility (too much or too little) affect productivity negatively. Therefore, intermediate levels of flexibility are optimal because they balance the trade-off between better matching of supply and demand with excessive downtime due to model changeovers (changing production from one model to another), which were not accounted for in the modeling literature. Using plant-level production schedules, we find that productivity losses due to changeovers have a significant negative effect on manufacturing productivity, often making celebrated “chaining” approaches to network configuration uneconomical. Counterintuitively, firms can often benefit by reducing flexibility levels, depending on the current level of flexibility in the manufacturing network. For example, our estimates indicate that a firm with a highly flexible production network can gain up to 8.8% in productivity by rearranging its network. This can result in an average savings of 460,000 labor-hours in a plant with an average production of 200,000 vehicles per year. Using simulation, we show that well-established long-chain configurations cease to perform better than sparser configurations when changeover losses are accounted for, indicating that firms can be better-off by adopting a sparser structure than chaining to improve productivity.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91158413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Darcy W. E. Allen, Alastair Berg, B. Markey-Towler
{"title":"Blockchain and Supply Chains: V-Form Organisations, Value Redistributions, De-Commoditisation and Quality Proxies","authors":"Darcy W. E. Allen, Alastair Berg, B. Markey-Towler","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3299725","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3299725","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper we apply institutional cryptoeconomics to the information problems in global trade networks, model the incentives under which blockchain-based supply chain infrastructure will be built, and make predictions about the future of supply chain governance. We propose that blockchain will not simply make supply chains more efficient, but might fundamentally change the patterns and dynamics of how, where and what we trade by: (1) facilitating new forms of economic organisation governing supply chain coordination (e.g. the V-form organisation); (2) shifting economic power towards the ends of supply chains (e.g. primary producers) by decreasing information asymmetries; (3) de-commoditising goods and disaggregating price signals by changing the dimensions along which goods may be reliably differentiated; and (4) lowering reliance on proxies (e.g. production within national borders) for the quality of goods. We also discuss the policy implications of blockchain-based supply chain infrastructure.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73448781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supply Chain Responsiveness and Supply Chain Performance: The Role of Supply Chain Risk Management","authors":"Tooba Javaid, D. Siddiqui","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3285077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3285077","url":null,"abstract":"Main purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of supply chain risk management factors on supply chain responsiveness which in turn enhance the supply chain performance of firms operating in Pakistan. The questionnaire was filled by 190 respondents and a total of 160 questionnaires were selected who are working in supply chain firms all over Pakistan. Five independent variables related to risk management were examined to analyze their relationship with dependent variable which is supply chain responsiveness. Finally supply chain responsiveness as independent variable was examined to analyze its relationship with dependent variable is supply chain performance. The result of this study showed that supply risk management, operational risk management and logistics risk management is having positively significant relation with supply chain responsiveness and supply chain responsiveness is in positively significant relation with supply chain performance. This result is like the results of previous studies but there is one surprising difference, demand risk management indicated insignificant relationship with supply chain responsiveness and system risk management have negative significant relation with supply chain responsiveness. This study showed that all risk management factors have direct effect on supply chain responsiveness and relationship between supply chain responsiveness on supply chain performance, consistent with other researcher’s findings.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79073716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Russia in Global Exports: Growth Is Justified by the Market Environment","authors":"A. Knobel, Alexander Firanchuk","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3259121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3259121","url":null,"abstract":"According to the year-end data for 2017, Russia’s share in global exports of all the goods amounted to 2.0%, an increase of 0.2 p.p. on 2016 (1.8%). As compared to the pre-crisis 2013 year, the share of Russian exports on global markets of inorganic chemicals, mineral fuel, nickel, aluminum and furs has fallen while that of cereals, fertilizers, lead and paper increased.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80108594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Major Emerging Markets in Global Commodity Demand","authors":"J. Baffes, A. Kabundi, P. Nagle, F. Ohnsorge","doi":"10.1596/1813-9450-8495","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-8495","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid growth among the major emerging markets over the past 20 years has boosted global demand for commodities. The seven largest emerging markets accounted for almost all the increase in global consumption of metals, and two-thirds of the increase in energy consumption over this period. As emerging market economies mature and shift towards less commodity-intensive activities, their demand for commodities may plateau. This paper estimates income elasticities of demand for a range of energy, metal and food commodities, and finds evidence of plateauing among several commodities. Looking ahead, as economies mature and GDP growth slows, growth in demand for commodities may also slow. Based on current population and GDP growth forecasts, this paper produces scenarios of potential growth in demand for commodities over the next decade. While global energy consumption growth may remain broadly steady, growth in global demand for metals and food could slow by one-third over the next decade. This would dampen global commodity prices. Despite an expected slowdown in its growth rate, China would likely remain the single largest consumer of many commodities. For the two-thirds of emerging market and developing economies that depend on raw materials for government and export revenues, these prospects reinforce the need for economic diversification and the strengthening of policy frameworks.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85407231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Future of Soft Commodities – During the Time of War (Trade War) (Presentation Slides)","authors":"Ali Muhammad Lakdawala","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3631697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3631697","url":null,"abstract":"\"Future of Soft Commodities - During the time of WAR (TRADE War)” the paper title mentioned cannot have simple and definitive answer.<br><br>Reason being the world is too varied , too complex, for that to be possible. However, its not hard to recognise the sharp differences in ability to identify the more prominent and influential actors.<br> <br>One must understand purpose of the war is to degrade the enemy's will and economic capacity. It may sound surprising but destruction through a market attack can be more effective than taking out enemy's ship, aircraft, deploying chemical weapons, etc when it comes to disabling an opponent.<br> <br>During 2015-16 “Currency/Financial” war was evident as boundaryless warfare with China devaluating its currency.<br><br>Post which there has been major change in global market dynamics, in fact WAR has only got more intensified with change in leadership across world. The new course opted is \"TRADE WAR\" wherein most countries has started to deploy it's only TRUMP CARD of \"TARIFFS\" and leading the pack / more prominent actor in forefront is US of A.<br><br>Such war can clamp down countries or even global banking system: When Banking stops, Credit stops, and when Credit stops, Trade stops and when Trade stops, ECONOMY CRUMBLES.<br><br>Economist John Maynard Keynes stated \"When the facts change, I change my mind“<br><br>Adhering with Mr. Keynes statement looks like we need not change our battlefield as WAR is ON just that now it is more open & intense with many players joining the bandwagon<br><br>Hence,<br><br>\"Are Commodities getting politicised than staying course with its fundamentals???“<br><br>\"What challenges & opportunities does it get along???\"","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85744943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hartmut Hoehle, John A. Aloysius, F. Chan, V. Venkatesh
{"title":"Customers’ Tolerance for Validation in Omnichannel Retail Stores: Enabling Logistics and Supply Chain Analytics","authors":"Hartmut Hoehle, John A. Aloysius, F. Chan, V. Venkatesh","doi":"10.1108/IJLM-08-2017-0219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-08-2017-0219","url":null,"abstract":"Mobile technologies are increasingly used as a data source to enable big data analytics that enable inventory control and logistics planning for omnichannel businesses. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the use of mobile technologies to facilitate customers’ shopping in physical retail stores and associated implementation challenges.,First, the authors introduce three emerging mobile shopping checkout processes in the retail store. Second, the authors suggest that new validation procedures (i.e. exit inspections) necessary for implementation of mobile-technology-enabled checkout processes may disrupt traditional retail service processes. The authors propose a construct labeled “tolerance for validation” defined as customer reactions to checkout procedures. The authors define and discuss five dimensions – tolerance for: unfair process; changes in validation process; inconvenience; mistrust; and privacy intrusion. The authors develop a measurement scale for the proposed construct and conduct a study among 239 customers.,The results show that customers have higher tolerance for validation under scenarios in which mobile technologies are used in the checkout processes, as compared to the traditional self-service scenario in which no mobile technology is used. In particular, the customers do not show a clear preference for specific mobile shopping scenarios.,These findings contribute to our understanding of a challenge that omnichannel businesses may face as they leverage data from digital technologies to enhance collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment processes. The proposed construct and measurement scales can be used in future work on omnichannel retailing.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76281469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of Additive Manufacturing on Aircraft Supply Chain Performance: A System Dynamics Approach","authors":"Abhijeet Ghadge, Georgia Karantoni, Atanu Choudhury, Aravindan Srinivasan","doi":"10.1108/JMTM-07-2017-0143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-07-2017-0143","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of additive manufacturing (AM) implementation on aircraft supply chain (SC) networks. Additive and conventional manufacturing spare part inventory control systems are studied and compared, revealing insights into SC performance.,A leading global commercial airline’s SC network data are used to model the research problem. A system dynamics simulation approach is followed, drawing out insights for managers.,A significant improvement in SC efficiency is observed through the implementation of AM, rendering it a worthwhile investment for global SCs. AM helps to balance inventory levels, and increase responsiveness while decreasing disruptions and carbon emissions in the supply networks.,The paper offers guidance on the adaption of AM in aircraft SCs and AM’s impact on spare part inventory systems.,The study provides robust evidence for making critical managerial decisions on SC re-design driven by a new and disruptive technology. Next-generation SC and logistics will replace the current demand for fulfilling material products by AM machines.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89603783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"World Commodity Prices, Job Security and Health: Evidence from the Mining Industry","authors":"D. W. Johnston, M. Shields, Agne Suziedelyte","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3097369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3097369","url":null,"abstract":"A lack of job security is an increasingly prevalent characteristic of modern labour markets, and there is evidence that recent financial crises have exacerbated this issue. In this paper, we assess how exogenous changes in the macroeconomic environment affect workers' perceived job security, and the impact of job security on measures of mental and physical health. To identify these effects, we exploit variation in world commodity prices over the period 2001–15, and analyse 15 waves of individual-level panel data that includes unusually detailed classifications of mining workers. We find that commodity price movements drive changes in perceived job security, which in turn significantly and substantively affects the mental health of workers. In contrast, we find no effects on physical health. Our results imply that the estimated welfare costs of recessions are substantially larger when the effects of job insecurity on the health of workers is considered.","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86947607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drivers of Product Expiration in Consumer Packaged Goods Retailing","authors":"A. Akkas, V. Gaur, D. Simchi-Levi","doi":"10.1287/MNSC.2018.3051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/MNSC.2018.3051","url":null,"abstract":"Product expiration is an important problem in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry costing 1%–2% of gross retail sales and eroding industry profits substantially. It can be caused by several ...","PeriodicalId":12584,"journal":{"name":"Global Commodity Issues eJournal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88271880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}