This thesis documents a novel web-based virtual environment system (WVESC) for the manufacturing supply chain management (SCM). It includes five components; virtual manufacturing environment, information coding and encoding, decision making module, database management module and Internet platform. The WVESC system is intended to add the virtual reality function to the SCM so that the users can understand and experience the activities and processes of the supply chains without need for the high level technical knowledge. The research has successfully addressed following two issues, why and where to use virtual environments in SCM and how to use virtual environments in SCM. In this research, virtual environments and manufacturing supply chain are investigated to identify their integration points and the applications of virtual environments in manufacturing are studied. The supply chain is analysed from two perspectives; supply chain node and supply chain process. Four general virtual manufacturing environments (VME) including virtual factory, virtual warehouse, virtual transportation centre and virtual retailer shop are designed and constructed to represent the supply chain nodes for visualising and simulating their processes and activities. Push and pull supply chain scenarios are designed for illustrating the system implementation. The research has proposed a development framework for assembly of collaborative, interactive and online 3D working environments for the supply chain participator. The main findings of the WVESC prototype system testing were enhanced capabilities for the supply chain planning, supply chain execution and supply chain collaboration, as well as the benefit in visualising and simulating the material and information flow of the supply chain operations. Future research is proposed to concentrate on expanding the system including the scope of virtual models and improving the decision making techniques in order to make the system more adaptable and flexible

This thesis is concerned with examining the role that judgmental modelling, or multicriteria decision making, can play in increasing our understanding of the organizational buying process. This evaluation has been made by collecting data from a number of real life decision environments within different organizations, using in-depth interviews facilitated by an interactive PC-based computer package. The decisions modelled varied by decision type, product type, and by industry. Four areas were identified in the literature where benefits from using judgmental modelling might be anticipated. These were the study of attribute salience, positioning analysis, differences in opinion between various members of the decision making unit, and the extent to which attributes change in importance during the decision making process. The various decisions modelled confirmed the advantages of judgmental modelling as a tool for analyzing organizational buying behaviour in each of these four areas. In terms of determining attribute salience, it was found that the technique worked well in all the decision environments modelled and also that it facilitated the development of a detailed approach to benefit segmentation. When combined with a particular scoring method called "word models", judgmental modelling permitted a deeper understanding to be developed of the particular markets studied, through the calculation of the extent to which attributes were both important and acted as discriminators to the buyers. The study of attribute salience also permitted the tentative development of a generic model of attribute importance. In this model a range of generic attributes was proposed and, by reference to the decisions modelled in the thesis, it was shown how these attributes are related to different types of decisions. The results of the research indicate how judgmental modelling can be used to generate input for detailed positioning analysis using correspondence analysis, and also how the word models can be used to calculate meaningful strengths and weaknesses ratios for competing suppliers. The highly structured approach to decision making required by the judgmental modelling process was seen to have particular benefits for group decision making, in that group members could focus on decision content rather than the process itself, and individual perceptions were readily clarified, facilitating further discussion and agreement. Finally, using the judgmental modelling technique gives clear evidence of the extent to which attributes may change in importance over the life of a particular decision making process.

The aim of this thesis is to identify the financial structures of enterprises in Bulgaria, and to identify whether these are key to explaining the relatively slow pace of transition. In this thesis, the Bulgarian economy is analysed using a Transaction Cost Framework (Coase's model built upon by Williamson). It is insufficient to analyse the performance of enterprises without looking at their operating environment, and in order to take these factors into account, a review of the literature looking at the effects of institutions on various structures was undertaken. Included in this is an analysis of the areas where potential for Bulgaria to develop technology, management and distribution channels is impeded. The unusual enterprise structures identified in the research appear to reflect the costs of transacting on the market which are increased by inactive financial intermediation. These costs are analysed and suggestions are made as to the potential means for transacting in a different way so as to avoid the transaction costs. The thesis concludes that the structure of the enterprises is not surprising given the level of market failure in Bulgaria. Analysing the traditional transaction costs provided a structured and useful way of looking at the problem of transition, and it is concluded that the many of the market failures such as small numbers of available counterparties that lift transaction costs are derived from the primary problem of liquidity constraints. These liquidity constraints dictate the methods in which firms have to conduct their activities as they remove other options for managing the supply chain. Means of relieving the liquidity constraint using measures such as maintaining the title to the goods at the beginning of the value added chain, paying only the value added to the intermediate manufacturers are proposed.

This thesis aims to investigate the nature of supply chain relationships in the sportswear sector from concept to consumer. The sportswear supply chain partners consist of buyers, designers and retailers who research, design and deliver a range of sportswear products to the end-consumer. The forward movement of products and the backward flow of information are commonly termed supply chain management although the underlying factor rests in the relationship management in terms of both business2business(B2B) and business2consumer(B2C). Certain literature suggests that a wide application of information technology (17) can make it possible for organisations to improve or remodel their supply chains and improve their overall business operations (Motwani et al., 2000). According to Andel (1997) an improved supply chain can move a product (such as a clothing garment) to the market faster and the results of this improvement are witnessed by the cuts in costs of moving goods from the original source to the consumer. Harland (1996) suggests that worldwide improvements in computing and communications technologies have made business-to-business(B2B)relationships easier to manage. The research has been developed from an extensive review of literature and a range of academic disciplines, from the sportswear industry to supply chain theory. There has been very little academic research on `sportswear'; one key work is that of David Rigby Associates (DRA, 1995) into the changing effects of the sportswear market. This study generated an important framework describing relationship management in the supply chain, between the buyer, supplier and retailer. The work concluded that there are changes in the sportswear industry relationships due to the effect of information technology on the supply chain. The research in this thesis concludes that B2B and B2C relationships exist along the sportswear supply chain and an emergent model is presented to demonstrate where these fit, with respect to the processes and people involved in the supply chain activities.

The research presented in this thesis focuses on the relationships between corporate actors in different supply chains drawn from a single market economy (UK) and is concerned with the building of organizational capabilities, linking particular governance regimes to firms' ability to develop unique capabilities at intra- and inter-organizational level. Supported by detailed empirical accounts, the thesis explores the interconnections and linkages between changing inter-organizational forms and the management of service quality viewed as an organizational competence, and presents a systematic conceptualization of these questions. Set in a realist perspective, the thesis posits that contingent elements such as environmental change and technology influence both the type and nature of inter-firm links and their regulation, as well as the social construction of a concern such as the management of service quality, and that these recombine in ways which under certain circumstances are likely to lead to the development and embedding of organizational capabilities within the environments studied. Overall, the study emphasizes the heterogeneity of inter-firm modes of exchange, mechanisms for co-ordination and control, and associated modes of governance within a single institutional environment, and it is suggested that the differences can be apprehended more systematically by creating four ideal types of supply chains. Drawing critically on the concept of network governance to analyse the relationships studied, it is argued that the relational embeddedness does not follow automatically from the high level of structural embeddedness observed in the more complex clusters. The thesis argues instead that the regulation of relationships between actors is characterised by a diffuse form of authority, understood as an extension of the 'domain of influence and consensus' of the leading organization in each cluster. It suggests that a single focus on normative elements has only limited explanatory power, and that the development of norms of obligation between actors in the more complex cluster is subordinate to the successful regulation of relationships through authority. Relying on a fined-grained analysis of the nature and dynamics of the context (supply chains), the thesis plays down the broad but widely assumed link between network forms of organization and learning between firms partaking in them, and invites a more nuanced reflection on this topic through an examination of the conditions under which, and the ways in which, network governance favours between actors the exchange of knowledge and the building of capabilities of a systemic type such as the management of service quality.

This thesis reports a research on foreign firm - local distributor relationship in China, the way in which foreign firms design and manage their distribution system. The primary objective of the study was to identify the main patterns of these relationships and the factors that create them. There are two distinct theoretical approaches to interpret characteristics of foreign firm behaviour: those that consider MNCs as an optimising entity and those that perceive MNCs as a result of social processes. In the latter approach advocates of home and those of host country influences can be identitied (and those who take a "middle-of-the road" stance). The theoretical objective of the thesis is, by using the empirical evidence from the research, to engage the scholarly debate about home and host country influences on MNC behaviours. The empirical evidence was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 13 major MNCs in China, 11 local distributors and local state officials. The interview proceedings were then analysed, coded and combined variables were created. The results then were interpreted by applying two different approaches. The main findings of the research could be summarised as follows. Distribution system design and management consists of three broad components: selection of distribution channels, selecting distributors and managing thc relationships with thc distributors. Thcse components consist of a number of factors and they are also interlinked. While a high degree of similarities were found among these firms, there are also distinct differences in the design and management of distribution system by foreign firms in China. While these differences at first appear to be results of host environments and product characteristics (corresponding to the arguments of the advocates of the host country influence approach), a more detailed investigation into the ways, the "how"s of the design and management revealed that behind the types of distribution systems home country influences play a major role. By contrasting the two results, it was possible to identify the key theoretical and methodological reasons behind these differences, namely the theoretical proposition that in international business studies, based on analysing what MNCs do, the home country influence is necessarily, albeit incorrectly, neglected, because home country influence is a 'built-in' component of the MNC behaviour and as such not observable directly. However, its presence is deducible by analysing not what MNCs do, but how they do it. not by what MNCs set as objectives, but the way in which they perceive the conditions for setting these objectives. Consequently, the thesis demonstrates that different methodologies on the identical empirical data result in different outcomes and these different outcomes derive from different latent epistemological stances of theoretical approaches. However, the thesis also proposes that 1) the different methodologies correspond to different phases of the analysis; 2) it is possible to interconnect the findings in a coherent chain of logic, and this, in turn allows for stepping over the false dichotomy of host versus home country influence debate; 3) and thus creating a social space in which the assumption of the MNC as an optimising entity can be interpreted.

This thesis aims to predict the impact of trust on customer adoption of e-Procurement within the oil industry by extracting the moderating effect of trust with both the e-hub and the organisation. The primary constructs for capturing customer's adoption of e-Procurement were intentional to customer's management and on-line transaction behaviour. Following the social network theory, Vroom's theory, games theory and the theory of reasoned action (TRA), as applied to a technology-driven environment, this thesis describes a theoretical model (The Combined Trust Model) for investigating these main research questions: What constitutes trust in e-procurement? How is the strategic adoption of e-procurement cut across cultures? What are the impacts of trust on the adoption of e-procurement in the oil industry? To what extent is trust a moderator of behaviour measured in terms of both the organisation and customers? What factors influence the level of customers trust in e-Procurement? What could cause users to leave the adoption of e-Procurement? Based on the Combined Trust Model and research questions, a comprehensive set of hypothesis were formulated and a methodology for testing them is outlined. Some of the hypotheses were tested empirically to demonstrate the applicability of the Combined Trust Model. The findings indicate that WOM referrals, structural assurances and the tendency to trust were major positive determinants to e-Procurement adoption. As an extension, we explored e-Procurement manager's paradigms from different oil companies whose aim were to discuss the practices, successes and standards of e-Procurement within a forum, by conducting an interview process. The findings from the interview process revealed that perceived risk could reduce e-Procurement adoption. Furthermore, we performed an experimentation to determine the most used e-Procurement technology solution within the oil industry. We were also engaged in a participant observation process, to determine if cultural complexities could be an issue with the a-adoption and retention of e-Procurement transactions. The results revealed that SAP is the most used technology solution, seconded by ARIBA and the findings of the participant observation process indicates there could be cultural issues with e-Procurement adoption and retention but appropriate change management protocol supported by effective communication could enhance the e-Procurement transaction within the oil industry.

This thesis is about developing a better understanding of an emergent practice to tackle the issue of competitiveness, that is, collaboration and efficient relationships between organisations in a supply chain. It provides a model for optimising relationships between companies and defines the operational practices that these companies should adopt in order to efficiently develop desirable relationships. This research project starts with the definition of the gap in knowledge identified through an exploratory process. The findings of the review of the literature in supply chain management and collaboration together with an empirical study carried out in 10 organisations suggest that further research is required to: (1) analyse the nature and characteristics of different relationship types between organisations, (2) study the operational implications of these relationship types, (3) analyse the factors that influence these relationships, and (4) make more desirable the relationships between companies depending on their characteristics. This study falls into the applied research category. As a result, specific research strategies and methods were rigorously selected to study a current industrial problem and provide a suitable solution. This thesis makes a novel contribution to existing knowledge through deduction from theory and empirical evidence from five case studies. The key contribution is as follows: 1. There are five relationship types between organisations. 2. Each of these relationship types has a set of strategic, tactical and operational, 'hard' and 'soft' characteristics. 3. 'Value' and 'risk' factors define what relationships a company should develop. 4. There are 12 critical factors that define what relationships a company can develop. 5. The proposed model facilitates the definition of desirable organisational relationship at a process level, including a set of operational practices for implementation. This thesis also defines the criteria required for ensuring the quality and validity of the research process and its output. These criteria are considered throughout all the different stages of this study. The thesis ends outlining the main conclusions and the validity of the research project.

Strategic sourcing is one of the major decision making areas in Supply Chain Management (SCM) that provides competitive advantage to companies around the world. This research provides a conceptual understanding of the strategic sourcing decision making process when considering SCM issues. The research started with an understanding of the strategic sourcing decision environments captured from semi structured interviews and empirical studies.

The notion of the service-oriented computing has been greatly promoted by the emergence of new technologies such as web services. The concept has been put to test in the environment of multi-agent systems to achieve automation by realising agent autonomy and relieving the cognitive burden of human decision makers. Increasingly, agent negotiation is introduced into this context to attain flexibility in bargaining anc reaching agreements. However, the increasing number of agents involved in delivering a sizeable package of web services creates a coordination problem in a distributed environment. The self-interested agents may have conflicting agendas in the respective negotiations. They may also not be satisfied with the negotiation results due to their different positions of market dominance. The organisation of the negotiations often has the characteristics of supply chains. To this end, this thesis is concerned with developing a framework to solve the coordination problem in this context.