Historically, South African manufacturers and suppliers to the mass retail environment have been compelled to manage significant business risks as a result of the generic buying strategies employed by the mass retailing format. More recently, best practice initiatives such as SCOR’s collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment have risen to the fore of supply chain management as ways to mitigate the undesired effects of theses generic buying practices for all participants in the value chain.Traditional thinking centred on optimising only the merchandise activities and function, through cost based performance measures, have caused a number of undesired effects and invalid assumptions. These factors in turn have impacted the competitiveness and sustainability of manufacturers and suppliers as well as the supply chain ecosystem as a whole. Systemic theory suggests that in order to identify these conflicting and invalid assumptions one must approach the problem through sufficiency based thinking processes that communicate the core conflict and map out possible solutions for managers. Data for this study was collected based on the widely accepted best practice framework of supply chain management for the mass retail environment. With this in mind, this research aims to provide an academic foundation for deeper collaboration between mass retailers and their vendors, as well as an understanding of the practical implications of decisions for managers and executives, on both the mass retail, and manufacturing and supply sides of the value chain.While statistical variation is a reality in the retailing environment, the mass retailing format and its supply chain partners are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of ‘bullwhip’ due to the large scale of promotional activities undertaken. Much of this problem can be mitigated through collaboration on a meaningful bases that allows not only for responsiveness for supply chain partners but greater profitability for all participant in the value chain. It is argued that an improvement in throughput will have a positive impact on the competitiveness and sustainability of the local supply and manufacturing organisations in South Africa. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Confrontés au pouvoir de marché croissant de la grande distribution française, les fournisseurs n’ont cessé de demander l’intervention de l’Etat. Cette intervention a pris la forme du titre IV du livre IV du Code de commerce, un ensemble de règles juridiques encadrant les négociations commerciales annuelles entre distributeurs et fournisseurs. Cette thèse décrit les transformations du Titre IV et évalue la portée du recours au droit dans un contexte marchand. L’enquête porte sur l’élaboration des règles du Titre IV, le contrôle entrepris par la DGCCRF (une administration du ministère de l’Economie et des Finances) ainsi que l’appropriation de ces règles par l’une des enseignes de la distribution française. Les résultats éclairent les conditions sociales d’efficacité des lois destinées à protéger des acteurs économiques faibles. Pour rendre le Titre IV efficace, l’administration a introduit dans le droit des principes moraux et a incité les juges à s’écarter des normes écrites pour évaluer les situations au cas par cas. Les résultats montrent également les ambiguïtés d’un tel recours au droit. Pour s’approprier et contourner les règles dirigées contre elle, la grande distribution s’est dotée de ressources juridiques. Face à cela, l’administration a réagi en rendant les règles plus précises, facilitant ainsi de nouveaux contournements par les distributeurs. Le recours au droit crée également une solidarité entre les professionnels du Titre IV, qu’ils soient affiliés à l’administration, aux fournisseurs ou aux distributeurs. Chez ces professionnels, la défense de l’autonomie du monde du Titre IV finit par primer sur les intérêts des acteurs qu’ils sont censés représenter. / Faced with the increasing market power of French mass retail, suppliers lobbied the state into protecting them. The state intervened by creating a new set of rules (“Titre IV du livre IV du Code de commerce”: henceforth “Title IV”) that specifically targeted the annual bargaining process between retailers and suppliers. This dissertation describes the transformation of Title IV and questions whether law constitutes a useful resource to settle structural economic imbalances. To achieve this, I investigated how Title IV was drafted and enforced by DGCCRF (a department of the French ministry of Finance) and how retailers responded to those rules. Results show how to turn economic and commercial law into an effective weapon in the hands of weaker market players. To make Title IV effective, the state regulator incorporated moral principles into statutes and encouraged judges to adjudicate on a case-by-case basis, rather than strictly following the letter of the law. However, results also show the limits of law as a means of settling economic imbalances. By hiring lawyers and complying symbolically with regulations (rather than obeying the letter of the law), mass retailers gradually internalized Title IV. DGCCRF responded by drafting more precise rules. This had the unexpected consequence of making symbolic compliance even more widespread. Title IV had another unexpected effect. It created a sense of solidarity among a group of legal professionals and civil servants. To that group, defending the boundaries of Title IV as a field of expertise became more important than defending specific economic interests.