<p>The purpose of this research is to refine the notion of Supply Chain Orientation (SCO) as originally posited by Mentzer et al. (2001) and Min and Mentzer (2004). Supply chain orientation is defined to be “the extent to which there is a predisposition among chain members toward viewing the supply chain as an integrated entity and on satisfying chain needs in an integrated way” (Hult et al., 2008, p. 527). This orientation (management philosophy), when implemented, manifests as Supply Chain Management (SCM) within and across organizations.</p> <p>The process of ‘refining’ supply chain orientation involved three stages: determining additional SCO factors / indicators beyond those already in existence, refining the total set of factors / indicators through factor analysis techniques, and associating the SCO concept to other SCM-related concepts. Determining additional SCO factors and the vetting of the existing SCO model was done through a qualitative method (structured interviews with industry experts). Analysis of the interview data resulted into two new SCO factors—SCM Capability and Measurement Propensity—being identified. The high accuracy / low generalizability nature of the interview process required an industrywide survey in order to gather su cient quantitative data for a meaningful analysis. The new SCO factors were developed into survey questionnaire measurement items.</p> <p>An invitation to participate in a web-based, quantitative survey was e-mailed to executive at roughly a third of the manufacturing companies in Canada. The results of that data gathering exercise were analyzed in a multi-stage process. First, after removing ‘motherhood statements’ from the indicator set, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the underlying structure of SCO. Three factors—Benevolence (Trust), Internal SCM Focus, and Partner Reliability—emerged through this process. This “refined” SCO construct was then subject to a rigourous confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) process. </p> <p>The CFA process found the SCO factors to be reliable. A dependent variable, Supply Chain Operational Performance (SCOP) was found to be positively influenced by changes in SCO. SCO was found to be a unique strategic orientation through the literature review process and validated as its own construct through a discriminant validity process. SCO was determined to be a second-order reflective latent variable, and top management support was found to be an antecedent to SCO.</p> <p>Of interest to SCM practitioners and academics, SCO was found to be statistically invariable between respondents who were or were not members of a SCM industry association. As well, SCO did not vary outside statistical bounds across the supply chain from ultimate supplier (Earth) to ultimate customer. However, SCO was found to be stronger in companies that employed an “e cient” supply chain strategy (using the taxonomy of Lee (2002)) versus other generic strategies (like “agile” supply chain strategy).</p> <p>The contributions of this research to academics include a parsimonious definition of SCO which meets the criteria of Wacker (1998), an operationalization of the Lee (2002) model, and additional evidence of the power of Parallel Analysis (PA) of Thompson (2004) in determining factors in an EFA. Supply chain orientation is an important theoretical ‘building block’ from which SCM theory can be built and through the refinement process, SCO was tied into the dynamic capabilities area of the larger resource-based view (RBV) theoretical framework.</p> <p>Supply chain orientation was found to positively influence SCOP. The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals reported that business logistics (SCM) costs in the United States alone in 2009 were 1.3 trillion dollars. Hence, improving upon the understanding of the mechanisms of supply chain management and its components can have substantial economic consequences.</p>

Supply chain management plays an important role in contemporary enterprises and its operations include materials procurement, manufacturing, logistics, sales and service. Good supply chain management relies on information technologies that facilitate the sharing of process and production-related information. Hence, information technology plays a key role in supply chain management. In order for information sharing to be effective, standardizationand integration are important. The purpose of this study is to examine how standardization and integration of information technologies in a supply chain may affect its performance. Four dimensions of information technology standardization and integration are defined: business process, data, technology infrastructure, and application system. We also include supply chain capability as a mediating variable. This study used questionnaire to collection date, and used SmartPLS and SPSS to analyze data. The results indicate that: (1) IT standardization has significant influences on supply chain capability, but IT integration does not; (2) supply chain capability has significant positive impacts on supply chain performance; and (3) IT standardization and IT integration do not have direct influences on supply chain performance.

ABSTRACT Due to the change of consumption patterns, the shorter product life cycle coupled with the global competitions, how to provide customers quickly the best quality of products and to maintain a certain profit in changing markets , become the best weapon when competitions. So companies have to put in efforts in supply chain management, from raw material supply to product sales, distribution, various species of strategies set to achieve the best management of the results. The most widely discussed and use of supply chain strategies , that is lean and agile strategies . The purpose of this study is to discuss the impact on supply chain capability and business performance with the implementation of lean strategy and agile strategy , and using the questionnaires, to specify the statistics showing the correspondence of lean /supply chain strategy and business performance.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2006.

<p>The purpose of this research is to refine the notion of Supply Chain Orientation (SCO) as originally posited by Mentzer et al. (2001) and Min and Mentzer (2004). Supply chain orientation is defined to be “the extent to which there is a predisposition among chain members toward viewing the supply chain as an integrated entity and on satisfying chain needs in an integrated way” (Hult et al., 2008, p. 527). This orientation (management philosophy), when implemented, manifests as Supply Chain Management (SCM) within and across organizations.</p> <p>The process of ‘refining’ supply chain orientation involved three stages: determining additional SCO factors / indicators beyond those already in existence, refining the total set of factors / indicators through factor analysis techniques, and associating the SCO concept to other SCM-related concepts. Determining additional SCO factors and the vetting of the existing SCO model was done through a qualitative method (structured interviews with industry experts). Analysis of the interview data resulted into two new SCO factors—SCM Capability and Measurement Propensity—being identified. The high accuracy / low generalizability nature of the interview process required an industrywide survey in order to gather su cient quantitative data for a meaningful analysis. The new SCO factors were developed into survey questionnaire measurement items.</p> <p>An invitation to participate in a web-based, quantitative survey was e-mailed to executive at roughly a third of the manufacturing companies in Canada. The results of that data gathering exercise were analyzed in a multi-stage process. First, after removing ‘motherhood statements’ from the indicator set, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the underlying structure of SCO. Three factors—Benevolence (Trust), Internal SCM Focus, and Partner Reliability—emerged through this process. This “refined” SCO construct was then subject to a rigourous confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) process. </p> <p>The CFA process found the SCO factors to be reliable. A dependent variable, Supply Chain Operational Performance (SCOP) was found to be positively influenced by changes in SCO. SCO was found to be a unique strategic orientation through the literature review process and validated as its own construct through a discriminant validity process. SCO was determined to be a second-order reflective latent variable, and top management support was found to be an antecedent to SCO.</p> <p>Of interest to SCM practitioners and academics, SCO was found to be statistically invariable between respondents who were or were not members of a SCM industry association. As well, SCO did not vary outside statistical bounds across the supply chain from ultimate supplier (Earth) to ultimate customer. However, SCO was found to be stronger in companies that employed an “e cient” supply chain strategy (using the taxonomy of Lee (2002)) versus other generic strategies (like “agile” supply chain strategy).</p> <p>The contributions of this research to academics include a parsimonious definition of SCO which meets the criteria of Wacker (1998), an operationalization of the Lee (2002) model, and additional evidence of the power of Parallel Analysis (PA) of Thompson (2004) in determining factors in an EFA. Supply chain orientation is an important theoretical ‘building block’ from which SCM theory can be built and through the refinement process, SCO was tied into the dynamic capabilities area of the larger resource-based view (RBV) theoretical framework.</p> <p>Supply chain orientation was found to positively influence SCOP. The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals reported that business logistics (SCM) costs in the United States alone in 2009 were 1.3 trillion dollars. Hence, improving upon the understanding of the mechanisms of supply chain management and its components can have substantial economic consequences.</p>

Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) has increasingly been considered important by both industry and academia, organizations around the world seek to extend or disseminate their sustainable practices to their multi-tier supply chains in order to make the whole chain sustainable. Among the main streams of SSCM research, it is surprising that, with a few exceptions, the leadership role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in their supply chains in an emerging economy has been ignored by researchers. Little is known on how MNCs, assuming leadership in their supply chain, have been able to facilitate their supply chain members to learn sustainability practice in an emerging economy context i.e. the mechanisms. To address this gap in the literature, a multiple-case study is designed. Multi-tier supply chains of three MNCs were selected to investigate their proactive sustainability projects in China. They are: Tetra Pak creating a recycling chain in China; Nestlé modernising China’s dairy industry; and IKEA’s sustainable cotton initiative. By adopting Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT), findings related to supply chain leadership, supply chain learning, multi-tier SSCM are presented. A number of testable propositions are advanced. The main findings of the research are that rather than focusing on the ‘low hanging fruits’ of sustainability, MNCs implement proactive sustainable initiatives requiring a strategic thinking and long term significant investment by engaging their multi-tier suppliers and non-traditional supply chain members. They tend to play a leadership role in the implementation process enabled by transformational and transactional leadership styles. These MNCs applied different leadership styles and governance mechanisms on different tiers of suppliers, which render different supply chain structures in the process of supply chain learning, which includes three stages of set up, operating and sustaining. This research contributes to SSCM research in the following ways: first, it may be the first attempt that investigates multi-tier SSCM through supply chain learning and supply chain leadership angles adopting a ROT perspective. This help to explain how MNCs implement sustainable initiatives in China; second, it contributes to supply chain learning literature by differentiating supply chain learning stages and learning content in terms of focal company knowledge resources and supplier learning complexity to explain the implementation of SSCM initiatives; third, leadership at an individual level is well researched and understood but it is not the case for organisational level leadership. This research enriches our understanding of the role of organisational leadership in MNCs’ SSCM; fourth, the research contributes to multi-tier SSCM with a focus on both supply chain governance mechanisms and supply chain structure; fifth, this research extend ROT from within an organization context to supply chains and include three aspects: breadth (resource orchestration across the scope of the supply chain including both internal and external breadth); depth (resource orchestration across multi-tiers of the supply chain); and project lifecycle (resource orchestration at various stages of supply chain learning stages); finally, a complete theoretical framework is developed to tie together the constructs of supply chain learning, supply chain leadership, multi-tier SSCM with ROT. Practically, a step by step methodology, integrating the key factors affecting the implementation of SSCM initiatives including supply chain learning, supply chain leadership, multi-tier supply chain governance and supply chain structure, is proposed. The ‘best practices’ of the researched MNCs provide a feasible roadmap for these organizations to learn from.

A Gestão da Cadeia de Suprimentos (GCS) vem sendo um tema em evidência nos dias atuais para a busca de vantagens competitivas, as quais não se limitam mais nos limites das empresas, mas sim no escopo de cadeia de suprimentos (CS), através de iniciativas interempresariais que se estendem desde controles e reposição de estoque conjuntos até uma gestão colaborativa na CS. Um dos grandes desafios na GCS é desenvolver uma coordenação da cadeia de suprimentos (CCS) que, além de atender os níveis de serviço desejados com os estoques controlados, também seja capaz de lidar com as variáveis cada vez mais complexas, buscando uma racionalização dos recursos, uma melhoria de produtos e processos e, ainda, lidar com as possíveis ameaças que afetam a vulnerabilidade da CS (VCS). O objetivo geral desta tese é propor um modelo de CCS que inclua atividades de melhoria da CS (MCS) e VCS, para assim auxiliar no desempenho da CS. A fim de alcançar o objetivo geral, foram propostos objetivos específicos, correspondentes aos quatro artigos que compõem esta tese. O primeiro artigo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura, com o propósito de identificar os métodos colaborativos mais disseminados, suas características e desafios de implementação. O segundo artigo também realizou uma revisão sistemática da literatura, mas direcionada à identificação dos métodos de otimização e melhoria em CS implementados atualmente, como e por que são implementados. O terceiro artigo realizou um aprofundamento teórico sobre VCS, entendendo seus componentes e outros elementos relacionados. Após isso, demonstrou a contribuição de métodos colaborativos para mitigá-la. O quarto artigo traz uma retomada dos achados nos três primeiros artigos e consolida os mesmos como bases conceituais para a proposição do modelo de CCS que inclui atividades de MCS e VCS. Os principais resultados da tese iniciaram por mostrar que os métodos colaborativos em CS possuem características puramente de CCS e o CPFR foi encontrado como método colaborativo mais abrangente e mais abordado na literatura pesquisada, cuja estrutura de funcionamento foi utilizada como arcabouço para o modelo de CCS proposto. A literatura mostrou a MCS com foco atualmente em melhoria contínua através do Lean Manufacturing. Outro resultado da tese foi a criação de um framework de VCS, no qual foi possível entender a VCS, seus elementos e constatar que a mesma pode ser mitigada através da utilização de métodos colaborativos. Os resultados finais da tese apresentam um modelo de CCS que inclui atividades de MCS e VCS. Essas atividades inseridas no processo de CCS permitem a identificação de oportunidades de melhoria, pontos restritivos e vulnerabilidades que, se trabalhados de acordo com as prioridades para os objetivos da CCS, podem gerar um aumento de desempenho competitivo da CS. As discussões apresentadas na presente tese mostraram a pertinência e necessidade dessas atividades para um aumento do desempenho competitivo da CS, bem como o fato dessas atividades poderem interagir com outras atividades isoladas de gestão de riscos ou melhorias dentro da CS. / Supply Chain Management (SCM) has been a theme in evidence in the present day in seeking competitive advantages, which are being sought not within the limits of companies, but in the supply chain (SC) scope, through intercompany initiatives, that extend from controls and inventory replenishment to a collaborative SCM. One of the major challenges in SCM is to develop a Supply Chain Coordination (SCC) that in addition to meeting the desired service levels with inventory levels controlled should also be able to handle the variables, increasingly complex, seeking a resource reduction, products and process improvement and also deal with possible threats to the Supply Chain Vulnerability (SCV). The overall objective of this thesis is to propose a SCC model that includes improvement activities in SC (SCI) and SCV, so as to help improve the SC performance. In order to achieve the overall goal, specific objectives have been proposed, corresponding to the four articles that make up this thesis. The first paper aimed to perform a systematic literature review in order to identify the most widespread collaborative methods, their characteristics and implementation challenges. The second paper also held a systematic literature review, but directed in identifying the optimisation and improvement methods currently implemented, how and why they are implemented. The third paper conducted a theoretical study on SCV, understanding of its components and other related elements and analyzed the contribution of collaborative methods to mitigate it. The fourth article brings a resume of the findings in the three previous papers and consolidates them as conceptual basis for the SCC model proposition that includes SCI and SCV activities. The main thesis results began to show that the SC collaborative methods have features purely as CCS and CPFR was found as most comprehensive and further discussed collaborative methods in the literature, which its operating structure was used as a framework for the proposed SCC model. The literature showed the SCI currently focusing on continuous improvement through Lean Manufacturing. Another result of the thesis was to create a SCV framework in which it was possible to understand the SCV, in its entirety and find that it can be mitigated through the use of collaborative methods. The final results of the thesis presented a SCC method that includes SCI and SCV activities, which generated discussions and showed the relevance and necessity of these activities to increase the SC competitive performance. The pointed competitive performance increase is towards increasing its operating reliability, rationalize resources and improve restrictive points, linked to priorities stated during SCC process. This fact may interact with other isolated activities of risk management or improvements in the CS.

A introdução efetiva da sustentabilidade em empresas exige ações que extrapolam os limites organizacionais, abarcando o ambiente interorganizacional. Dessa maneira, as empresas deixam de ser consideradas isoladamente e passam a ser analisadas de acordo com suas cadeias de suprimentos, compostas por organizações que contribuem para o alcance dos mesmos objetivos de desempenho. Nesse sentido, uma cadeia de suprimentos é considerada mais sustentável quando insere as dimensões econômica, ambiental e social em suas operações, nas estratégias e na tomada de decisão, possuindo bons níveis de desempenho em tais dimensões. A adoção de práticas de sustentabilidade em cadeias de suprimentos pode ser analisada em um contínuo, formado por dois extremos: a resposta reativa e proativa. Nesse contexto, a proatividade de práticas sustentáveis pode ser definida como a adoção de ações, realizadas voluntariamente por empresas, com a finalidade de melhorar o desempenho ambiental e o desempenho social, além das exigências legais. A empresa proativa afirma sua preocupação e seu compromisso com a sociedade e o ambiente natural, em que está inserida. Diante dessas considerações, tem-se a premissa dessa pesquisa: a postura proativa de empresas em relação a práticas sustentáveis estimula melhor articulação com os elos de sua cadeia de suprimentos, o que colabora para a introdução da sustentabilidade nessa cadeia. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a contribuição da articulação de uma empresa proativa com seus elos para a introdução da sustentabilidade na sua cadeia de suprimentos. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, distribuída em duas etapas (exploratória e descritiva), envolvendo uma empresa focal proativa e parceiros de sua cadeia de suprimentos. Ressalta-se que, em virtude da complexidade e da extensão de cadeias de suprimentos, optou-se por analisar a cadeia à montante, isto é, foram entrevistados colaboradores da empresa focal (Mercur S.A.) e de empresas fornecedoras (LKC Transportes; PAMF Indústria e Comércio de Confecções; Caeté Embalagens; e, Artecola Química). Primeiramente, foi analisada a proatividade de práticas sustentáveis da Mercur. Os resultados indicam que a Mercur pode ser considerada uma empresa proativa, em função da implantação total de 37 ações em prol da sustentabilidade ao core business da organização e da implantação parcial de seis práticas. Em segundo lugar, investigou-se a articulação e o relacionamento da empresa proativa com os elos de sua cadeia de suprimentos. Verificou-se que os entrevistados consideram que os elos estão em processo de integração. Diante disso, pode-se observar que existem diferentes níveis de articulação na cadeia de suprimentos, envolvendo a Mercur e seus fornecedores. Em seguida, averiguou-se a existência de práticas sustentáveis ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos estudada, as quais foram descritas a partir de cinco categorias de análise (orientação estratégica, continuidade da cadeia de suprimentos, colaboração, gestão de risco, proatividade). Incentivos foram identificados para que práticas pró-sustentabilidade passem a ser concebidas e implantadas por todos os membros da cadeia, colaborando para um desenvolvimento mais sustentável. Nessa perspectiva, diante dos resultados encontrados, assume-se que a premissa de pesquisa foi confirmada, uma vez que a postura proativa de práticas sustentáveis da Mercur estimula maior articulação com os parceiros de sua cadeia de suprimentos, contribuindo para a inserção da sustentabilidade nessa cadeia. Entretanto, a articulação da Mercur com os parceiros também pode incentivar que posturas proativas em benefício da sustentabilidade sejam incorporadas pelas empresas da cadeia de suprimentos. / The effective introduction of sustainability in business requires actions that go beyond organizational boundaries, encompassing the inter-organizational environment. Thus, companies are no longer considered individually; they are analyzed according to their supply chains, composed by organizations that contribute to the achievement of the same performance goals. A supply chain is considered more sustainable when it enters the economic, environmental and social dimensions in their operations, strategies and decision making, possessing good levels of performance on these dimensions. The incorporation of sustainability practices in supply chain can be analyzed in a continuous, formed by two extremes: reactive and proactive response. The sustainable proactivity can be defined as the adoption of actions, performed voluntarily by companies, in order to improve the environmental and social performance beyond legal requirements. A proactive company states its concern and commitment to society and the natural environment in which it operates. Given these considerations, this research premise is: the proactive approach of companies towards sustainable practices encourages better integration with the partners in their supply chain, which contributes to the incorporation of sustainability in the supply chain. In this context, this research aims to analyze the contribution of proactive company integration with its partners to the introduction of sustainability in their supply chain. Therefore, a qualitative research was performed, composed by two phases (exploratory and descriptive), involving a proactive focal company and its supply chain partners. It is emphasized that, because of the complexity and the extent of supply chains, we chose to analyze the upstream chain, i.e., focal company (Mercur S.A.) and supplier firms (LKC Transportes; PAMF Indústria e Comércio de Confecções; Caeté Embalagens; and Artecola Química). The employees of these companies were interviewed. First, it was analyzed the proactivity of sustainable practices of Mercur. The results indicate that Mercur can be considered a proactive company, due to the full adoption of 37 actions for sustainability in the core business of the organization and the partial implementation of six practices. Secondly, it was investigated the integration and the relationship of a proactive company with its supply chain partners. It was found that the interviewees consider that the supply chain is in process of a complete integration. Thus, it can be observed that there are different levels of integration in the supply chain, involving the Mercur and their suppliers. Thirdly, it was examined the existence of sustainable practices throughout the supply chain. These practices were described considering five categories of analysis (strategic orientation, supply chain continuity, collaboration, risk management, and proactivity). Incentives were identified for the design and the implementation of sustainable practices by all supply chain members, contributing to a more sustainable development. From this perspective, given the results, it is assumed that the research premise was confirmed, since the proactive sustainable practices Mercur encourages greater integration with partners in the supply chain, contributing to the sustainable supply chain. However, the integration of Mercur with partners can also encourage that proactive practices in favor of sustainability be incorporated in the supply chain.

A Gestão da Cadeia de Suprimentos (GCS) vem sendo um tema em evidência nos dias atuais para a busca de vantagens competitivas, as quais não se limitam mais nos limites das empresas, mas sim no escopo de cadeia de suprimentos (CS), através de iniciativas interempresariais que se estendem desde controles e reposição de estoque conjuntos até uma gestão colaborativa na CS. Um dos grandes desafios na GCS é desenvolver uma coordenação da cadeia de suprimentos (CCS) que, além de atender os níveis de serviço desejados com os estoques controlados, também seja capaz de lidar com as variáveis cada vez mais complexas, buscando uma racionalização dos recursos, uma melhoria de produtos e processos e, ainda, lidar com as possíveis ameaças que afetam a vulnerabilidade da CS (VCS). O objetivo geral desta tese é propor um modelo de CCS que inclua atividades de melhoria da CS (MCS) e VCS, para assim auxiliar no desempenho da CS. A fim de alcançar o objetivo geral, foram propostos objetivos específicos, correspondentes aos quatro artigos que compõem esta tese. O primeiro artigo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura, com o propósito de identificar os métodos colaborativos mais disseminados, suas características e desafios de implementação. O segundo artigo também realizou uma revisão sistemática da literatura, mas direcionada à identificação dos métodos de otimização e melhoria em CS implementados atualmente, como e por que são implementados. O terceiro artigo realizou um aprofundamento teórico sobre VCS, entendendo seus componentes e outros elementos relacionados. Após isso, demonstrou a contribuição de métodos colaborativos para mitigá-la. O quarto artigo traz uma retomada dos achados nos três primeiros artigos e consolida os mesmos como bases conceituais para a proposição do modelo de CCS que inclui atividades de MCS e VCS. Os principais resultados da tese iniciaram por mostrar que os métodos colaborativos em CS possuem características puramente de CCS e o CPFR foi encontrado como método colaborativo mais abrangente e mais abordado na literatura pesquisada, cuja estrutura de funcionamento foi utilizada como arcabouço para o modelo de CCS proposto. A literatura mostrou a MCS com foco atualmente em melhoria contínua através do Lean Manufacturing. Outro resultado da tese foi a criação de um framework de VCS, no qual foi possível entender a VCS, seus elementos e constatar que a mesma pode ser mitigada através da utilização de métodos colaborativos. Os resultados finais da tese apresentam um modelo de CCS que inclui atividades de MCS e VCS. Essas atividades inseridas no processo de CCS permitem a identificação de oportunidades de melhoria, pontos restritivos e vulnerabilidades que, se trabalhados de acordo com as prioridades para os objetivos da CCS, podem gerar um aumento de desempenho competitivo da CS. As discussões apresentadas na presente tese mostraram a pertinência e necessidade dessas atividades para um aumento do desempenho competitivo da CS, bem como o fato dessas atividades poderem interagir com outras atividades isoladas de gestão de riscos ou melhorias dentro da CS. / Supply Chain Management (SCM) has been a theme in evidence in the present day in seeking competitive advantages, which are being sought not within the limits of companies, but in the supply chain (SC) scope, through intercompany initiatives, that extend from controls and inventory replenishment to a collaborative SCM. One of the major challenges in SCM is to develop a Supply Chain Coordination (SCC) that in addition to meeting the desired service levels with inventory levels controlled should also be able to handle the variables, increasingly complex, seeking a resource reduction, products and process improvement and also deal with possible threats to the Supply Chain Vulnerability (SCV). The overall objective of this thesis is to propose a SCC model that includes improvement activities in SC (SCI) and SCV, so as to help improve the SC performance. In order to achieve the overall goal, specific objectives have been proposed, corresponding to the four articles that make up this thesis. The first paper aimed to perform a systematic literature review in order to identify the most widespread collaborative methods, their characteristics and implementation challenges. The second paper also held a systematic literature review, but directed in identifying the optimisation and improvement methods currently implemented, how and why they are implemented. The third paper conducted a theoretical study on SCV, understanding of its components and other related elements and analyzed the contribution of collaborative methods to mitigate it. The fourth article brings a resume of the findings in the three previous papers and consolidates them as conceptual basis for the SCC model proposition that includes SCI and SCV activities. The main thesis results began to show that the SC collaborative methods have features purely as CCS and CPFR was found as most comprehensive and further discussed collaborative methods in the literature, which its operating structure was used as a framework for the proposed SCC model. The literature showed the SCI currently focusing on continuous improvement through Lean Manufacturing. Another result of the thesis was to create a SCV framework in which it was possible to understand the SCV, in its entirety and find that it can be mitigated through the use of collaborative methods. The final results of the thesis presented a SCC method that includes SCI and SCV activities, which generated discussions and showed the relevance and necessity of these activities to increase the SC competitive performance. The pointed competitive performance increase is towards increasing its operating reliability, rationalize resources and improve restrictive points, linked to priorities stated during SCC process. This fact may interact with other isolated activities of risk management or improvements in the CS.

Abstract Agility – namely, the ability of a supply chain to rapidly respond to changes in market and customer demands – is regarded as the bearer of competitive advantage in today's business world. The need for agility has traditionally been associated with supply chains in high technology industry products. However, traditional industries also face similar challenges in terms of speed, flexibility, increased product diversity and customization. This study contributes to the discussion on agility in supply chain management (SCM) and provides a novel focus on the development of an agile supply chain in a traditional industry. The object of this study is the development of an agile supply chain in a steel product network in the Raahe area in Northern Finland. The case network is undergoing a shift towards project-oriented business, where quick responses are the priority and agility is recognised as the facilitating factor. Using a constructive approach, an agile supply chain for a steel product network, SteelNet system, is developed. SteelNet system functions through the Internet and agent software technology. In identifying the new challenges raised by advanced information and communication technologies (ICT) in the development of an agile supply chain, the study presents some valuable ICT options for SCM. Following a review of the current understanding of agility in SCM literature, the study identifies the key elements of agile supply chains and proposes a four-dimensional agile supply chain framework by which to assess levels of agility. Using the framework, the study describes how the key elements appear in the case network. The study assesses the change process, and the necessary improvement steps, towards agility. It is concluded that agile supply chains have a major role also in traditional industry, and comprehensive implementation of ICT throughout the chain is of utmost importance in the development of an agile supply chain. Further insights to the discussion on agility are provided, and these and the conclusions extend a drawbridge to other companies and business networks in traditional industry to consider the clear advantages to developing their own agile supply chains.