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Operational Disturbances in Supply Management : Sources and Managerial Approaches

Nowadays global companies view the world as a single entity, sourcing materials fromanywhere and performing operations to create the optimal supply chain for their products.This leads to an increasing complexity which is driving supply management to becomea core capability of businesses. As supply chains are inherently vulnerable to disturbances,supply management will have to play a key role in the field of risk analysisand risk management. An increased awareness of sources of disturbances is essential tocreate significant improvements in the handling and prevention of disturbances.The purpose of this thesis is to identify and classify sources of disturbance which canhave a negative influence on a company’s supply management. This is achieved by theinvestigation of theories available in literature, as well as identifying and analyzing thedisturbances in the supply management of an international manufacturing company.Additionally, the theories on disturbance management are reviewed to create a foundationfor managerial implications.The company studied is Husqvarna, which currently is in a situation with several disturbancesin its supply management. The performed case study aims at both, describingthese phenomena, as well as testing of the theories. The chosen qualitative approachmakes it possible to gain in-depth knowledge and investigate different aspects ofsources of disturbances in this case study. The interviews performed are standardizedopen ended questionnaires in order to get in-depth knowledge of the situation.The empirical findings are then analyzed in regard to the purpose of the thesis. The goalof this analysis is to compare the sources of disturbances of the classification schemecreated in the literature review to the respondents’ answers from the interviews. Moreover,inputs and opinions from the respondents on how to manage disturbances are connectedwith the theories provided in the literature review within this field.Various sources of disturbance with a negative influence on the supply management ofcompanies are identified. It was also possible to compare the classification schemewhich was created based on the theoretical findings with the finding of the case study ofHusqvarna. Consequently a holistic overview of potential and actual sources of disturbancein supply management has been created. Furthermore, it is possible to contribute tothe body of knowledge on how to manage disturbances in supply management. Theprovided insights highlight implications that can help companies to successfully managedisturbances and hence improve their performance.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hj-18146
Date January 2012
CreatorsGlas, Michael, Fredriksson, Henrik
PublisherInternationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Centre of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Internationella Handelshögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, IHH, Centre of Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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