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Framework for the study of governance in the supply networks : Wal-mart : "Enlightened Despot" model

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-64). / Extensive research work has been conducted on the topic of collaboration in supply chain management, but the more general topic of governance in supply networks has never truly been addressed. This research proposes to achieve three connected objectives. The first objective is to define the concepts of governance and supply network in a consistent and non value based way. These concepts have been, to some extent, clouded respectively by an extensive focus on collaboration and an indistinct terminology ("value networks", "supply networks", "value chains", "supply chains" and the less common "netchains"). The second objective is to study the case of Wal-Mart as a generally recognized governance best practice. The main focus will be on (i) the relation between the company's pricing strategy and its supply chain strategy, (ii) the enforcement of investments in supply chain technology throughout the network and (iii) the risks and benefits structure of the governance model. The third objective is to propose a practical framework for the study of governance in supply networks. This framework will be presented in the form of a roadmap for the study of other best practices in the field. It will then be retroactively applied to the case of Wal-Mart in order to confirm both (i) its validity and usefulness as a research tool and (ii) the intuition that the pricing strategy is, in the particular case, the critical enabler of the governance model for the entire supply network. / by Denis de Graeve. / S.M.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17907
Date January 2004
CreatorsDe Graeve, Denis, 1979-
ContributorsGabriel R. Bitran., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Technology and Policy Program., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program
PublisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Source SetsM.I.T. Theses and Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format64 leaves, 3607537 bytes, 3607343 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf
RightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

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