物流金融(英文)

Int.J.ProductionEconomics90(2004)103–115Complexitymanagementandsupplychainperformanceassessment.Afieldstudyandaconceptualframework$MarcoPeronaa,GiovanniMiragliottab,*aDepartmentofMechanicalEngineering,UniversityofBrescia,Brescia,ItalybDepartmentofManagementEngineering,PolitecnicodiMilano,ViaGiuseppeColombo40,MilanoI-20133,ItalyReceived8March2002;accepted5December2002AbstractThispaperpresentstheresultsofanempiricalresearchprogramdevotedtoinvestigatehowcomplexitycanaffectamanufacturingcompany’sperformances,andthoseofitssupplychain.In-depthindustrycasestudiesinvolving14Italiancompaniesatdifferentstagesinthehouseholdappliancesindustryareherepresented:morethan200numericaldataand50descriptivequestionswereaskedtoeightdifferentkeymanagerswithineachcompany,focusingonsales,inboundandoutboundlogistics,productandprocessengineering,productionandorganisationalissues.Empiricalevidenceconfirmsthatthewaycompanieshandletheiroperationssystemcomplexityhasadeepeffectonhowwelltheyperform.Relyingonthesefirstevidences,aresearchrefinementisproposedbymeansofacarefulclassificationofcomplexitysourcesononesideandofcomplexitycontrolleversontheother.Then,afirstinterpretativeandtheorybuildingattemptisdonetosetrelationshipsamongtheoperatingcontext,theadoptedmanagerialleversandtheoperatingperformancesachieved.Themodelsuggeststhattheabilitytocontrolcomplexitywithinmanufacturingandlogisticsystemscanberegardedasacorecompetenceinordertojointlyimproveefficiencyandeffectivenessatasupplychainwidescale.r2003ElsevierScienceB.V.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Complexity;Supplychain;Casestudies;Conceptualmodel1.IntroductionInnovation,globalisationofmarketsandin-creasinglydemandingcustomersaretrendsman-ufacturingcompaniescannotescape.Sotheyhavetosupplyagrowingmixofproducts,withfeaturesmoretailoredtocustomers’individualneeds,bothintermsofproductscharacteristicsandofsupportservices.Thisrelentlessefforthascausedaballooninginthecomplexityofsupplychains:widerproductvariety,smallerproductionlotsizes,moretiersanddifferentactorstoco-ordinatewithineachsupplychain,etc.Asanexample(seeClarkandWheelwright,1992),inthemid-1960stheChevroletImpalawasthebestsellingcarintheUSA,andtheplatformonwhichitwasbasedwasselling1.5millionunitsayear;in1991thebestsellingcarwastheHondaAccord,andtheplatformonwhichitwasbasedwasselling400000unitsaARTICLEINPRESS$Thispaperistheresultofresearchcollaborationamongauthors.Nevertheless,Sections1and6werewrittenmainlybyMarcoPerona,whileSections2–5werewrittenmainlybyGiovanniMiragliotta.*Correspondingauthor.DepartmentofProductionandEconomics,PolitecnicodiMilano,ViaGiuseppeColombo,40,MilanoI-20133,Italy.E-mailaddresses:[e-mail](M.Perona),[e-mail](G.Miragliotta).0925-5273/03/$-seefrontmatterr2003ElsevierScienceB.V.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/S0925-5273(02)00482-6year:adecreasebyafactoroffourdespitetheincreaseintheoverallmarketsize.So,competitionnowinvolvesproducersaswellassuppliersanddistributors,thusmakingtheoverallsystemmorecomplextobemanaged.Thus,thecontrolandmanagementofthisincreasinglevelofcomplexitycanberegardedasastrategicissueforcompanies.Thisremarkhighlightstheneedtotacklecomplexityasamanagerialissueonitsown.Forinstance,itisunknown,atcurrentstateoftheart,howtodefineandmeasurethecomplexityofamanufacturingoralogisticsystem;howandifthiscomplexitycanactuallyaffectthesystem’sperfor-mances,andthereforewhichadvantagesandhowtheycanbegatheredbybettercopingwithcomplexity.Thispapercomesasanearlyreportfromaspecificresearchprogrampursuingexactlytheseobjectives;tothisextent,theItalianhouse-houldappliancessectorwasusedasatestbed.Morespecifically,thepaperfocusesonthepresentationofsomeempiricalresultsandontheirinterpretation.Tothisextent,thepaperisarrangedasfollows.Chapter2discussesanintroductorybackgroundoftheresearch,portray-ingtheexistingbodyofknowledgeaboutthistopic.Chapter3introducesthenewempiricalresearchaimedatcollectingnewdataconcerningthismatter,andChapter4discussessomeofthemostinterestingoutcomes.FinallyChapter5presentsaconceptualmodelconceivedtoprovideanoverallinterpretationofrelevantvariablesandmanage-mentpoliciesdevotedtocomplexitycontrol,whileChapter6discussessomeconcludingremarks.2.Background2.1.ConceptualaspectsWhatdoescomplexitymean?Somemaythinkthatcomplexityismerelytheoppositeofsimpli-city;othersmaythinkthatcomplexityisasynonymousforcomplicacy.Actually,boththesedefinitionsarewrong,especiallythesecondone.‘‘Complicated’’and‘‘complex’’bothcomefromLatinwords,butthefirstoneoriginallymeans‘‘ofthingsknotted,entwinedwitheachother’’,whilethesecondonemeans‘‘ofthingswhichinteractamongeachother’’.So,tounderstandacompli-catedsystemallthereistodoistosubdivideitinallitssingleelements:then,treatingeachelementseparatelywillleadtothesolutionoftheproblem.Thisisactuallywhathappens,forinstance,withasystemoflinearequations:nomatterhowbigisthesystem,a‘‘complicated’’procedureisallyouneedtosolveit.Conversely,complexsystemsaremadeupbysingleelementswhichhaveintimateconnections,counterintuitiveandnon-linearlinks:asaconsequence,complexsystemspre