Demand-supply_chain

Demand-supplychainmanagement:industrialsurvivalrecipefornewdecadePerHilletofthSchoolofTechnologyandSociety,UniversityofSko¨vde,Sko¨vde,SwedenAbstractPurpose–Thepurposeofthispaperistoenhancethecurrentunderstandingandknowledgeofthedemand-supplychainmanagement(DSCM)conceptbydeterminingitselements,benefits,andrequirements,andbyillustratingitsoccurrenceinpractice.Design/methodology/approach–Thisresearchhasutilizedaliteratureandcasestudyresearchstrategy.Thecasestudyhasinvolvedaninternationalmanufacturingcompanyfromtheapplianceindustry.Empiricaldatahavebeencollectedmainlyfromin-depthinterviewswithkeypersonsrepresentingseniorandmiddlemanagementinthecaseorganization.Findings–ThisresearchhasestablishedthatthemainelementsofDSCMincludemarketorientation,coordinationofthedemandandsupplyprocesses,viewingthedemandandsupplyprocessesasbeingequallyimportant,aswellasvaluecreation,differentiation,innovativeness,responsiveness,andcostefficiencyinthedemandandsupplyprocesses.IthasalsobeenrevealedthatthemainbenefitsofDSCMincludeenhancedcompetitiveness,enhanceddemandchainperformance,andenhancedsupplychainperformance,whilethemainrequirementsofDSCMincludeorganizationalcompetences,company-establishedprinciples,demand-supplychaincollaboration,andinformationtechnologysupport.Researchlimitations/implications–Thisresearchisexplorativeinnature,andmoreempiricaldata,fromsimilarandotherresearchsettings,areneededtofurthervalidatethefindings.AnotherlimitationoftheresearchisthatitislimitedtooneSwedishcompany;however,theinvolvedcasecompanyhasalargeinternationalpresenceandisamongthetopthreeinitsindustry,whichprovidessomegroundforthegeneralization.Afinallimitationoftheresearchisthattheinvolvedcompanyonlyrepresentsoneindustry.Practicalimplications–Thispaperprovidesinsightsusefultoresearchersandpractitionersonhowtodevelopademand-supplyorientedbusiness.Ithighlightsthatfirmsshouldorganizethemselvesaroundunderstandinghowcustomervalueiscreatedanddeliveredandhowtheseprocessesandmanagementdirectionscanbecoordinated.Thedemandandsupplyprocesseshavetobeconsideredasequallyimportantandthefirmneedstobemanagedbythedemandsideandsupplysideofthecompanyjointlyinacoordinatedmanner.Originality/value–Theneedtocoordinatethedemandandsupplyprocesseshasbeenemphasizedinboththedemandandsupplychainliteraturebutstillremainedrelativelyunexplored;thus,thispapercontributesbyinvestigatingthismatterfurther.KeywordsDemandmanagement,Supplychainmanagement,Sweden,ManufacturingindustriesPapertypeCasestudy1.IntroductionThenotionthatcompanieshavebothademandandsupplychainthatrequiresactivemanagementtomaximizeeffectivenessandefficiencyiswellrecognized(Caneveretal.,2008;Ju¨ttneretal.,2007;Walters,2008).Thereisnomajordifferencebetweenthedemandandsupplychainwhenitcomestothechainoforganizationsinvolved,fromcustomerstosuppliers,butregardingtheprocessesconsidered(Hilletofthetal.,2009).Thedemandchaincomprisesallthedemandprocessesnecessarytounderstand,create,andstimulateThecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableat(Charlebois,2008;Ju¨ttneretal.,2007;WaltersandRainbird,2004),andismanagedwithindemandchainmanagement(DCM).Thesupplychain,ontheotherhand,comprisesallthesupplyprocessesnecessarytofulfillcustomerdemand(Gibsonetal.,2005;LummusandVokurka,1999;Mentzeretal.,2001),andismanagedwithinsupplychainmanagement(SCM).Inthissense,thedemandandsupplychainoftencanbeseenasdifferentperspectivesonthesamechainoforganizations(Jacobs,2006).DespitethefactthatDCMandSCMareoffundamentalimportancetoeveryorganization,oneofthemisusuallyprioritizedinmanycompanies(Hilletofthetal.,2009),andtheyalsotendtobedealtwithseparately.Thus,ademand-andsupply-ledbusinessmodelcanbedistinguishedinmostindustries(Ju¨ttneretal.,2007).Companiesembracingthedemand-ledbusinessmodel(demandchainmasters)focusoncoordinatingandmanagingthedemandprocesses(DCM)toobtainacompetitiveadvantagebyprovidingsuperiorcustomervaluewhilecompaniesembracingthesupplyledbusinessmodel(supplychainmasters)focusoncoordinatingandmanagingthesupplyprocesses(SCM)toobtainacompetitiveadvantagebyprovidingcomparablecustomervalueatlowercost.Irrespectiveofbusinessmodel,thedominatingsideofthecompanytendstosetthebusinessagenda(whattosell,wheretosell,andhowtosell),whiletheothersidesupportsit(Walters,2008).Thedifferencebetweenthesebusinessmodelsisthechoiceofemphasisandbothofthemcanbeappropriatedependingonmarketcharacteristics(Christopheretal.,2006),aswellasonhowthecompanywouldliketocompete(HilletofthandHilmola,2008).However,companiesutilizingtheserestrictedbusinessmodelscanexperiencemajordifficultiesbyfocusingtoomuchoneitherthedemandsideorsupplysideofthecompany(Walters,2006a).Ademandchainstrengththatisnotlinkedtoasupplychainstrengthmayresultinahigh-costbase,aswellasslowandinefficientproductdelivery;whileasupplychainstrengththatisnotlinkedtoad