The Role of Supply Chain Risk Management in Ensuring Smooth Functioning

Introduction A number of issues such as changes in product design, branding and employee are likely to cause risks that threaten supply chain. Risk management in this field is a fundamental activity at the executive level in most organizations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Supply Chain Risk Management in Ensuring Smooth Functioning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Several studies have developed various models and theories that attempt to provide an explanation of the need for supply chain management in reducing risks. The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze some research articles from various authors with an aim of exploring theories and models developed over the last few decades. Model and theory analysis: Review of research Lin and Zhou (2011) carried out a study to address the impact that product design changes have on supply chain, with a special focus on the risks involved. Using a case study, the researchers developed some concepts that attempt to explain how supply chain runs under risks when the product design changes significantly. The theory attempts to show that such changes predispose an organization to a number of risks in supply, policy and delivery. Moreover, this theory suggests that change in product design leads to an array of risks at the internal level, which in this case involves research and design, production, planning, organization and information. This theory seems to indicate that any change in the product design that may have a significant impact on the customer and retailer’s perception of a product is likely to expose the supply chain system to these risks, which means that both customer-requested and company-initiated change in product design exposes the supply chain system to these risks. Using an in-depth longitudinal case study, Khan, Christopher and Burnes (2012 examined the impact of product design on the supply chain risk. The case study was based on a major cloth retailer in the United Kingdom. The researchers aimed to address the questions associated with the increasingly important issues of the impact of product design on the risks involved in supply chain management. The case study leads to a concept that was used to explain the impact of product design in the supply chain and the associated risks. The researchers theorize that risk management in supply chain is heavily dependent on the product design, where recognition of a design is a creative function of managing risks. In addition, the theory attempts to show that recognizing product design is a fundamental platform, on which risks are managed with ease and effectiveness.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This concept attempts to show that recognition of product design must be one of the major activities as well as requirements for risk management at the executive level. In addition, this theory seems to have closer association with the theory developed by Lin and Zhou (2011), as both of them emphasize on the need to consider product design as one aspect or factor that may lead to risks as well as effective management of risks in the supply chain. Christopher and Peck have attempted to present a good analysis on how supply chain management can effectively control risks by building a resilient supply chain system. Although the research is an analysis of findings rather than an empirical study, it provides the reader with some important theories that attempt to explain how product design impacts the supply chain in modern organizations. An important model developed in this article is the argument that building a resilient supply chain depends on a number of features that can be engineered into the supply chain to improve resilience. Among these factors is the need to focus on product design, which should be incorpor ated into the general designing for the supply chains in organizations. In addition, the concept argues that product design plays a major role in the process of understanding the supply chain and its structure. According to the article, products are the major aspect of a supply process, which means that their nature and impact on the whole process are fundamental. Therefore, failure to focus on product design when engineering supply chains is likely to involve risks that threaten the integrity and effectiveness of a supply chain management in a globalized business environment. This theory is important in providing some background information on the need to focus on product design when managing and engineering supply chains. In fact, it shows the important role that product design plays in mitigating risks in supply chains. The article by Chopra and Sodhi (2005) is based on real-life examples of how risk management in supply chain poses threats to the business process in a modern bus iness environment. The authors used two cases in which an electricity supply plant operated by Royal Philips Electronics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was hit by a lightning in 2000. The massive surge the impact of the lightning caused at the grid started a fire that completely destroyed the plant’s microchips. Nokia Corporation was one of the major customers of the Royal Philips at the time. The impact of the lightning caused a massive reduction in the number of microchips at the Royal Philips stock, which made corporations like Nokia and others find it difficult to deal with the company.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Supply Chain Risk Management in Ensuring Smooth Functioning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, it is worth noting that Nokia Corporation had more than one supplier in its supply chain strategy, which made it possible to switch from ordering chips from the Royal Philips on a temporary base. This proved effective in risk mitigation. On the other hand, the authors compared this situation with the impact of the problem at Telefon AB Ericsson Corporation, another major customer of the Royal Philips Corporation. This company had a single provider of chips in its supply chain. The company suffered from the problem, which led to a complete shut down of operations until the Royal Philips resumed production. From the two examples, the authors attempt to develop a theory, in which they explain the need for an effective design in the supply chain system. In this theory, the authors argue that corporations that use multiple designs for a product that is either sold or outsourced are likely to mitigate the risks involved when one product line or design is affected by any problem that may arise. In other words, this theory hypothesizes that multiple supply chain designs are more effective in risk management and mitigation than single-design supply chains. Supply c hain management in the process of supplying and delivering high risk products such as oil and gas proves to be one of the most crucial aspects of managers in these corporations. In fact, high risk but, at the same time, high profitable oil and gas production and supply provide a good example of how risk management in the supply chain can be enhanced with product design. Vosooghi, Fazli and Mavi (2012) used this example to develop additional concept of product design and its impact on supply chain management in the oil supply industry. The researchers use the fuzzy analytical hierarch process (FAHP) to weigh and analyze the risks related to crude oil supply chain. The study, carried in Iran, developed some theory that can be used to explain how risks can effectively be managed and mitigated in crude oil supply process. This model argues that regulation and environmental risks as well as cooperation polices can be viewed from a design perspective. Although the theory does not deal wit h product design, the conclusions made in the article indicate that the way, in which the product is designed, usually influences the effectiveness of risk management in the supply chain.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The aerospace industry is another high-risk field that requires attention when studying risk management and product design. Sinha, Whitman and Malzahn (2004) developed a study, in which they aimed at explaining how risk management can be effected in aerospace industry. The researchers argue that most of the supply chain systems involve a single supplier, which is likely to increase risks involved. Therefore, risk management proves to be an important area of management in companies that adopt this system. The researchers’ aim was to develop a model that can mitigate risks in supply chains adopted by aerospace companies. The results of the study have provided some models that can be used to mitigate risks in these companies. According to the study, IDEF0 concept is a model that mitigates risks in the aerospace supply chains. The model has five stages: risk identification, risk assessment, planning, and failure analysis and continuous improvement. Although this model focuses on a number of issues, it is worth noting that the design of the products in the supply chain system is a fundamental aspect of the model. Tang (2007) published an article that explains the risks involved in supply chains and how they can be managed with effectiveness even during crisis. The researcher develops a model that attempts to show how supply chain managers can enhance the supply chain to navigate through major disruptions whenever they occur. According to this model, inherent fluctuations are the first aspect that increases the risks, which implies that they should be the first issues to address in management. Secondly, the model indicates that corporations must design and reengineer their supply chain systems to enhance resilience and the ability to withstand the impacts of major disruptions. In addition, the model indicates that enhancing residence is strongly linked to the process of retaining apprehensive customers. Goh, Lim and Meng (2007) developed a study, in which the y attempted to develop a model for enhancing risks management in globalized supply chain networks. The study, carried out in Singapore, provided a scholastic model that indicates the need for risk management in supply chain to reduce the threats involved in globalized organizations.The model, known as multi-stage global supply chain network, incorporates a number of supply chain aspects in a globalized business system. For instance, it considers a new focus on related risks such as supply, demand, disruption and exchange as the most important areas of focus in managing risks. In addition, the model provides a new solution methodology that makes use of Moreau-Yosida regulation, design and logarithm that enhances the process of risk management and mitigation in diagnosing risk associated problems in globalized and multi-staged networks. Although this model is difficult to implement, it is highly effective in managing and mitigating risks in supply chains. Sheffi (2001) takes a differe nt approach to developing a model for risk management and mitigation in supply chains. In this article, Sheffi (2001) takes an example of risks posed by terrorism as a major threat to modern supply chain systems. The author analyzes the companies that were affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. Using several examples, the researcher develops a model for explaining the importance of supply chain management in risk mitigation. This model focuses on two issues. First, it argues that corporations must adopt strategies to set certain operational redundancies in order to enhance their preparedness for risks. Secondly, it focuses on reduction of reliability on lead time and certain demand scenarios. The model suggests that private public partnership is the best way, trough which companies can organize themselves into networks that will enhance risk management and mitigation. In 2007, American corporations IBM, KPMG and ACE sponsored a study with an aim of revealing the best prac tice for managing risks in supply chains. The researching institute, the Economic Intelligence Unit, developed a comprehensive study and a report that show their hypothesized model for managing supply chain risks in the modern concept. In its simplest form, the model suggests that risk management is a discipline that has moved from loss avoidance to assume a new position as the key contributor to market advantage. According to the model, this is achieved through improved corporate reputation and better stand among the companies with the role of oversight such as rating industries. In addition, the model hypothesizes that risk management in supply chains has become an area that needs both technology and workmanship, because ideas must be generated, devised and implemented. In addition, it indicates that technology is an additional source of risk for supply chains, especially at a time when supply of products has gone virtual thanks to the internet technology. However, the author†™s model does not imply that technology should be avoided. Rather, it suggests that technology and workmanship should be integrated to provide the best method for mitigating and managing risks in supply chains. Conclusion From this analysis, a number of aspects should be noted. For instance, the models developed over the years to enhance risk management in supply chains tend to focus on the product, product delivery and internal aspects of the management. They incorporate the ideas of understanding the risks, developing prior knowledge of the risks, ensuring everyone is involved, company-company or company-public sector relations and the use of technology. Although the models are different, most of them attempt to show that supply chain is one of the areas of corporate management that runs under high risks due to the link between the company and other parties in its supply chain system. Therefore, changes in product design, branding and employees are likely to cause risks that thr eaten supply chain. Risk management in this field is a fundamental activity at the executive level in most organizations. These models/theories have attempted to provide an explanation of the need for supply chain management in reducing risks. References Chopra, S Sodhi, M, 2005, â€Å"Managing Risk To Avoid Supply-Chain Breakdown†, MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 53-64. Christopher, M Peck, H, 2004, â€Å"Building the resilient supply chain†, International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 1-13, Economist Intelligence Unit, 2007, Best practice in risk management: A function comes of age, Economist Intelligence Unit, New York Goh, M, Limb, J Meng, 2007, â€Å"A stochastic model for risk management in global supply chain networks†, European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 182, no. 1, pp. 164–173 Khan, O, Christopher, M Burnes, B, 2012, â€Å"The impact of product design on supply chain risk: a case study†, International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, vol. 38 no. 5, pp. 412-432 Lin, Y Zhou, L, 2011, â€Å"The impacts of product design changes on supply chain risk: a case study†, International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 162-186 Sheffi, Y, 2001, â€Å"Supply Chain Management under the Threat of International Terrorism†, International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 1 – 11 Sinha, PR, Whitman, LE Malzahn, D, 2004, â€Å"Methodology to mitigate supplier risk in an aerospace supply chain†, Supply chain management: An international journal, vol.9, no. 2, pp. 154-168. Tang, C, 2007, â€Å"Robust strategies for mitigating supply chain disruptions†, International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications: A Leading Journal of Supply Chain Management, vol. 9, no.1, pp. 34-56. Vosooghi, M, Fazli, S Mavi, R, 2012, â€Å"Crude Oil Supply Chain Risk Management wit h Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process†, American Journal of Scientific Research, vol. 12, no. 46, pp. 34-42 This essay on The Role of Supply Chain Risk Management in Ensuring Smooth Functioning was written and submitted by user Brodie J. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Sam Walton One of Uss All Time Great Leaders Essays

Sam Walton One of Uss All Time Great Leaders Essays Sam Walton One of Uss All Time Great Leaders Paper Sam Walton One of Uss All Time Great Leaders Paper Sam Walton, One of US’s All Time Great Leaders Sam Walton was born on March 29, 1918 to Thomas and Nancy Walton on a farm in Oklahoma. In 1923, after realizing the farm would no longer be able to support the family, Thomas Walton decided to go back to his previous profession of appraising farm loans and relocated the family to Missouri. Due to the nature of Thomas Walton’s profession the family was continuously moving. The constant moving allowed Sam Wlaton, the eldest son to become a survivor and gain a great passion for learning and adapting that ultimately facilitated the path towards becoming one of the richest and most successful leaders in the United States. Throughout his life, Sam Walton exhibited qualities that could be categorized under the trait approach theory. The trait approach theory states that leaders are individuals who are always out front and leading the way in the society and are gifted people who can do extraordinary things by possessing the following traits: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability (Northouse, p. 19, 25). It is quiet apparent to see through Sam Walton’s accomplishment that he possessed all of these traits. Since Sam Walton was a young boy, he had what it took to get a head, get things done and make money. During the depression at an early age of seven Sam Walton helped to provide for his family by milking the cows and delivering magazines. At the age of 13, Sam Walton had become the youngest boy in the state of Missouri to become an Eagle Scout. Although, Sam Walton was not seen as one of the smartest kids in his class, his dedication and hard work eventually placed him in the ranks of the honor students. Sam Walton went to Hickman High School in Columbia, where he played basketball and lead the football team to the state title in 1935 as the starting quarterback. Sam Walton showed leadership potential early on by serving as Vice-President of his junior class and the President of his senior class. Unlike the other kids, besides school, Sam Walton had other responsibilities. He continued to work in order to help support his family. By the the time he graduated high school, he was voted the ‘most versatile boy’ in his class. Sam Walton got his BA in Economics from the University of Missouri, all the while working by waiting tables, serving as a life guard and delivering newspapers. After graduating in 1940, Sam Walton entered his first retail job at JC Penny’s in Des Moines, Iowa as a management trainee making $75 a month. In 1942, Sam Walton joined the Army for World War II, where he became the captain of the U. S. Army Intelligence Corps. While waiting to be inducted into the military, Sam Walton met his future wife to be, Helen Robson in 1945. Robson’s father was a successful banker and rancher who helped Sam Walton in starting his first retail business. Mr. Robson lent Walton $20,000. With the help of his father-in-law, Sam Walton was able to open his first Butler Brothers franchise as a variety store that became one of the highest sales and profit stores in the six-state region. According to Northouse, when he states in his book, Leadership Theory and Practice, â€Å"although it is good to be bright, the research indicates that a leader’s intellectual ability should not differ too much from that of the subordinates† (Northouse, P. 20). Sam Walton had the ability to relate, work and learn from his employees, as well as his competitors (Huey, P. 22, 23). Walton learned from just about every person he came in contact with. He said, â€Å"Great ideas come from everywhere if you just listen and look for them. You never know who’s going to have a great idea† (Huey, P. 211). To show his sociability, according to Lee Scott the former CEO of Wal-Mart, Walton would show up in the drivers’ break room at 4 AM with donuts and just sit there and talk to them for hours. Walton was amazed at how many ideas they always had in fine tuning the system. He would drill them by asking, â€Å"What they saw? How people were acting in the stores? Had they been to a certain store lately? And were things getting better? † (Huey, P. 212) According to Katz, effective leadership depends on three basic personal skills: technical, human and conceptual. Katz argues that these three skills are very different than the traits of leaders. He state that skills are what leaders can do and traits are qualities that made the leader who they are (Northouse, P. 40). Sam Walton was one who possessed all of the three skills, some better than others. Walton’s conceptual skills gave him the ability to bring new ideas and introduced services never provided by other retailers. His brilliant idea of providing a variety of goods for low prices under one roof has been the best idea anyone had ever thought of. The idea of making his stores centrally located, so customers were able to easily access the stores and having later store hours, especially during Christmass, gave the Walton stores an edge over his competitors. Sam Walton’s conceptual skills gave him the ability to create a vision and strategically place the proper steps and people needed to make that vision into reality. Sam Walton experimented with discount merchandising, where he bought directly from the wholesalers by cutting out the middle men in order to bring the lower cost to his customers, therefore, giving him the ability to sell a great number of goods resulting in high sale volume and more profits. One of the keys to Sam Walton’s success as a leader was his human skills. Katz defines human skills as having the ability to assist group members in working cooperatively as a group to achieve the common goals of the organization (Northouse, P. 41). While in college, he wanted to become the student body president. In order to win and make sure everyone knew him on campus, Walton would speak to anyone and everyone who was walking down the sidewalk. He would always look ahead and spoke to the individuals walking toward him and would start speaking to them, even if he didn’t know them. If he knew them, he would always address them by their name, thus making sure everyone recognized him and considered him their friend (Huey, P. 15). To keep management motivated and performing at their best, Walton offered his managers limited partnership and allowed them to invest in the store they were managing. This kept the managers personally vested in the business and motivated them in keeping the profits to a maximum in order to insure the success of the store. Walton also, made sure each customer was greeted at the door and set up his stores conveying the hometown identity. Each store honored a local graduating senior with a college scholarship and held bake sales to raise money for local charities. Although, Sam Walton possessed many great qualities as a leader, his technical skills fell short in some areas. According to him, he â€Å"never learned hand writing all that well. † (Huey, P. 16) Nobody could read his hand writing. He wasn’t very proficient in keeping accurate details, like sales slips and cash register transactions. Walton was known to be so disorganized that his manager at his first job in Penney’s stated, â€Å"Walton, I’d fire you if you weren’t such a good salesman. Maybe you’re just not cut out for retail† (Huey, P. 17, 18). Walton would schedule appointments and forget he ever made the appointments. He would constantly miss meetings because he simply would forget to make a note of the appointments. In analyzing Sam Walton’s leadership style, the style approach is very different than the trait and skills approaches due to the fact that the style approach focuses on what leaders do rather than who they are (Northouse, P. 86). The â€Å"style approach suggests that leaders engage in two primary types of behaviors: task behaviors and relationship behaviors, [and] how leaders combine these two types of behaviors to influence others is the central focus of the style approach† (Northouse, P. 86). One of the things that made Walton a task oriented leader was his meticulousness on having the store shelves stacked properly. He was adamant on having the stores clean, and well lit. He would personally visit every store to make sure the stores were setup in the best way. Along with being task oriented, Walton focused greatly on his relationship behavior with his subordinates. He would say, â€Å"Visiting the stores and listening to our folks was one of the most valuable uses of my time as an executive. But really, our best ideas do come from the folks in the stores. Period. † (Huey, P. 230) Walton firmly believed in crediting when credit was due. He was known for giving recognition for the success of Wal-Mart to the associates and made sure information about the company’s goals and objectives were shared throughout the organization. It was obvious that Sam Walton loved to be in the retail business. But what he said he most enjoyed about retailing was seeing people achieve more than he. He used to say: Listen to your people and respond to their needs. Recruit employees who have the capacity to replace you. Allow people to think and try new things. And create an environment that allows your staff to comfortably disagree with you. By allowing this type of atmosphere, as a great leader, one would enable people to provide the best route in meeting the organizational goals and objectives, as well as making you a great leader. Sam Walton’s leadership was most popular amongst his followers (associates, employees). The basic concept he followed and believed in was that â€Å"individuals don’t win, teams do. Sam Walton was presented the Medal of Freedom Award just a few weeks before his death by George W. Bush, â€Å"Then nations highest reward to be awarded to a civilian† (Wal-Mart Page). The presidential citation read: An American original, Sam Walton embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and epitomizes the American dream. Concern for his employees, a c ommitment to his community and a desire to make a difference have been the hallmarks of his career. By sponsoring scholarships for Latin America, he has also worked to bring peoples closer together and to share with others the American ideals he so well represents. A devoted family man, business leader, and statesman for democracy, Sam Walton demonstrates the virtues of faith, hope, and hard work. America honors this captain of commerce, as successful in life as in business(Wal-Mart Page). One of the things Walton focused on was having engaged followers, a concept that has become very popular in recent years. Although, we are currently looking to discover different ways of keeping followers engages, Walton’s way was through profit sharing, by making his managers part owners in his stores, as well as by keeping every person in the organization informed of all its activities and seeking feedback. Sam Walton believed that a happy employee meant happy customers and more sales. And by giving employees part of the company and making the employees success dependent on the company’s success, everyone would be a winner. Although Sam Walton was known as one of the most successful retailers and leaders, he had many critics. Walton was criticized for making Wal-Mart a virtual monopoly in the retailing industry. Where by his organization forced many local small businesses to close down. Some critics say that the expansion of the Wal-Mart stores brought down employee wages and working standards in the retail industry. By diverting most of the small business owner’s customers to Wal-Mart, it impoverished small independent retailers and destroyed historical downtowns in small communities. In the 1980’s, the Wal-Mart sales had exceeded over a billion dollars with over three hundred stores across North America. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the largest retailer in the US with over 1700 stores. Walton remained president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. Walton died in 1992 as the second richest man, behind Bill Gates. He passed his company down to his three sons, daughter and wife. Wal-Mart stores now operate in Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, China and Puerto Rico. Sam Walton had done real well as leader because he had the intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and the sociability traits needed to be a successful leader. His human and conceptual leadership style made him an amazing leader. His ability to be able to lead by task as well as nurture group relationships put Walton as one of the greatest leaders of all time. Walton’s commitment to maintaining positive followership just added to his unique ability to possess all the qualities needed to be a successful leader. After analyzing Sam Walton’s leadership methods, I’m able to walk away with the following advice from the man himself, Sam Walton: â€Å"Commit to your goals, share your rewards, energize your colleagues, and communicate all you know, value your associates, celebrate your success, listen to everyone, deliver more than you promise, work smarter than others and blaze your own path† (Littlerock Website). Bibliography Wal-Mart Visitors Center Wal-Mart Community Involvement http://littlerock. about. com/cs/homeliving/a/aasamwalton. htm http://walmartstores. com/AboutUs/9502. aspx davidgorman. org/articles/the-sam-walton-way. html leader-values. com/Content/detail. asp? ContentDetailID=1065 Huey, John and Sam Walton. Sam Walton: Made in America. Mass Market Paperback. New York: Bantam1993.