上游供应链(upstream supply chain)

Securingtheupstreamsupplychain:ariskmanagementapproachLarryC.GiuniperoandRehamAlyEltantawyDepartmentofMarketing,CollegeofBusiness,FloridaStateUniversity,Tallahassee,Florida,USAKeywordsRiskmanagement,Supplychainmanagement,Marketingenvironment,RiskassessmentAbstractSupplymanagersmustmanagemanyrisksintheirincreasinglycompetitiveenvironments.Traditionallythismeantbufferingagainstuncertainties,whichsub-optimizedoperationalperformance.Riskmanagementcanbeamoreeffectiveapproachtodealwiththeseuncertaintiesbyidentifyingpotentiallosses.Thisconceptualstudyproposesthatsituationalfactors-degreeofproducttechnology,securityneeds,therelativeimportanceofthesupplier,andthepurchasers’priorexperiencewiththesituationshouldbetakenintoconsiderationwhendeterminingthelevelofriskmanagementinthesupplychain.Doingsocanavoidunforeseenlossesandleadtobetteranticipationofrisks.IntroductionAlotoffirmshavetakenagoodlessonfromthe9/11attack.Theyarere-examiningtheirowncorporatesecurityprogramstodeterminewhethertheyhaveavoidedproblemsbecausetheirprogramsarethatgoodorbecausethey’vejustbeenfortunate.Obviously,ifyou’relucky,it’sonlyamatteroftimebeforeyourluckmayrunout.Sothebottomlineisthat...yoursecuritycontrolsneedtobemeaningful,strategicallydesigned,anddiligentlymaintained.Andifyou’renotdoingthat,thenyouareunnecessarilyexposingyourcompanytointernalandexternalloss(Staff,2003).TheabovestatementwasmadebyBarryBrandman,presidentofDanbeeInvestigationsinMidlandPark,NewJersey,inhisinterviewwiththeSupplyChainManagementReviewstaff.Itreflectsthatfirmsareconfrontedtodaywithnewrisks.Traditionally,businesseshavebeenalwaysfacedwithvariousrisksthatemanatefromtheenvironmentinwhichtheyoperate.Riskispartofeverybusinessenvironment.Todayworldwidechangeshavecreatednewersourcesofrisks.ProtectionagainstthreatsofterrorismisnowacornerstoneoftheDepartmentofHomelandSecurity’sstrategy.Themovementofmanufacturingtooffshorefacilities,particularlyinChina,increasesrisks.Forexample,theeffectofSARSvirusonbusinesshasbeenwidelypublicizedandhashadaneffectonsupplychains.Firmsneedtounderstandthevalueofpreventionandnotmerelythereactiontosecurityrisks.Itmakesfarmoresenseintermsoftime,money,resources,andaggravationforfirmstoadapttheirbusinessesinordertodedicatetheireffortstopreventingproblemsfromhappening(Kendall,2003).Othermoretraditionalrisksthatfacefirmsincludecostpressuresthatrequirefirmstoconstantlybalancecostreductiontargetswiththeirobjectives.Forexample,asluggisheconomyhasleftfirmssuchasautomotivecompanieswithexcessTheEmeraldResearchRegisterforthisjournalisavailableatThecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableatwww.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisterwww.emeraldinsight.com/0960-0035.htmIJPDLM34,9698ReceivedJuly2002RevisedJanuary2003AcceptedMarch2003InternationalJournalofPhysicalDistribution&LogisticsManagementVol.34No.9,2004pp.698-713qEmeraldGroupPublishingLimited0960-0035DOI10.1108/09600030410567478inventory.Theyhaverespondedbyofferingconsumersrebatesandattractivefinancingrates,insomecasesaslowaszeropercent.Competitioninmostbusinessesisintenseandhasforcedfirmstoacceptlowprofitmargins.Increasedrelianceonoutsourcingcreatesalossofcontrolandariskoflosingproprietaryinformationsharedbetweenparties.Traditionally,companiesusedtoadoptstrategies,whichbufferagainstriskspresentintheirenvironmentbyusingmultiplesourcesforstrategicitemsandholdingsafetystock.Thesebuffersrestrictoperationalperformancesandcannegativelyimpactcompetitiveadvantage.Newapproachesinvolveriskmanagement,whichisaformalprocessthatinvolvesidentifyingpotentiallosses,understandingthelikelihoodofpotentiallosses,andassigningsignificancetotheselosses.Supplychainmanagementseekstoreducetheserisksandenhancecompetitiveperformancebycloselyintegratinginternalfunctionswithinacompanyandeffectivelylinkingthemwiththeexternaloperationsofsuppliers,channelmembersandfinalcustomers.Previousresearchhasfocusedon:.theriskassessmentprocess(Zsidisinetal.,2000);.proactiveriskmanagementpractices(SmeltzerandSiferd,1998);and.factorsthatinfluencemanagement’sperceptionsofsupplyrisk(Zsidisin,2003).However,aresearchgapstillexistsinthesupplymanagementliteratureonprovidingguidelinesformanagersonthesituationalfactorsthatmayinfluencethelevelofinvestmentinriskmanagementsystems.Thereforethepurposeofthisconceptualresearchistoprovideacategorizationofthesesituationalfactors.Mostpreviousresearchinthisareaaddressedthe“sourcesofrisk”inthesupplychainratherthantheinfluentialforcesonthe“levelofinvestmentinriskmanagement”.Thesetwoarenotmutuallyexclusive.However,wearguethatthesituationalfactorsaffectthelevelofinvestmentinriskmanagement.Weexplorefourofthesefactors.Theseinclude:(1)degreeofproducttechnology;(2)needforsecurity;(3)importanceofthesupplier;and(4)thepurchasers’priorexperience.Priortodiscussingthesefourfactorswefirstpresentthesourcesofsupplymanagementrisksidentifiedinliterature.Second,wecompareriskbufferingactivitiestoriskmanagementstrategies.Third,wediscussasituationalapproachtoriskmanagement.Fromthis,wedevelopasetofresearchpropositionsforfoursituationalfactorsandmanageri