Routledge Focus on Management and Society: Excellence in Supply Chain Ebooks

This book explores and explains the critical elements of Supply Chain Management, including Understanding the Supply Chain and Supply Chain Planning and Operations, as well as Alternative Approaches and how to Improve. The book is intended for: . Professional managers in all supply chain roles and job positions. . Academics such as lecturers or students studying business topics like procurement, logistics, distribution, and the supply chain. . Students of professional institutes such as the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. The style of the book is direct, with little jargon. It covers all the basics, as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought. Practical application remains a central theme, illustrated by the extensive use of case studies, application checklists and visual and graphic illustrations.

This book delves into the characteristics and features of firms that excel in Supply Chain Management. Recent decades have witnessed an explosion in supply chain complexity. Very few firms have succeeded in building excellent supply chains and employing supply chain management (SCM) as a competitive advantage. For the ones which have developed enhanced supply chain design and process capabilities, their performance has far exceeded their competitors'. While for the vast majority of firms, SCM still remains a means of reducing costs and improving efficiency, for the excellent ones, SCM has turned into a source for value creation. What factors drive firms towards supply chain excellence? How can real differentiation be created through supply chains? Excellence in Supply Chain Management examines the characteristics and features of firms that excel in SCM.