JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW: PURCHASING AND INVENTORY
School of , Liberty University
Giannakis, M., Spanaki, K., & Dubey, R. (2019). A cloud-based supply chain management
system: effects on supply chain responsiveness. Journal of Enterprise Information Management,
32(4), 585–607. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeim-05-2018-0106
Statement of author’s purpose
The efficient production and delivery of products and services in a timely manner while
keeping overall costs as low as possible is a vital goal of all organizations. Studies have shown
that the implementation of lean management strategies can provide a positive impact upon the
supply chain of any organization that can successfully integrate these practices. The author’s
purpose in this article is to convey the importance of adopting lean management practice to
improve supply chain capabilities and functionality. They also try to shed light on future
research on the topic and how the innovation of information technology facilitates organizational
implementation. In recent years there has been a demand for the incorporation of cloud systems.
However, little research has been undertaken to explore the effect of cloud systems on elements
of supply chain performance (Giannakis et al., 2019).
Background of the issue
The emergence of commercialized cloud computing is found to provide solutions to
supply chain inefficiencies. Networks, servers, storage sites, and applications are all computing
resources that provide different applications depending on the user. Users who have access to
cloud operated systems can utilize these resources freely. Depending on their level of access,
users can also reconfigure or alter these computing resources to satisfy their own requirements.
Cloud computing has numerous definitions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) defines cloud computing as a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access
to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction (Giannakis et al., 2019).
The proposed cloud computing approach can be deployed as a closed community cloud to ensure
security and data privacy. The target consumers of cloud-based systems are organizations with
close business networks, same goals and concerns. A few examples would be organizations that
utilize collaborations and real-time sharing software and require secure server sites that can
provide data privacy. Compared to a public cloud, a community cloud can provide services that
meet a standard agreed by all included organizations. Unlike a private cloud, a community cloud
can achieve significant returns on investments as well as operational cost reduction in both IT
infrastructure creation and upkeep.
Application of Supply Chain Management theory
According to the textbook, the growth in outsourcing logistics is attributed to the
deregulation of transportation, reducing inventories, and enhancing supplier deliveries (Liberty
University, 2021). The implementation of lean management practices create less errors in
deliveries. Most JIT (just-in-time) practices include continuous improvement guidelines for daily
operations. Day to day there should be less errors, fewer defects, less storage and inventory, and
higher outputs. Bandwidth is a very important component of designing a manufacturing process.
A manufacturing process that has a wide bandwidth possesses the capacity to take on fluctuating
levels of demand for a mixed set of products. JIT systems are specifically created to be
responsive to numerous demands all at once. Another aspect of JIT that benefits the growth of
outsourcing is human involvement by cross training and whatever is necessary to increase
overall worker performance. From an organizational standpoint, firms must acknowledge their
workers' capabilities. Educating your employees is a continuous investment that is sometimes
even more critical than updating machinery and technology.
Managerial Implications.
Lean product development process based on elements such as process, management,
structure, people, product, client, supplier and waste, is a simple, useful and reproducible method
in every company as well as a structured guide for the implementation of improvements and the
evaluation of the product development process itself (Antony et al., 2020). In order for
production operations to meet or exceed certain levels, an organization’s supply chain must be
able to handle fluctuations in demand. Lean management practices also work to ensure that the
relationship between customers and organizations should be successful ones. The three criteria of
JIT that define its purpose as a lean management practice are the elimination of waste, overall
quality control, and the involvement of people. The principal contribution for the authors of this
study is the development of a cloud based supply chain management approach that can improve
the overall chain responsiveness. Their inquiry has demonstrated that the benefits of the adoption
of cloud-based systems are not limited only to small companies that adopt them. The proposed
approach provides integrated capabilities for improving supply chain visibility, identifying and
reacting to operational supply chain disruptions and improving supply chain flexibility
(Giannakis et al., 2019).
Summary.
The global environment at the beginning of the twenty-first century has undergone a
series of radical changes that exert significant pressure on organizations, including fierce global
competition, shorter product life cycles, increasing customer expectation, fluctuating inventory
and changing costs. Organizations have to demonstrate the greater capability to handle these
challenges in order to stay competitive and continually survive in the market. To this end, they
have to be responsive enough to satisfy customized and ever-changing demands from the market.
Therefore, establishing a supply chain with great responsiveness has become a core strategy to
gain a competitive advantage for most of the organizations. With the integration of cloud
computing into supply chain management practices company wide knowledge is facilitated as
well as optimized decision making. Based on their findings, the authors’ established that future
research is headed towards creating quantitative results that will determine operational costs as
well as financial costs, thus this will confirm their current theoretical analysis.
References
Antony, J., Psomas, E., Garza-Reyes, J. A., & Hines, P. (2020). Practical implications and
future research agenda of lean manufacturing: a systematic literature review. Production
Planning & Control, 32(11), 889–925. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1776410
Giannakis, M., Spanaki, K., & Dubey, R. (2019). A cloud-based supply chain
management system: effects on supply chain responsiveness. Journal of Enterprise
Information Management, 32(4), 585–607. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeim-05-2018-0106
Liberty University. (2021). Supply chain management. McGraw-Hill Education.
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