Literature Review- Inventory Management
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Literature Review- Inventory Management
Darrell Smeltzer
School of Business, Liberty University
Author Note
Darrell Smeltzer
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Darrell Smeltzer
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract
Singh & Verma (2018) defines Inventory management as “the continuing process of
planning, organizing and controlling inventory that aims at minimizing the investment while
balancing supply and demand” Inventory is the raw materials, work-in-process and finished
goods that are considered to be the portion of a business’s assets that are ready or will be ready
for sale (Singh & Verma,2018). Inventory represents one of the most important assets of a
business. The main success of inventory management depends on the organizations processes,
planning, organizing and how well they can overcome challenges. This paper will open with a
review of Keller & Alsdorf’s book, Every Good Endeavor, and an analysis of how this book
connects our work here on earth with God’s work. God is the creator of all things, as it shows in
Genesis when God designed the world and man. A literature review of various topics of research
relating to inventory management will be summarized and examined in different forms and
models. The paper will conclude with insight into how organizations can utilize different models
to examine and manage inventory levels while doing God’s work.
Keywords: Inventory management, organizations, processes, planning, God
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Every Good Endeavor
In the book, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work by Tim Keller
and Katherine Alsdorf, is an excellent resource to learn about the theory of work and its
applications that are in the workplace. The authors give great examples of how to apply are work
here on Earth to the work of God. Keller & Alsdorf (2012) book can be joined into the concepts
and theories, which are learned in this course which entails supply chain management. The book
of Genesis is referenced in Keller & Alsdorf’ (2012) reflections and gives examples of God’s
decision making, determination, skills in organizations today. God commands us and gives us a
foundation which gives us purpose and a mission in life. In the book of Genesis, God in the
beginning created the heavens and the earth and brought us night and day. God created the sky
and the waters below and the land produce vegetation. On the fifth day, God created living
creatures in the seas and then living creatures on the Earth. On the sixth day, God saw all that he
had made and it was very good. On the seventh day, Genesis 2:1 (New International Version)
God had finished his work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
In Keller & Alsdorf (2009) the design of work, work was not some meaningless toil, but part of
God’s divine plan so God passed this work on the man, “the Lord God took the man and put him
in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15) God delighted in his work and
rested on the seventh day and commanded man to imitate Him and rest on the Sabbath. Whether
it is managing a supply chain or trying to manage the inventory of a company, we are expected to
work so we have the means to live and survive and be delighted in our work. God wants all of
his children to prosper but we have to put in the work and rest when we need to. Keller &
Alsdorf (2012) mentions that one of the main places that we personal live out our drama and
social narratives are our daily work. This excerpt from the book can be interpreted in Part I:
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God’s Plan for Work in Every Good Endeavor. In Part I, The design of work, humans were
designed and created to work but no your limitations. The dignity of work, God created man in
His image to be a worker. All humans acquire dignity through the work they do. God gives each
person gifts in the form of skills and abilities to play his/her role in creativity, cultivation, and
ultimately tending to the needs of the physical universe. There is no room for looking down on
anyone in their role as a worker. The cultivation of work, God gave man a role in creating and
civilization to be “fruitful, fill the earth and subdue it.” Keller & Alsdorf (2009) explains that
“God’s plan is for all of us to work and work creative and assertive, rearranging God-given
materials and creation in a way that helps the world and people to thrive and flourish.” In work
as service, we all work because of the love of God and thy neighbor. In Corinthians 7:17, “Only
let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and which God has called him.”
God calls upon us and assigns us all spiritual gifts to carry out His ministry. Keller & Alsdorf
(2012) states that work “was part of God’s perfect design for human life, because we were made
in God’s image, and part of his glory and happiness is that he works, as does the Son of God”
(pg.23). In the statement, Keller describes work as God’s perfect design and that work must be a
part of paradise and all work can still give everyone the ability to contribute good things in the
world.
Keller & Alsdorf (2012) mentions that there is a new conception of work and in this new
conception of work Thomas Aquinas acknowledged Plato’s four cardinal virtues of justice,
courage, temperance and prudence as scriptural. Aquinas added three unique Christian values
faith, hope, and love. All of these values should be placed in the work that we do to in the service
of God. Anyone at the end of their lives wishes they spent more time at the office, we could
imagine at the end of our lives wishing we had produced more products that provided an overall
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benefit to the world that we are leaving behind. Consider the many benefits of the Christian
worldview. For an example, if it were not for the Christian worldview, the philosophy of human
rights would never have emerged. God works and his work is good and he finds delight in the
work that is done. Therefore, before us as humans can think about taking a rest from work, we
must make sure the work we perform is good. The reason faith, hope and love are our Christian
views. We all have faith in our God, we love our God and we have hope that the world will come
together and love our God. These are the same principles that should be put into the work we do
daily. We should have faith that the work we do will help others and be passionate in the work
we do. We should have hope, that the work we do brings contributions to the world and we
should love the work we do, recognizing the good in what we do in contributing to society. In the
appreciating our contributions we should recognize them as gift from God. Every Good
Endeavor explains how we can appreciate and enjoy our work while honoring God and serving
others. In Every Good Endeavor, it mentions the new power for work, how works becomes
physically draining when we attempt to build our worth, security, and meaning through work.
This viewpoint from Keller & Alsdorf brings new meaning to work and how productivity and
success can burn us out. Keller & Alsdorf (2012) states that living for the weekend so that we
can enjoy “real life” turns into a pointless grind. Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in
affliction, faithful in prayer.” Passion must come from “in the view of God’s mercy not selfish
gain” Christian’s view of work creates a work-life balance that includes the need for rest and
appreciates all work contributions that build our civilization and culture.
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Introduction
Inventory is an integral part of any company’s day to day operations. Simchi-Levi (2009)
inventory is one of the biggest costs in many industries and supply chains. Companies that
maintain inventory need to know how much of it they have and how much it is worth. The main
way for managers and owners of companies to control inventory is through inventory
management. Inventory management is one of the primary ways a company will maximize their
potential sales. When companies fail to maintain adequate levels of inventory, it puts itself in a
position to lose out on sales and customers. The goal to effective inventory management is to
reduce costs by having the right inventory in the right place at the right time while satisfying
customer’s requirements (Simchi-Levi, et. al., 2009).
Karim et. al., (2018) Inventory management can best be explained as a set of policies,
procedures and controls that systematically monitor and observe inventory levels and
intelligently determine at what levels the inventory should be maintained. In the observation of
inventory, companies want to know what time should the inventory be replenished and how large
of an inventory quantity should be ordered (Karim et. al., 2018). It is a continual process of
planning, organizing, and controlling inventory that aims to minimize the investment in
inventory while at the same time balancing supply and demand ( West, 2009).
Atnafu & Balda (2008) Inventory management is very crucial to any organization that is
improving on its performance and attaining high levels of customer satisfaction. The material
held by an organization makes up for most of the organizations assets. Most organizations invest
much of their money in materials and it is important to place a good inventory management
system to manage stock. Poor inventory management can negatively affect the profitability of the
organization.
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Literature Review- Inventory Management
Inventory management is considered to be the most important function in every
manufacturing firm. Inventory management is one of the key tools for cost reduction in business
units. Panigrahi, Das, Jena & Tanty (2019) states that effective management of inventory will be
the major function area of production and operation management. Effective Inventory
management is critical to retailing industry because inventory has strong relationships between
sales and customer service (Panigrahi, et. al, 2019). In adopting scientific inventory management
techniques they can help to prepare strategies towards bring continuous improvement in
operational performances of manufacturing units. Panigrahi et. al, (2019) conducted a study of
seven steel manufacturing firms in India and data was collected from 109 respondents selected at
random by a structured questionnaire. The respondents were production managers, purchase
managers, warehouse managers were different statistical tools were used for identification
research problems. The studied found that three techniques of inventory management practices
had strong relationships with production performances. The study concluded that inventory
management practices will provide competitive advantages for manufacturing industries to
survive in the long run.
Atnafu and Balda (2018) argue that there is an impact of inventory management on the
competitiveness and organizational performance of a firm. A study was examined of the impact
of inventory management practices of micro and small enterprises on their performance and
competitiveness. The results of the study indicated that higher levels of inventory management
practice can lead to an enhanced competitive advantage and improve organizational
performance. The study found also that competitive advantage maintained, through the inventory
management practices have a direct positive impact on organizational performance. Based on
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literature researched, it is observed “that making use of formal inventory management practices
is one of the ways to acquire competitiveness” (p. 2). In concluding, Atnafu and Balda (2018)
study identified five key dimensions of inventory management practices (p. 16).
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References
Atnafu, D., & Balda, A. (2018). The impact of inventory management practice on firms’
competitiveness and organizational performance: Empirical evidence from micro and small
enterprises in Ethiopia. Cogent Business & Management, 5(1), 1-16.
doi:10.1080/23311975.2018.1503219
Karim, N. A., Nawawi, A., & Salin, A. S. (2018). Inventory management effectiveness of a
manufacturing company – Malaysian evidence. International Journal of Law and
Management, 60(5), 1163-1178. doi:10.1108/ijlma-04-2017-0094
Keller, T., & Alsdorf, K. L. (2012). Every good endeavor: Connecting your work to Gods work.
New York: Viking
Panigrahi, R. R., Jena, D., Tanty, G., & Das, J. R. (2019). Advance Inventory Management
Practices and Its Impact on Production Performance of Manufacturing Industry.
International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 8(4), 3875-3880.
doi:10.35940/ijrte.D8266.118419
Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., & Simchi-Levi, E. (2009). Designing and managing the supply
chain: Concepts, strategies, and case studies (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Singh, D., & Verma, A. (2018). Inventory Management in Supply Chain. Materials Today
Proceedings, 5(2), 3867–3872.
https://doi.org/https://doiorg.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1016/j.matpr.2017.11.641
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West, D. (2009), “Purchasing and inventory management”, in Desselle, S.P. and Zgarrick, D.P.
(Eds), Pharmacy Management: Essentials for all Practice Settings, McGraw-Hill, New
York, NY, pp. 373-387.
