Supply Chain Management in China
China has become a major player in the world economy and is one of the most attractive markets for foreign market entry. However, only a few studies have examined the success or failure of these entries. The study Operating Successfully in China by the TU Berlin in cooperation with WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management highlights two strategies to cope with a dynamic and complex market environment: Process flexibility of companies as well as the level of collaboration with supply chain partners. The results are based on the responses of 248 decision-makers of German manufacturing facilities located in China. On the one side, it is recommended that companies should strengthen process flexibility in order to respond to high dynamics and local-specific requirements. On the other side, the findings imply that a higher level of information sharing and process integration with suppliers, customers, and logistics service providers reduces uncertainty and leads to better performance results.
Handbook of Management Scales
In 2010, I launched the Handbook of Management Scales. It is a collection of previously used multi-item measurement scales in empirical management research literature and contains numerous scales related to SCM research. It contains scales from high-ranked journals that are developed in a systematic scale development process and that are tested to measure a construct in terms of specification, dimensionality, reliability, and validity. For each scale at least objective items, source, and, if available, reliability (e.g. Cronbach’s alpha) are listed. Particularly, structural equation modeling might benefit from the Handbook of Management Scales. It is a wikibook and can be edited by anyone. Feel free to expand the Handbook of Management Scales by adding good scales. This can help to further develop the Handbook as a useful resource for empirical management research. Related handbooks are the Handbook of Metrics for Research in Operations Management and the Handbook of Marketing Scales.
Wieland, A. et al. (2010 ff.). Handbook of Management Scales. Wikibooks. Online: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Handbook_of_Management_Scales
The Underside of Supply Chains
The Story of Stuff by filmmaker Annie Leonard is a fact-filled look at the underside of production and consumption patterns.
