Horsemeat Supply Chains
Food supply chains are affected by supply chain trends such as globalization, consolidation, and commoditization. Supply chain managers have eagerly sought to apply textbook knowledge to these supply chains. Consequently, companies have concentrated on core competencies like processing or marketing to meet customer requirements. However, the horsemeat scandal is just another example to reveal that food supply chains got out of control. The more complex supply chain systems become, the less controllable they seem to be. Based on a series of incidents in food supply chains, Roth and her co-authors (2008) have developed a conceptual framework for quality management in food supply chains. The framework contains six Ts, which are identified as critical factors associated with food (or more generally: product) quality: (1) traceability, (2) transparency, (3) testability, (4) time, (5) trust, and (6) training. I believe that this framework can help improving food supply chains, but customers should also stop focusing solely on food price rather than food quality.
Roth, A., Tsay, A., Pullman, M., & Gray, J. (2008). Unraveling the food supply chain: Strategic insights from China and the 2007 recalls The Journal of Supply Chain Management, 44 (1), 22-39 DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-493X.2008.00043.x
Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)
Some time ago, I have discussed identifiers for a specific edition of a book (ISBN), serials and other continuing resources (ISSN), and content objects like journal articles (DOI). But did you already know the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)? According to the ORCID website, it “provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized”. Hereby, a unique 16-digit code (e.g. 0000-0003-0010-4240) is used to identify a researcher. In a Nature editorial back in 2009 it was discussed that an academic-reward system would be tied less heavily to publications and citations if an author ID system like ORCID gained widespread support. This could soon become true, as ORCID is supported by important organizations, including publishers like Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley.
