Strategies for Managing Supply Chains

Several authors have warned of the perils of misaligning products, customers and supply chains
(Fisher,1997; Christopher and Towill, 2002 and others) as failure to do so can lead to a loss of
competitive advantage caused by degraded customer service levels, surplus inventory, escalating costs
and declining profits or poor return on assets (Lee, 2002) Fisher’s seminal paper “What Is the Right
Supply Chain for Your Product?” published in Harvard Business Review in 1997, outlines the steps that
a company should take to develop an effective supply chain strategy by understanding the nature of
demand for their products, with products being classified as either functional or innovative. Building
on Fisher’s work Christopher and Towill (2002) devised a supply chain taxonomy that incorporates a
Top-Up Agile pipeline which combines Lean and Agile approaches. Subsequently many researchers
have produced numerous examples of product and market (customer) driven segmentation to
underpin supply chain strategy design and selection.
You are asked to do the following:
Provide an academic review of literature which critically discusses the evolution of supply chain
strategy design and selection. The contemporary argument is made more complex in relation to the
type of supply chain an organization has, by the vulnerability of that supply chain set against the
technological developments which are changing the landscape of how supply chains operate and are
managed.
The 5 papers listed below must be included in your review. All are accessible via the University Library
search engine Discovery. You are also required to select an additional 4 key contemporary papers to
include in your review. You are required to critically evaluate how and why supply chain strategy
selection taxonomies have evolved and developed in the academic literature since the publication
of Fisher’s paper in 1997. You must discuss different supply chain strategies AND the range of
taxonomies and criteria used to design differentiated supply chain strategies. Do not cite literature
pre-1997. You will need to write concisely and avoid including irrelevant discussion.
5 core references:
1. Christopher, M. & Towill, D. R. (2002) ‘Developing Market Specific Supply Chain Strategies’. The
International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 13, pp. 1-14.
2. Fisher, M. L. (1997) ‘What Is the Right Supply Chain for Your Product?’ Harvard business review,
Vol. 75, pp. 105-116.
3. Godsell, J., Diefenbach, T., Clemmow, C., Towill, D. & Christopher, M. (2011) ‘Enabling supply chain
segmentation through demand profiling’. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics
Management, Vol. 41, pp. 296-314.
4. Godsell, J., Harrison, A., Emberson, C. & Storey, J. (2006) ‘Customer responsive supply chain
strategy: An unnatural act?’ International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, Vol. 9,
pp. 47-56.
5. Lee, H. L. (2002) ‘Aligning supply chain strategies with product uncertainties’. California
management review, Vol. 44, pp. 105-119.
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Please read and follow these instructions carefully:
• Your essay should be between 1300 and 1600 words. The word count excludes figures, tables,
table of contents, reference list and appendices. You will be penalized 10% if you go over or
under the word limit.
• You should offer a brief introduction and conclusion to your essay. Do not introduce any new
information in the conclusion.
• Your essay does not require either an abstract or an executive summary.
• You MUST use the Harvard Referencing style. Your essay should include relevant journal papers
only.
• Use 11 or 12 point font (Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman are all acceptable), with 1.5 line
spacing.
• This coursework accounts for 20% of the final course mark.