Pressures imposed by today's modern and highly competitive business environment and momentum created with the emergence of Information and Communication Technologies force business entities to rethink current models, in order to benefit from a more flexible and cost effective form of organizational management. Managing Risk in Virtual Enterprise Networks: Implementing Supply Chain Principles aspires to set a point-of-reference for scholars and researchers in the fields of Virtual Enterprises and Supply Chain Management who are interested in studying the Risk Management dimension in a cross-disciplinary fashion by applying new ideas and synthetic thinking in already well established concepts. Furthermore, this valuable reference aims to attract both graduate and post-graduate students studying the Risk Management discipline.

The leading academic authorities contributing to this book have been involved in major studies carried out for international organisations, individual governments, and national trades' union organisations; in Vulnerable Workers they consider the growth of job insecurity, the prevalence of flexible or temporary work, and the emergence of precarious forms of self-employment. They look at the new market economies of post-communist Eastern Europe and China, where economic development may occur at the expense of workers' lives and health; 'misclassification' by employers of workers as 'contractors', denying them access to rights; and the plight of migrant, transient and 'invisible' workers. The impact of supply chain business strategies on the most vulnerable workers; and on the complex relationships between levels of job security and the presence of different kinds of risks are similarly assessed. The contributors also propose responses to the challenges they highlight. The role of employee representatives is examined, together with the potential to enhance worker capability through organisational change. New legislative approaches, and changes to traditional compensation and social security systems are considered. Academics and researchers, policy makers, regulators, trades unionists and occupational health professionals - and wise employers - will all find a use for this book.

This well-established text provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the practice and supporting systems relating to the storage and supply of materials, from elementary principles and simplest methods to the most advanced automated operations. It is an invaluable guide to inbound logistics for both students and practitioners.

Local Content in Procurement is the first book of its kind. Recognizing the substantial economic and social value brought to host countries and local communities through the procurement practices of large private and public companies, this book by Dr Michael Warner - Director of the consultancy firm Local Content Solutions and former architect of the Local Content standards for BG Group - provides a first-hand account of the Local Content regulations, strategies and procurement processes needed to realise these social benefits. Acknowledging that the employment and industrial benefits of large-scale procurement have been sorely overlooked, this book is both a how-to manual and a thoughtful insight into the challenge of creating sustainable jobs and competitive national industries through expenditure on bought-in goods and services. With literally trillions of dollars of goods and services being procured over the next ten years in exploring and developing for oil, gas and mineral resources across the globe, the book focuses on these sectors, yet also has wide application to the utilities, construction, infrastructure, manufacturing and defence sectors. Local Content in Procurement has been written for those working for the procurement, strategy and social responsibility departments of major private and public companies and international suppliers, for industrial and economic policy-makers and regulators of local content, and for all those involved in the management of procurement expenditure to develop national and local industries.

Procurement capability in most organisations is hampered because purchasing people are beset by organisational challenges - 'soft' issues like territorial stakeholders; organisational cultures that hold Procurement in poor esteem; and the lack of a great 'Procurement brand'. Procurement Mojo is THE definitive guide to building a credible Procurement brand and a capability to match. It reveals practical techniques to strengthen Procurement and raise its profile in the wider enterprise. Be inspired and energised in your Procurement job! Become more effective and organisationally savvy to up your game! Get your Procurement function firing on all cylinders! Embed Procurement in the fabric of the wider organisation! Boost your functional capabilities and build a great 'Procurement brand'!

PPP/PFI contracts often share a number of features: they run over a very long period of time; they are conceived without a complete understanding of how requirements may change and despite the rhetoric they tend to create a context where dispute and litigation rather than partnership are the norm. In this environment, effective auditing is essential to ensure that projects are delivering what the end-user requires. Audits are both a public sector right, and a matter of good management sense. Performance Auditing of Public Sector Property Contracts is a practical guide to performance auditing for public sector property managers with a series of guidelines for auditors of public sector property contracts. The book concentrates on Facilities Management contracts. Lori Keating explains the basis for the process; how to retain balance, independence and rigour and how to audit intangible performance measures and other tricky areas. The book follows an audit process from commencement to conclusion, and contains a discussion of factors that contribute to the success of any audit. It is essential reading for public sector auditors, PPP project managers and contractors.

In Amazon: Managing Extraordinary Success in 5-D Value, Benjamin Wall offers structured insights into strategically managing value in the key relationships to customers, personnel, business partners, and investors in order to improve value management at any company. The extraordinary success of Amazon is due to market-leading strength in three "dimensions" of value: owning the mightiest supply chain to deliver fastest and cheapest the broadest range of products, enhancing what customers and business partners are doing when using the website / online ecosystem, and knowing how to implement the optimal terms and conditions in the after-sales customer experience. Wall takes a look at the unique managerial skill of Amazon and how each of these organizational areas operates externally and internally according to a separate business logic based on a dimension of value. In an original examination, Wall systematically evaluates Amazon by categorizing and connecting its external and internal success factors to dimensions of value. Each "score" on an external success factor is linked to an internal success factor in managing processes, organizational culture, and the business model, so that managers and leaders can enhance their own internal success factors and move towards the same successful external factors. Amazon looks to the future where the near-term promise of the company is evaluated to be in the development from online to omnichannel retail, including the sale of services, by reviving out of Amazon's past the fourth dimension of value: feeling how to integrate value. The long-term potential of Amazon is set in the context of a sustainable future for retail, based on trends arising today in meaning across multiple communities, which is the emerging fifth dimension of value. Amazon is projected to operate in this value dimension again as a disruptor, and with Wall's help, managers and leaders can reach for the same kind of success.

The Agri-Food industry currently faces a range of challenges, from food safety and security, demand, and supply gaps to the maintenance of product quality and issues in product traceability. Smart digital technologies have opened a complete paradigm shift, providing solutions to these challenges, and helping move towards safe, resilient, responsive, and eventually profit-driven supply chains. The use of these digital technologies by Agri-Food supply chains can bring significant changes in food supply chain management by reducing food wastage, real-time product monitoring, and reducing scalability issues. Agri-Food 4.0: Innovations, Challenges and Strategies addresses new research on digital technologies in the industry, including smart packaging, smart warehousing, effective inventory control, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and other Industry 4.0 concepts. Agri-Food 4.0 explores the challenges and complexities in implementing such technologies, helping policymakers in the agri-food sector with impact assessment and digital transformation towards creating a sustainable industry.

Over the last three decades the world economy has grown strongly on the back of 'globalization' supported by the policies of free-trade, open markets and privatisation. Support has also grown for the concept of 'sustainability', meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. But as the Earth's systems come under increasing strain, the inherent conflict between sustainability and globalization has been exposed. Green Outcomes in a Real World examines the shift in thinking required to reconcile these two important areas of policy. In this ground breaking book, Peter McManners has coined the term 'Proximization' to define a new policy framework. The principles of Proximization are: 'sustainability', 'subsidiarity', 'primacy of the state' and 'market economics' and the application of these familiar concepts towards a sustainable globalised world is novel and different. The author argues that adherence to the principles of proximization will return world society to a stable natural order, and will mean changes. Global commodity flows will reduce and barriers to migration will increase. National governments will demand more control over their finances leading to restrictions on capital flows. Indeed, Peter believes that an element of 'selfish determination' is needed. The new world order will be sustainable by design. Global organisations such as the UN, national governments and global corporations will have to understand and apply a different paradigm. The arguments in this book do not reflect the idealism or even naivety of some of the green movement. This book is about hard-edged reality presented by an author with huge experience and a deep understanding of the business perspective. It will appeal to a wide range of professionals involved in setting policy and future direction for businesses, governments, and non-governmental bodies, as well as to those with an academic interest in business, economics, social and environmental issues, and public policy.

Supply chain management today has never been more complex, more dynamic or more unpredictable.

The good news is that new techniques for analyzing country-level investments, network configuration and in-sourcing/out-sourcing decisions can enable more precise and effective span of control. The latest generation of network design and optimization applications has created broader opportunities to view and streamline links between supply chain network nodes.

New concepts in multi-channel demand signal capture -- and in pooling and data warehousing customer signals coming into the enterprise from retail stores, websites and call centers -- can bring the enterprise closer to the customer. Emergence of practices such as multi-channel supply management and virtualized cross-enterprise inventory pools are enabling rapid response to changes in demand, creating a level of "cyber-kanban" unimaginable a few years ago. Companies can now truly respond to the pull of the market rather than the push of supply.

Companies are also using advanced Business Intelligence (BI) software to mine the demand signal repository and cull critical insights for action and response. Case in point: Wal-Mart s response to Hurricane Katrina was based on insights gained from mining community consumption trends during previous hurricanes.

* Provides clarity to the confusing the field of business enterprise; * Draws on theories, concepts and models from the established business great and good; * Contains international case studies to illustrate and examine globalisation. For the first time in history, more than half of the world's businesses are small, however, the technological revolution has meant that some small firms are "born global" i.e. they operate in multiple markets and/or geographies from the outset. Business enterprises need to move and adapt quickly, in line with competition and changing customer tastes. The challenges they face to succeed are relentless. '''Enterprise and its Business Environment''' offers a clear and insightful introduction to the world of business enterprise and the inner workings of the firm. It explores the role of entrepreneurs, consumers and businesses to understand how their roles affect the production and allocation of good and services and provides a solid base from which those new to the study of business can develop their own interests in relation to the most powerful economic and entrepreneurial forces shaping the world in which we live. '''Enterprise and its Business Environment''' is written and contributed to by a team of expert scholars from Heriot-Watt University, who teach across the globe. This important text: * Brings structure to the field of 'business enterprise' by organizing basic ideas and introducing concepts; * Builds on the established theories and contributions of the great and good in the field of management and organization; * Uses international case studies to examine globalisation and its significance to organisations. To help support their learning, readers have access to a range of online resources including chapter-by-chapter multiple choice questions which will enable them to assess how well they have grasped individual chapters. The text also features a range of supplementary readings, in text exercises and cases/examples to help bring concepts to life. Part of the '''The Global Management Series'''; a complete portfolio of global business and management texts that successfully meets the needs of students on international undergraduate and postgraduate business and management degree courses. Each book is a clear, concise and practical and has a thorough pedagogic structure to suit a 12 week semester. The series offers a flexible 'pick and mix' choice of downloadable e-chapters, so that users can select and build learning materials tailored to their specific needs. See www.goodfellowpublishers.com/GMS for details. Each book in the series is edited and contributed to by a team of experienced academics based in the UK, Dubai and Malaysia it provides an essential learning aid for students across a wide range of business and management courses and an invaluable teaching tool for lecturers and academics. '''Series Editors''': Robert MacIntosh, Professor of Strategy and Kevin O'Gorman, Professor of Management, both at Heriot-Watt University, UK]

As trade and production have increasingly crossed international boundaries, private bodies and governments alike have sought new ways to regulate labour standards and advance goals of fairness and social justice. Governments are harnessing social and market forces to advance corporate accountability, while private bodies are employing techniques drawn from command and control regulation to shape the behaviour of business. This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of academics, activists and practitioners in the fields of fair trade and corporate accountability, representing perspectives from both the industrialized and developing worlds. Contributors provide detailed case studies of a range of social justice governance initiatives, documenting the evolution of established strategies of advocacy and social mobilization, and evaluating the strengths and limitations of voluntary initiatives compared with legally enforceable instruments.

Many production managers have de-stocked excessively large inventories, gone lean, experimented with continuous improvement processes and introduced new working practices. These interventions have largely failed. Businesses have also failed to invest in the workforce that undertakes improvements. This means that cash flow stops quickly, stocks are depleted to zero and customers lose confidence. Systems for Manufacturing Excellence looks at how people and technology work effectively together to generate high performance manufacturing and service operations. Not everyone is a Toyota but that does not mean we cannot learn from such businesses. The book will present a logic, variety of approaches and methods that underpin the different models of high performance used by 'world class' businesses. The authors use examples from their training with Toyota, work with Tesco, and many world class manufacturing businesses that form their research agenda. The book will help teams run each part of their production process for effectiveness and efficiency, with a high level of discipline that supports excellence in performance.

International Trade and the Successful Intermediary reveals how intermediaries can safely and effectively guarantee they are paid commission in lucrative commodity trades. Davide Papa and Lorna Elliott explain how intermediaries should conduct a deal from start to finish, whilst adhering to the laws and rules of international trade and maintaining control over the transaction at all times. The explosion of the internet has created tens of thousands of trading houses and independent home-based brokers all seeking to buy or sell commodities to one another. Businesses may spend considerable time and resources evaluating the merits or otherwise of available brokers. International Trade and the Successful Intermediary is designed to give independent intermediaries, potential buyers, procurement agents, mandates, lawyers, bankers and companies the fundamental skills to conduct business in the international trade arena, while increasing their knowledge and confidence to secure commission arising out of successful deals. Using real scenarios, model documents and straightforward language the book dispels the many myths relating to internet trading procedures and explains the rules and laws that must be adhered to when conducting import/export transactions.

The pharmaceutical and healthcare industry is hugely complex because it involves so many markets, products, processes and intermediaries. It is also heavily regulated, global, and used by everyone at some stage in their life. No wonder the supply chain for delivery of healthcare services is often fragmented and understood only in discrete sections. Changes in one area impact upon the others, and environmental factors such as pricing, regulatory change or actions by competitors impact the whole supply chain in ways that are not easily understood or managed. Accelerating technology, the commoditization of healthcare, increasing demands from ageing populations all influence the approach that suppliers of pharmaceutical products and services worldwide need to take if they are to design and manage an effective supply chain that will be capable of: exploiting their intellectual property in a sustainable way; providing safe and continuous provision of drugs or devices; and sustaining with resilience, yet still be flexible and cost efficient. Supply Chain in the Pharmaceutical Industry offers the basis for organizations to develop their own blueprint for managing the opportunities and threats to the pharmaceutical supply chain. Using examples from companies and markets across the world Rob Whewell offers a very vivid picture of the developing trends for pharmaceutical companies; the customers and markets they serve and points to some of the elements that underpin sustainable pharmaceutical strategies. The current global banking and financial crisis illustrates the important role played by regulation. The healthcare industry is similar in scope, and complexity, yet the implications of error are worse - life threatening. This review of key industry parameters will provide senior executives in the industry and policy makers in healthcare with a broad perspective of the issues and illustrates an understanding of the task at hand.

Public procurement in the European Union represents almost twelve per cent of the EU's GDP and is continuing to increase, having been identified as a key objective in the EU's aim to become the most competitive economy in the world by 2010. This book provides a one-stop shop, multi-disciplinary approach to public procurement and will be of use to academics and policy-makers. Providing its readers with practical description and analysis of the relevant policies, law and jurisprudence, the book also explores possible future trends in public procurement regulation.

Gain the practical tools to solve supply chain problems. Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning and Operation, 7th edition, Global Edition, by Sunil Chopra, introduces you to high-level strategy and concepts. A strategic framework guides you through all the key drivers of supply chain performance, including facilities, inventory, transportation, information, sourcing, and pricing. The 7th edition embeds compelling case study examples to illustrate how good supply chain management offers a competitive advantage and how poor supply chain management can damage an organisation's performance. With this text, you can gain a deeper understanding of supply chains and a firm grasp of the practical managerial levers that can improve supply chain performance. With a range of in-text features and essential learning tools, this text is perfect for MBA, engineering masters, or senior-level undergraduate courses in supply chain management.

The enduring repercussions of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the worsening global economy following the burst of the dotcom bubbles in 2001, the financial tsunami in 2008, and the incessant rise in customer demand for better services have all contributed to shrinking profit margins for businesses around the world. To cope with these challenges, firms are discovering logistics as a competitive weapon when looking for ways to strengthen and preserve their market positions. One successful solution has been the adoption of Just-in-Time manufacturing systems, which involve many functional areas of a firm such as manufacturing, engineering, marketing, and purchasing, among others. Just-in-Time Logistics extends the JIT concept in manufacturing to business logistics, an area that has been observed to account for more than 30 per cent of sales revenue for some firms. It gives you an overview and an introduction of JIT logistics, and provides managerial insights on how to achieve improved logistics performance in terms of cost and service enhancements. A discussion of the quality, implementation, and performance measurement issues related to the application of JIT in business logistics is also presented.

Adoption and use of a contract scorecard demonstrates a maturing ability to manage commercial outsourcing arrangements. The process of designing the scorecard helps you nail down the key outcomes and avoid lack of focus, inconsistent objectives, hidden costs, indifferent service and deteriorating relationships with your contract partners. Sara Cullen's The Contract Scorecard will help you design and drive successful contracts. It offers a systematic guide based on practical advice and examples; one that explains the Contract Scorecard concept and demonstrates crucial implementation activities such as: c The development of performance measures that work c Sound Service Level Agreements that make obligations clear c A Governance Charter that ensures both parties will adopt successful management techniques An upfront investment in your contracts, from a commercial rather than legal perspective is probably the single most influential activity you can undertake; one that will ensure your outsourcing relationships have clear business goals as the focus of the deal. Reading a copy of Sara Cullen's The Contract Scorecard should be the first step in that investment.

Written by business leaders for business leaders, this book explores successful supply chain improvement requirements and improvement methodologies, along with their strengths and limitations. It covers the use of these techniques in a story about Twin City Manufacturing, a fictitious company based on the authors' actual experiences. The principles put forth in this volume show how to enable and sustain long-term change. Whether you are intimately familiar with the supply chain discipline or have limited experience, the authors provide a valuable roadmap that can be applied to supply chain improvement. Drawing from their combined 70 years of experience with supply chain-related functions, they explore seven factors that can help a company become one of the few that truly achieve and maintain operational excellence. 1. Top company leadership 2. Improvement methodology 3. Continuous improvement strategy 4. The cause and the vision 5. The Sustainable Improvement Roadmap 6. Enablement of sustainability 7. Constancy of purpose Operational excellence is required to make any winning business strategy sustainable, but it is only achieved and sustained through continuous improvement, and these improvements must be real. This book will arm you with the knowledge and methods needed to identify needed change and the tools to implement them, and perhaps most importantly, give you the confidence needed to become an effective change agent.

Sustainability is normally considered to be about choices for the future being limited by decisions made in the present, and is frequently portrayed as concerning environmental issues alone. The Durable Corporation rejects both of these notions to argue that sustainability is a more complex concept that involves balancing many factors. It explores the nature, value and role of sustainability in business and maintains that resource utilization must be based upon the twin pillars of equity and efficiency rather than attempting to ensure that our choices in the future are not reduced. The authors of The Durable Corporation propose a new model of sustainability and a fresh approach to managing resources. They extend this to the development of difference strategies for achieving sustainability and an alternative approach to managing for the future. These features make it essential reading for all those with responsibility for the sustainability or durability of the enterprises in which they are engaged or in the study of the issues at stake.

This book examines the current and controversial topic of the sulphur cap in maritime supply chains, a new regulation set to be enforced in 2020. The author presents extensive research on three northern countries - Finland, Sweden and Estonia - and the effects they felt when these regulations were rolled out in 2015. These regional case studies are presented alongside extensive private sector data, annual reports and interviews to assess and forecast how the maritime supply chain will cope with rising costs and alternative approaches to environmental regulations. This book includes advanced regression analyses alongside interactive simulation models for the reader to evaluate new supply chain strategies and study the effects of these regulations.

This book belongs to the Port Economics and Global Supply Chain Management strand of the Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics book series, commissioned by Hercules Haralambides. This book discusses the main drivers that affect the introduction and growth of short sea shipping services. It describes and analyses the main operational concepts of short sea shipping and introduces relevant administrative and strategic approaches that enable its sustainable execution. Short Sea Shipping (SSS) comprises freight and passenger mobility by waterborne transport at a limited range, without crossing an ocean. Being a direct competitor to land-based transport modes, it uses ports and inland waterways to complement traditional transportation systems, increase capacity, improve flexibility, and contribute towards the goal of sustainable mobility. The reader will be introduced to various aspects of short sea shipping including benefits and shortfalls, relevant regulations and policies, and the applicability of short sea services within a given case or scenario.

A nation's economic success depends on the capacity of its companies and trading organizations to develop business relationships, trade and do business in the international arena. Doing business across borders subtly changes the processes and skills the successful manager needs. Cultural, social, geographic and legal factors serve to complicate the picture. The mantra for managers today is think global, act local. In this handbook the authors concentrate on the big developments that currently are happening at an international level. They consider how managers operating in the global business landscape must change what they do to create advantages and remain competitive. The Global Business Handbook is based on the structure of the very successful IA0/00SEG International School of Management's programme on international management. It includes a global focus, backed by the latest research on different aspects of international business carried out in different parts of the world.