Supply Chain and Logistics Papers

An empirical investigation of 3rd and 4th party logistics provider practices in Australia
Paper presented at the ANZAM 2004 Operations Management Symposium, University of Melbourne, 17-18 June, 2004.
Authors: Professor John Gattorna, formerly Co-Director, University of Wollongong (UoW); Professor Willem Selen, Professor of Operations Management, Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM); and Robert Ogulin, Doctoral candidate, MGSM.

This research reports on Australian industry characteristics and trends of logistics activities performed through outsourced partners, based on survey research of Australian Shippers and Logistics Service Providers (LSPs). This paper reports on the main findings in terms of customer satisfaction with, and future scope and use of, logistics services provided.

Both shippers and logistics service providers were subsequently compared in their views along dimensions of strategic alliances, partnerships and collaboration; cross-company integration and collaboration; customer alignment; geography and physical infrastructure; and recruiting, developing and retaining people. Important areas of alignment and mis-alignment are identified.

 Read full paper [PDF 318KB]

Supply Chain Cost Management and Value-based Pricing
By Professor Martin Christopher, Cranfield School of Management; and John Gattorna, visiting Professor, Cranfield School of Management.

Article published in Journal of Industrial Marketing Management, 34 (2005) pp. 115-121.

Continued deflationary trends in many markets around the world are creating greater pressure for cost reduction in order that margins can be maintained. Customers and consumers are increasingly value driven and consequently less brand or supplier loyal. In this challenging world, there is a growing recognition that creative pricing strategies combined with effective supply chain management provide opportunities for significant cost reduction and increased profits.

This paper presents evidence to support this viewpoint and suggests an approach to supply chain alignment that can enable cost reduction opportunities to be identified and higher profits to be achieved through collaborative strategies.

 Read full paper [PDF 987KB]

Delivered at the Global Supply Chain & Logistics Conference, Dubai
21-23 February, 2006

This presentation argues that too much emphasis in the past has been placed on technology and infrastructure as the sole source of improved performance in corporate supply chains. In fact, supply chains are not mechanical beasts that work like giant conveyor belts. Rather the speaker will argue that supply chains are propelled predominantly by human behaviour, both outside (customers) and inside (staff and management) the enterprise.

Understand and harness this energy and whole new avenues of performance improvement will be revealed. To bring this vision to reality, the speaker will present a new conceptual model, the dynamic alignment model, which will guide designers and managers of contemporary supply chains to critical areas of 'mis alignment' so that these can be addressed in a more focused way.

Gone are the days of blind cost-cutting. The new era of hi-performance supply chains will be ushered in through a combination of initiatives that improve the 'alignment' between the marketplace, and the enterprise, via smarter allocation of resources. This will all be initiated and driven by inspired leadership.

This presentation is based on a by the presenter: Living Supply Chains: How to mobilize the enterprise around delivering what customers want, published by FT Pearson Education, London, 2006.

Two (2) papers delivered at the CSCMP Annual Conference in San Antonio, 15-18 October, 2006.

1. "How to design and manage collaborative supply chains"
   There is too much spoken about collaboration and too little understood. This address is based on a wider study of the 4 basic types of supply chain, and takes the view that "you only collaborate with those companies which genuinely want to collaborate". In this way over - and under - servicing can be eliminated.


2. "Living Supply Chains: how to mobilize the enterprise around delivering what your customers want" *
   People drive supply chains, not technology or infrastructure, or anything else. However, most managers are in denial about this because they can't work out how to integrate and align customer requirements on the outside, with internal capabilities of the enterprise. This presentation will show you how to do this, and introduce you to the concept of dynami alignment, a new model for aligning strategies, internal human resources, processes, technology, and leadership style, with customers' buying behaviours.