Supply Ecosystems: Interconnected, Interdependent and Cooperative Operations, Supply and Contract Management
by Douglas Kinnis Macbeth (Author)

About the Author
Douglas Macbeth recently retired as Professor of Purchasing and Supply at University of Southampton Management School. He has worked in two other UK universities and has taught in Europe and America. He is the Founder of the consulting firm SCMG Ltd., which commercialises early research into buyer–supplier relationships. He was also the deputy director of the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute collaborating across many disciplines.
He takes an applied view of academic research and has always worked actively across the academic/practitioner boundary.
He is a Lead Academic on FutureLearn Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) on Contract Management: Building Business Relationships, commissioned by UK Cabinet Office and partnering with Civil Service Learning and IACCM, which runs twice a year for 15,000 learners.
He is the author of six books, numerous articles and lead or co-lead in many consultancy and research projects and is a supervisor for a number of successful PhD candidates.

About this book
This book attempts to address the lack of connectedness between topics that have traditionally been dealt with as discrete and self-contained. By reflecting on how these topic areas work together and have the capability to offer businesses a complete supply capability to complement the customer focus of sales and marketing, this book provides a holistic view of how the whole of the supply side of a business can be coordinated and provide support to competitive advantage.
Topics covered include how businesses function in the global business context, the role and importance of design and quality thinking in operations and operations management, the logistics of supply, contracts and informal agreements, as well as current trends and new technological processes. Finally, it concludes with global operations, supply and contract management and competitive advantage.
By providing this bigger picture view it will allow both supply chain students and practitioners as well as their cognate colleagues a chance to see how the crucial connections and interfaces need to be considered and optimized for global success. This book is essential reading for students and managers in the field of operations management and international trade and business.
Readership: Students at the undergraduate and graduate level as well as professionals in global operations and supply chain management.

Table of contents
Chapter 1 Global Business Context 1
    1.1 Financial and Strategic Objectives 1
    1.2 Business Life Cycle 3
        1.2.1 Start-up 4
        1.2.2 Existing 5
        1.2.3 Static 6
        1.2.4 Under threat 7
        1.2.5 Time horizon 9
        1.2.6 Short-term survival 10
        1.2.7 Medium-term growth 10
        1.2.8 Trade sale or Initial Public Offering (IPO) 11
    1.3 Ethical Stance 13
    1.4 Citizenship 15
    1.5 Political Sensitivities 16
    1.6 How to Compete 17
    1.7 Order Winners and Qualifiers 19
    1.8 Core Competence 21
    1.9 Price 22
    1.10 Design 24
        1.10.1 Design for function 25
        1.10.2 Design for process and quality 27
        1.10.3 Design for sustainability and recycling 29
        1.10.4 Design for procurement and supply chain 30
    1.11 Quality and Value 31
    1.12 Delivery 33
    1.13 Integration Across Boundaries 35
    1.14 Data and Analytics 36
    1.15 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 37
    1.16 Background Theory 39
    1.17 Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) 40
    1.18 Resource-based Theory 42
    1.19 Network 44
    1.20 World Trade and Globalisation 45
    1.21 Commodity Demand 48
    1.22 Communication Links 49
    1.23 Government Support to Inward Investment 50
    1.24 Locational Advantages and Disadvantages 51
    1.25 International Business 52
    1.26 Evolution or Born Global? 53
    1.27 Market Imperatives 54
    1.28 Value Proposition 54
    1.29 Value in Use or Transfer 55
    1.30 Goods and/or Services 56
    1.31 Make or Buy (Products) and Do or Trade (Services) 58
    1.32 Location 59
    1.33 State-of-the-Art Innovation 60
    1.34 Product Range 60
    1.35 Order Mix 63
    1.36 Competitive Threat 65
Chapter 2 Operations 69
    2.1 Design 69
    2.2 Packaging 69
    2.3 Quality and Cost Influence 71
    2.4 Modularisation 71
    2.5 Platforms 72
    2.6 Cost and Reputation Risk 74
    2.7 Tracking Customers 74
    2.8 Quality 76
        2.8.1 Quality and design 76
        2.8.2 The voice of the customer 80
        2.8.3 Standards 82
        2.8.4 Service quality 83
    2.9 Operations Management 85
        2.9.1 Managing resources 87
        2.9.2 Role of inventory 88
        2.9.3 Role of information systems in operations 89
        2.9.4 Performance metrics 90
        2.9.5 Lean 91
Chapter 3 Supply 95
    3.1 Buying and Trading 95
        3.1.1 Offset 97
    3.2 Customer Supply Chain Segments 100
    3.3 Supplier Selection 105
    3.4 Supply Side Infrastructure 108
    3.5 EU Procurement Rules 112
    3.6 Role of Procurement 115
    3.7 Support Systems 126
    3.8 Logistics 130
    3.9 Organisational Buying Behaviour 135
Chapter 4 Contract 141
    4.1 Context 141
    4.2 The Contract Life Cycle 142
        4.2.1 Initiation and implementation into operation 144
        4.2.2 Contract monitoring and improvement 146
        4.2.3 Contract end game options 149
        4.2.4 Contract de-brief and capture of lessons learnt 150
    4.3 Law, Intellectual Property and Negotiation 150
    4.4 Ethics and Corruption 154
    4.5 Risk 155
    4.6 Measurement 158
    4.7 Business to Business Relationships 160
    4.8 SCMG Ltd Contract Management Benchmarking Framework 161
    4.9 People Skills 161
Chapter 5 Possible Futures 163
    5.1 Global Warming 163
    5.2 3D Printing 164
    5.3 The Internet of Things 165
    5.4 Robots 166
    5.5 Blockchain 168
    5.6 Artificial or Computational Intelligence 169
    5.7 Job Displacement 171
    5.8 Universal Basic Income 172
Chapter 6 Supply Ecosystems and Competitive Advantage 177
Appendix A The RED/BLUE Game 181
    Objective 181
    Playing the Game 181
Bibliography 185
Glossary 187
Index 219

Length: 200 pages
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (November 4, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9789813223073
ISBN-13: 978-9813223073