Supply chain performance issues in an automobile company: a SAP‐LAP analysis
Authors: Charan Parikshit 
Published: March 2012

Purpose

Supply chain performance is concerned with managing dependencies between various supply chain members and the joint efforts of all supply chain members to achieve mutually defined goals. There are various performance initiatives reported in the literature but these are often discussed in isolation. Information sharing, information technology, collaborative partnerships, and vendor management that help in improving the supply chain performance are some of the noteworthy initiatives. But there is a need to consider the supply chain in a holistic sense. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a case study of A1, a leading original equipment manufacturer in India, to throw light on the status of supply chain performance initiatives taken in its supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

A situation‐actor‐process (SAP)‐learning‐action‐performance (LAP) model has been applied for the case study of A1. The situation represents the present scenario of the organization. Actors are the participants, influencing the situation to evolve different business processes. Based on SAP, various learning issues have been analyzed which lead to suitable action followed by impact on the performance of the supply chain of the organization. Resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm has been suggested to understand the tangible and intangibles associated with the implementation of a supply chain performance measurement system.

Findings

The case study organization has taken various initiatives for improving supply chain performance, such as vendor managed inventory and dealer management system. However, the issues that need attention include measurement of the vendor's performance on criteria which have supply chain orientation, as well as connecting dealers' point of sale information to vendors; This way connects the supply chain as a whole. Emphasis should be placed on second and third tier suppliers, as most of the quality‐related problem is due to them. In the twenty‐first century only those organizations which pay attention to agility, alignment and adaptability for responding to the challenges can gain competitive advantage. SCPMS as a resource can provide a sustained competitive advantage for a firm.

Research limitations/implications

The SAP‐LAP analysis is used to explain soft and hard issues of supply chain performance in a managerial context as applied to the case of A1. The value of SCPMS can be augmented only when it is embedded in an organization through resource complementarity and co‐specialization.

Practical implications

The SAP‐LAP model presents the situation of supply chain performance to participants who may initiate the processes needed to make the supply chain effective and efficient. The synthesis of SAP leads to LAP, which bridges the gap by suggesting improvement actions based on the learning from the present situation, actors and processes.

Originality/value

This is a novel approach to analyze quantitative and qualitative issues of supply chain performance initiatives in a single model and its impact on performance of the supply chain.