A supply chain involves four distinct yet interrelated flows. These flows include material, information, ownership, and payment flows.
Supply chain management is not just streamlining the material flow.
Successful supply chain management requires planning, managing and controlling these four flows through the integration of key processes, from original suppliers through manufacturers, retailers to the end-users, which produce values to the ultimate consumers (Christopher, 1998; Lambert et al.,
1998; Bowersox et al., 2003).
Supply chain management emphasizes close coordination
among the various companies involved in the chain. It requires supply chain members
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0959-0552.htm
IJRDM
35,4
308
Received September 2005
Revised December 2005
Accepted April 2006
International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management
Vol. 35 No. 4, 2007
pp. 308-324
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0959-0552
DOI 10.1108/09590550710736229
to recognize that they are part of the complex network. All the companies involved in
the network are important in establishing a desired level of customer service in the
supply chain and satisfying their customers’ requirements. These companies are
interdependent in such a way that an individual company’s performance affects
the performance of other members of the supply chain. If there is a problem in one
company, the problem consequently causes other problems in other areas and weakens
the effectiveness of the whole supply chain. Since, a supply chain involves many
players and different practices and policies, those complexities result in higher degree
of uncertainty and dynamics within a supply chain.