Title: Perspectives, practices and future of supply chain flexibility

Authors: Dileep More, A. Subash Babu

Addresses: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay – 400076, India. ' Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay – 400076, India

Abstract: Supply Chain Flexibility (SCF) has become more necessary than ever as it offers strategic advantage. The published literature bears a good testimony to this fact and several authors have proposed different viewpoints on SCF. The interest in the philosophies and perspectives of SCF has been growing and organisations of the world have been taking a number of initiatives governed by various paradigms evolving around lean, agility, responsiveness, robustness, etc. At the moment, there are several views on SCF and other organisational innovations, which may perhaps confound a student of SCF. The purpose of this paper is to present a consolidated account of various views expressed by academicians and practitioners by bringing to the fore, various research options available in the area of SCF. The paper also addresses the relevance of various forces and the role of dynamics in managing supply chain flexibility.

Keywords: supply chain flexibility; SCF; supply chain management; SCM; flexibility types; flexibility dimensions; business practices; stimuli; enablers; inhibitors; system dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2008.017885

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2008 Vol.1 No.3, pp.302 - 336

Published online: 21 Apr 2008 *

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