An investigation into some current supply chain practices at a private healthcare provider in Gauteng
- Authors: Bauernschmitt, E.
- Date: 2010-02-24T10:02:34Z
- Subjects: Business logistics , Inventory control , Medical care , Medical personnel , Patients
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:6647 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3047
- Description: M.Comm. , Much has been done and developed both in theory and practice in terms of advancing the science of logistics since its early days as an area of management focus. Great leaps have been made alone in the past decade regarding the integration of logistics into the broader management philosophies and to subsequently define the now widely referred to concept of integrated supply chain management. Although many industries have embraced this concept and spearheaded initiatives in this field, many traditionally established companies and industry sectors have yet to embed and operationalise its concepts more fully and to reap the potential rewards. The healthcare industry has been under pressure – amidst increasing competition, supplier costs and patient’s increasing awareness to seek improved value for treatment offered – to explore whether opportunities exist to make further savings in terms of its operating cost and total cost profile by taking a different approach to managing the healthcare and service provision supply chain – namely in a more integrated and holistic manner. In the healthcare context, the supply chain includes, amongst others, the capability and ability to plan, forecast, source, supply, process, distribute and ultimately deliver and execute all necessary services, goods and information. In order to investigate current supply chain practices at a selected private healthcare provider in Gauteng, an integrated generic supply chain model was defined – for which industry-acknowledged current supply chain practices from the wider domain of supply chain management were identified per component. As primary objective this descriptive research established to what extent a private healthcare provider in Gauteng, as a role player in the wider South African private healthcare industry, has knowledge and understanding of some current supply chain practices, as well as to what extent this private healthcare provider has adopted and applied recognised practices and concepts of integrated supply chain management. This was done using the defined generic supply chain model for a private healthcare provider as the roadmap along which knowledge and application of supply chain practices could be tested for the selected organisation. For this research an interview-based experience survey was used that deployed specific questions in a non-probabilistic sampling manner to respondents across the functional management chain, to measure both the level of assumed or explicitly attributed knowledge of supply chain practices in relation to the companies’ ability for the application, implementation and utilisation of these industry best-practices as pertaining to supply chain management, as seen in the context of the selected private healthcare’s competitive operations in the Southern African healthcare industry. The output of the analysis to determine the primary research objective was subsequently plotted on a supply chain evolution matrix postulated as part of this study.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bauernschmitt, E.
- Date: 2010-02-24T10:02:34Z
- Subjects: Business logistics , Inventory control , Medical care , Medical personnel , Patients
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:6647 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3047
- Description: M.Comm. , Much has been done and developed both in theory and practice in terms of advancing the science of logistics since its early days as an area of management focus. Great leaps have been made alone in the past decade regarding the integration of logistics into the broader management philosophies and to subsequently define the now widely referred to concept of integrated supply chain management. Although many industries have embraced this concept and spearheaded initiatives in this field, many traditionally established companies and industry sectors have yet to embed and operationalise its concepts more fully and to reap the potential rewards. The healthcare industry has been under pressure – amidst increasing competition, supplier costs and patient’s increasing awareness to seek improved value for treatment offered – to explore whether opportunities exist to make further savings in terms of its operating cost and total cost profile by taking a different approach to managing the healthcare and service provision supply chain – namely in a more integrated and holistic manner. In the healthcare context, the supply chain includes, amongst others, the capability and ability to plan, forecast, source, supply, process, distribute and ultimately deliver and execute all necessary services, goods and information. In order to investigate current supply chain practices at a selected private healthcare provider in Gauteng, an integrated generic supply chain model was defined – for which industry-acknowledged current supply chain practices from the wider domain of supply chain management were identified per component. As primary objective this descriptive research established to what extent a private healthcare provider in Gauteng, as a role player in the wider South African private healthcare industry, has knowledge and understanding of some current supply chain practices, as well as to what extent this private healthcare provider has adopted and applied recognised practices and concepts of integrated supply chain management. This was done using the defined generic supply chain model for a private healthcare provider as the roadmap along which knowledge and application of supply chain practices could be tested for the selected organisation. For this research an interview-based experience survey was used that deployed specific questions in a non-probabilistic sampling manner to respondents across the functional management chain, to measure both the level of assumed or explicitly attributed knowledge of supply chain practices in relation to the companies’ ability for the application, implementation and utilisation of these industry best-practices as pertaining to supply chain management, as seen in the context of the selected private healthcare’s competitive operations in the Southern African healthcare industry. The output of the analysis to determine the primary research objective was subsequently plotted on a supply chain evolution matrix postulated as part of this study.
- Full Text:
Strategic control within a South African freight forwarding organisation
- Authors: Visser, Daneel
- Date: 2012-06-06
- Subjects: Cargo handling , Physical distribution of goods , Freight and freightage , Business logistics , Freight and freightage management , Transportation management
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:2510 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/4964
- Description: M.Comm. , The purpose of this study was to determine whether a strategic control tool, such as the Balanced Scorecard, could be used within a leading international forwarding and clearing organisation operating in the South African and international logistics markets. The name of the organisation has been concealed, for confidentiality purposes, and therefore in this study the organisation is referred to as SA Logistics. A literature review was conducted where firstly the elements of strategic control were examined. This was followed by a review of certain strategic control tools such as benchmarking and Economic Value Added models. Then the literature regarding the Balanced Scoreacard was analysed in detail. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase a self-administered questionnaire was sent out to a group of respondents from middle management, within SA Logistics. The questionnaire required respondents to rank on a semantic differential scale their preferences from a proposed set of key performance indicators. These Key performance indicators could potentially be used to exercise strategic control within SA Logistics. The proposed measures obtained from phase one was then verified with a group of executive members of SA Logistics during phase two of the study. Phase two was conducted by means of personal interviews with selected executive members. This verification process helped to determine the business sense of these proposed key performance indicators and allowed executive members to propose changes to these key performance indicators. The study found that the Balanced Scorecard could be used as a strategic control tool within a clearing and forwarding logistics organisation. The study established that all four of the perspectives of finance, customer, internal and learning/growth measures of the Balanced Scorecard can be tied into key business areas and related measures within SA Logistics. However, in order for this Balanced Scorecard to be widely accepted throughout the organisation, a more centralised approach is required. This study also allowed for a proposed Balanced Scorecard to be compiled for SA Logistics.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Visser, Daneel
- Date: 2012-06-06
- Subjects: Cargo handling , Physical distribution of goods , Freight and freightage , Business logistics , Freight and freightage management , Transportation management
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:2510 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/4964
- Description: M.Comm. , The purpose of this study was to determine whether a strategic control tool, such as the Balanced Scorecard, could be used within a leading international forwarding and clearing organisation operating in the South African and international logistics markets. The name of the organisation has been concealed, for confidentiality purposes, and therefore in this study the organisation is referred to as SA Logistics. A literature review was conducted where firstly the elements of strategic control were examined. This was followed by a review of certain strategic control tools such as benchmarking and Economic Value Added models. Then the literature regarding the Balanced Scoreacard was analysed in detail. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase a self-administered questionnaire was sent out to a group of respondents from middle management, within SA Logistics. The questionnaire required respondents to rank on a semantic differential scale their preferences from a proposed set of key performance indicators. These Key performance indicators could potentially be used to exercise strategic control within SA Logistics. The proposed measures obtained from phase one was then verified with a group of executive members of SA Logistics during phase two of the study. Phase two was conducted by means of personal interviews with selected executive members. This verification process helped to determine the business sense of these proposed key performance indicators and allowed executive members to propose changes to these key performance indicators. The study found that the Balanced Scorecard could be used as a strategic control tool within a clearing and forwarding logistics organisation. The study established that all four of the perspectives of finance, customer, internal and learning/growth measures of the Balanced Scorecard can be tied into key business areas and related measures within SA Logistics. However, in order for this Balanced Scorecard to be widely accepted throughout the organisation, a more centralised approach is required. This study also allowed for a proposed Balanced Scorecard to be compiled for SA Logistics.
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Supply chain integration in the retail sector in South Africa
- Authors: Rautenbach, Wessel
- Date: 2010-11-09T06:58:26Z
- Subjects: Business logistics , Retail trade , Electronic commerce
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:6970 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3478
- Description: M.Comm. , A positive relationship exists between supply chain integration and the creation of customer value. With globalization increasing, companies need to explore this as a way to stay competitive and deliver exceptional value in an environment where the customer is more informed and more demanding. The main objective of this study was to determine the level of supply chain integration in the selected sample of retailers in South Africa. The findings indicated that high levels of supply chain integration were limited in the companies that responded to the questionnaire. Businesses in South Africa need to become acquainted with supply chain integration and the value created from it for both the members in the supply chain and the customer. More research needs to be done in this field to measure supply chain integration in South Africa, to determine which companies would benefit from high levels of supply chain integration and to address the factors inhibiting supply chain integration.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rautenbach, Wessel
- Date: 2010-11-09T06:58:26Z
- Subjects: Business logistics , Retail trade , Electronic commerce
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:6970 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3478
- Description: M.Comm. , A positive relationship exists between supply chain integration and the creation of customer value. With globalization increasing, companies need to explore this as a way to stay competitive and deliver exceptional value in an environment where the customer is more informed and more demanding. The main objective of this study was to determine the level of supply chain integration in the selected sample of retailers in South Africa. The findings indicated that high levels of supply chain integration were limited in the companies that responded to the questionnaire. Businesses in South Africa need to become acquainted with supply chain integration and the value created from it for both the members in the supply chain and the customer. More research needs to be done in this field to measure supply chain integration in South Africa, to determine which companies would benefit from high levels of supply chain integration and to address the factors inhibiting supply chain integration.
- Full Text:
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