Virtual organization for supply chain integration: Two cases in the textile and fashion retailing industry

A supply chain is an alternative form with competitive entity consisting of a group of companies in the business environment. Some supply chain projects are initiated by associated firms while some are started by the head office of multinational enterprises in order to integrate the diversified subordinates. This study focuses on the investigation on the supply chain structures within the boundaries of two multinational textile enterprises, respectively. One enterprise tries to integrate the market side by merging a brand owner. The other seeks an integration solution to compensate from its loss of control of sub-manufacturing sites which during corporate expansion were registered as independent firms. Both enterprises have initiated their global logistics management projects in order to balance the demand and supply. By participating in the two projects, our research indicates the different barriers of integrating toward the upstream and downstream supply chains and provides a mutual solution by building up the e-Fashion global supply chains. Similarities and dissimilarities of both cases towards the virtual organization approach are also addressed in this paper.

[1]  Kees Boersma,et al.  From means to ends: The transformation of ERP in a manufacturing company , 2005, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[2]  Jason Bennett Thatcher,et al.  Internet anxiety: An empirical study of the effects of personality, beliefs, and social support , 2007, Inf. Manag..

[3]  Hing Kai Chan,et al.  Effect of information sharing in supply chains with flexibility , 2009 .

[4]  Kevin Crowston,et al.  The interdisciplinary study of coordination , 1994, CSUR.

[5]  B. Beamon.  Supply chain design and analysis:: Models and methods , 1998 .

[6]  Kathleen M. Carley,et al.  Network Structure in Virtual Organizations , 1999 .

[7]  Hmh Herman Hegge,et al.  Extending the enterprise through multi-level supply control , 1997 .

[8]  Stephen L. Chan,et al.  A conceptual and analytical framework for business process reengineering , 1997 .

[9]  Kyung Hwan Kang,et al.  Supply chain model for the semiconductor industry in consideration of manufacturing characteristics , 2006 .

[10]  Monica Divitini,et al.  An agent-based approach to modelling virtual enterprises , 2001 .

[11]  G. Northcraft,et al.  Happy together?. Insights and implications of viewing managed supply chains as a social dilemma , 2007 .

[12]  S. Koh,et al.  ERP II: The involvement, benefits and impediments of collaborative information sharing , 2008 .

[13]  Robert de Souza,et al.  Supply chain dynamics and optimization , 2000 .

[14]  Shouhong Wang,et al.  Information technology enabled meta-management for virtual organizations , 2002 .

[15]  Abbe Mowshowitz,et al.  Virtual organization , 1997, CACM.

[16]  Joseph Sarkis,et al.  A framework for designing efficient value chain networks , 1999 .

[17]  G. Stevens.  Integrating the Supply Chain , 1989 .

[18]  A. O. Aydin,et al.  Effective relational database approach to represent bills-of-materials , 2005 .

[19]  K. H. Park,et al.  Virtual enterprise – organisation, evolution and control , 2001 .

[20]  Abbe Mowshowitz,et al.  Virtual Organization - Introduction to the Special Section. , 1997 .

[21]  G. Hult,et al.  Strategic supply chain management: Improving performance through a culture of competitiveness and knowledge development , 2007 .

[22]  P. Humphreys,et al.  Reducing supply chain environmental uncertainty through e-intermediation: An organisation theory perspective , 2008 .

[23]  Maria Manuela Cunha,et al.  Identification of the domain of opportunities for a market of resources for virtual enterprise integration , 2006 .

[24]  Peter R. Monge,et al.  Introduction to the Special Issue: Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations , 1999 .

[25]  Axel Tuma,et al.  Configuration and coordination of virtual production networks , 1998 .

[26]  Hing Kai Chan,et al.  The future trend on system-wide modelling in supply chain studies , 2005 .

[27]  Hokey Min,et al.  Supply chain modeling: past, present and future , 2002 .

[28]  Iuan-Yuan Lu,et al.  Adoption of virtual organization by Taiwanese electronics firms , 2005 .

[29]  Kai R. T. Larsen,et al.  Preparing to work in the virtual organization , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[30]  Latifa Ouzizi,et al.  A model for cooperative planning within a virtual enterprise , 2006, Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf..

[31]  Kunal Banerji,et al.  Effect of network organization on alliance formation: A study of the Japanese automobile ancillary industry , 1998 .

[32]  Janice A. Black,et al.  Emergence of virtual or network organizations: fad or feature , 2000 .

[33]  Y. Chang,et al.  Benefits of co‐operation on innovative performance: evidence from integrated circuits and biotechnology firms in the UK and Taiwan , 2003 .

[34]  Peter Tolmie,et al.  Some ’real’ problems of ’virtual’ organisation , 2001 .