The case for applying systems thinking to global supply chain management

Dan Gardner
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Dan Gardner: President, Trade Facilitators, USA

Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement, 2021, vol. 4, issue 1, 17-36

Abstract: ‘Systems thinking’ is an engineering discipline designed to improve the performance of any type of system by leveraging the interactions that take place between its component parts. Because it focuses on the interdependencies that exist among the elements that comprise a system’s structure, as well as the feedback loops that occur within it, systems thinking is ideal for application to the field of supply chain management. Whereas the principles of systems thinking can be seen in supply chain simulations such as ‘the beer game’, its use has not kept up with the complexities inherent in globalisation. It is the objective of this paper to reintroduce systems thinking to global trade professionals and demonstrate how the application of its tenets to supply chain management can yield order-of-magnitude advances in operational outcomes, supplier relations, customer satisfaction, corporate citizenship and financial results.

Keywords: systems thinking; system dynamics; predictive analytics; sales and operations planning; global supply chain management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L23 M11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jscm00:y:2021:v:4:i:1:p:17-36

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