Managing structural and dynamic complexity in supply chains: insights from four case studies

Abstract

This study offers a comprehensive review of the practices that four manufacturing companies employ in their SC function to manage the structural and dynamic complexity of their product portfolio, internal SC, and supplier and customer bases. Moreover, leveraging the results of the inductive in-depth case studies, a classification of complexity management practices consisting of four clusters is advanced: variety reducing, confinement and decoupling, coordination and collaboration, and decision support and knowledge generation. Each cluster's distinctive logic and limitations are discussed and propositions on their managerial scope are introduced, therefore providing managers with relevant insights to design effective complexity management approaches in their organisations.

Managing complexity through integrative tactical planning in engineer-to-order environments: insights from four case studies

“…The conceptual framework enabled the initial categorization of the case descriptions. Thus, to answer RQ1, the authors used the categories of CFI mechanisms as sorting categories (Eisenhardt 1989), defining the applied settings of CFI mechanisms throughout the process. To answer RQ2, the authors compared the process descriptions across the cases (Yin 2009).…”

“…Due to the limited conceptualization and empirical research on the relationship between CFI mechanisms and the negative impact of complexity on DS balancing, this study adopts an exploratory theory-building approach (Eisenhardt 1989), investigating the COFP in four ETO-oriented settings (see Table 1). Multiple case studies are suitable to investigate 'how' and 'why' contemporary events occur (Yin 2009).…”

“…To ensure homogeneity, all case companies needed to have an ETO strategy in line with definitions from the literature (see Gosling and Naim 2009), whereby firms start customizing products after receiving the respective customer orders. Since studying the COFP and the applied CFI mechanisms requires in-depth enquiries, the number of case companies needed rationalization, which was possible through ensuring cross-case heterogeneity (Eisenhardt 1989). To ensure heterogeneity, the cases needed to present variability in terms of the complexity drivers discussed by Bozarth et al (2009) as shown in Figure 2.…”

“…Moreover, most of the interviews occurred in the presence of one of the authors, which allowed for observations (Voss, Tsikriktsis, and Frohlich 2002). Observations add to the source of data, which contributes to the research validity (Eisenhardt 1989).…”

The implications of complexity for humanitarian logistics: a complex adaptive systems perspective

“…This makes them a suitable approach for the study of complex social phenomena in which a variety of variables, some of them unknown to the researchers, shape particular responses or outcomes in a network of interactions (Stake 2000;Flyvbjerg 2013). Case studies are commonly used to explore, and make sense of, complexity (Flyvbjerg 2013;Yin 2014;Kreye et al 2015;Campus et al 2019), with qualitative methods being noted as particularly appropriate for 'allowing researchers to deal with complexity, context and persona and their multitude of factors, relationships and fuzzy phenomena' (Cassell and Gummesson 2006, p. 167).…”