Review Of The Article “Developing Angles Of Integration” By J.H. Thun

The paper in question was published in the ‘Journal of Supply Chain Management’ in April 2010. The author, Jörn-Henrik Thun, conducted research on how information technology forms the link between an organization’s success with its supply chain operations and how integrated the mentioned technologies are in its communication systems with customers and suppliers. The facts shown emphasize the importance of the process of information for an organization’s success. However, the empirical study makes clear, that not many businesses have made use of internet-based technologies until 2010.

It encourages managers to rethink their supply chain strategy, to define the role of IT in this chain and the degree of supplier and customer integration. The success of a business means to communicate well with suppliers and customers. IT systems are used to communicate information between the parties involved including inter-organizational functions. It helps to gather information faster, to process it to different parts in the supply chain and to forecast demands or uncertain activities on the market. The better integrated all parts in the supply chain are, the quicker a company can respond to changing customer expectations. Customers become more involved in the designing process, the company maintains frequent contact and is able to gain excess to information essential for its competitiveness. All this, reasons in a successful customer integration via the Internet or other tools available.

On the other side, a good link between an organization and its suppliers results in streamlined processes, again to reduce customer lead times and inventory investments. Correct information which is available to the right time is the requirement for a functioning global supply chain integration. The better the information system, the better are the results. The author states numerous researches and summaries of their results regarding this topic. One, that he elaborated on in particular, is the High Performance Manufacturing Project conducted in 2004/2005. This project focused on 238 plants in three industries (automobile, electronics, machinery), based in eight different countries. Questionnaires on supply chain management and e-business instruments displayed the link between management practices and the plants’ performances. The results were interpreted within groups of integration (high, middle, low degrees of integration) and the plants were divided into five subdivisions according to the fields they used IT systems on (customers, suppliers, both, none).

The validity was tested with cluster analysis and the overall results were presented in different ways by the author. The analysis showed the differences in the focus of their supply chain strategy and compared how integrated IT was in the groups mentioned. The most significant result was, that customer-oriented applications were rare for all the five groups, which means, that most of the plants did not use any of the appliances mentioned in the list of study at the time of the evaluation. Examples for the internet-based applications in question are receiving and comparing information, or online customer service. The use of IT in the supplier-based category was more common. A table shows what subdivision used how much internet-based applications in four different categories. Strengths The takeaway message for managers is clear from the beginning: IT technology is important for a company’s success. By mentioning numerous studies conducted by various researchers, the author shows how important the topic is. The explanations of these researches are mediocre, which encourages the audience to read further into the topic.

The outline is easy to follow since headings make the content of the paragraph clear. Tables and charts aid to understanding the mentioned results of the High Performance Manufacturing Project, which also supports managers, when applying these measures for their own businesses. Weaknesses It takes the author almost five pages to complete the introduction and definition of the article’s main idea. Although many studies are mentioned, none of them get explained in depth, which complicates the grasp of the article’s content. No specific example is given to provide the reader with background information regarding these statements. The examples are widely chosen and without a focus on a specific theory, therefore the result of implementing IT systems into a supply chain is not very clear, apart from the general knowledge presented earlier in the text. The conclusion introduces new ideas and explanations for statements made in the body of the article. Upcoming questions are left unanswered. Intentional or unintentional, it diminishes the article’s quality. Moreover, the article was published in 2010. Standards may have changed a lot in eight years, which limits the significance of this article. Furthermore, the situation of the evaluated plants after the questionnaire remains unknown as well. Were they able to change according to the needs in their environments? Adding to this, the author mentions research conducted in three different industries but failed to explain the results to let the audience filter a concise answer. What kind of IT system is advised to use in what situation/for what industry? Relevance After reading this article, managers may know that IT systems are important for the performance of a business, and may evaluate how successful their businesses integrate these systems respectively. However, a manager is unlikely to learn what the following steps will be. Certainly, managers get encouraged to read further into the topic. The article relates closely to the course GSCM.

For once, the use of network-planning models is very common today, which might safe managers the work of operations evaluation mentioned in this text. But it also relates to organizational structures. The better the flow of information and therefore communication is, the more complex a structure and supply chain network can be without getting too complex to compromise an organization’s performance. Conclusion The author, Jörn-Henrik Thun, highlighted the importance of aligned strategies regarding the integration of an organization’s supply chain and IT systems. The stated High Performance Manufacturing Project and its results may or may not be relevant to today’s managers. Follow-up reading is required in any case, since the article based on eight-year-old knowledge. What IT systems would the author recommend for the three industries stated in the beginning? How should a manager proceed after finishing the evaluation? And what should other business structures do to include IT systems (small businesses, divisional structures,…)?