Revitalizing supply chain thru better coordination and harmony among organizational units in Company X

• Main Author: Lapuz, Erwin R.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Organizational change; Employees > Training of; Organizational effectiveness
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/5645
• Institution: De La Salle University

The topic of supply chain management (SCM) spans over a 100-year history. With such long backstory, many have jumped on the bandwagon believing that immediate success is achievable by following the established SCM guidelines. Unfortunately, SCM is not a quick fix. Its expensive to implement, requires extensive employee training, and a total change of mindset. Many organizations have embraced SCM before fully understanding what's needed to make it work thus putting their company at serious risk. With an autocratic leadership, seasonal product, in-sourcing environment and high degree of resistance from bottom to top, the internal SCM implementation project of a school and office supply company failed to successfully integrate and create value for the organization. This action research focuses on revitalizing this failed internal SCM integration at the time when top management was ready to abandon the project and return to the old system. Using the research paper of Stanley Fawcett, Gregory Magnan and Matthew McCarters (2008) on the Benefits, Barriers and Bridges to Effective Supply Chain Management and collaborating with the original core team of the failed project, the existence of certain barriers or restraining forces were identified as the core issues preventing the internal supply chain to tightly integrate. Through implementation of a coordination mechanism and employee engagement activities, this action research is geared towards achieving better coordination and harmony among its different organizational units to serve as bridges in overcoming the identified barriers. These interventions were implemented while anchoring on Kurt Lewins Change Management Framework to achieve effective assimilation into the existing system.