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Competitive pressures are forcing companies to adopt practices and supply chain structures that will produce high quality, reliable, reasonably priced products with continuously shorter lead times. In order to meet these goals, companies are utilizing flatter organizational structures and narrower supply chains. Flatter structures and narrower supply chains typically reap the benefits of reduced coordination costs and improved organizational efficiencies. However, there exists an associated burden of an increased risk of a single point of failure that could leave the supply chain unable to deliver products to the market in a timely manner. This research study develops a model of risk, called the risk assessment index, to assess the vulnerability of different supply chain structures. It is determined that there exists significant trade-offs between the number of suppliers in the supplier base, product diversification, supply chain coordination, and supply chain efficiency that must be examined for a supply chain to remain competitive in a highly risky, vulnerable environment.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a model for linking the dimensions of quality and how customers create their perceptions of quality in the products and services that they purchase. This provides a holistic framework for a better understanding of the various dimensions of product and service quality and their impact on consumer perceptions.Design/methodology/approachA holistic framework for the understanding of the various dimensions of product and service quality and their impact on the creation of consumer perceptions is presented. In addition research questions for future investigations are proposed.FindingsConsumer satisfaction is directly related to how well their expectations for a product or service are met. These expectations are developed from the customers perceptions about the product or service. If the firm wishes to develop new products and services that can create competitive advantage, they must understand how the various product characteristics, or service attributes, effect the creation of consumer perceptions.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the understanding of how consumers create their perceptions and how the various dimensions of product and service quality relate to these properties of perception.

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