Purpose -Many pharmaceutical companies outsource their research and development and manufacturing operations to value chain partners. Effective evaluation of outsourcees' capabilities and relationship management are often central for outsourcers to secure sustainable competitive advantage. This study aims to investigate how to evaluate outsourcees and manage outsourcing relationships in the pharmaceutical industry based on the theory of dynamic capability (DC). Design/methodology/approach -The investigation used an exploratory multiple case study approach. The data collection, spanning a period of 12 months, entailed a multinational pharmaceutical company (PharmCo) with its headquarters in Europe, and four contract research and manufacturing organizations from China and India. Findings -The results show that PharmCo evaluates its outsourcing partners based on their dynamic capabilities, which include processes (project deliverables, communication, and accuracy of costs), positions (financial assets, number of scientists, spectrum of services, and geographical presence), and paths (past experiences). The findings indicate that a pharmaceutical company outsources to partners with high operational capabilities, whereas it builds fully integrated outsourcing relationships only with those that have high dynamic capabilities. Practical implications -Findings from this study provide guidelines for practitioners in manufacturing industries to efficiently and effectively evaluate and manage outsourcees to deal with the challenges and risks associated with strategic outsourcing. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of DC in outsourcee evaluation and outsourcing relationship management in the pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, the paper illustrates how to conceptualize and measure the DC as a multi-dimensional construct. The analysis also indicates that partners' dynamic and operational capabilities play different roles in outsourcing relationship management.

The main objective of the working paper series of the IIMA is to help faculty members to test out their research findings at the pre-publication stage.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for mapping the Indian Public Distribution System (PDS) using multi-agent system (MAS). The entire PDS supply chain from purchase to the distribution is mapped in detail by integrating stages of PDS supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – Literature related to PDS, food grain supply chain (FGSC) and MAS is reviewed and critically assessed. Based on this a framework is proposed which will help in improving functioning of PDS. Findings – The PDS has many shortcomings arising from its complex structure and practices which are used to implement it. The authors propose an MAS to model it in which each entity will be modelled as an agent. The authors propose two stages of supply chain. First stage models the processes from procurement to storage of food grain and second stage model the distribution process. Practical implications – This paper will be of interest to the policy makers and decision makers involved in the PDS by providing the shortfalls in the system and also suggesting a method to model the PDS based on practices of food supply chains. Originality/value – This paper provides the decision makers in the PDS, a framework to model and assess the entire supply chain. This will help them in effective implementation of the PDS and also improve in the areas of concerns which are pointed the study.

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