Determining the core activities in the order fulfillment process: an empirical application

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This work examines the relationship between internal and relational capabilities and the creation of value to the end consumer in the case of the process of receipt, manufacture, and delivery of orders within the supply chain. This work develops a methodology to identify operations that generate core competences and those that do not, with the aim of improving the management of the supply chain. Design/methodology/approach -This work analyses the order fulfillment process in a representative sample of firms operating in a region of Spain. To accomplish the research objectives, a personal survey was conducted using a questionnaire to evaluate 13 activities of the order distribution process in the supply chain. Findings -The results of the study reveal that internal and relational capabilities explain the creation of value to the consumer. They also identify two groups of operations in line with their ability to be sources of relational or internal competitive advantage. With regard to the activities, it was shown that there are some activities that form part of the core competences, while others constitute non-core competences. This work demonstrates that the core activities generate higher value to the end consumer; however, it also shows how important the non-core activities may be to the creation of value. Practical implications -The work offers orientation as to how the analyzed process should be redesigned to obtain a competitive advantage. Thus, this higher value to the end consumer will enable the firm to reduce prices or at least maintain them, in which case the firm will be able to offer additional services that differentiate it from the competition. Originality/value -Finally, although the literature contains some works that analyze capabilities or relational performance, none to date have used variables such as activity simplification, integration and relational competitiveness in the framework of relational capabilities in the order fulfillment process. Another significant innovation of this work is the analysis at operation level, in which 13 activities belonging to an important process in the supply chain are analyzed.

Global value chain configuration: A review and research agenda

“…Espino- Rodríguez and Rodríguez-Díaz, 2014;Gilley and Rasheed, 2000;Linares-Navarro et al, 2014;McIvor, 2000;Quinn, 1999 Essential activities Those activities which are complementary and important for competitive advantage. Non-core activities Those activities that give low added value to the firm.…”

“…Activities may also be divided by distinguishing between those related to exploration from those related to exploitation, based on whether they are competence-creating activities – such as those that are technologically advanced – or competence-exploiting activities – such as those that imply local adaptation while deploying existing technologies (Cantwell and Mudambi, 2005; Cantwell and Piscitello, 2015; Ha and Giroud, 2015). Other classifications take into account activities’ importance in terms of the firm's competitive advantage and distinguish between core and non-core activities (Espino-Rodríguez and Rodríguez-Díaz, 2014; Gilley and Rasheed, 2000; McIvor, 2000) or between core, essential and non-core activities (Contractor et al, 2010; Quinn, 1999; Linares-Navarro et al, 2014). According to this latter view, core activities are those with high added-value, which are distinctive and crucial for competitive advantage, and are supposed to be the ones the firm performs better than any other company; essential activities are those needed for sustaining profitable operations that are complementary and important for competitive advantage; and non-core activities are those that can easily be outsourced.…”

Performance Evaluation of Reverse Logistics: Opportunities for Future Research

“…Companies now recognize that the management of the RL is important and the use of performance indicators to measure its effectiveness can bring differential and competitive advantage [35]. In increasing competitive advantage, the study by Espino-Rodríguez and Rodríguez-Días [36] revealed the internal and relational capacities for value creation in consumer perception, considering essential and non-essential activities and how they relate in the generation of highest value. Table 1 outlines the aspects related to reverse logistics based on the articles used to structure the bibliographic review.…”

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“…According to various authors (Sinur, Odell, and Fingar 2013;Margherita 2014;Espino-Rodriguez and Rodriguez-Diaz 2014;Trkman, Budler, and Groznik 2015;Potočan and Nedelko 2015;Lau et al 2016), we can agree that for the company performance, core processes must be linked to the goals of the company, oriented towards benefit for the customer and that we must have clearly defined criteria for measuring the effects on the business. Also, in accordance with Kaplan and Norton (1996), those companies that include the aspect of core processes in their business, in addition to finance, learning, and customers, will be successful.…”