Interdisciplinary Research in Supply Chain

Interdisciplinary research in
SCM
S G Deshmukh
ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology &
Management , Gwalior
Workshop on
“Interdisciplinary Research & Decision Sciences in Business Practices”,
DMS, IIT Delhi
4 Feb 2017 1

Speaking points..
 Opening remarks..
 Various perspectives about interdisciplinary
research..
 Funding perspective
 Experience sharing & Big Opportunities..
 Closing remarks..
2

My presentation based on ..
3
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11153/facilit
ating-interdisciplinary-research
https://www.abebooks.com/9781412988773/Inter
disciplinary-Research-Process-Theory-Repko-
1412988772/plp

Observations ..1..
 Everywhere, digital transformation is making
disruptions
 Traditional ways of conducting research and
disseminating outcomes have also changed
 The way we communicate and disseminate has
changed.
 Contemporary research in SCM is no exception
to this !
 Focus on emerging collaborative environment
4

Observations ..2…
 Supply Chain Management has matured as a
discipline
 Developments in IT have made integration
possible: The fundamental premise on which SCM
is based !!
 Basic concerns in SCM : Management of Material
flow, Information flow ,Money flow, Manpower flow
& Energy flow
 These concerns are valid in a variety of contexts ,
hence plethora of opportunities available ,
especially in emerging economies like India

Importance of Research in SCM
 For advancing the state of knowledge
 For gaining acceptance by the academic
community
 For enhancing quality of pedagogy (especially
in Business schools)
 For increase in reach and visibility
 For making some difference & impact since
SCM affects and gets affected by a whole array
of disciplines cutting across the boundaries !
6

Research in SCM is guided by
some aspects of boundary
 Discipline Boundary (Maths, Computer Science,
HR, Finance !!)
 Time or Resource Boundary
 Information or Data Boundary (availability, form
and content )
 Contextual boundary(guided by the situation)
15 7

Observations
 Marketing academics offering customer
focussed solutions
 Supply management academics offering
supplier-management focussed solutions
 IS academics offering system connectivity –
focussed solutions
Source: Sanders NR . Zacharia ZG & Fugate BS, 2013, The Interdisciplinary future of supply chain
management research, Decision Sciences, 44(3), 413-428
8

Why interdisciplinary research?
 Voluntary reasons
 Compelling reasons ?
9

What is happening today..
 An increasing focus on interdisciplinary research
 SCM , by design provides an ideal platform for this !
 An enhanced importance on large scale problems,
rather than techniques; Thanks to data
science/analytics !!
 Greater emphasis on collaborative work
 Research in SCM : Integrative, crossing various
boundaries and can impact society !
10

Observations..
 Our thinking & way of working is shaped by
environment and the context within which we
operate
 Research in SCM is governed by “Context”!
 We are “Textual” rather than ‘Contextual”
Insightful remark by Mr K P Fabian, Ex-ambassador
(4 Aug 2016 at ABV-IIITM Gwalior)
11

Research in supply chain
management domain …
 Huge scope for integration
 Synergization of analytical and evidence
based approach?
 Context/culture based?
 Applied – Enrichment due to practice and
practitioners
 Opportunity to make some contributions to
society ?

Change in focus
Fragmented to Integrated ?
Myopic to long term?
Tool centric to issue centric?
Theory based to implementation based?
Model based to practice based?

Taxonomy for research
 Push vs Pull Type of research
 Push-Traditional one- academic trying to
push publications
 Pull-Contemporary one- driven by customer
14

Customer centric research..
 KYC – Know your customer
 Who is the customer?
 Business & society as customers of our
research !
15

Interdisciplinary research-
Connotations from literature ..
Interdisciplinary research involves variants of the following
 “integration” (Wagner et al., 2011),
 “convergence” (Fuller, 2011),
 “synthesis” (Rafols and Meyer (2010),
 “fusion” (Krohn, 2010),
 “amalgamation” (Bozeman and Boardman, 2014) ,or
 “unification” (Dupré, 2006).
Common among these definitions is an emphasis on the ability to move
beyond single disciplines to address research topics from new perspectives,
theories, concepts and methodologies that together form a body of
knowledge beyond the traditional disciplinary boundaries.
16

Interdisciplinary research :
Ancient Indian perspective
Elephant & Six blind men …
source: outboox.com

Interdisciplinary research
 Compelling reason?
 Research has to attract funding
 Funding opportunities are limited
18

Interdisciplinary research:
NSF perspective
 “Interdisciplinary research is a mode of research by teams
or individuals that integrates information, data, techniques,
tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or
more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to
advance fundamental understanding or to solve problems
whose solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline
or area of research practice.“*
*Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public
Policy (2004). Facilitating interdisciplinary research. National Academies. Washington: National Academy
Press, p. 2.
19

European perspective
 Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever
with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in
addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises
more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from
the lab to the market
 European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation “Horizon
2020” presents an instructive example of the deliberations in major
interdisciplinary programmes.
https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/
20

Imprint
 IMPRINT is the first of its kind MHRD supported Pan-IIT + IISc joint
initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that
India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden the
nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
IMPRINT provides the overarching vision that
guides research into areas that are
predominantly socially relevant.
http://imprint-india.org/
21

Experience sharing
 Ongoing doctoral work on exploring supply
chain of medical devices /dental implants
 Arya V, Deshmukh SG & Bhatnagar NB (2016),Value Creation in Dental
Implant Supply Chain, 10th World congress for oral implantology & AAID
congress, New Delhi , 11-13 Nov 2016
 Arya, V, Deshmukh, SG., & Bhatnagar, NB (2015), High Technology Health
Care Supply Chains: Issues in Collaboration. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 189, 40-47
22

Medical Device: Dental Implant
 Dental Implant is a medical operation used
to restore the functions of damaged or
missing teeth

Importance of dental supply chain and
their characteristics
 Dental Implant supply chain encompasses high
value and low volume items which are highly
customized depending upon the clinical
requirements and to restore the functions or the
aesthetic requirements.
 Some Characteristics are:
 Highly customized products, highly automated processes
 Precision manufacturing requirements
 Strictly regulated at manufacturing and clinical end
 High Shelf life of the products such as dental implants,
prosthetic components
 Requires intense RD support, very high initial investment

Issues in supply chain of dental
implants
 Lack of affordability, awareness and access of dental implants
is the key issue
 Real time customized products through an interactive platform
between manufacturer and the clinician
 Information integration issue related to anatomical information
data set which is highly variant according to shape, width and
length of jawbone.
 Integrating multiple supply networks in case of partially
outsourced manufacturing. Knowing when and where to
integrate supply chain networks is critical
 No standardization in prosthetic components particularly in
case of dental implant

Tools/techniques used
Issue Tools used Remarks
Value Creation in medical devices BBN Dynamic model stating real time analysis,
predictive analysis
Problems faced by clinicians in current
practice (technological perspective)
Text Mining Analysis based on text mining resulting
prominent areas need attention
Affordability of medical devices Optimization model Cost analysis and decision related to in house
production/outsourcing, decision regarding
investment in automation of the processes
Enablers and barriers in value creation DEMATEL Causal relations among various factors
creating/limiting value in medical devices
Manufacturing process improvement
related decisions, staggered investment
pertaining to automation
MCDM Process study under different criteria,
highlighting process volatility in lens of
ISO13485 and concluding to process control
under various constraints
Medical device selection for a customized
use
F-GRA Decision making under multi-criteria for
selecting a medical device (clinical
perspective)
Accountability enforcement DSS Dedicated software for enforcing the
accountability at various nodes in the supply
chain of medical implants

Comment..
 Interactions with Doctors, paramedical personnel,
patients, equipment suppliers, regulatory bodies
etc. to get an holistic understanding of the issues
 Everyone has his/her “Worldview” - sometimes a
limited view just link in the parable of elephant and
blind men !
 Reality is different - prudence lies in
comprehending the entire ‘elephant” !!
27

Big opportunity 1: SCM in
the context of Smart City
 The concept of smart cities has been fairly a new
one in India.
 The Government’s announcement to build 100 smart
cities – New impetus to the concept with the idea
being discussed in the public sphere.
 The Ministry of Urban Development is anchoring this
initiative
 An agreement has been reached with the USA,
Germany Japan and UK to collaborate on the
project.

Parameters of Smart Cities
 Competitiveness refers to a city’s ability to create
employment opportunities, attract investments, experts,
professionals and people. The ease of being able to do
business and the quality of life it offers determines its
competitiveness. (Planners view, Business View, IT View)
 Sustainability includes social sustainability, environmental
sustainability and financial sustainability (Architects view,
Sustainability view)
 Quality of Life includes safety and security, inclusiveness,
entertainment, ease of seeking and obtaining public services,
cost efficient healthcare, quality education, transparency,
accountability and opportunities for participation in
governance (Citizen’s view)29

Big opportunity 2: SCM in
Swachhata Abhiyan
 Mission mode project, launched by the prime minister in
Oct 2014
 Supply chain of garbage, waste, debris, disposables
etc.
 Material flow, information flows
 Huge scope for improvement
 A social supply chain & Community led supply chain
 Reverse supply chain for waste recycle ?
https://swachhbharat.mygov.in/
30

Pre-requisites for IDR
 Change of mindset
 Sensitization about
Drivers for research- large scale, societal
challenges
Drivers for outcomes?
 Continual ability to learn and adapt to embrace
alternative views/perspectives
 Coming out of shell /comfort zones
31

Insights .1..
 Following insights ,we gained by doing
interdisciplinary research rather than doing in a
conventional, “silo” based approach
 Enhanced quality of decision making since a variety of
stakeholders involved
 Decision model in SCM is one thing- seeing its
implementation is another thing which makes you satisfied !
 Management science is both science and “art” !
 Chances of implementing the SCM model are enhanced if
we take the “art” of implementation into account
For this : Interdisciplinary mind set is a “must”
32

Insights ..2..
 Research is not an end in itself
 Research is means to an end!
 That “end” is defined by business/society
 One should not get carried away by the
“means” !
 Keep the bigger picture of “end” in view !
33

Summary: benefits of IDR in SCM
 IDR generates synergy while grasping variety of
issue sin SCM ,
 IDR helps learning and growing of individual
discipline researchers (say "Logistics”, “Materials
Mgmt” , “Finance ” etc.)
 IDR facilitates un-covering the areas of unknown
(remember comprehending all areas of SCM is not
easy !!)
 IDR helps in enhancing quality of decision making in
SCM
34

Closing remarks: Ph D degree ~
 Ph D degree: a passport to conduct
research
 Typically a Ph D degree does not specify
discipline !!
 It is convergence in pursuit of knowledge
 Same is the case with interdisciplinary
research !!
35

Thank you
deshmukh.sg@gmail.com

Interdisciplinary Research in Supply Chain

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