Benefits that Supply Chain Collaboration Could Bring to Businesss Sustainable Development - Research Proposal Example

Research Brief: Benefits that Supply Chain Collaboration could bring to Business’s Sustainable Development Student’s Name Course Tutor’s Name Date: Introduction This research brief seeks to identify a research approach that will be used to find out the exact benefits that supply chain collaborations have towards sustainable development in businesses. According to Peters, Hamprecht and Hofstetter (2005), collaborations in the supply chain enable supply chain partners to create individualized and unique sources of consumer value, which enhances the sustainability and competitive advantage of the entire supply chain and that of individual businesses. The importance of supply chain collaboration in relation to fostering sustainable development in business has been underscored by Roberts (2003), Vachon and Klassen (2006), and Peters et al. (2005) who observe that in many cases, stakeholders do not distinguish between an organisation and its partners in the supply chain. As such, if an organisation or one of its partners in the supply chain misses a standard, the responsibility is almost always transferred to the company that has direct contact with consumers. According to Tang (2006), collaboration in the supply chain enables tight management and cooperation among partners, thus creating an enabling environment for developments of a sustainable nature. Aims and Objectives The main objective of the research will involve identifying whether collaborations in supply chains always have an effect on the sustainability of business development. Additionally, the research will seek to find out if there are specific types of supply chain collaborations that are more effective than others in enhancing sustainable business development. In consideration of the foregoing, the research will seek to answer the following questions: i. Do supply chain collaborations always lead to sustainable developments in business? ii. Are there specific supply chain collaborations that enhance sustainable development in business compared to others? Proposed Research Methods To meet the above stated research objectives, quantitative research will be used. The suitability of quantitative research is underscored by the purpose of the research, which is to understand and interpret the interaction between supply chain collaborations and sustainable developments in business. Additionally, the sample will include 100 firms, which will be selected discriminately among firms that have established supply chain collaborations. The researcher will conduct interviews with relevant operations managers in all the 100 firms, during which time open-ended questions will be asked. From the responses, the researcher will identify themes, patterns or features in the data analysis phase. Based on this, the researcher will obtain specific findings, from which a theory or hypothesis will be generated, which will be included in the ‘findings’ section of the research. Rodrigues (2009, p. 3) defines the interview as “a data-collecting method which usually involves personal visits to respondents at home or at work”. From the interviews, the researcher obtains highly specific data in a relatively shorter time compared to questionnaires. From the interviews, the researcher is also able to get a general understanding of the people being interviewed, their perceptions, and beliefs (Rodrigues 2009). According to Rodrigues (2009) the qualitative approach to research is ideal where a researcher intends to investigate, discover and construct a new understanding of a specific social phenomenon. It is also an ideal approach to studying behaviour in a specific environment, hence making it a viable approach to understanding how supply chain coordination affects sustainable developments in business. A review of literature will also be conducted in order to provide the researcher with insight about technical aspects of the research, as well as past findings from other researchers. The literature review will also allow the researcher to identify gaps in existing knowledge that can be filled (or contributed towards) by the proposed research. According to The Writing Centre at UNC Chapel Hill (2012, para.5), a literature review “can give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations”. In other words, the researcher can give new meaning to existing findings, or he/she could benefit from the knowledge contained in existing findings and interpretations. Since the main focus of this research paper is to develop new knowledge in the subject area, a literature review will act as the foundation and support for the new insight that the research will most likely unearth. The focus of the literature review will however be to abridge and create an understanding of arguments and ideas in the subject area. Project Plan, Budget & Timeline Project plan 1. Project goal To identify whether collaborations in supply chains always have an effect on the sustainability of business development 2. Project objective(s) Contribute to knowledge regarding whether or not supply chain collaborations always enhance sustainability in development made in businesses Find out if there are specific supply chain collaborations that have more effect on sustainable business developments when compared to others. 3. Strategies Conduct qualitative research through strategic sampling Conduct a literature review 4. Activities Conduct a review of existing literature Identify and contact respondents Interview respondents Analyse findings Write report Budget Activity Cost ($) Library Fees (research & Literature review) 150 Telephone charges 300 Internet costs (emails to respondents, Skype) 100 Research Assistant (@$9/hour for 45 hours) 405 Miscellaneous costs 50 Total 1005 Timeline Activity Start date (2013) End (2013) Topic identification & Research proposal May 20 May 25 Literature review May 27 June 01 Sampling respondent firms, contacting them and scheduling interviews June 03 June 15 Conducting the interviews June 17 July 20 Analysing findings July 22 August 10 Writing the final report August 12 August 24 Issues to be considered Among the major issues to be considered include the validity of the research findings especially considering that interviews could include an aspect of confirmation bias by the researcher. According to Anonymous (2010, para. 1), confirmation bias is “a person’s tendency to favour information that confirms their assumptions, preconceptions or hypotheses whether these are actually and independently true or not”. While confirmation bias may be an issue in this research, the researcher can attempt resolving the same by adopting a careful analytic processing approach in research and analysis as suggested by Hernandez and Preston (2012). Considering the need for personal interviews in the 100 sampled firms, timing and scheduling appointments with individual operations managers may be a challenging task. Additionally, winning the trust of operations managers, especially in relation to information about firm-specific supply chain collaborations may be problematic. However, the researcher intends to assure each respondent firm that the highest standards of research ethics will be upheld, and that all information obtained will be used for research-related purposes only. Given the small number of respondent firms, the validity of the findings may also be put into question. Specifically, it could be argued that the 100 firms are not representative of the diversity represented in the various firms where supply chain collaborations could be beneficial. To remedy the foregoing possibility, the researcher will indicate the limitations of the research and make suggestions on how future research can make meaningful contributions to the research subject. The final issue that the researcher may have to deal with is related to subjectivity, which according to Litchman (2006) is more prevalent in qualitative research. Litchman (2006) observes that while subjectivity is expected in qualitative research, researchers should as much as possible try to be objective. Potential use of Research Findings The research findings will act as good knowledge for operations managers, since they will be indicative of the beneficial aspects of supply chain collaborations. As indicated by Hales (2009) research should ideally make new contribution to knowledge. Similarly, the findings from this research are intended to make a new and impactful contribution to supply chain management and sustainability studies. Potential findings could indicate that supply chain collaborations always lead to sustainable developments in business or otherwise. If the research findings indicate that such collaborations do not always lead to sustainable developments in business, the researcher will then comment on what practitioners need to improve. The research might even reveal areas of knowledge that need further investigations by practitioners and researchers alike. Potential findings may also indicate that some form of supply chain collaborations enhance sustainable development in business compared to others. If such was to happen, the research would have played a role in championing the adoption of specific type of collaboration that will enhance sustainable practices in subject firms. Conclusion and recommendations This research seeks to find out if supply chain collaborations always lead to sustainable developments in business. It also seeks to find out if some supply chain collaborations are better at enhancing sustainable developments in firms than others. Through interviewing operations managers in 100 firms, the research intends to get sufficient data from which a conclusion will be reached on the two aforementioned issues. Consequently, the research will have made a contribution to knowledge, and will probably help firms to enhance their decision-making in matters related to supply chain collaborations. To understand the topic well and avoid replicating knowledge which already exists, the researcher will conduct a detailed literature review, and combined with the research findings, the knowledge gained from the review of existing literature will form the basis of a well-researched and informed project. References Anonymous 2010, ‘Confirmation bias...and the Wason Rule discovery test’, Explorable.com, viewed 20 May 2013, . Hales, J 2009, ‘The literature review in research’, viewed 20 May 2013, . Hernandez, I & Preston, J L 2013, ‘Disfluency disrupts the confirmation bias’, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 49, pp. 178-182. Litchman, M 2006, Qualitative research in education: a user’s guide, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Peters, N, Hamprecht, J & Hofstetter, J S 2007,’ Supply chain design of voluntary sustainability initiatives-organisations’ strategic answer to an emerging societal discussion’, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Logistics, 8-10 July, Budapest, pp. 126-134. Roberts, S 2003, ‘Supply chain specific? Understanding the patchy success of ethical sourcing initiatives’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 44, pp. 159-170. Rodrigues, A D 2009, ‘Chapter five: research methods- the literature review, conducting interviews, and the collection of statistical information’, viewed 20 May 2013, . Tang, C S 2006, Perspectives in supply chain risk management’, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 103, p. 451-488. The Writing Centre at UNC Chapel Hill (2012), ’Literature reviews’, University of North Carolina- College of Arts & Sciences, viewed 20 May 2013, . Vachon, S & Klassen, R D 2006, ‘Extending green practices across the supply chain: the impact of upstream and downstream integration’, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 26, vol. 7, p. 795. Read More