Article Review: Network Analysis of Supply Chain Systems by Bellamy and Basole - Essay Example

Rahul C Basole works in the School of Interactive Computing as an Associate professor and at Enterprise Transformation as an Associate Director at Tennebaum Institute. Current interests include integrating system science and visualization in the comprehension and management of technology, innovation, and operations of multifaceted enterprises.

The drawbacks result in the acknowledgment of crucial benefits linked to network analytics in understanding, designing, and managing SCSs. To understand the impact of network analytics, three interdependent themes evaluated are SCS system architecture or network structure, SCS system behavior or network dynamics, and SCS system policy and control or network strategy. Network analysis involves an interdisciplinary lens that relies on theories derived from organizational, social, and complexity sciences. Additionally, network analysis controls graph theoretic techniques to design, evaluate and visualize the SCS structure, strategies, and dynamics. Bellamy & Basole's  (2013) article relies on the objectives of network analysis systematic review in the literature of supply chain; organization into an integrative framework and suggestions for future directions. The research fields included in the multidisciplinary analysis are operations management, sociology, biology, marketing, physics, economics, and system engineering.

The data used by Bellamy & Basole  (2013) was based on a supply chain context relative to the period starting 1995 to 2011. The year 1995 was chosen for being the first year network analysis used in the analyzing supply chain. Articles publication was based on publication year, research method and research theme, and publication outlet. The article’s research was found on 126 articles examined using varying combinations of the three themes but concerning the research publication per each time. Article classification was also based on theme and research methodology.

The study focussed on the development of an organizational framework to promote the comprehension of issues of supply chain management using systems engineering network analysis. The research revealed that the development of an effective SCS calls for an understanding of network architecture, network strategy, and network dynamics. System architecture defines the system arrangement relative to its components, their associations to the environment and to each other, and their design principles. Understanding architecture involves the identification of node-level, network-level, and link-level properties. System dynamic involves SCS change, evolution, and formation with time and is analyzed using stimuli, phenomena, and sustainability. In order to attain desired results, system policy and control result in formulating, familiarizing with, and executing an action plan. SCS issues result from SCS's scope, intention, and form of governance. Understanding SCSs using network analytics calls for future use of approaches integrating two or more themes. Another SCS emerging research involves large-scale SCS visualization and the use of both system engineering techniques and empirical methods to investigate the implication of infectivity of risk.

The paper proposes an integrative framework of SCSs involving the use of system behavior, system architecture, and system policy and control. Through this framework, organizations can use it as a lens to design, evaluate, and visualize the risks and complexity of SCS.