Past research

Researchers and practitioners have paid considerable attention to sustainable supply chain management in recent years, particularly in the agricultural sector. Traditionally, supply chain management has mainly focused on economic and financial business performance, while sustainable supply chain management focuses on the integration of environmental and social objectives that extend the economic dimension to the triple bottom line or beyond. The importance of a sustainable agricultural supply chain lies in the consequence of agricultural activities on the earth's environment.

This research focuses on environmental issues, an integral part of the broader sustainability framework, in agricultural supply chain management. First of all, we seek a closer integration of supply chain management and life cycle assessment, a primary approach enabling a comprehensive assessment of a product's environmental sustainability throughout the product's supply chain. We address the environmental sustainability trade-offs in addition to the risks related to the environmental issues in the supply chain. Second, considering consumers' willingness to pay for environmentally friendly products and the power structure in the agricultural value chain, we build a game-theoretical model that captures consumers' heterogeneity in their valuation of sustainable and traditional products. This work provides insight into whether sustainable production is economically beneficial for agricultural supply chain members.

Finally, this research investigates under what condition using a more efficient technology (as means of sustainable production) in agricultural systems counterintuitively deteriorates the natural environment or offsets the efficiency benefit. We propose a model that evaluates the farmers' decisions on irrigation systems from environmental and economic perspectives. In addition, the proposed model accommodates the consequences of government interventions on environmental and economic factors. Overall, this research provides implications on sustainable agricultural supply chain trade-offs from an environmental perspective.

Many organisations are attempting to gain a competitive advantage through supply chain integration but struggle for efficiency and effectiveness. Effective management in a supply chain must consider using financial metrics, which reveal characteristics that are not apparent when merely reviewing data.

Many research papers empirically assess the influence of supply chain performance factors on financial performance of a firm. Yet, supply chain effectiveness measurement using integrated metrics that include both supply chain factors and financial performance factors have not been adopted.

The aim of Diep’s research is to design a tool for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) to evaluate the health of the supply chain as well as to predict the failures. Her key research questions are:

1. Can we use publicly available financial metrics combined with supply chain knowledge to predict company failures?
2. How do operations and supply chain metrics feed into financial metrics or vice versa? Can we design an early warning system as an issue detector of the health/effectiveness of the supply chain for CFOs?
3. How should these metrics change depending on a company’s size and/or strategic positioning?

Preservation technology has been recognised as an efficient tool to extend the life cycle of food products, and therefore reduce food loss and waste (FLW). However, the universal applicability of technology to reduce FLW is questioned and challenged in practice. Normally the leading companies could effectively control FLW by applying technology. Whereas, counter-intuitively, when small and medium enterprises (SMEs) replicate or learn from the leading companies in technology application, the performance in reducing FLW is sometimes unsatisfactory. According to our investigation, there are multiple factors influencing the above result.

1. Learning opportunities
   Compared to leading companies, SMEs have fewer opportunities to approach actionable and effective technologies due to a shortage of funds and experts and limited market power. This impacts the success of replication from other companies with suitable adjustments.
   
   
2. Implementation failure
   Many practitioners posit that refrigeration or cold chain could extend the shelf life of food products. However, not all the products are suited for freezing, and the deterioration curve may not be altered greatly after applying new technology. Therefore, our research focuses on strategic technology investment from the perspectives of implementation efficiency and learning cost.

Container ports play a crucial role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of a country’s transport system. Ports are even more important for a trading nation that is far away from its international market like New Zealand.

According to Auckland Regional Holdings, current New Zealand port returns are unsustainable and insufficient to justify future investment, due to intense competition between the country’s container ports. Additionally, the top five shipping lines control more than 60% of the worldwide shipping market, which provides them with tremendous bargaining power in relation to New Zealand port operators. As a result New Zealand ports are heavily dependent on international shipping lines.

To increase the bargaining power of New Zealand ports and reduce their level of dependence on international shipping lines, two possible solutions can be considered. The first one is to use the same strategy that shipping lines have used, which is mergers and alliances between New Zealand ports. This idea was proposed a decade ago between Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga - it failed. The second solution is to adopt a co-opetition strategy, whereby two or more companies can compete and cooperate with one another simultaneously. Through collaborating with competitors a port can improve its operational efficiency and reduce investment risks such as in equipment and infrastructure. A co-opetition strategy can also help related ports to strengthen their bargaining powers and to become less dependent on shipping lines.

Various international cases of port co-opetition have shown that this form of cooperation is promising. Nevertheless there is a fine line between co-opetition and monopoly. Therefore proper measures and regulations should be devised to maximise the benefits and minimise any downside of the mergers and acquisitions or co-opetition strategy.

Wind cannot be controlled. If it doesn’t blow you don’t have power. Hydro, on the other hand, gives operators the ability to alter dam levels. This can be a good thing for security of supply, and a bad thing when artificially high prices are drawn out due to hydro storage. Accordingly, large wind farms are a less attractive form of renewable electricity than small hydro stations; there’s the associated risk of lost profits to the operators as well as the security of supply factor (currently wind is not classified as baseline generation able to contribute during peak periods).

Using simulated windspeed data from NASA in conjunction with historic hydrology data, we can get a pretty good picture of the potential generation of power in New Zealand over the past twenty years, including the wet years of cheap electricity and the dry years with rolling brownouts. Potential wind farm sites are abundant in New Zealand, and if built across the country (i.e. not concentrated in just one place) the wind data tells us that the supply of electricity would be reasonably constant. The security of supply risk can be well managed. Knowing this provides an opportunity for legislative change to allow greater windfarm uptake.

New Zealand has a goal of 100% renewable generation by 2025, and wind farms are a very viable option to help us achieve this goal. By building wind farms that are already consented for across the country, NZ could move to 100% renewables while still meeting security of supply targets. Undoubtedly wind farms are a great consumer opportunity: cleaner/greener power that won’t cut out, and we could all save a bit on our power bills.

The red meat sector plays a crucial role in New Zealand’s economy and identity. However, in recent years its profit levels are decreasing. According to analysis, processors’ insufficient returns could stem from over-capacity, which could be caused by supply volatility. Such a predicament calls for a long-term stable supply to schedule the capacity.

From the farmers’ perspective, insufficient returns are attributed to market fluctuation and climatic variation, which have an impact on supply volatility. For example, under some extreme climatic conditions, the feeding cost increases to such high levels that farmers have to de-stock. Consequently, farmers prefer a stable market and stable prices, which bring stable returns and provide a clear budget at the beginning of each rotation.

Accordingly, a long-term cooperative commitment, including a well-designed supply and relatively stable prices, is not only capable of helping processors schedule capacity, but also promoting farmers’ profit management. As a cooperative organisation, farmers and processors are able to share rewards (not limited to revenue) and risks to promote the market’s competitiveness. Additionally, such a cooperative organisation is capable of improving productivity at all stages in the supply chain. Similar commitments have been introduced in other agricultural sectors, such as kiwifruit, with great success.

The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world, after oil. The industry is known for: (1) using pesticides to grow cotton more quickly; (2) using harmful chemicals to dye garments; and (3) the pollution of rivers in South-East Asia due to lack of wastewater plants treating the chemicals used in garment production. The fashion industry not only has negative impacts on the environment, but also on worker health along the vast and often hidden supply chains of fashion companies. These companies tend to outsource materials and supplies, and often do not know all of their suppliers. Consequently they often do not know where the garments or materials come from, how they were made or who made them.

Based on Miriam’s research, the founders’ awareness of the issues along the supply chains of big fashion companies made them want to focus more on ethical sourcing, supply chain transparency and creating consumer awareness about the consequences of over-consumption.

Unimproved exports, like the massive piles of raw logs at the Tauranga port, often look like a wasted opportunity to add value, and the New Zealand (NZ) government, with its move towards investing in high value manufacturing instead, apparently agrees. But disinvesting in exports like raw logs to promote alternatives like high-value furniture goes against traditional supply chain (SC) strategy theory. That theory says commodity-type exports are a logical consequence of NZ's remote position in the world’s SC. Using a framework by Marshall Fisher from the 1990s, it teaches that commodity-type products, like logs or milk powder, are best served by efficient SCs, while innovative high-value products like custom furniture or high-tech products are best served by responsive SCs that can react quickly to changing customer demand. One key to having a responsive SC is providing a short lead-time, which is challenging to do from NZ.

Our research did not significantly disprove Fisher’s thesis. Indeed, our research tends to back-up his ideas. While there are caveats and middle grounds, fundamentally any NZ firm looking to export an innovative product with unpredictable demand is going to need to find a way to supply it with a responsive supply chain. This may involve using airfreight or moving inventory or manufacturing closer to the source. The tyranny of distance for NZ manufacturing is real and we are not going to overcome it by simply coming up with more smart ideas for high-value products. That said, it is possible to sell functional products with efficient supply chains and still receive a premium in the market, as has been effectively demonstrated by Zespri. Our red meat industry, in particular, could get smarter about how it markets itself internationally.

This project investigated warehousing location strategies to evaluate, for an organisation, the related costs and benefits for different scenarios. Results from this project have implications for the organisation’s commercial business on lead time, serviceability, current site activities, and impact of workforce and workflow. Such objectives are achieved through activities including:

• Process/workflow mapping.
• Cost driver analysis.
• Financial evaluation.
• Qualitative and risk assessment.
• Implications for current site.
• Recommendations.

The goal of the project was to establish the current operation issues deemed to be important by the port and terminal operators in New Zealand. Initial data about the current issues was gathered by conducting face-to-face interviews with the port and terminal operators. Then the preliminary findings from the interviews were used as discussion topics for a focus group meeting. The output from the project was a report to management on current operation issues as defined by the port and terminal operators.

This research was dedicated to the design and performance measurement of new polyhedral algorithms for solving some difficult combinatorial optimisation problems. The symmetric travelling salesman problem (STSP) was chosen for study, and the related designed polyhedral algorithms were based on the multistage insertion formulation (MI) and its characteristics.

Hendrik’s PhD research looked at the sustainability of supply chains in a New Zealand context. The objective was to identify the key drivers for integrating sustainable supply chain management and its potential benefits.

This research followed an iterative multi-methodological approach made up of observation, theory building, and validation. Relevant literature was reviewed to synthesise foundational knowledge, classify areas of SSCM, identify research problems and derive research requirements. An exploratory Delphi study supported the identification and assessment of key themes and influential factors for SSCM. Conceptual theory building informed by literature and the Delphi findings guided the development of a SC transformation model. This cyclical management model is customised to the requirements in SSCM and outlines processes that enable SCs to transform and progress in sustainability development. Another major stepping stone was the realisation that SCs have to adjust their strategies depending on their level of maturity. A model is proposed that integrates sustainability in SCs with maturity considerations and facilitates a structured maturity progression. It puts forward that certain enabling factors help a SC to perform activities that support SSCM, whereas disabling factors may prevent a SC from doing so. As a SC engages in such activities it develops SSCM characteristics which in combination result in higher levels of maturity. A survey facilitated the confirmation of these modelled relationships and allowed for further exploration of determinants for SC performance and SSCM maturity. To overcome the difficulties of practical implementation, a roadmap for SSCM was constructed which leverages the strengths of the developed artefacts and translates them into prescriptive SC design requirements. It offers an integrated approach that outlines how SCs can adapt key operational issues to support a holistic sustainability strategy. The described research artefacts were refined, validated and peer reviewed through expert feedback, empirical testing, and dissemination through publication in journals, book chapters, and conferences.

The globalisation of supply chains enables many organisations to emphasise logistics as part of their corporate strategy. 3PL providers can play a crucial role in the outsourcing of logistics activities. Although the development of the logistics industry in the Asia-Pacific region is fast, there are still many challenges faced by the logistics providers. Most 3PL providers offer the basic services, but rarely perform value-added services. This research mainly focuses on New Zealand and China because both countries have established close trading business relations, such as the Free Trade Agreement (NZChina FTA). The primary objective of this research is to evaluate third party purchase (3PP) as a value-added service offered by 3PL providers, based on transaction cost theory. Questionnaires and interviews are the two major research methods for this research. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationships. The qualitative data is qualitatively triangulated to explain the relationships through analysis by using Nvivo software. From the perspective of 3PL providers, this study illustrates that uncertainty, frequency, and transaction size, but not asset specificity, are significantly associated with 3PP service. From the perspective of 3PL users, the uncertainty factor is significantly related to 3PP service. In both countries, 3PP service is significantly associated with value-to-client and benefit-to-provider. The primary contribution from this research is to help 3PL providers gain sustained competitive advantages through offering 3PP service. Also, the research illuminates that 3PL users are able to receive more benefits by using 3PP service. This paper also discusses the theoretical contribution and managerial implications of these findings. Future research can focus on other value-added services and geographical regions.

This study attempted to investigate the impacts of outcome-driven supply chain management (ODSCM) practices in SME. The study aimed to answer two main research questions:

• What are the core processes that construct ODSCM?
• What actual competitive advantages business can gain after ODSCM implementation?