C11BU Research Philosophy and Practice Assignment Sample 2024
Introduction
The concept of supply chain management has emerged as one of the most crucial topics within the domain of marketing because without the successful management of a value chain in business, organisations will fail to maintain sufficient production and manufacturing facilities which will further affect their business operations in the long run (Gölgeci and Kuivalainen, 2020). To be precise, the significance of this research is based on the idea that supply chain management helps businesses to optimise their inventory levels and through the means of accurate demand forecasting and procurement analysis along with sales data retailers are capable of preventing running out of stocks or having and excess inventory which might for the lead to increase carrying cost and declining sales.
Research has mentioned that in every industry and working domain that aspect of optimisation of the supply chain goes hand-in-hand to ensure that the inventories are never empty or as that would lead businesses to run into the problems of product shortages or have excess items which could lead them to have ineffective sales (Abu et al., 2021). Hence, from the prospect of the Dubai retail market, it should be stated that the effective management of the supply chain is highly necessary for the industry to successfully control its production process as well.
Additionally, a flexible supply chain will allow retailers to quickly adjust production activities along with new schedules and introduce new products or scale the operations as required and that will enable them to remain competitive and address customer demands more successfully. Research has argued that the effectiveness of supply chains in the contemporary age is being given by innovative technology as the integration of the Internet of Things offers additional potential to capture data automatically, enhance visibility and intelligence and also improve information sharing for a more improved integration of retail supply chains (Vass et al., 2021).
Research aim
The research aims to evaluate the significance effective supply chain management practices hold in increasing the effectiveness of the production process within the Dubai retail sector.
Literature review
Kurdi et al. (2022), examined that technological disruption across supply chains has reconfigured the whole value of networks which has become crucial for the retail industry to operate within the current market scenario. Furthermore, the cited article has projected the efficiency of technology within the supply chain management practices which have impacted the inventory rates of the retail sectors. Factors such as avoiding delayed shipping and satisfying the needs of the clients have affected the emergence of effective supply chain management practices.
Butt (2022), has explored the retail market operating through market uncertainties and has faced challenges related to supply chain disruptions and the uncertain market has also left a positive impact on supply chain resilience. Furthermore, the article has explored that sudden hikes in customer demands have a major impact on the deliveries of products and the services were exposed to mass customisation. The article has highlighted that the management of real-time inventory visibility has been a significant challenge for various retailers which has impacted the temporary performance of the supply chain.
Shrivastava and Riaz (2022), stated that technologies such as big data analytics have the potential to assist businesses in better inventory management which fosters accurate procurement decisions. The technical applications have a major impact on the reduction in supply delays and result in proper usage of stock within the organisation while resulting in proper pricing decisions. The article has explored the adoption of digital technologies in the context of small enterprises in the UAE and the way it has impacted business operations in the retail industry.
Butt et al. (2023), stated that the incorporation of a closed-loop supply chain has a significant impact on the waste reduction process of the organisations and provides the company with a profitable business. Furthermore, the business activities have incorporated the method of profitable supply chain methodology which has encouraged the manufacturers to reuse materials which has impacted sales. The article has projected the process of the contemporary logistic network which has impacted the overall profit margin of the company fostering the company’s growth in the market.
Alshurideh et al. (2023), analysed the impact of information security has captured immense attention from the contemporary retail business which has mediated the risk of supply chain within the contemporary market. The article has projected that secured information has helped the company with the management of the supply chain process which has impacted the overall availability of the security process. In the era of safe delivery, the article has projected the importance of technological practices which foster the company’s overall strategy in the current scenario.
Faccia et al. (2023), explored that the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within the overall company process of the supply chain has impacted efficient supply chain management which has enhanced new market opportunities. Furthermore, the article has explored the scope of frontier innovation which has helped the company to leverage new market opportunities while fostering active decision-making. Enhanced technology has earned successful market opportunities for enhancing market profits which impacts the overall business operations.
Pournader et al., (2021) have discussed the possible integration of artificial intelligence within the contemporary supply chain system and how the incorporation of this technology is allowing business ventures to ensure that they are succeeding by addressing every need of their customers. The reason for including this kind of technology within the practice of supply chain management is that it enhances the working mechanism of a value chain by allowing a business to become more aware of the strategies it is required to adapt to enhance its production facilities and also optimise the warehouses.
Altekar, (2023) has prioritised the importance of supply chain management in the book mentioning that effective management of the same might provide a significant volume of financial and competitive advantages to businesses. It has also been suggested in the book that the primary elements of successful supply chain management are mainly two planning and execution of the same and the effectiveness of the supply chain is the result of both the execution and planning decisions which would further ensure that the operating costs are minimal for a firm. Planning of a supply chain is based on the concept of optimisation theory and utilisation of highly sophisticated elements and the practice of execution typically starts from the scheduled date.
Sanders, (2020) has mentioned that even though the prospect of supply chain management is one of the most discussed concepts in marketing the recent trends that have been noticeable within these domains have made the study of effective supply chain management significantly difficult. To be precise, it was also mentioned in this literature that in addition to being traditional and incorporating the prospects of time, cost, quality and personalisation business ventures are also required to be highly innovative and rapid. They must stay cautious regarding the quickly changing market dynamics along with customer demands to align the supply chain management process and acquire better competitive advantages.
Methods: Data collection and analysis
The research will follow the interpretive paradigm for the process of data collection and also as one of the main approaches adapted for the research methodology given that this philosophy is known to offer more detailed and in-depth ideas regarding different events in comparison to offering a generalised explanation of different phenomena (Alharahsheh and Pius, 2020). In addition to that, the major and main approach that will be chosen for collecting data to complete this study is the qualitative method which could be conducted by various approaches including interviews, focus groups and more and indicates that no information will be collected from any statistical sources which is mainly conducted in a quantitative study. Research has established that the prospect of a qualitative study has become highly relevant in the current age as it allows the data to be collected from sources not containing any numbers and statistics as that would have made the process significantly more complex (Zahle, 2023).
However, all the approaches in relevance to the qualitative method of Data Collection that have been mentioned are conducted when information is taken from direct sources meaning when a study is completed by selecting the primary method of data collection in which people are asked to take part in interviews and provide their opinion regarding a topic. This process is extremely complicated as it is completely dependent on whether or not the participants will agree to be a part of a research process and could demand more time for the study to be completed as well. Hence, to avoid any complications with the data collection process in this study the main approach has been a qualitative secondary method through which all the information was collected from indirect sources that included valuable books, journals and articles which have offered a great deal of inside to identify the importance of effective supply chain management in improve in the efficiency of the Dubai retail sector.
It has also been confirmed by the findings of a study that the implementation of a secondary method of Data Collection is relatively easier given that it does not have as many complications both logical and financial as the primary method which makes it a significantly suitable choice (Coe et al., 2021). Additionally, the data will be analysed with the help of the thematic method and the qualitative thematic analysis will be conducted which is highly suited to a qualitative study and will help the research process to analyse the data successfully by creating multiple themes relevant to the main objective of the study (Ayre and McCaffery, 2022).
Research ethics
It is imperative to address the ethical obligation that has been maintained in the study as that would prove how the integrity of all the information present in this essay has been maintained. The first aspect of ethical obligations that have been maintained in the study is to ensure that the data that has been collected from indirect sources are authentic and reliable as indirect sources of data have the chance to contain misleading information and present in the same would have been an unethical choice. To avoid this kind of mistake another ethical obligation that has been taken into account is cross-checking all the information multiple times by going through various sources to ensure a specific piece of information was correct or not. On the other hand, ethics have also not been violated by ensuring that no suspicious sites have been used as the source of data in this study. For example, pages including Wikipedia and Investopedia have not been used as the source of collecting data in the study because these websites have a reputation of providing misleading and unreliable information. To be precise, Google Scholar has been the main source of Data Collection as it contains a large volume of journals and articles that have already been published and written by different scholars regarding specific events making this information likely to be more authentic and suited to be used in a study.
References
Abu Zwaida, T., Pham, C. and Beauregard, Y., 2021. Optimization of inventory management to prevent drug shortages in the hospital supply chain. Applied Sciences, 11(6), p.2726.
Alharahsheh, H.H. and Pius, A., 2020. A review of key paradigms: Positivism VS interpretivism. Global Academic Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(3), pp.39-43.
Altekar, R.V., 2023. Supply chain management: Concepts and cases. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
Ayre, J. and McCaffery, K.J., 2022. Research Note: Thematic analysis in qualitative research. J Physiother.
Butt, A.S., 2022. Building resilience in retail supply chains: Lessons learned from COVID-19 and future pathways. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 29(10), pp.3057-3078.
Coe, R., Waring, M., Hedges, L.V. and Ashley, L.D. eds., 2021. Research methods and methodologies in education. Sage.
De Vass, T., Shee, H. and Miah, S.J., 2021. Iot in supply chain management: a narrative on retail sector sustainability. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 24(6), pp.605-624.
Gölgeci, I. and Kuivalainen, O., 2020. Does social capital matter for supply chain resilience? The role of absorptive capacity and marketing-supply chain management alignment. Industrial Marketing Management, 84, pp.63-74.
Kurdi, B., Alzoubi, H., Akour, I. and Alshurideh, M., 2022. The effect of blockchain and smart inventory system on supply chain performance: Empirical evidence from retail industry. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 10(4), pp.1111-1116.
Pournader, M., Ghaderi, H., Hassanzadegan, A. and Fahimnia, B., 2021. Artificial intelligence applications in supply chain management. International Journal of Production Economics, 241, p.108250.
Sanders, N.R., 2020. Supply chain management: A global perspective. John Wiley & Sons.
Shrivastava, V.K. and Riaz, S., 2022, March. Business Development Using Big Data within UAE SMEs Retail Sector: Prospects & Questions. In 2022 14th International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering (ICCAE) (pp. 145-150). IEEE.
Zahle, J., 2023. Reactivity and good data in qualitative data collection. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 13(1), p.10.
Butt, A.S., Ali, I. and Govindan, K., 2023. The role of reverse logistics in a circular economy for achieving sustainable development goals: a multiple case study of retail firms. Production Planning & Control, pp.1-13.
Alshurideh, M., Alquqa, E., Alzoubi, H., Kurdi, B. and Hamadneh, S., 2023. The effect of information security on e-supply chain in the UAE logistics and distribution industry. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 11(1), pp.145-152.
Faccia, A., Le Roux, C.L. and Pandey, V., 2023. Innovation and E-commerce models, the technology catalysts for sustainable development: the Emirate of Dubai case study. Sustainability, 15(4), p.3419.
