This is an editorial paper. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief review of the papers published in Operations and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal (will be called OSCM Journal hereafter) since it is first published in 2008. As you can see in the data presented below, we have been able to attract papers from many countries indicating the truly international nature of the OSCM Journal. Our aim is to make OSCM Journal as one of the alternative outlet for publishing articles in the area of operations and supply chain management.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬The purpose of this study is to identify and structure challenges of measuringperformance of the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process. A multiple case study methodology was applied. Qualitative data was collected via 22 structured interviews with managers from six case companies in various industries. A process oriented framework was proposed by structuring the challenges based on two key areas of process performance (effectiveness and efficiency) and different maturity levels of the process. A major challenge for all the cases,regardless of their maturity level, relates to defining of cross-functional trade-offs measures. Another major challenge was alignment of measures with business strategy and reward system. Additional common challenges for the different maturity levels were also found. While confirming some challenges from previous research, this study also finds new challenges, especially for more mature levels. Examples are standardization to support unbiased decision making, but also customization of measures for various organizational levels, and visualization of findings from the measurement to facilitate analysis. However, future research must validate and extend the results in other industries. The results offer challenges from a process oriented view and can serve as insights for managers when designing and implementing the S&OP process measures, or advancing from one maturity level to another. This research enhances understanding of the challenges to measure the S&OP process performance and adds to the S&OP literature and performance measurement literature.

This study aims to investigate the role of an orchestrator of third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) in the context of supply chain finance (SCF). SCF is the latest phenomenon to have emerged in the field of supply chain management (SCM). It is concerned with the optimization of financial flows and the integration of financing processes with all participating companies within the supply chains. By leveraging supply chain financing, small and middle - size enterprises (SMEs) are able to obtain funds from banks from which they could not borrow in conventional loaning systems. However, to perform a SCF model successfully, the role of 3PLs cannot be ignored. Drawing upon the discussions in the literature on supply chain orchestration of 3PLs, this study conceptualizes the orchestrator role of 3PLs in SCF. Three forms of 3PLs as an orchestrator in SCF are articulated accordingly.

The aim of this study is identifying the effective taxonomies of operations strategy of mobile phone service providers across countries. All Arab countries in the Middle East region were surveyed except Syria, and 27 out of 31 service providers were surveyed. Data collected from corporations’ annual reports, websites and other professional institutions published sources. K-means clustering analysis was used to develop clusters and ANOVA test was used to identify the significant differences across clusters in term of relative market share. The adopted taxonomies were; agile, lean oriented, product oriented and cost oriented. Agile, lean oriented and products oriented taxonomies are very close in relative market share and differ significantly from cost oriented. The widely adopted taxonomy across countries is agile.

This study investigates and analyzes CSFs construct in SCM implementation to minimize product lead-time and to identify the relationship between reducing raw material lead-time and improving product lead time. Short delivery lead time and efficient management on material inventories are two crucial elements that determine the competitiveness of many contract assembly manufacturers, especially in contract manufacturing. Assemble-to-Order (ATO) environment has become popular because companies do not want to keep finished goods inventories that lead to an increase in operational cost. ATO manufacturing involves production only upon receiving confirmed orders from customers. Thus, this study focuses on Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in Supply Chain Management (SCM) implementation and develops a comprehensive SCM framework for ATO contract manufacturing. Raw material lead time and material management process flow are the main concerns in the SCM context and ATO manufacturing environment. This study investigates the CSF construct in SCM implementation to minimize the issues caused by the long product lead time and to identify the relationship between reducing raw material lead time and improving product lead time. Material classification, raw material improvement strategy, and suppliers’ relationships are reviewed to develop and enhance current material strategy in accordance with present situations. An overall supplier material management system will be developed to improve the entire supply chain system as well as information sharing and identification methods. Information sharing from manufacturers to suppliers and vice versa is important to ensure that manufacturers can obtain scheduled and timely production information. Information from manufacturers to suppliers provides an advantage for the suppliers to prepare the raw materials and capacity plan to meet ATO requirements. The framework is unique as it addressed the importance of CSFs constructs, planning and monitoring processes to continue the success in SCM implementation. This framework integrates most of the planning process as the first input. This includes demand planning, supply planning, demand fulfillment, replenish planning and lead time planning. The planning process covered all demand and supply from customers, suppliers and manufacturers perspectives. The framework integrates most of CSFs constructs namely product classification, material management strategy, information sharing, logistic management and supplier relationship. The monitoring process in this framework is a guideline to companies on continuous SCM implementation.