IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A CUMULATIVE IMPROVEMENT APPROACH

Supply chains can improve their performance by developing competitive priorities in a specified sequence: quality, reliability, flexibility, agility, and finally, cost efficiency. This paper extends Ferdows and De Meyer's (1990) sand cone model and Vokurka and Fliedner's (1998) sand cone model extension incorporating agility to supply chain management priorities. This work provides a framework for a cumulative and sustainable improvement process by which supply chains can build a strategic competitive advantage.