Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach, Fifth Edition

Abstract

Welcome to the fifth edition of Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach. The practice of supply chain management has become widespread in all industries around the globe today, and the benefits to firms of all sizes are being realized. We think this text is unique in that it uses a novel and logical approach to present discussions of this topic from four foundation perspectives: purchasing, operations, logistics, and process integration. We think this text is also somewhat different than the other supply chain management texts available, since we present a more balanced view of the topic—many of the texts available today concentrate primarily on just one of the three areas of purchasing, operations, or logistics. The objective of the text is to make readers think about how supply chain management impacts all of the various areas and processes of the firm and its supply chain trading partners and to show how managers can improve their firm’s competitive position by employing the practices we describe throughout the text. Junior- or senior-level business students, beginning MBA students, as well as practicing managers can benefit from reading and using this text.