Logistics coordination in course of a distribution network development
MAGAZINE №6 (95) December 2019
AUTHORS DYBSKAYA V.V., VINOGRADOV A.В., FEL A.V.
CATEGORY Distribution logistics Logistic integration and coordination Retail companies’ corporate logistics
ABSTRACT
Issues of interfunctional coordination are typical for any company irrespective of its sphere of business. However, problems of the neighboring departments coordination in course of the material flow management seem to be especially acute for the commercial companies. The reasons for that include proximity of the commercial companies to the ultimate consumer, independent demand that such organizations have to meet, ever changing customer priorities as well as active adoption of the geographical expansion strategy in the form of entering markets of different regions of Russia. Economic stagnation, fall of the solvent demand and strengthened competition amplify the issues in question.
The paper focuses on the typical causes of the interfunctional conflicts associated with logistics. These causes involve incompatibility of the neighboring organizational departments' objectives and interests, rivalry for the resources, insufficient regulation of functional responsibilities, etc. The authors examine the notion and specifics of interfunctional logistics coordination, that can be used as a means to prevent conflicts between departments of a company. Based on the analysis of the methods of interfunctional logistics coordination, the authors propose the scheme of division of functions and authorities between departments of a commercial company when carrying out strategic tasks connected to the distribution network development. Such tasks (and potential conflict objects) embrace identification of the prospective sales regions, making decision on the effective range of goods to sell, sales volume planning in each of the identified regions, selection of the rational distribution system, development of the customer logistics service system, market segmentation and identification of the goods supply regions, elaboration of the inventory policy, calculation of the material flows in the distribution network, shaping warehouse network, choice of the delivery technologies.
Keywords: logistics coordination conflict management distribution logistics distribution network interfunctional conflicts
Management Theory for the Sake Of Logistics: Main Approaches to The Intra-Organizational Coordination and Conflict Management
MAGAZINE №5 (76) October 2016
AUTHOR VINOGRADOV A.B.
CATEGORY Logistic integration and coordination
ABSTRACT
The article embraces the study of the major approaches to coordination and intra-organizational conflict management in the management theory. The purpose of the study is to raise efficiency and effectiveness of the logistics coordination. Foreign sources as well as the results of the author’s own empirical research, employing methods of questionnaire survey and statistical data analysis, prove that the issues of interfunctional coordination are of high importance for the absolute majority of business organizations. One of the main reasons for that lies in the dominance of the linear-functional type of organizational structure featuring artificial barriers between the company departments. The author reviews standpoints of the representatives of the classical management theory, human-relations school, systems and contingency theories. With regard to each school the paper exams priority means of interfunctional coordination along with the major strategies for interdepartmental conflict management. Based on the research and application of the comparative analysis method, the author suggests systematization of the approaches to interfucntional logistics coordination and outlines respective coordination mechanisms (means of hierarchy, horizontal communication, standardization of the processes, their results, skills and competencies as well as norms and values). The article reveals a number of contingency factors that influence the selection of interfunctional logistics coordination mechanisms along with the choice of appropriate strategy for the organizational conflict management. The author proves the effectiveness of «compromise» and «cooperation» strategies in tackling interfunctional logistics conflicts and describes major conditions of their choice. The paper finally shows that coordination tools and ways of settling conflicts developed in the theory of management can be applied to solve logistics issues in organizations of various business environment.
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