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To Be Lean or Agile in Supermarket Retail Industry: A Case Study on Sainsburys
To Be Lean or Agile in Supermarket Retail Industry: A Case Study on Sainsburys
By
Xin Xu 2006
A dissertation presented in part consideration for the degree of
MSc Operations Management
1
Xin Xu MSC Operations Management
To Be Lean or Agile in Supermarket Retail Industry: A Case Study on Sainsburys
Abstract
Today, business environment is turbulent and volatile, how effective the company can build up the partnership with their business partners is the key to be able to compete in the national and global market. The merits of lean and agile supply chain strategies have been much debated among practitioners and academics. While these strategies are often viewed as opposites, this research supports the view that they must not necessarily compete and can, in fact, be employed simultaneously through a so called "leagile" approach. Lean, agile, and leagile strategies are illustrated by modeling their respective applications at supermarket retail industry.
Even though the emergence of agile paradigm had spurred a large stream of research by scholars, yet most of the research had been at the manufacturing level. Very few researches have gone beyond the manufacturing level to the larger supply chain level. And there are even fewer researches discussing about the combination of lean thinking and agile thinking in supply chain especially apply in supermarket retail industry. Based on the above statement, the purpose of this study is as follows:
1) To evaluate the definition and characteristics of “Lean” and “Agile” in supermarket retail industry. 2) To compare the difference of lean thinking and agile thinking in supermarket retail industry. 3) To explore the relationship of the lean thinking and the agile thinking in
2 Xin Xu MSC Operations Management
To Be Lean or Agile in Supermarket Retail Industry: A Case Study on Sainsburys
supermarket retail industry....