A Link-up between Business Process Orientation and Efficiency Improvements in a Supply Chain: The Case Study from the Wholesale Business

Implementation of e-business at the supply chain (SC) level can bring several benefits to all companies involved. Technological changes are important for effective supply chain management (SCM). However, the main cause of SCM improvements are organizational changes and an integration of business processes that lead to more mature processes in all involved companies and at the supply chain level. In the paper it is analysed how SC efficiency is related to business-process orientation (BPO) which is measured by SCM maturity level. On one side higher level of BPO is a prerequisite for significant changes, integration, and efficiency improvements of SC business processes. On the other side process changes are enablers for higher SC process maturity. The conceptual model of these relationships is analysed through a case study of supply chain of a large wholesale company Merkur. Efficiency of SC processes was evaluated by using simulation modelling at three different points in time: past, present, and future. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]