Exploring the Performance of a Responsive Supply Chain

38 Supply Chain Forum An International Journal Vol. 10 N°2 2009 www.supplychain-forum.com G. D. Sardana Professor Emeritus and Director Institute of Management Education, GhaziabadIndia [email protected] Performance measurement and its evaluation are the first step towards improvement. Studying the supply chain as a system reveals how the supply chain has been organized so as to sustain performance in the long run. The paper discusses some of the more popular concepts followed to measure a supply chain's performance and builds a case for a new approach that should consider a supply chain as an integrated system, generating a holistic performance. This model is built around four systems of Organizational Design, Process Management, Quality Management, and Recipient Satisfaction at the first level of measurement. The second and the third levels of measurement take into account the subsystems and the key performance areas (KPAs) respectively. The indices of performance are built up from KPA's through stages of sub-systems, and finally resulting in a supply chain that operates as a supra system to deliver a single index of performance.