The three papers presented in this issue cover contemporary topics of research in the area of supply chain management. The first paper, “Outsourcing of Operations in the Banking Industry: A Case Study from China”, by Nan Zhu, Hong Qiu, Long Wang and Les Foulds, addresses the question of whether or not to outsource cash operations to third-party companies. The authors have presented a mixed integer linear programming model of this issue that aims to provide guidance concerning the possible outsourcing strategy of the cash transport and sorting in cash closed-loop supply chains of China’s banking industry. The authors reported a study that applies this model and solution approach to simulated data in a region and the study implied that partial outsourcing leads to an overall cost reduction of 9.48%. The authors conclude that it may often be beneficial for commercial banks to at least partially outsource their cash operational businesses.
The second paper, “A Concept Note on the Relationship Between Empowerment, Collaboration and Selected Outcomes in a Supply Chain”, by A Lakshminarasimha, highlights the importance of inter-firm collaboration in supply chain management and considers it as the key to effective management for the delivery of the value that a customer desires. The author highlights that an increasingly educated workforce and advanced information systems facilitate business activities without the need for close supervision. In implementing an integrated value system, organizations are continually faced with the challenge of managing the ‘people’ part of the equation. Empowerment involves a management practice of sharing information, rewards, and power with employees so that they can take initiatives and make decisions to solve problems and improve service and performance. A literature review of SCM collaboration and outcomes by the author reveals that there is very little work on empowerment in the area of SCM to date. Research has traditionally focused on hard variables. Hence, integrating empowerment as a latent variable construct in an SCM framework and evaluating its role in SCM outcomes was considered not only to be academically interesting but also of use in industry. Constructs were selected based on past studies and a theoretical framework with causal relationships was formed. The objective was to relate the role of empowerment in collaboration between organizations and their downstream partners which influences selected outcomes.
The third paper, “A Study of Bullwhip Effect and Its Impact on Information Flow in Cloud Supply Chain Network”, by Anil B Gowda and K N Subramanya, states that Cloud computing services need to be understood for analyzing Cloud Supply Chain Network (CSCN). According to the authors, one of the key information in a Supply Chain Network (SCN) is the quantity that is demanded at various nodes of the SCN. Every node in the supply chain tends to stock more items than actually needed because of uncertainties in the estimated quantity. The quantity of items magnifies upstream the supply chain and the effect is known as Bullwhip effect. Hence, there is a need to integrate IT services with supply chain to make it agile and enhance the information flow and decision-making process. Proper information available at lower cost and in quick time can help minimize the bullwhip effect. Hence, there is a need to understand and analyze the importance of various factors pertaining to cloud computing services. Benefits from cloud computing like lower cost of hardware and software, collaborations, software support and decision support services are considered for analysis. This paper aims at determining the weightages and contribution of such services. A relationship function encompassing the key parameters pertaining to the cloud computing factors is derived, which is useful for decision making and understanding how bullwhip effect can be minimized.
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India
Bank Management
Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.
International Scenario
If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.
Indian Scenario
The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.
