Title of Research

Customer-oriented improvement and evaluation of supply chain

processes.

A Thesis
Submitted to the Asst. Prof. Md. Mehedi Hassan, BUP in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Ev-MBA

Under the Supervision of

Md. Mehedi Hassan
Asst. Prof. of Business Studies Dept. of BUP

Submitted by
Mohammad Tarik Aziz
Registration Number: Ev-17016071
Session: Sep-2017

April 2019
 I recommended that this thesis has been prepared under my supervision by

Mohammad Tarik Aziz

Registration Number: Ev-17016071
Session: Sep-2017

Titled

Customer-oriented improvement and evaluation of supply chain

processes.

be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of EV-MBA under the
Asst. Prof. Md. Mehedi Hassan, BUP

…………………………………….
Supervisor
Md. Mehedi Hassan
Asst. Prof. of Business Studies Dept. of BUP

ii
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that except where specific reference is made to the work of others, the contents
of this dissertation are original and have not been submitted in whole or in part for consideration
for any other degree or qualification in this, or any other University. This dissertation is the result
of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration,
except where specifically indicated in the text.

Name: Mohammad Tarik Aziz

Reg No. : Ev-17016071
Session : Sep-2017
Department of Business Administration-General
Faculty of Business Studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to record my appreciation to all people that involve in the writing of this report.

First of all, my appreciation goes to our supervisor Asst. Prof. Md. Mehedi Hassan for guiding
and supporting us until we complete this report successfully.

Besides, I also very grateful to all of our friends especially my group members for all of the
information and their help.

Certainly, thanks to our entire respondents for cooperation in answering our questionnaire that
helps to conduct the research easily.

iv
DEDICATED TO MY BELOVED
PARENTS

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Abstract:

In this paper, we explain why customer orientation is important for evaluation and improvement
of supply chain process, and we show the interdependencies with performance measures which
should be taken into account so as to integrate the requirements of supply chain performance
management. Then, we describe how process improvements can be dynamically evaluated under
consideration of customer orientation and supported by an integrated usage of discrete-event
simulations models and system dynamics models.

Keywords:

Customer orientation, Value chain, Modelling, Supply chain management, Customer satisfaction

[TABLE OF CONTENTS]

Pages
Acknowledgement ii
Abstract iii
List of Tables iv
List of Figures x
List of Abbreviations xi
1 Introduction 1-11
1.1
1.1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
2 Literature Review 12-23
2.1
2.1.1
2.2
2.2.1
3 Methodology 24-39
3.1

vi
 3.1.1
3.2
3.2.1
4 Results 40-69
4.1
4.1.1
5 Discussion 70-79
5.1
5.1.1
6 Conclusion and Recommendations 80-85
6.1
6.2
References 86
Appendix 90

vii
 [LIST OF TABLES]

Table No. Title Page

Table 2.1 Summary of the findings of important literature reviews 12
Table 3.1 22
Table 4.1 36
Table 4.2 41
Table 4.3 43
Table 4.4 45
Table 4.5 46

viii
 [LIST OF FIGURE]

Figure No. Title Page

Figure 3.1 The conceptual framework of the study 25
Figure 3.2 26
Figure 3.3 27
Figure 3.4 27
Figure 3.5 28
Figure 3.6 35
Figure 4.1 37
Figure 4.2 37
Figure 4.3 38
Figure 4.4 39
Figure 4.5 40
Figure 4.6 42
Figure 4.7 44

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 [LIST OF ABBREVIATION]

Symbol Description
CB-SEM Covariance Based-Structural Equation Modeling
CFA Confirmatory Factor Analysis
EDA Exploratory Data Analysis
EDA Exploratory Data Analysis
EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis
FA Factor Analysis
FGD Focus Group Discussion
PLS-SEM Partial Least Squares Based-Structural Equation Modeling
RMSE Root Mean Square Error
SEM Structural Equation Modeling

x
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study:

Despite an extensive body of knowledge on the importance of customer orientation in the

marketing and management literature, the impact of customer orientation and interactive
system infrastructure throughout enterprise networks is not fully understood. The purpose
of this paper is to present a model linking customer orientation, interactive system
infrastructure, value chain practices, and network performance outcomes.

1.2 Rationale / Significance of the Study

The research framework suggests that customer orientation practices may have a positive
impact on network infrastructure design, practices, and performance outcomes.
Implementation of customer orientation practices and outcomes within this research
framework may allow management to meet customer requirements more effectively.

1.4 Problem Statement

Customer orientation in supply chain is defined as the degree to which a supply chain
focuses on customers and recognize their desires, placing first priority on meeting their
needs with superior products or services through collaboration with other supply chain
partners. Even though customer orientation is not a new idea, it gets lost in the industrial
paradigm that emphasizes stability and efficiency. The purpose of this research is to find
out how important it is to have a supply chain system with customer orientation and to
find out how it can be more stable and more effective.

2
1.5 Research Questions

1. Why Customer should be oriented in supply Chain Management?

2.How the orientation will improve customer service?

3.How to make the supply chain management more stable?

4.What should be the steps to customer oriented improvement?

1.6 Research Objectives

The importance of this study is based on extrapolation and diagnosis of the current situation
of supply chain management. Therefore, this study is gaining importance through the
following points:

1. It supports studies, theoretical and applied research in the field of supply chain
management on the company's performance to improve sales management and customer
service, offering these companies the right notes and evaluation, which help them to
perform their important role in achieving comprehensive development.
2. This study deals with a commercial- industrial sector, and thus comes as a contribution to
the definition of the importance of this sector as an essential and important factor.
Concurrence
3. Provides information and data about the reality of supply chain management and its
impact on improving sales and customer service.
4. Helps the company's director and staff in the procurement, storage and marketing of the
company, to get to know the importance of supply chain management on improving
performance in sales management and customer service.

3
 Chapter 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

4
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

A supply chain is defined as “the integration of key business processes from end users through
original suppliers that provides products, services, and information that adds value for customers
and other stakeholders” (Lambert et al., 1998). Here, a supply chain includes all the value chain
processes from suppliers to end customers. It is vital that each supply chain participant adds
value from the perspective of the end customer in the supply chain. This assumes integration of
both supply and demand side activities in the value chain. Increasingly, the integration of both
supply and demand requires an understanding of the inherent differences. In this sense, Frohlich
and Westbrook (2002) divided such integration into supply chain and demand integration.
Trevile et al. (2004) defined demand integrations as “integration that supports market mediation,
with the primary role of demand integration being the transfer of demand information to
facilitate greater responsiveness to changing customer needs.” They argued that increased access
to demand information throughout the supply chain permits rapid and efficient delivery,
coordinated planning, and improved logistics communication. Heikkila¨ (2002) pointed out the
need to shift the emphasis from the supply side to the demand side of supply chain management.
These studies implicate customer orientation as a foundational element in the entire supply chain.
Conduit and Mavondo (2001) supported the importance of customer orientation and antecedents
to customer orientation. Customer-orientation throughout the supply chain requires improvement
in employee training, management support, internal communication, personnel management, and
external communication involvement (Conduit and Mavondo, 2001). Chae and Hill (2000) found
that the associations between cooperative organizational culture, planning formality and
competitive/organizational benefits are related in a global business environment. Russel and
Hoag (2004) argued the impact of organizational culture on the rate of IT systems adoption in
supply chains. Appiah-Adu and Singh (1998) showed a link between customer orientation and
performance, providing examples of small and medium-sized enterprises. Martin and Grbac
(2003) claimed that supply chain management is very critical to the responsiveness to customer
needs, and in supporting customer orientation in the supply chain. Grunertet al. (2005) developed
a conceptual model of market orientation in value chains using four case studies, where their
main emphasis was customer orientation in value chains. According to Sawhney and Piper
(2002), firms with a high customer value focus achieve a higher level of business performance
outcomes than those that show weaker customer value emphasis. Hajjat (2002) studied the
Customer orientation construction of measurements and validation of customer orientation of
organizations. The above studies separately address the nature of customer orientation, cultural

5
factors, structural requirements, and their potential benefits. What is missing is the integration of
customer orientation in terms of defining variables, and their interrelationships and outcome
measures. This paper identifies and further investigates the details of customer orientation in the
context of supply chains.

6
 Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

7
 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Study Area & Target Population

3.2 Data & Data Sources

In this study data has been collected through primary resources. Interview schedule has
been applied in the study to get requires data and information through both open and
closed ended questions. Secondary resources like books, articles, reports, journals,
research papers etc. have been gathered to enrich the study.

3.3 Questionnaire Design

Sl. Question Yes/NO Comment

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3.4 Research Design

Research design is non-experimental exploratory case study

3.6 Conceptual Framework