Business Commons^™

Bending The Chain: The Surprising Challenge Of Integrating Purchasing And Logistics, Theodore Stank, J Paul Dittmann, Chad Autry, Kenneth J. Peterson, Mike Burnette, Daniel Pellathy

Peer Reviewed Articles

Over the last several decades, supply chain (SC) professionals have focused on performance issues that have emerged from a lack of commercial/business alignment with supply chain operations. Significant improvements have been made, and systemic processes (IBP—integrated business planning—and S&OP—sales and operations planning) have been developed to drive a fully integrated business. As business integration has continued to improve, the biggest SC opportunities have shifted.

Every year, the University of Tennessee’s Global Supply Chain Institute networks with hundreds of companies, requesting information on emerging supply chain issues. Our recent research shows that one of the greatest business integration opportunities is found …

2014 M&A Update, Alexandra S. Schmid, Carol M. Sanchez, Stephen R. Goldberg

Peer Reviewed Articles

Market conditions for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) remained positive in 2013. Relative economic growth in the U.S. and within specific industry sectors, and positive economic developments in the emerging markets signaled an optimistic outlook for M&A activity. There was a decline in worldwide M&A transactions in the first half of 2013 following a modest gain in 2012 which resulted in an overall slowdown in M&A activities, yet there are positive signs for future M&A growth. Corporate executives and their boards were selective with their investment choices and sought many of their M&A opportunities in the middle market. In this article, …