This is illustrating how the two tier system can help to streamline operations. However, as time goes by these ideas will become obsolete. The reason why is because they are focusing on particular aspect of supply chain management (i.e. during emergencies and backlogs). Where is it is failing, is through understanding how this strategy could be used when a firm is not facing these issues. (Reza, 2009) This is problematic, as this approach has been shown to have trouble maintaining these levels consistently. Instead, it creates the necessary momentum to help a firm deal with critical issues. Then, it does not provide any kind of direction going forward. This is troubling, as these kinds of challenges will have an adverse impact on the ability of firms to streamline their supply chain management. (Reza, 2009)

As a result, our research will deviate from these findings by identifying other ideas that can be used during the process. These findings will be augmented with key ideas from other sources to provide a better approach for enhancing supply chain management issues. It is at this point that firms will have a working protocol they can use on a regular basis. This is when productivity will increase and costs will remain low. Over the long-term, this will help a firm to understand the challenges they are facing and how to quickly adapt to them. (Reza, 2009)

Decision Making

To deal with some of these challenges, many individuals believe that decision making must be streamlined during the process. The reason why is because the management can engage in more effective strategies in determining how they will address a host of challenges. According to Garg (2011), this is a part of an overall philosophy that can help to improve the supply chain management system. What he found is that most firms are often focusing on maintaining a single agent system. This places them at a strategic disadvantage. The reason why is because the approach limits the ability of firms to integrate their operations. When this happens, it becomes more difficult to communicate with others about critical issues. This is the point that costs will increase and productivity will decline. (Garg, 2011)

To avoid the challenges, those entities that were using a multi-agent system were more effective. This is because the process involved tremendous amounts of flexibility and it gave everyone the freedom to make adjustments. Over the course of time, this improved collaboration and it helped to prepare the organization for new challenges it is facing. (Garg, 2011)

Evidence of this can be seen with Garg saying, "To improve the performance of Supply chain decisions (SCM), agents technology is slowly becoming the best alternative. In general, most of the components in SCM work in isolation and achieving coordination among SCM partners turn out to be a difficult proposition. But in a multi-agent system (MAS), an agent while making a local optimal decision, it sees how it will affect the other agents and in case required it coordinates with other agents to work out for a new alternative. In SCM, what is required is how to improve the performance. Today SCM needs to work in coordination with various like-minded organizations to produce and supply to multiple market. In such circumstance MAS, with beneficial features like autonomous, collaborative, coordinate and intelligence with ability to work in a distributed environment provides a best platform to make SCM performing at its best." This is illustrating how a multidimensional approach needs to be used when addressing supply chain management issues. Once this happens, there will be improved decision making with the firm becoming more capable of understanding and responding to new threats. This is what helps to keep them competitive. (Garg, 2011)

The information from this source is showing that a multi-tiered approach is effective in dealing with a number of challenges. This is because it is streamlining decision making and utilizing flexibility in addressing a host of objectives. When this takes place, is the point that there is a transformation in the mindset of organizations. In many ways, one could argue that this approach will help firms in a variety of environments and conditions with addressing a host of problems. (Garg, 2011)

However, despite the benefits of supply chain management systems, Harris (2011) determined that many are ineffective procedures. This is because they are lacking any kind of critical ability to objectively analyze the process. At the same time, there are continually changing techniques and policies. This will have an adverse impact on the ability of personal to understand and quickly respond to new challenges. (Harris, 2011)

These problems...

According to Harris, this is the reason why so many supply chain management strategies fail. The best organizations understand these ideas and will implement them into their system to enhance quality control. In the future, this allows them to be more responsive to the needs of customers and changes inside the marketplace. (Harris, 2011)
The information from this source is showing the weaknesses with the current research. In this case, there are no effective procedures for analyzing if the strategy is working and its long-term impacts. Instead, everyone will shift from one approach to the next. This will depend upon the changes that are taking place in technology and how it is perceived to help the firm. (Harris, 2011)

Our research will focus on building off of these findings to understand how these weaknesses are contributing to other problems. This is supporting the views from previous studies about how each approach will address select aspects of supply chain management. Yet, they will not understanding or have a way of objectively measuring the strategy. This hurts the firm's ability to adjust with new challenges, which will have an adverse impact on their costs and productivity. (Harris, 2011)

To address any kind of potential weaknesses Roa (2012) found that personnel play an important part in helping to make the company's supply chain management strategy a success. This is because staff can provide insights about what is happening in real time and they can quickly make adjustments. Furthermore, they can improve the customer's experience and provide insights about how to enhance the process. When this happens, a firm is more responsive to the needs of stakeholders and can quickly address to them. (Rao, 2012)

As a result, she determined that there must procedures where suppliers, producers, distributors and customers are communicating with each other. This means that there should be a focus on improving: procurement, warehousing, manufacturing and logistics. If this is combined with effective communication, it will improve the levels of collaboration between different groups. This is the point that the firm will become more responsive to needs of stakeholders. (Rao, 2012)

The information from this source is providing enhanced methods for researching the topic and understanding what challenges are affecting the supply chain management system. Then, it provides strategies that can address these challenges. This takes the direction of the research to another level by showing possible solutions for dealing with these issues. (Rao, 2012)

These ideas are building off of the previous sources by showing that some kind of flexibility must be incorporated into the process. Our research will focus on supporting these conclusions and testing other strategies. In the future, this will help firms to have tools they can use to enhance their supply management system. (Rao, 2012)

Another strategy that is used to enhance decision making is the resource value approach. This is when the firm will focus on maintaining strong supply chains to produce the final product or service to customers. The basic idea is that controlling these areas will ensure that they have access to the resources they need. This will allow them to meet the demands of customers in a cost efficient manner.

According to Storer (2011) these ideas have been used to improve the ability of firms to manage their supply chain and address critical issues. Evidence of this can be seen with him saying, "Results indicate that both small and large supply chain operatives in this industry believe these strategic capabilities influence and function as second-order latent variables of this strategic supply chain resource. Additionally respondents acknowledge size does impacts both the amount of influence these strategic capabilities have and the level of performance enhancement expected by supply chain operatives from utilizing industry-led innovation capacity." (Storer, 2011)

This is illustrating how these strategies can help firms to improve their decision making and streamline costs. It is at this point that their supply chain management techniques will increase and they will see a positive impact on their earnings. When this happens, a company will become more competitive. (Storer, 2011)

The information from this source is showing another approach that can be used during the process of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the supply chain. What makes it so unique is through analyzing the availability of natural resources to improve output. In general this will help firms to address…