An organizational perspective on inventory control:

Theory and a case study

Abstract

Inventory control is a well-covered area in literature。 Nowadays, many concepts and techniques are available for effectively controlling inventories。 Eminent examples are stochastic models to determine order quantities, techniques for  forecasting demand and different kinds of ABC analysis。 the theoretical backgrounds of these concepts and techniques show a great deal of similarity: they all stem from the field of operations management and operations research。 Despite the value of the available concepts, such a one-sided approach has its limitations in practice。 In this article it is argued that it is important to take a broader view when dealing with  practical inventory control problems。 First of all, an organizational perspective on inventory control is developed。 The main idea behind this perspective is the importance of the organizational context of inventories。 This means that in addition to the traditional points for attention, such as order quantities and  replenishment  strategies, other aspects need attention as well。 They are, for example, the allocation of responsibilities and authorities regarding inventory management, the quality of inventory information and the relevant decision-making processes。 These contextual factors as well as the traditional factors are mapped out and integrated into a framework to be used in solving practical inventory control problems。 One of the main features of the framework is that it is useful in both analyzing and redesigning an inventory situation。 Secondly, this article describes the results of a case study regarding the application of the organizational perspective to a practical inventory control  problem。  The  in Africa。 The case study shows that the organizational perspective on inventory control is very helpful in dealing with inventory control problems。 It is illustrated that taking into account the organizational context of inventories, especially the responsibilities and authorities of the persons concerned, is a necessity to accurately understand inventory control problems。 In addition, it is illustrated that the organizational perspective leads to a more appropriate redesign。83013

Key words： control of systerm plc

Introduction

During the last few decades the inventory control has been the topic of many publications。 It may fairly be called one of the classics in operations literature。 As a result, a large collection of concepts and techniques is available for effectively controlling inventories。 for example,there are stochastic models to determine order quantities,techniques for forecasting demand and different kinds of ABC analysis。 Recently, there are many management systems such as manufacturing resource planning(MRP) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) that have been added。 However, most of these contribution shave similar theoretical background: the field of operations management and operations research。 This means the concepts and techniques are mainly based on mathematical assumptions and modeling inventory situations。 Although this established approach to inventory control has proved to be very valuable in determining inventory parameters and planning resources, it’s value that can be questioned in dealing with practical inventory control problems。 For instance Plossl and Welch state that many firms have inventory control techniques working ,but they are not reducing inventories。 On the other hand, some others are doing a fine job of managing the total inventory investment even without these tools (Plossl and Welch, 1979, p。 26)。 In addition, nowadays, authors realize that many of the quantitative methods from the field of operations management and operations research,we all get the fact that which are usefuless to cope with today’s organizational complexity(e。g。Hayes,1998;Lovejoy, 1998; Machuca,1998)。 These authors favor a broader scope on operations management issues, including qualitative aspects and linkages with other functional areas in an organization。 Therefore, there seems to be a need for an extended view on inventory control。