Balancing Marketing and Supply Chain Activities

Author(s): Robert J. Vokurka and Rhonda R. Lummus

Source: Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Vol. 6, No. 4, Supply Chain
Management Sponsored by SYNCRA Software, Inc (Fall, 1998), pp. 41-50
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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 BALANCING MARKETING AND SUPPLY
CHAIN ACTIVITIES

Robert J. Vokurka
Texas A&M University

Rhonda R. Lummus
Central Missouri State University

A relationship exists between the supply chain and marketing activities. For most supply chains a balance exist
customer requirements and supply chain capabilities. When marketing activities strain the supply chain's ability to mee
additional costs are incurred. All associated costs should be considered in supply chain planning, and marketing
should be evaluated including the recognition of these costs across the supply chain. Questions related to the timing of
activities need to consider the impact on the supply chain and the overall profitability of the initiative.

INTRODUCTION the impact of decisions in any one area. Many companies are
streamlining all operations and minimizing the time-to-
Managing the supply chain has become an important issue
customer for their products to meet competitive forces.
for the 1990s. Customers have multiple sources from which
The definition
to choose to satisfy demand; locating product throughout the of the supply chain is evolving as more
attention has
distribution channel for maximum customer accessibility at been placed on the entire supply and
a minimum cost becomes crucial. Companies have distribution
looked atnetwork. A review of contemporary definitions
(Lummus and Alber 1997; Monczka and Morgan 1997;
solving the distribution problem through maintaining
inventory at various locations throughout the chain.
Quinn 1997) include many common elements. Using these
previous
However, the dynamic nature of the marketplace makes definitions, a supply chain can be defined as the
network of functions and processes, both internal and
holding inventory a risky and potentially unprofitable
business. Customers' buying habits are constantly external
changing, to an organization, that are associated with
and competitors are continually adding and deletingprocuring,
products moving, and transforming basic raw materials in
to a It's
which makes it difficult to have the right inventory. product
hardor service for an end-user. An integral part of the
to provide a low cost product when funds are tied upchain
supply in is the flow of information between and among
inventory. all members of the distribution network. The management of
the supply chain is then the integration and coordination of
The shift in emphasis to the supply chain is due to a all these activities including suppliers, carrier,
realization that maximizing performance of one department manufacturers, distributors, third-party providers, and
or function may lead to less than optimal performance for the information carriers.
whole company and beyond. Purchasing may be able to
negotiate a lower the price on a component and receive a A relationship exists between supply chain performance and
favorable purchase price variance (difference between actual marketing initiatives. Critical to managing the supply chain
and budgeted or standard cost), but the cost to produce the is managing the link between each step within the chain to
finished product may go up due to inefficiencies in the plant. synchronize the entire supply chain. For most supply chains,
Companies must look across the entire supply chain to gauge a balance exists between customer requirements and supply

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chain capabilities. When marketing activities strain the by consumers. For example, the number of products
supply chain's ability to meet normal demand, costs are supermarkets has risen from thirteen thousand in 1981
incurred. A degree of supply chain flexibility may better twenty-one thousand in 1987 (Bockerstette and Shell 199
absorb variations in demand patterns and minimize cost These market shifts have created excellent revalue streams.
fluctuations, but addition costs may be incurred to gain this However, this consumer windfall has also been some
flexibility. manufacturers' downfall. The traditional supply chain and
manufacturing practices were not originally designed to
Some planning models, such as sales operations planning deliver such variety and complexity.
(SOP) (an integrative management process to strategically
align demand and production), finite capacity scheduling In addition, customer demand is often volatile as a result of
(FCS) (a scheduling system that incorporates customer two other factors: changes in customers' buying habits,
priorities and manufacturing load leveling), demand including seasonality, and changes caused by company
planning and scheduling (DPS) (a process of coordinating actions or policies, or actions taken by competitors. The first
demand forecasts and production scheduling), supply chain change in demand is difficult for a company to control, as
planning (SCP) (integrating requirements with others in the consumers change their preferences The second change in
supply chain, usually suppliers), and enterprise resource demand is caused by internal company actions including
planning (ERP) (an integrative system used to identify and marketing activities designed to stimulate demand.
plan enterprise-wide resources needed to accept,
manufacture, and deliver custom«* orders) are in use today. These marketing activities can be divided into three
However, they are often limited to internal use in an categories: mass marketing, trade promotion, and consumer
organization or are focused on product volumes only and not promotion. Marketing uses these three tools to increase
on the total cost impact of marketing initiatives. awareness of products and to stimulate demand for the
products. Examples of the many marketing programs that can
This article describes the link between marketing activities affect demand and the supply chain include: radio, television
and the supply chain. The concept of a supply chain in or print media advertising; account developed programs (i.e.,
balance with customer requirements is discussed. The programs developed jointly with the next stage customer in
importance of considering all associated supply chain costs the distribution chain); consumer promotions such as
when evaluating the projected profitability of marketing coupons and samples, along with many others.
initiatives is developed. Finally, improving supply chain
flexibility to better meet changes in customer demand is The increased demand from marketing activities can have a
described. Supply chain output should be balanced to significant impact on the supply chain. The increase in
customer demand. One goal of managing the supply chain demand creates a disturbance at a particular node in the
should be to minimize added supply chain costs that result supply chain (Hada vi 1996). For instance, a trade deal
from changes in demand due to marketing activities. increases demand from the distributor back to the
manufacturing plant The disturbance may have little affect
MARKETING'S LINK TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN on the entire supply chain if the node has the ability to absorb
the disturbance through safety inventory. When the increase
Most company managers would like marketing toinprovide demand exceeds available inventory, the disturbance is
them with a stable, predictable, growing at a pacepassed upstream to other links in the supply chain. The
they can
handle, demand pattern (Mather 1995). Unfortunately, what is especially significant at two extreme situations:
disturbance
they get is a demand situation that is "erratic, unpredictable
and declining." As Mather (1995) notes, "many • sales Whenandthe demand increase due to the promotion activity
marketing programs actually cause volatile demand. strains
They the supply chain's capability to produce at the
take an underlying customer demand, which is relatively new level. The temporary increase in demand may be
met through building inventory in slack periods or by
stable for many products and introduce peaks and valleys."
Companies react by implementing programs to improve activities
the such as overtime production.
flexibility of the factory, adding inventory cushions, and
increasing capacity to meet peak demand. Mather• When predictions of the impact of the promotion activity
suggests
companies need to analyze their promotion programs inaccurate.
are to For instance, a retail advertising
determine which ones are really adding value and which program
ones is expected to increase demand by 5% for three
weeks, and instead a 10% increase is realized. This
are losing money. This evaluation must include the effect
across the entire supply chain. unplanned demand exceeds the forecast, and the supply
chain must react in the short-term to provide product.
Consumer demand has changed significantly over the past
decade. First of all, there are simply more varieties requested

42 Journal of Marketing THEORY AND PRACTICE

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An example of the impact of marketing initiatives on the
supply chain can be seen in Figurei. This figure taken from
historical sales of one product at one company illustrates the
changes in production at the manufacturing plant level based
on marketing activity. The horizontal axis represents weeks
and the valicai axis cases of product. Each of the peaks in
cases produced represent an advertising campaign or
promotion activity conducted by marketing. As the figure
indicates, the increase in demand is significant at the plant
level. Changes in case demand are as high as five times
normal in one week. However, during those same time
periods, point-of-sale shipments to consumers varied only
slightly. Trade promotions triggered the middle link in the
supply chain to buy additional product and store it for future
consumer needs. Meanwhile, meeting the increased demand
in the peak periods strains the supply chain's capabilities and
results in added cost for the company.
Note that there are also fluctuations in the inventory level.
Inventories are typically higher than production levels in
order to absorb the variability in demand and to cover the
lead time associated with initiating new production orders in
response to customer demand.
BALANCE MODEL
these changes in customer requirements and inadequate
One way of viewing the impact of this scenario on
systems to the
manage them, the following symptoms exist:
company is to think about the supply chain as normally in
balance with customer requirements. Figure 2 describes this
FIGUREI
DEMAND DISTORTION
120.000 -
IOOOOO- CASES IN INVENTORY
8O.OOO - ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^L ^^^^^^^^^L ^^^^^^^^^
^■■^■■■■■V CASES ■ SHIPED^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H TOTAL ^^^^H
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balancing act. Promotions or other marketing activities
the potential to upset this balance. If marketing pract
shift the balance too strongly one way, e.g., with a promo
that strains demand, the supply chain becomes unbalan
with customers needs. This out-of-balance condition adds
cost as the supply chain scrambles to meet demand. Figure
3 describes an unbalanced supply chain straining to meet
customer requirements.
Traditional supply chain design (or what was once narrowly
referred to as manufacturing-only design) looked like the
following:
• Rigid production systems designed to produce only a few
products
• Long supply cycle times
• Large batch sizes
• Capacity based on annual volumes
• Volume-driven technology
• Numerous suppliers for the same parts.
The explosion of marketing activity and intensity of
consumer demand has thrown many companies9 supply
chains into a tailspin. Their systems were not designed to
meet the requirements now placed upon them. As a result of
^^k A
Special Issue 43
 FIGURE 2
BALANCED SUPPLY CHAIN

| CUSTOMER SUPPLY
! REQUIREMENTS CHAIN
CAPABILITY

Market Demand, ^^^^^^k Suppliers, Manufacturers,

New Products, ^^^^^^^^^^ Transportation,
Promotions jiHHI^^flHkt. Distributors

FIGURE 3

Increased Demand Increased Costs

Overtime

Due to Marketing Programs Expediting

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Premium Freight

^^^^^^^^^^_ Increased inventory
CUSTOMER ^^^ Costs of Producir* at
REQUIREMENTS ^T ^^^ .

^^^^^^ SUPPLY
CHAIN

• Decreasing margins Table 1 describes the characteristics of a strained supply

• Poor service performance chain versus those of a capable supply chain. The
• Increased overhead costs synchronization and integration of the supply chain members
are reflected in the balanced supply chain description. The
• Poor production process reliability (quality and delivery
implications) strained supply chain is much more disjointed and the impact
• Increased downtime due to changeovers of fluctuations causes disruptions throughout the chain as
• High inventory levels of raw materials and finished members try to adjust to the demands of their immediate
product. customers.

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 TABLE 1
SUPPLY CHAIN CHARACTERISTICS

• Produce to forecast (Push) • Make to demand (Pull)

• Highly variable demand profile • Produce most products daily (reduced run cycles)
• Low overall reliability • Reliable systems
• No formal supplier partnerships • Daily supplier integration
• Few customer partnerships • Flow replenishment of customer inventory
• Frequent schedule changes • Synchronized supply and demand
• Different schedules for plants and suppliers • Same schedules across supply system

• Functional silos within supply chain

Most supply chains areoption

woefully unbalanced
that marginally contributes w
most to the long-
requirements (Bockerstette andofShell
term profitability the product.1993). Ea
Allocations shoul
product supply system must
continue be individua
on this incremental basis until all options
producing and delivering
that provide
what a suitable
customers
return on the incremental
ord
The entire supply chaininvestment
is only are found."
as capable as th
in the system. Where the supply system i
delivering within Their researchexpected
customer showed only 16% of trade promotions
replenish
supply profitable, costs
chain carries excess based on incremental
in the sales. Increased adver
form of
overhead to support work-in-process
led to more sales only about half the and fini
time. In addition,
inventories. Marketing programs
advertising may
did boost sales, the increa
extra profit often did
balance condition and should
cover be
the extra media evaluated
costs. par
Promotions in particular
their supply chain impact.misleading effect on manufacturers shipments due to fo
buying. Retailers will take in thousands of extra cases
CURRENT MARKETING PROGRAM the promotion, then not buy far several weeks while
EVALUATIONS deplete their inventory.

Traditionally, most companies evaluate proposedWhat Abraham and Lodish's research did not consider in
marketing
programs based on marketing's projections of sales
theirvolumes,
evaluation of the profitability of the marketing activity
the cost of running the advertisements or promotion,
is the added
and
cost incurred by the supply chain to meet the
surgecover
standard (budgeted) supply chain costs. When sales in demand. Those costs are not isolated to the
the marketing cost and allow for a targeted level of
promotion or advertising activity, but are hidden in plant and
profitability, the program is approved. Abrahampurchasing
and Lodishbudgets under material variance, overtime, scrap,
1990 challenged the wisdom of basing decisionsrework,
on gross
premium freight, and other classifications. Figure 4
sales suggesting instead the focus should be on incremental
graphically illustrates how these costs increase in relation to
sales. They proposed that managers should changes
look for in ademand for one SKU at one company. As
balance between advertising and promotiondemand
basedincreases
on due to promotion activities, the supply
marginal-productivity analysis. As Abrahamchain
andcosts
Lodishwhich are not included in standard costs also
(1990) state: increase. The bottom line impact of the promotion based on
incremental sales is not evaluated before the program begins.
"The idea is to start with a zero budget and allocate
The true contribution to profit of the program should include
money incrementally to various advertisingboth
andthe marketing activity costs and all supply chain costs
promotion options. The goal is to identify the attributed to the promotion.
directly

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 FIGURE 4
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMAND AND NON-STANDARD COSTS

lOOO

800

600

400

200

Q ! ! | ! ! | ! | |

Montn

| | Demand
• Non-Standard Supply Chain Costs

are required
A study by Hardie (1997) discussed the case of decreasing the which estimate the incremental sales from the
marketing
use of marketing programs. Their evidence showed that price activity, include the marketing costs of running
promotions have been taking an increasing proportion of
the promotion or advertisement and the added costs incurred
marketing budgets for consumer goods manufacturersby die supply
and chain as it extends its capabilities to meet the
increase
that these promotions are conditioning consumers to lode forin demand.
bargains which may be eroding brand loyalty. They cited a
MAKING TOTAL COST DECISIONS
number of cost savings that would result from a de-escalation
of pricing promotions. A smoothing of the sales pattern
would mean Iowa* inventories, improved productionCompanies need to assess the true cost of undertaking cer
marketing
coordination, reduced overtime, and more efficient logistics programs by identifying the incremental sa
(Hardie 1997). However, the competitive reactionsfrom die to program and both the marketing and supply c
changing the use of pricing promotions must also
costs ofbethe program. One approach to gathering informa
considered. is to implement an activity-based costing (ABC) model wh
identifies the cost of all activities associated with the
The performance measures currently in place to marketing
evaluate project. However, ABC is a difficult and costly
marketing activities are traditional financial process
tools. For
to implement (Krumwiede 1998). An activity-based
example: management tool is needed which aids in the evaluation of
marketing decisions based on estimates of incremental sales,
• Increased market share marketing costs and the cost of various supply chain.
• Return on investment
• Net profit contribution The model should capture the planned incremental sales
• Profit margin volume, the projected marketing expenditures, and projected
added costs from the supply chain not included in the
These performance measures analyze the cost of theproduct's standard cost. The model should be capable of
marketing activity, project sales volume, include cost of answering "What If questions during the promotion or
advertising planning process. For instance, what if weekly
production and distribution at standard (budgeted) cost, and
project the profit contribution for the product. New models
sales estimates from the promotion vary from the forecast.

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Or, what if different methods of meeting demand are used by
the supply chain, such as building inventory in advance
versus working overtime? The final result should be the
expected net value of the marketing initiative considering all
planned costs required to meet the increase in demand. In
addition, the model should be capable of evaluating the
program after its completion to measure the true profitability
of the promotion.
The total cost impact can be described by the following
formulas:

Net Value of the Marketing Initiative = Total Income - Standard Income (1)
where
Total Income = Standard Income + (Added Sales - Added Costs) (2)
Standard Income = (Standard Sales Volume x Price) - (Standard Sales Volume x (Standard Cost) (3)
Added Sales = (Added Sales Volume x Selling Price) (4)
Added Cost = (Added Sales Volume x Standard Cost) + Supp

An example would be as follows:

Standard Volume and Costs Marketing Promotion

Standard Sales Volume = 20,000 units Added Sales Volume - 5,000 units
Selling Price = $60/unit Sales Price = $50/unit
Standard Cost = $30/unit Standard Cost = $30/unit
Added Supply Chain Cost = $25,000
Marketing Costs = $50,000

Standard Income - = (Standard Sales Volume x Price) - (Standard Sales Volume x (Standard Cos
= (20,000 x $60) - (20,000 x $30)
= $600,000

With Marketing Initiative

Added Sales = (5,000 x $50) = $250,000
Added Cost = (5,000 x $30) + $25,000 + $50,000 = $225,000
Value of the Marketing Initiative = $250,000 - $225,000 = $15,000
Total income = $600,000 = $ 1 5,000 = $6 1 5,000

In this hypothetical example, the incremental income attributed to the marketing initiative is only $3 per
units), considerably less than the standard income of $30 per unit ($600,000/20,000 units). This is due to a lo
direct marketing costs associated with the initiative, and added supply chain costs.

The supply chain limitations which caused added cost chain

supply to that may be incurred by other nodes (oth
meet the demand projections should also be identified. companies),
Table but are not added direct costs to th
2 lists some possible supply chain limiters which manufacturer.
typically Companies must recognize that other co
incurred along the supply chain may not get charged to th
drive costs. This list is not all-inclusive, but is representative
but getdie
of a typical firm's supply chain's added costs. Evaluating passed along in higher prices to the consumer a
cause for the added costs will expose the limiting reduce
factor the
in overall effectiveness of the supply chain.
the supply chain's performance. By recognizing the limiting
Companies
factor or constraint in the supply chain, efforts may be made should look at effectively executing the marke
to remove or reduce the limiting factor and make activities
the supply by evaluating the true profitability of the activ
chain capable of meeting changes in demand. i.e., by including all the cost impacts across the supply ch
Activities that disrupt the supply chain balance add cos
The basis for creating a new model lies in the balance
which need to be considered in the evaluation. The supp
chain limitations
concept described earlier. The supply chain is balanced by which cause the added cost should be
customer needs. When marketing activities tip the targeted
balance,for elimination or improvement which will again
balance
or customer needs exceed supply chain capabilities, the supply chain capabilities with consumer demand.
added
costs are incurred. The model should include costs along the

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 SUPPLY CHAIN FLEXIBILITY the flexibility and synchronization of the supply chain is
timely and visible flow of identical information to
In addition to modeling the total costs of a marketing
members of the supply chain.
program, efforts should also be ongoing to build the supply
A more
chain capabilities to better synchronize supply with flexible supply chain will be in a better position
demand.
absorb the
Flexibility can be developed to mitigate cost fluctuations due demand fluctuations due to marketing progr
However,
to particular marketing programs. A more flexible supplythe costs of strategically improving supply ch
flexibility
chain is capable of betta* matching the production rate to the must also be planned and implemented.
demand rate for the period under consideration.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
As outlined by Alber and Walker (1997) increasing the
flexibility, or better synchronizing the supply Current
chain, is methods used to promote and advertise ha
difficult because every area of the business issignificant
affected, impact on the supply chain's ability to deliv
including demand management, throughput, run product
cycles, without incurring excess costs. Market
batch sizes, planning and control, and information flow.
promotions may drive spikes in demand that the supply ch
cannot
Links must be established between demand creation meet under normal conditions. Examples of add
(sales
and marketing) and the supply (manufacturing andmay be incurred when demand at the plant le
costs that
distribution) and must include the timely exchange of
varies significantly from period-to-period were describ
information. Throughput (volume of production),earlier. This research focuses on evaluating the affec
run cycles
peaks in demand on the supply chain and identifying t
(how often a product is manufactured), and batch sizes must
costs
be capable of meeting the demand requirements at everywhich are added as the supply chain strains to meet
changes
stage of the supply chain. The planning and control systemsin level of demand. Models must be develo
must be capable of reacting to demand changes by interacting include added supply chain costs in the evalua
which will
with all elements of the supply network. A key toof promotion activity profitability.
increasing

TABLE 2
SUPPLY CHAIN LIMITATIONS WHICH DRIVE COST

• Request to the supplier are in less than standard leadtime

• Lack of storage capacity at the supplier
• Lowest cost transportation mode is unavailable
• Handling requirements change due to design changes
• Manufacturing plant downtime (due to unavailable material)
• Lack of storage capacity at the manufacturer
• Unavailable capacity (overtime or nonstandard production methods used)
• Additional setups or changeovers at the manufacturing plant
• Damaged product, obsolete product
• Transportation mode requires expediting
• Excess storage quantities require additional cycle
• Lowest cost transportation mode can't provide desired service
• Unavailable supplier production capacity
• Additional setups or changeovers at the supplier
• Quantities exceed supplier capability (a second supplier required)
• Unavailable manufacturing capacity (an outside supplier required)
• Unavailable manufacturing capacity (drives production to a higher cost plant)
• Change in product design
• Lack of storage capacity at the distributor
• Request nonstandard processing at the distributor (special tagging, packaging)

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Companies can improve profitability from better managing
the link between marketing and the supply chain. It
suggests, there may be two sources of better controlled costs
that companies can capitalize on. The first potential increase
in profitability comes from better managing the marketing
decisions on product promotion and advertising. Models
must be developed to examine the potential profitability of a
marketing activity prior to its implementation, e.g. test
marketing. The second source of potential profitability is a
more complete knowledge of the associated supply chain
costs resulting from the marketing initiative. Models can help
identify what limits the supply chain from meeting demand.
The models must look at incremental sales from the
promotion or advertising activity and compare it to themost companies, that translates to a nearly four per
increase in net profit margin. Considering the average
combination of both added marketing cost and added supply
chain costs incurred to meet the increase in demand. Bothprofit margin for the healthy, Fortune 50-sized compan
less than 10 percent, a four percent bottom-line savings
costs should be considered as part of the decision to run the
big boost" (Davis 1995).
promotion and later included in the evaluation of its
profitability.
Many marketing projects which can affect the supply chain.
Companies must ask themselves the question: Based on the
total cost of the marketing program, including both
marketing and supply chain costs, is it in the best interest of
the company to promote or introduce? A second question
logically follows: What is the best time to execute the
promotion to have the least affect on the supply chain and
improve the overall profitability of the promotion?
The use of a model as a decision-making tool may also aid in
decisions on related marketing issues. For instance, what
affect does (me promotion have on other products produced
at the same plant? Or, what happens if the dates on the
promotion are altered slightly, to move the incremental sales
to other weeks? Also, is the promotion running
simultaneously with a promotion run by another division or
segment of the company? As managers begin to analyze the
impact of marketing decisions on the entire supply chain,
these decisions become part of the overall product strategy for
the company.
The model can also be useful in increasing the flexibility of
the supply chain to meet changes in customer demand. As the
added supply chain costs are determined, at the same time,
the limiting factor or capability is also identified. These
capability limits, or constraints, then become targets for
supply chain improvement projects. Improvements in the
supply chain process will improve the supply chain's ability
to deliver the product required by the marketing initiative at
no additional cost.
CONCLUSION
Improvements in supply chain performance have been sh
to improve company profitability. The Yankee Grou
Boston-based consulting firm, points to a study of 1
European firms, that shows leading companies opera
with 36 percent lower logistics costs than the average. "W
supply-chain costs estimated at 10 percent of the revenu
Balancing marketing practices with supply chain capabil
will not occur overnight. Programs such as ECR (Effici
Consumer Response) in the grocery industry are designe
incorporate efficient promotion as part of th
implementation, but no one in the industry believes that
be easy to accomplish. According to forma* Qua
President and COO Philip Marineau, "Reengineering
ECR does entail major financial costs. For Quaker t
means $110 to $130 million in initial cost-reduction
measures and realignment of the sales organization"
(Mathews 1994). According to Marineau, they were
spending between $10 and $20 million annually in employee
education and development to align the company with ECR
concepts.
Management of the supply chain means managing all the
different processes and activities that produce value in the
hands of the ultimate consumer. Marketing activities are
one of the processes that should add value to the consumer.
Promotion policies that create unstable demand and result
in surges of orders on the manufacturing plant and its
suppliers add costs to the product which are ultimately
passed on to the consumer. Management of the marketing
activities should include an analysis of their cost impact
across the entire supply chain. The result will be a supply
chain that does not strain to meet demand and recognizes
lower costs along the supply chain and better prices for the
customer.

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Strategy Review, 7 (4):4148.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Robert J. Vokurka (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is an assistant professa- of Industrial Distribution in t
College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. He held positions of Plant Manager and Division Controlle
has published in the Journal of Operations Management, International Journal of Forecasting, Productio
Management Journal, as well as other journals and proceedings. His research interests include distribution
chain management, and manufacturing flexibility.

AUTHOR BIOOGRAPHY

Rhonda R. Lummus (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is an associate profess«- of Operations Management at Cen
University. She spent IS years in industry implementing and coordinating MRP systems and JIT program
articles in the Journal of Operations Management, International Journal of Service Operations Managem
Inventory Management Journal and in other journals and proceedings. She has recently completed a rese
APICS on Supply Chain Management.

50 Journal of Marketing THEORY AND PRACTICE

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