Coordination in Supply Chains: From Case Studies to Reference Models

Intensive competition has forced companies to focus on their core business and as a consequence to participate to more and more complex supply networks. The necessity to preserve the autonomy of each partner makes such networks usually managed in a decentralized way. Consequently, problems and conflicts emerge during the coordination processes. This paper describes some coordination problems identified through interviews and locates them within the activities of the coordination processes. Interpretations of the aspects influencing coordination are suggested, allowing to better explain the origins of these problems.