Qualitative Journal Article Reviews of Infer Stats in Decision-Making:
You will review qualitative research. The topic is up to you as long as you choose a peer-reviewed, academic research piece. I suggest choosing a topic that is at least in the same family as your expected dissertation topic so that you can start viewing what is out there. There are no hard word counts or page requirements as long as you cover the basic guidelines. You must submit original work, however, and a paper that returns as a large percentage of copy/paste to other sources will not be accepted. (Safe Assign will be used to track/monitor your submission for plagiarism. Submissions with a Safe Assign match of more than 25% will not be accepted.)
Please use APA formatting and include the following information:
- Introduction/Background: Provide context for the research article. What led the author(s) to write the piece? What key concepts were explored? Were there weaknesses in prior research that led the author to the current hypothesis or research question?
- Methodology: Describe how the data was gathered and analyzed. What research questions or hypotheses were the researcher trying to explore? What statistical analysis was used?
- Study Findings and Results: What were the major findings from the study? Were there any limitations?
- Conclusions: Evaluate the article in terms of significance, research methods, readability and the implications of the results. Does the piece lead into further study? Are there different methods you would have chosen based on what you read? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article in terms of statistical analysis and application? (This is where a large part of the rubric is covered.)
- References
Sample Answer
Introduction/Background
According to this study, modern companies need to use diverse information systems to promote their operations, enhance their partnership with their trading partners, and gain a competitive advantage in their industry. Sustainable supply chain management is one of the critical factors that may enable companies to gain a competitive advantage in a supply chain. It contributes to cost savings, promotes environmental practices, improve customer satisfaction, and human capital development (Baah & Jin, 2019). Evidence shows that the increased growth and utilization of advanced technologies in running various operations in companies have promoted the use of information systems in supply chain management. This has helped promote collaboration and support internal and external processes of a company and promote their overall performance (Allaoui et al., 2019). However, the earlier studies fail to focus on whether incorporating information systems in SSCM enhance the ability to gain a competitive advantage (Stroumpoulis et al., 2019). Therefore, the concepts investigated in this research include the impact of IT and SSCM. It also aims to study whether the integration of IT into SSCM promote competitive advantage.
Methodology
The researcher conducted a case study of a modern company in Greece. In this case study, the researcher utilized semi-structured interviews as the main method. Additional data was obtained through documentation and limited participant observation method.
The research question explores the connection between the application of information systems and the development of sustainability practices in a supply chain. They also investigated the effect of the combination of IT and SSCM on companies and supply chains. In addition, the research questions focused on studying the impact of IT and SSCM on enhancing a company’s ability to improve its business performance and gain a competitive advantage.
The study does not explain the statistical analysis tools utilized to analyze the data collected from the qualitative case study.
Study Findings and Results
According to the study findings, the modern advanced systems which promote sustainability, such as MRP and ERP systems, have enhanced collaboration in companies that have adopted the technology. For instance, 3PL companies have significantly collaborated with their international or multinational partners and customers. Also, the study revealed that information systems help promote sustainability practices. 3PL Company was an example of a company that achieved sustainability through the use of information systems. This company specializes in the operations and procedures of transportation and warehousing. The study findings showed that the utilization of IT systems and software applications, such as warehouse management system (WMS), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, in the company’s operations helps promote efficiency in its supply chain management processes (Tarigan et al., 2021). Besides, the researcher focused on determining the impact of information technology systems and SSCM in promoting a company’s competitive advantage in supply chains. The study results revealed that the application of information systems and inter-organizational solid relationships and collaboration play a key role in promoting SSCM practices. Besides, they can help achieve competitive advantage and other business advantages such as improved business performance and enhanced customer loyalty (Stroumpoulis et al., 2021).
The main limitation of the study is that its results are not generalizable. Therefore, the researcher requires additional cases, in a large scale to draw more generalizable outcomes.
Conclusions
The research provides a good review concerning the impact of IT on supply chain management. It promotes supply chain processes, increases performance and customer satisfaction, and leads to sustainable competitive advantage. Besides, this study is easy to read, and its results can be applied to enhance supply chain management. However, the study findings are not generalizable. Thus, this limitation can be addressed through future research.
