Expanding the supply chain integration model internally: a case study from the gaming industry

This case looks at how market pressures can be best addressed through processes and tools that are derived from emerging theories such as theory of constraints, theory of supply chain integration and complexity theory. It also addresses how strategic supply chain decisions can make outsourcing and offshoring less attractive. It reviews how one organisation is preserving current manufacturing capacity and capability while decreasing production costs and meeting the requirements of a new market simultaneously. Looking specifically at the work of Chen et al.'s (2009) internal supply chain integration framework, this case explores the impacts of internal supply chain integration on a company's reaction to increased competition and complexity. Chen et al. state, "few companies identified both factors (consumer and cost orientation) simultaneously" (p.38). This case demonstrates how one organisation, which does perceive both of these factors simultaneously, responded to external pressures to move towards internal supply chain integration. It thus establishes a further component to the future research prescribed by Chen et al. (2009) including not only the consumer and cost focus from an industry perspective, but also it highlights a gap identified in the research on the antecedents of integration.