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Creating a Chain Reaction about Supply Chains

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At first glance supply chains may appear to have little to do with the creative industries and cultural policy studies but, together with colleagues from WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group), Ruth is working to spearhead a large scale research project, funded by the University of Warwick’s ESRC Impact Acceleration scheme, highlighting the crucial role that they play in the global economy.

The project, led by Janet Godsell, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy, launches today at www.mychainreaction.co.uk and has been designed to uncover our knowledge and understanding of what a supply chain is, and how we, as individuals, are an integral part of supply chains up and down the country and beyond.

Janet explains, “The issue of supply chains is of national importance. Supply chains are key in supporting economic growth, contributing to increasing both GDP and employment levels. Currently, however, there is a real disparity between the significance of supply chains and the level of understanding among both key business figures, political leaders and the wider population about what a supply chain is and why they matter. Supply chains touch almost every aspect of our daily lives but many of us don’t know or realise this and we want to know why.”

“With the launch of this study, we hope to put supply chains firmly on the corporate and political agenda by informing the future development of supply chain strategy and policy. As part of this we are also keen to highlight the importance of working within a supply chain, encouraging the next generation of school leavers to consider this as a viable and attractive career prospect.”

Ruth’s involvement as co-investigator has grown out of her leadership of the Mediasmith Project, an academic fellowship funded by the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning, which explored alternative research methods with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and transmedia approaches. Jan was a keen participant in the Mediasmith Project and was eager to trial these methods in a large scale study.

The MyChainReaction project is innovative in its design as it combines the principles of crowdsourcing, social networking and storytelling in order to both generate research data and increase public engagement and understanding as more and more people take part. Participants are invited to answer a couple of simple questions about their knowledge of supply chains and to share their MyChainReaction stories by explaining how they interact with supply chains. The research team hope that the general public will spread the chain reaction as far across the world as possible and, by doing so, help to achieve the target of 1,000 respondents by the end of July.

The custom designed site (developed by MA Creative and Media Enterprises graduate David Proctor of Coderra) also features an engaging example of a local supply chain, bringing to life the supply chain story of Stroud based ice cream maker Kate Lowe. In addition, visitors can explore the Story Map, a dynamic digital map of all the MyChainReaction stories which grows in real time as people join in. To take part simply visit www.mychainreaction.co.uk and click on the Add My Story tab.

The project will also feature a response to the project themes and emerging stories by local artists and/arts organisations who will be invited to respond to an open call for commissions administered via Warwick Creative Exchange. Their work will be showcased at the Global Supply Chain debate to be hosted at the International Digital Laboratory at the University of Warwick when the project ends in November 2015.

The success and impact of the project is heavily dependent on the willingness of the public to participate so, no matter where you are in the world reading this, we invite you to ‘Get in the middle of a chain reaction’ and add your MyChainReaction story to the map. Please keep the chain reaction going and see where you fit in! www.mychainreaction.co.uk

Fri 03 Jul 2015, 14:01 | Tags: Impact Research news Faculty of Arts