A Reconceptualization of Supply Chains Using the Stakeholder-Resource-Based View

Abstract

In this paper, we identify differences in commercial, humanitarian and development supply chains, and observe that extant literature does not have an overarching conceptualization of supply chains that can subsume all three in an integrative way. We use Stakeholder-Resource-Based View (SRBV), developed by Sodhi (2015) to conceptualize social responsibility in operations management research, as a theoretical lens through which to view supply chains. SRBV draws from stakeholder theory, a resource-based view and dynamic capabilities, and multi-attribute utility theory, and we show that viewing supply chains through SRBV yields a more generic conceptualization of supply chains that allows researchers to investigate any kind of supply chain, subsuming commercial, humanitarian, and development supply chains. The resulting reconceptualization of supply chains is useful as a descriptive, instrumental, and normative tool in supply chain research, and has important implications for supply chain scholars and managers.