Exploring the use of 25 leading business practices in transitioning market supply chains

Abstract

Purpose – In the global economy, managers of organizations are constantly innovating with their use of available supply chain management tools. Some tools, like strategic planning and customer segmentation, have gained strong global acceptance while others are less universal. The paper aims to focus the contribution on the organizational factors that predict firm usage of supply chain management tools in two Eastern Europe countries, Slovenia and Croatia, while also comparing them to the global use of similar management tools. Design/methodology/approach – This research provides an empirical analysis of supply chain management tool usage from a survey of 155 firms in Slovenia and 185 firms in Croatia while also comparing these findings to results from a global Bain & Company survey. Findings – The 25 most commonly used supply chain management tools in the Eastern European survey were found to be relatively similar to those used across Europe and North America. However, further analysis of five selected tools reveals important differences. Evidence is found to support that particular organizational factors have a significant influence on supply chain management tool usage, of specific importance is the education level of the organization manager. Originality/value – The findings are useful for business practice in understanding the influences of organizational factors on supply chain management tool usage. Also, the research is original as previous management literature has not provided a similar approach to researching management tools and their usage.