Abstract
Abstract Important research efforts have been developed to account for power in the analysis of supply chains. This paper argues that further gains may arise by considering organizations as social constructions mediated not only by power relations, but also by cultural representations intrinsically intertwined to it. Its purpose is to discuss the dynamics of stability and change in supply chains based on the Strategic Action Fields (SAFs) approach. A theoretical essay was elaborated discussing some of the main implications of this perspective to the study of supply chains and presenting propositions to enable the construction of research objects and guide empirical studies in the area. Propositions emphasize how ongoing cultural-political relations circumscribed to different fields, including the organization, with its internal disputes.
Highlights
Important research efforts have been developed to account for power in the analysis of supply chains (Cox, 1999, 2001; Benton & Maloni, 2005; Hingley, 2005; Crook & Combs, 2007; Ireland & Webb, 2007; Zhao et al, 2008; Bandeira et al, 2009; Byrne & Power, 2014; Huo et al, 2017)
While these approaches are appropriated to the task at hand and generated rich contributions, further gains may arise from the adoption of theoretical tools that ‘take seriously’ the idea that organizations and supply chains are social constructions mediated by power relations, and by cultural representations operating in circumscribed arenas of action that have been called ‘fields’ (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992; Martin, 2003; Fligstein & McAdam, 2012)
It departs from the insight that organizations and their environments are social constructions mediated by power and culture in which actors seek to build stable worlds that accommodate their different interests and views (Fligstein, 2001)
Summary
Important research efforts have been developed to account for power in the analysis of supply chains (Cox, 1999, 2001; Benton & Maloni, 2005; Hingley, 2005; Crook & Combs, 2007; Ireland & Webb, 2007; Zhao et al, 2008; Bandeira et al, 2009; Byrne & Power, 2014; Huo et al, 2017). Notions of power as the one developed by French & Raven (1959) and approaches as Resource Dependence Theory (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978) and Network Analysis (Smith-Doerr & Powell, 2005), related to a power‐dependence view (Emerson, 1962), have commonly underlain these efforts While these approaches are appropriated to the task at hand and generated rich contributions, further gains may arise from the adoption of theoretical tools that ‘take seriously’ the idea that organizations and supply chains are social constructions mediated by power relations, and by cultural representations operating in circumscribed arenas of action that have been called ‘fields’ (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992; Martin, 2003; Fligstein & McAdam, 2012). The final remarks and conclusions are presented
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