The relationship between SCM and business strategy. A Delphi study in Latin America

Carlos Raúl Arredondo,José Antonio Alfaro Tanco

doi:10.3926/hdbr.197

Abstract

The aim of this research is to identify the factors that influence the implementation of supply chain management (SCM) strategy in Latin America countries. More specifically, we focus on the study of the degree of SCM strategy involvement into the design of business strategy through the analysis of the following aspects: organization culture, incentive programs for managers, internal alignment, and segmentation. These aspects are evaluated at a firm level of analysis in order to understand how the internal organization gives way to a correct SCM implementation. The authors use a Delphi Methodology on a panel of 13 Latin American experts in SCM and logistics in order to validate a set of SCM constructs that represent different aspects of integration and that should be presented as SCM strategy aspects in the definition of the business strategy of the firm. As a result, the differences in the experts’ opinions regarding the proposed constructs clearly indicate that even the constructs have to be included into the SCM strategy, there is still much to be defined in terms of SCM strategy and how SCM participates in the Business Strategy and, thus clear guidelines must be proposed to enable its proper operationalization. To deepen the phenomenon of SCM as a fundamental part of the strategy of the company and thus analyze in detail the conditions that must be taken within the organization for its further operationalization are a still pending innovative approach in the matter. This study permits to develop a useful framework as a guide to involve SCM strategy into business strategy.

Highlights

Chain Management (SCM) is a discipline of management that can be seen in different ways
Based on the result of the Delphi process it can be inferred that exists a strategic vision of Supply Chain Management (SCM); experts concur, though not with a high degree of convergence, on how important is SCM strategy as part of the business strategy; after the Delphi process, the panel reached a convergence on the purpose of external integration as one of the objectives of SCM even though the internal alignment is considered, probably, more important than the latter
Experts agree the strategic nature of SCM, can provide an answer to our first construct “degree of participation of SCM strategy in the business strategy”: Experts say there should be a moderate degree of participation of SCM strategy in business strategy, but it has to be present

Summary

Introduction

Chain Management (SCM) is a discipline of management that can be seen in different ways. We emphasize the strategic nature of SCM and the importance to be considered in this way. The purpose of this paper is to explore how, if this happens, SCM strategy is taken into account when the organization delineates its business strategy (Bag, Gupta & Telukdarie, 2018) and how that conditions should be met internally within the organization and successfully implemented at tactical and operational levels. We explore on a set of constructs, at firm’s level, that we defined as critical to be considered as the first steps for a successful implementation of a SCM strategy. While not considering the strategic level any effort that the organization wants to make in the area of SCM will hardly get satisfactory results in the medium and long term

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