Supply Chain Management Scholars Research Articles

Reconceptualizing supply chain flows (SCFLOWS)

PurposeDespite being a fundamental concept, the field of supply chain management (SCM) exhibits a significant lack of consensus regarding the definition of supply chain flows (SCFLOWS). Additionally, there has been an over-reliance on three flows – material, information and finance – while various other flows crucial to SCM performance have been overlooked. Hence, the purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to explore the multi-dimensional nature of SCFLOWS and (2) to identify additional flows beyond the commonly acknowledged ones that are vital for SCM performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs various qualitative methods as part of the abduction process. The methods include in-depth interviews with logistics professionals, a Delphi study involving SCM scholars and a focus group comprising airline industry practitioners.FindingsSeven SCFLOWS dimensions are identified and presented as SCFLOWS framework. Also, two additional flows, i.e. human and capital equipment, are proposed as vital to SCM performance.Originality/valueThis is the first study to introduce SCFLOWS framework to achieve consensus in the field. By introducing two additional flows, it proposes extending the SCFLOWS boundary to include various flows overlooked previously but pertinent to SCM performance. The SCFLOWS framework serves as a systematic guide to validate additional flows and represents an important step towards building SCM theory.

Caught in the deglobalisation crosswind? De-risking by “China+1” or “In-China-For-China”

PurposeForeign firms in China, particularly those from the Global West, are in a difficult position as deglobalisation and strained international relations create risk. This paper offers research avenues on how operations and supply chain management scholars can analyse the risk factors, de-risking practices, and de-risking outcomes of foreign firms in China.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is primarily based on interviews with managers of foreign firms’ subsidiaries and joint ventures in China between late 2019 and early 2024 and employs institutional theory to develop a conceptual framework.FindingsSix risk factors motivating foreign firms to consider “China+1” (diversification and multi-sourcing) or “In-China-For-China” (localisation with potential bifurcation) are identified. Four pathways focusing on politics, locations, technologies, and people enable further investigation of these de-risking strategies.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to take a deeper look at perceptions, worries, and considerations of foreign firms in China and offers specific recommendations for impactful research.

Process Research Methods for Studying Supply Chains and Their Management

ABSTRACTProcesses are fundamental to supply chains and their management. Yet, traditional research approaches to supply chain management (SCM) reflect only a limited understanding of process, offering accounts that overlook the constitutive role of dynamically interrelated processes and how their interplay over time shapes the trajectories of supply chains. This article argues that a process‐philosophical perspective is better suited as a starting point for identifying, analyzing, and interpreting the fluid and interwoven processes of supply chains and their co‐evolving environments. Drawing on examples from SCM research, the article offers insights into the nature of process‐thinking and process‐theoretical assumptions, including the analytical choices and challenges entailed in process research. Besides providing methodological guidance, the article highlights how process research methods equip SCM scholars with a powerful lens for studying transformational issues in this field, including sustainability, resilience, and the use of digitalization and technology.

On subsistence‐type rural independent retailers and crowdfunded microfinance—Prosocial lending, nudges, and unintended consequences

AbstractMuch of the extant scholarship in supply chain management (SCM) has had a developed world focus, although most of the global population resides outside this area. SCM scholars are now recognizing this limitation in the coverage of our communities' research. They have recognized that the logistical challenges of getting products to these underserved markets at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) may be fundamentally different from the “big box” mindset that prevails in the west. There is growing recognition that supply chain entrepreneurship is critical to the logistics and physical distribution systems that can get products to such markets in a cost‐effective manner. Yet, such entrepreneurs, who are often small, and weakly integrated into the global economy, face several challenges in their daily business. Many of them rely on microfinance to fund their business. Yet, the microfinance model itself is changing into a web‐supported crowdfunded model. The current study investigates how an entrepreneur's circumstances with regard to their borrowing status as a first‐time borrower, and their intent with regard to business expansion influence their success in fundraising on a crowdfunding platform. Results reveal that BOP entrepreneurs who are “repeat borrowers” have difficulty in obtaining funding for their business plans.

Building and testing necessity theories in supply chain management

AbstractThis article contributes to the Emerging Discourse Incubator initiative by presenting how supply chain management scholars can contribute to theory development by means of necessity theories. These are unique theories that inform what level of a concept must be present to achieve a desired level of the outcome. Necessity theories consist of concepts that are necessary but not sufficient conditions for an outcome, where the absence of a single causal concept ensures the absence of the outcome. The theoretical features of necessary conditions have important implications for understanding supply chain management phenomena and providing practical applications. In 2016, Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) became available for building and testing necessity theories with empirical data. However, NCA has not yet been used for the development of supply chain management theories. Therefore, we explain how necessity theories can be built and tested in a supply chain management context using necessity logic and the empirical methodology of NCA. We intend to inspire scholars to develop novel necessity theories that deepen or renew our understanding of supply chain management phenomena.

How to advance theory through literature reviews in logistics and supply chain management

PurposeThe discipline's most common uses for literature reviews—identifying gaps, developing research agendas, and categorizing the literature—too often fail to challenge, change or advance theoretical perspectives. The authors offer guidance to theorization through literature reviews. The key to theory advancement is consistency between the state of theory and the chosen review type.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual approach is taken. The authors identify shortcomings in literature reviews of logistics and supply chain management (L&SCM) research and develop a framework to aid theorization from literature.FindingsLiterature review types are categorized as inductive theory building, contextualized explanations, theory testing and interpretive sensemaking. The authors argue that the effectiveness of a review type depends on the prior state of theory, which ranges from nascent, to intermediate, to mature. The authors propose the interpretive sensemaking review as a novel review type rooted in the interpretive paradigm.Practical implicationsThis study should be of immediate interest and value to logistics and supply chain management scholars—as well as scholars in other fields—because it offers a pathway to theory development through literature reviews. Appropriate applications of the proposed review types will result in more comprehensive theories.Originality/valueThis article lays down arguments for the need to change the way L&SCM scholars use literature reviews. It extends earlier work from the authors (Durach et al., 2017; A New Paradigm for Systematic Literature Reviews in Supply Chain Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management) by outlining four review types, and offering further insights to theorization, as is typically the goal in the synthesis step of literature reviews.

Supply Chain Management Research Productivity and Growth: 2017–2019

AbstractThe supply chain management (SCM) discipline lacks resources to assess research performance, and our journals do not always receive fair recognition by other business disciplines. This study therefore extends a series of analyses dating back 50+ years to assess SCM publication productivity, evaluating the most productive schools across six journals as well as the associated growth of the base of SCM scholars. The results depict a relatively stable core set of productive schools, while relative research productivity remains mostly fluid outside this core set. In support, SCM author concentration results depict that the overall base of SCM scholars is continuing to expand without signs of slowing. Both SCM programs and individual scholars can apply the results to benchmark peers to improve research productivity and justify requests for resources at their schools. The results also help young scholars understand SCM research expectations and likewise target potential partners for collaboration. We close with thoughts for scholars, academic leaders, and journal editors, including the need for more international and multidisciplinary research collaboration as well as a greater diversity of schools graduating new SCM scholars. Additionally, SCM scholars and journals should revisit our historically strong ties to professional practice to enhance our research relevancy.

Expanding green supply chain performance measurement through emergy accounting and analysis

Emergy accounting has existed for decades. Emergy evaluates the donor side contribution of nature at region or country, macro-level analyses. It has been rarely applied and considered for organizational or supply chain management. In this study we provide an introduction and background on how emergy accounting analysis can be adjusted and applied at the supply chain level. Supplier selection is the example supply chain application for which actual emergy measures are used. The purpose of this study is to introduce the concept as a valuable tool for investigation by operations and supply chain management scholars and practitioners. The application provides some initial insight. This work at the nexus of sustainable supply chains and performance measurement is an initial study with significant future opportunities. These opportunities include effectively internalizing environmental and resource externalities for more thoughtful business models and evaluations. Implications and future research directions are summarized for this important, yet understudied field. It contributes by expanding the supplier performance measurement field.

SCM research leadership: the ranked agents and their networks

PurposeThis study aims to examine publications of supply chain management (SCM) researchers from across the world and maps the leadership role of authors and institutions based on how prolific they are in publishing and on network measures of centrality while accounting for the quality of the outlets that they publish in. It aims to inform stakeholders on who the leading SCM scholars are, their primary areas of SCM research, their publication profiles and the nature of their networks. It also identifies and informs on the leading SCM research institutions of the world and where leadership in specific areas of SCM research is emerging from.Design/methodology/approachBased on SCM papers appearing in a set of seven leading journals over the 15-year period of 2001-2015, publication scores and social network analysis measures of total degree centrality and Bonacich power centrality are used to identify the highest ranked agents in SCM research overall, as well as in some specific areas of SCM research. Social network analysis is also used to examine the nature and scope of the networks of the ranked agents and where leadership in SCM research is emerging from.FindingsAuthors and institutions from the USA and UK are found to dominate much of the rankings in SCM research both by publication score and social network analysis measures of centrality. In examining the networks of the very top authors and institutions of the world, their networks are found to be more inward-looking (country-centric) than outward-looking (globally dispersed). Further, researchers in Europe and Asia alike are found to exhibit significant continental inclinations in their network formations with researchers in Europe displaying greater propensity to collaborate with their European-based counterparts and researchers in Asia with their Asian-based counterparts. Also, from among the journals,Supply Chain Management: An International Journalis found to exhibit a far more expansive global reach than any of the other journals.Research limitations/implicationsThe journal set used in this study, though representative of high-quality SCM research outlets, is not exhaustive of all potential outlets that publish SCM research. Further, the measure of quality that this study assigns to the various publications is based solely on a publication score that accounts for the quality of the journals, as rated byAssociation of Business Schoolsthat the papers appear in and nothing else.Practical implicationsBy informing the community of stakeholders of SCM research about the top-ranked SCM authors, institutions and countries of the world, the nature of their networks, as well as what the primary areas of SCM research of the leading authors in the world are, this research provides stakeholders, including managers, researchers and students, information that is helpful to them not only because of the insights it provides but also for the gauging of potential for embedding themselves in specific networks, engaging in collaborative research with the leading agents or pursuing educational opportunities with them.Originality/valueThis research is the first of its kind to identify and rank the top SCM authors and institutions from across the world using a representative set of seven leading SCM and primary OM journals based on publication scores and social network measures of centrality. The research is also the first of its kind to identify and rank the top authors and institutions within specific areas of SCM research and to identify future research opportunities relating to aspects of collaboration and networking in research endeavors.

U.S. chief procurement officers’ perspectives on public procurement

Each year public procurement officials in the United States spend trillions of dollars to purchase goods and services for public use. The volume of public procurement spending compels public administration and supply chain management scholars to examine these procurement practices. Based on a unique dataset composed of a series of qualitative and quantitative interviews with chief procurement officers (CPOs) and their team members from 45 states and 2 territories in the United States, this paper explores the key institutional factors affecting state-level public procurement in the U.S., explores variation in the definition of contract performance, and assess the importance of multiple factors in creating procurement contracts. We present an agenda for future research on state-level public procurement in the U.S that has important implications for the theory and practice of public procurement.

Reshoring and environmental sustainability: An unexplored relationship?

Offshoring manufacturing activities to low-cost countries has been an industry mantra for decades. Some companies have started to re-think this supply chain configuration choice; bringing production back home. Reshoring or backshoring production has seen increased interest. This evolution poses a major question for sustainable supply chain management scholars: what is the relationship between reshoring, or global supply chain reconfiguration, and environmental sustainability at firm, country, and global levels? In this paper we propose a set of potential research directions facing this question. Main aspects of reshoring, including motivations, implementation and impact are all discussed in this context.

Leveraging Big Data to Develop Supply Chain Management Theory: The Case of Panel Data

Increased data availability is poised to shape both business practice and supply chain management (SCM) research. This article addresses an issue that can arise when trying to use big data to answer academic research questions. This issue is that distilled data often have a panel structure whereby repeated measurements are available on one or more variables for a substantial number of subjects. Thus, to fully leverage the richness of big data for academic research, SCM scholars need an understanding regarding the different types of research questions answerable with panel data. In this article, we devise a framework detailing different types of research questions SCM scholars can answer with panel data. This framework provides a basis to categorize how SCM scholars have examined the services supply chain setting of health care with public data regarding hospital‐level patient satisfaction. We extend prior research by testing a series of three questions not yet examined in this area by fitting a series of structured latent curve models to seven years of hospital‐level patient satisfaction for nearly 4,000 hospitals. The discussion highlights theoretical and methodological challenges SCM scholars are likely to encounter as they use the panel data in their research.

Interorganizational Interaction in Disaster Response (WITHDRAWN)

Operations and supply chain management scholars have recently focused on humanitarian disaster response activities. However, much of that research has dealt with disaster preparedness, decision-making, and logistics aspects of response efforts. So far, practices related to interorganizational interaction have received limited attention. In this article, we develop a theoretical framework of interaction-related humanitarian operations practices through a grounded theory building study conducted in the context of a major U.S. disaster, Hurricane Sandy. Our investigation identifies several novel practices that have not seen much research focus previously. Our findings advance humanitarian operations research and theory, as well as provide practical takeaways for organizations operating in disaster contexts.

Supply chain management scholar’s research impact: moderated mediation analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to draw on social capital theory to develop a model to explain the determinants of a supply chain management scholar’s academic research impact.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from a database of 450 supply chain management scholars in different countries collected from ResearchGate and the World Bank, the bootstrapping method was applied on the moderated mediation analysis.FindingsAnalysis of the mediating role of a scholar’s social capital suggests that social capital theory has a strong explanatory power on the relationship between a scholar’s research skill and academic impact. To account for the boundary effect at the country-level, the authors further examine if this mechanism differs by country in the supply chain management research context.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings from this study are from a single research area, which limits the generalizability of the study. Although the data are collected from different sources, including ResearchGate and the World Bank, it is cross-sectional in nature. The variables in this model do not have strong causal relationships.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that supply chain management scholars can reap the benefits of their social capital. Specifically, scholars can enhance their academic impact by increasing their social capital.Originality/valueThe results provide a reference for supply chain management scholars keen on enhancing their academic research impact. It also provides a reference to explain why country-level differences can influence these scholars.

Publication Productivity in the SCM Discipline: 2014–2016

AbstractGiven the relatively young age of the supply chain management (SCM) discipline, SCM academic programs must be able to validate their effectiveness to compete for university resources. The research herein supports this by extending a longstanding series that evaluates publication productivity across six major SCM journals. This edition ranks the top 25 most productive SCM schools between 2014 and 2016. With the series now celebrating 50 years, the results therefore allow evaluation of a half century of SCM research. The series also evaluates authorship concentration to assess the continued growth of the SCM discipline. Like previous editions, the results reveal that a core set of schools continue to lead SCM research with some holding strong performance throughout the entire 50 years. However, a moderately large portion of the top-25 schools continues to change as new SCM programs emerge globally. The author concentration analysis confirms these results as the growth of new scholars and new SCM programs continue to consistently expand. As a point of concern, however, the global diffusion of SCM authorship and schools graduating new SCM scholars are slowing.

From the Editors—Introducing JSCM's First Emerging Discourse Incubatlor for 2018/19

We are excited to introduce JSCM's first yearly Emerging Discourse Incubator (EDI) for 2018/19 on the topic of research where the focal actor in the network is not a for-profit firm. Please see the call for papers for more details. For JSCM to remain the journal of choice for supply chain management scholars, we need to encourage rigorous empirical research that contributes to theory on topics that have yet to garner the attention they need. Thus, in addition to continuing to publish articles received through the normal submission process, the 2019 volume will contain articles earmarked as relevant to the Emerging Discourse Incubator. The goal of the new EDI is similar to that of a traditional special issue or special topic forum in that the EDI is a way to encourage research on emergent topics and potentially generate additional high-quality submissions. However, the EDI format will allow the discourse to develop over an entire year, using the longer time period to lead to deeper insights and provide a stronger foundation for future research. Additionally, the EDI will be a better way to manage the Journal's supply chain. One of the core principles of supply chain management is matching supply with demand. And in a supply chain that is trying to ensure high quality and timeliness, the goal when matching supply with demand is a swift, even flow. We envision the EDI as a means to maintain our relatively swift and even flow. Papers for the EDI will be submitted and processed at a predictable pace, rather than arriving simultaneously in a large batch that necessitates special issue editors, extra Associate Editors (AEs), and reviewers. For instance, our last special topic forum (see JSCM issue 2, 2017) had more than 50 submissions. What we are proposing would have had these manuscripts arrive at a rate of about one per week, rather than as a single large lump of demand. The EDI model benefits all potential JSCM authors. For those submitting regular papers, the Journal's supply chain should provide its usual level of service, while the EDI call is ongoing. Authors submitting to the EDI will receive more consistent and faster reviewing and editorial decisions than with a traditional special issue. In addition, starting the process with invited papers from both eminent scholars and emerging researchers should provide a foundation for the discourse and potentially frame later submissions. Similarly, encouraging submissions across the year should lead to a deeper discourse as papers that are submitted later in the year can build on and respond to both the invited papers and earlier submissions. Finally, while journal space is not unlimited, this model has more flexibility, providing the potential for publishing more papers in the EDI without taking space from regular submissions. The Emerging Discourse Incubator should allow us to group a number of high-quality papers on the emergent topic together. And by spreading the demand on our supply chain over a year, we hope to achieve this outcome while also providing the authors with the same level of predictability, timeliness, and quality in the review process that JSCM always provides. This will also benefit authors of regular submissions that arrive during the same time period in that the system will not be overly stressed. The ultimate goal is to publish as many, or more, high-quality articles on the emergent topic, but in a manner that is best for authors who submit regular papers or to the EDI. If this pilot project is successful, we will have a second EDI for 2019/20.

The influence of supply chain quality management practices on quality performance: an empirical investigation

PurposeThe extant literature highlights the notable lack of a consensus among operations and supply chain management scholars regarding the theoretical underpinnings and associated empirical evidence for the performance impact of supply chain quality management (SCQM) practices on quality. The purpose of this paper is to redress this imbalance in the literature through empirical examination of the relationship between SCQM practices and quality performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approachIn accordance with the research aim, a quantitative approach was adopted, and a multi-item scale Web-based survey was designed to collect primary data. A total number of 325 questionnaires were collected from a sample of UK-based manufacturing companies. Factor analysis, internal consistency and multivariate regressions were used to validate the multi-item scale and test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings confirm the proposed hypotheses and reveal statistically significant results for the performance impact of SCQM practices on quality at an aggregate level. However, the results of the individual level analysis of SCQM practices appear to vary from practice to practice. Of various SCQM practices, customer focus with the highest beta value (i.e. ß = 0.303; t-value = 6.120; p = 0.000) was found to have the greatest impact on quality performance.Practical implicationsThe findings encourage managers to place high priority on both inter-firm and intra-firm relationships as prerequisites for achieving superior quality performance. The propositions and the results of the study provide managers with some guidelines about effective management of upstream, midstream and downstream supply chain networks and awareness of the potential synergies arising from the combined effects of SCQM practices that could bring about desired quality performance outcomes across the entire supply chain network.Originality/valueReal and sustainable quality performance often requires an equal focus on both intra- and inter-firm relationships among supply chain partners. Therefore, effective management of quality across the entire supply chain is deemed essential if a firm is to smoothly supply high-quality products and services to customers. But little research has been devoted to understanding conceptual underpinnings of SCQM as well as empirical support and validation for the conceptualisation and measurement of SCQM practices. Based on the insights gained from social network theory, this paper makes an attempt to address this gap and examine the impact of SCQM practices on quality performance.

Mapping the Landscape of Future Research Themes in Supply Chain Management

Supply chain researchers are confronted with a dizzying array of research questions, many of which are not mutually independent. This research was motivated by the need to map the landscape of research themes, identify potential overlapping areas and interactions, and provide guidelines on areas of focus for researchers to pursue. We conducted a three‐phase research study, beginning with an open‐ended collection of opinions on research themes collected from 102 supply chain management (SCM) researchers, followed by an evaluation of a consolidated list of themes by 141 SCM researchers. These results were then reviewed by 10 SCM scholars. Potential interactions and areas of overlap were identified, classified, and integrated into a compelling set of ideas for future research in the field of SCM. We believe these ideas provide a forward‐looking view on those themes that will become important, as well as those that researchers believe should be focused on. While areas of research deemed to become most important include big data and analytics, the most under‐researched areas include efforts that target the “people dimension” of SCM, ethical issues and internal integration. The themes are discussed in the context of current developments that the authors believe will provide a valuable foundation for future research.

A Note on the Use of Survey Research Firms to Enable Empirical Data Collection

This forward thinking article examines the risks and rewards of using survey research firms to enable empirical data collection, and issues a cautionary note about its application. An exposition and discussion of this form of data collection in supply chain management is relevant today, due to the “survey‐fatigue” among the population of business professionals from whom we seek a response. While this approach has some history in other disciplines, it is still relatively new among supply chain management researchers. To help supply chain management scholars assess the appropriateness of this type of data collection method, this forward thinking article provides invaluable guidance as derived from the authors' recent experiences with the approach. As such, we share our observations and lessons learned. The conclusion is that the use of survey research firms for empirical data collection can be a viable, alternative approach to self‐administered surveys. However, care should be taken in its application.

Supply Chain Collaboration, Integration, and Relational Technology: How Complex Operant Resources Increase Performance Outcomes

How firms coordinate efforts to collectively compete as supply chains is a key concern of supply chain management scholars and practitioners. One avenue, the development of collaborative relational capabilities that support supply chain integration, offers promise. However, the effectiveness of collaboration as a supply chain resource has been questioned due to concerns associated with collaborative technologies, and thus prior research has called for a deeper examination of the role that technologies play in facilitating integration. Employing a Service‐Dominant Logic view of hierarchical resources, grounded in Resource Advantage Theory, this research tests a model subsuming relationships between collaboration, integration, and interfirm coordination technologies, and their associated performance outcomes. A sample of 282 supply chain managers from a variety of industries were surveyed, with proposed relationships examined employing structural equation modeling. Test results indicate that collaboration and integration interact to form higher order resources that collectively influence firm performance outcomes through interfirm coordination technologies.