Supply Chain Management An International Journal

Pérez, Lourdes ; Cambra-Fierro, Jesús

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-12-2013-0468

Purpose – This paper aims to provide guidance for managers so that they may develop advanced supply chain management (SCM) capabilities in the context of asymmetric alliances. These alliances, generally characterised by large dissimilarities between the partners, often facilitate value-creating opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – Using case studies, the paper analyses similarities and differences in SCM between symmetric and asymmetric alliances within supply networks. It focusses on the key dimensions of complementarity, value distribution, relational management and specialisation. Findings – It was found that the question of complementarity, although important, should not be equated to the need for symmetry but to the ability of the firms in the supply network to learn to work together. For small firms who seek co-creation with large partners, this means collaboration, specialisation through relation-specific investments, flexibility and understanding the overall value system in which their business relationships compete is important. Practical implications – Small firms seeking to develop advanced SCM capabilities have to accept responsibility for selecting a reduced number of key partners and managing relationships. Firms should proactively use the contractual process to learn about partners' expectations and goals and to identify committed champions. These factors play an important role in developing communications and trust, as small firms do not have easy access to senior managers in large corporations. Originality/value – This paper discovered a novel concept – dual value appropriation – where partners do not divide the total value generated as frequently proposed in the literature, but that it is fully appropriated, as it represents a different value proposition for each of them.

Tanco, Martin ; Jurburg, Daniel ; Escuder, Matias

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-10-2013-0389

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to create a list of supply chain (SC)-related difficulties based on the existing SC literature. It also presents an exploratory survey concerning the main difficulties which Uruguayan managers consider to have the most negative impact on their SCs. Design/methodology/approach – The survey was carried out within small- and medium-sized manufacturing and retailing companies in Uruguay, yielding 99 valid responses. A statistical analysis of the survey is introduced including a ranking of the difficulties and a grouping of those using factorial analysis. A difficulty, as understood throughout this paper, is any factor that significantly impacts, or has impacted in recent years, the performance of SCs. Findings – Eighteen main difficulties hindering SC performance were identified. Moreover, an exploratory analysis of the survey showed that the main concerns to SC managers are related to workforce availability and government policies. Practical implications – Difficulties encountered by SCs would not only be of interest to scholars but also to the managers who face the challenge of the day-to-day managing of a SC. Once the difficulties over the SCs are identified, strategies can be designed and implemented to attain desired benefits. Today’s intense competition requires firms to be more aware of their SC and to achieve excellence in many areas, especially at small- and medium-sized enterprises. Originality/value – There is a growing body of literature concerning isolated issues that SCs have to face; however, an exhaustive list of difficulties is hardly available. Moreover, first-hand information of Uruguayan managers was ascertained to rank each one using a Likert scale.

Cao, Zhi ; Huo, Baofeng ; Li, Yuan ; Zhao, Xiande

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-11-2013-0426

Purpose – This study aims to bridge the gap in understanding the effects of organizational culture on supply chain integration (SCI) by examining the relationships between organizational cultures and SCI. The extant studies investigating the antecedents of SCI focus mainly on environments, interfirm relationships and other firm-level factors. These studies generally overlook the role of organizational culture. The few studies that do examine the effects of organizational culture on SCI show inconsistent findings. Design/methodology/approach – By placing organizational culture within the competing value framework (CVF), this study establishes a conceptual model for the relationships between organizational culture and SCI. The study uses both a contingency approach and a configuration approach to examine these proposed relationships using data collected from 317 manufacturers across ten countries. Findings – The contingency results indicate that both development and group culture are positively related to all three dimensions of SCI. However, rational culture is positively related only to internal integration, and hierarchical culture is negatively related to both internal and customer integration. The configuration approach identifies four profiles of organizational culture: the Hierarchical, Flexible, Flatness and Across-the-Board profiles. The Flatness profile shows the highest levels of development, group and rational cultures and the lowest level of hierarchical culture. The Flatness profile also achieves the highest levels of internal, customer and supplier integration. Research limitations/implications – This study is subject to several limitations. In theoretical terms, this study does not resolve all of the inconsistencies in the relationship between organizational culture and SCI. In terms of methodology, this study uses cross-sectional data from high-performance manufacturers. Such data cannot provide strong causal explanations, but only broad and general findings. Practical implications – This study reminds managers to consider organizational culture when they implement SCI. The study also provides clues to help managers in assessing and adjusting organizational culture as necessary for SCI. Originality/value – This study makes two theoretical contributions. First, by examining the relationships between organizational culture and SCI in a new context, the findings of the study provide additional evidence to reconcile the previously inconsistent findings on this subject. Second, by departing from the previous practice of investigating only particular dimensions of organizational culture, this study adopts a combined contingency and configuration approach to address both the individual and synergistic effects of all dimensions of organizational culture. This more comprehensive approach deepens our understanding of the relationship between organizational culture and SCI.

Lee, Su-Yol

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-01-2014-0009

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effects of green supply chain management (GSCM) on environmental and operational performances with a perspective of social capital accumulation in the supply chain. The roles of structural capital and relational social capital in GSCM were empirically explored. Design/methodology/approach – A research model was developed to investigate the effects of GSCM on a supplier’s environmental and operational performances through structural and relational social capitals. Using an exploratory factor analysis, the study identified the structural and relational dimensions of social capital and the environmental and operational performance dimensions of supplier’s performance. The hypotheses were tested on data of 207 responses collected from supplying firms in South Korea, using structural equation modeling. Findings – The paper finds that GSCM contributes to the environmental and operational performance improvements of the supply chain through social capital accumulation. Relational capital, in particular, plays a more important pivoting role in the relationships between GSCM and environmental and operational performances. Practical implications – The findings of this paper provide useful insights about how supply chain members should integrate environmental issues into supply chain management practices that would enhance social capital accumulation to foster stronger operational and environmental performances throughout the entire supply chain. Originality/value – This research is one of the few studies that explore the effects of GSCM on performance by explicitly considering social capital as an important intervening variable. By applying social capital theory, this study provides theoretical underpinning for furthering the GSCM literature.

Sweeney, Edward ; Grant, David B. ; Mangan, D John

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-07-2014-0249

Purpose – The purpose of the research described in this paper is to disentangle the rhetoric from the reality in relation to supply chain management (SCM) adoption in practice. There is significant evidence of a divergence between theory and practice in the field of SCM. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of extant theory, the authors posit a new definitional construct for SCM – the Four Fundamentals – and investigated four research questions (RQs) that emerged from the theoretical review. The empirical work comprised three main phases: focussed interviews, focus groups and a questionnaire survey. Each phase used the authors’ definitional construct as its basis. While the context of the paper’s empirical work is Ireland, the insights and results are generalisable to other geographical contexts. Findings – The data collected during the various stages of the empirical research supported the essence of the definitional construct and allowed it to be further developed and refined. In addition, the findings suggest that, while levels of SCM understanding are generally quite high, there is room for improvement in relation to how this understanding is translated into practice. Research limitations/implications – Expansion of the research design to incorporate case studies, grounded theory and action research has the potential to generate new SCM theory that builds on the Four Fundamentals construct, thus facilitating a deeper and richer understanding of SCM phenomena. The use of longitudinal studies would enable a barometer of progress to be developed over time. Practical implications – The authors’ definitional construct supports improvement in the cohesion of SCM practices, thereby promoting the effective implementation of supply chain strategies. A number of critical success factors and/or barriers to implementation of SCM theory in practice are identified, as are a number of practical measures that could be implemented at policy/supply chain/firm level to improve the level of effective SCM adoption. Originality/value – The authors’ robust definitional construct supports a more cohesive approach to the development of a unified theory of SCM. In addition to a profile of SCM understanding and adoption by firms in Ireland, the related critical success factors and/or inhibitors to success, as well as possible interventions, are identified.

Hallavo, Ville

2015 Supply Chain Management: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-05-2014-0167

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the moderating effect of uncertainty impacts the relationship of operational responsiveness and firm performance. Research on the relationship of supply chain fit and firm performance is discussed in isolation in different streams of research – such as in studies on responsiveness, agility, flexibility, efficiency and lean – without promptly recognising cross-stream contributions. This, at worst, prevents theory development. Therefore, the authors build a synthesis of literature from these streams. Grounded in the synthesis, a well-positioned empirical study that uses best research practices of past studies on the phenomenon is presented. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey sample of 875 Russian manufacturing firms was analysed with hierarchical regression. Findings – The findings show that operational responsiveness leads to superior organisational performance if the relationship is moderated by uncertainty and supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, a direct relationship between operational responsiveness and operational performance was found. These results imply that efficiency is a precursor to responsiveness. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the unification of practice–performance studies on lean, agility, flexibility, efficiency and responsiveness into a single stream of research: supply chain fit. The empirical results support contingency theory in the context of supply chain design. This paper also contributes by shedding light on supply chain dynamics of an under-researched national context. For managers, this paper offers concrete advice on decision-making regarding supply chain strategy trade-offs.

Pomponi, Francesco ; Fratocchi, Luciano ; Rossi Tafuri, Silvia

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-02-2014-0078

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide academicians and practitioners alike with a theory-based framework regarding horizontal collaboration in logistics. The proposed tool is based on an incremental perspective, according to two main dimensions: mutual trust among partners and the extent of the cooperation. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a “synthesising” approach to gauge potential contributions previously spread across different streams of research and disciplines that are now integrated into the framework. We conduct a deep literature review to characterise the horizontal collaboration phenomenon along two levels of analysis. In doing so, we examined relevant literature in the field of horizontal cooperation in logistics to critically appraise aims of, impediments to and existing models for horizontal collaboration. Additionally, we reviewed seminal literature of four organisational theories to assess their potential to contribute to the theoretical foundations of the growing topic of horizontal collaboration. Transaction Cost Economics, Social Exchange, Resource Dependence and Social Dilemma represent the theoretical foundations to cast light to how to design and implement inter-organisational horizontal initiatives. Findings – The proposed tool organises horizontal collaborations within three steps for each of the two levels of classification: trust and extent of the cooperation. The organisational theories reviewed play different roles to help in different stages of the horizontal collaboration. Additionally, for each combination of trust/extent of the cooperation coherent pairs of aims of the collaboration and assets that are to be shared are defined. Research limitations/implications – The article represents the first attempt to analyse horizontal collaboration from within the discipline itself and from the wider field of SCM through other well-established theoretical lenses. The proposed tool has shed some light into the black box of (un)successful horizontal collaboration, but it is theory based – which represents its main limitations – thus, requiring further testing of the research streams suggested in the paper. Practical implications – The article not only gives insights into theoretical challenges of horizontal collaborations that needs further investigation but is also useful to companies involved in horizontal collaborations by helping define coherent assets that are to be shared to achieve specific goals. In its more theoretical underpinning, the framework can also inspire the partnership philosophy and help sketch a collaborative evolutionary path. Originality/value – The lack of a theoretically robust landmark that could help understand, design and implement horizontal collaborations has been defined as a major theoretical and practical shortcoming. The article represents the first contribution aimed at filling that gap.

Pashaei, Sebastian ; Olhager, Jan

2015 Supply Chain Management An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/SCM-12-2013-0487

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the extant literature on the relationship between product architectures and supply chain design to identify gaps in the literature and identify future research opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the peer-reviewed literature on product architectures and supply chain written in English. The search strategy is based on selected databases and keywords. In total, 56 articles from 1995 to 2013 were identified. Findings – Three key dimensions are identified for the categorization of the literature: the type of product architecture, the type of supply chain and the research methodology. Furthermore, we identify themes related to outsourcing, supplier selection, supplier relationships, distance from focal firm and alignment. Research limitations/implications – The present search strategy may have missed some references that are related to the area. However, as a counter-measure, we used back-tracking and forward-tracking to identify additional relevant papers. A research agenda is proposed for further research on the interaction of product architectures and supply chain design. Originality/value – This paper is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first broad review that investigates the interrelationship between product architectures and supply chain design.