Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractThis study investigates the relationships between U.S. buying firms’ supplier development efforts, commitment, social capital accumulation with key suppliers, and buying firm performance. We identify linkages between supply chain management research on supplier development and organization theory research on social capital to consider how buying firm commitment to a long‐term relationship, cognitive capital (goals and values), structural capital (information sharing, supplier evaluation, supplier development), and relational capital (length of relationship, buyer dependency, supplier dependency) are related to buying firm performance improvements (cost improvements, and quality, delivery, flexibility improvements). Analysis of buying firms from the U.S. automotive and electronics industries provides support for the theory that buyer commitment and social capital accumulation with key suppliers can improve buying company performance. Moreover, the findings suggest that the relationships of structural and relational capital vary depending on the type of performance improvement considered.

AbstractIt is widely accepted that firms play an important stewardship role in addressing sustainable development concerns. A key challenge in this role is to balance the often conflicting pressures created by sustainable development—firm‐level economic performance versus environmental degradation and social disruption. Drawing on complexity theory, risk management, stakeholder theory and the innovation dynamics literature, we discuss the problems of integrating sustainable development concerns in the supply chain, specifically the applicability of life cycle assessment (LCA). Many authors have emphasized the importance of the “cradle to grave” approach of LCA in optimizing closed‐loop supply chains, improving product design and stewardship. Based on two case studies (an agricultural biotechnology and an oil and gas company) with supporting data collected from key stakeholders, we argue that sustainable development pressures have increased complexities and presented ambiguous challenges that many current environmental management techniques cannot adequately address. We provide a framework that addresses these deficiencies and discuss implications for practitioners and management theory.

AbstractResearch suggests that collaborative supply chain management (SCM) helps chain members create “a rising tide that lifts all boats.” Yet resource dependence theory suggests that when tides rise, some boats are lifted more than others; members who furnish important resources or resources where control is concentrated have bargaining power. Drawing on Thompson [Thompson, J.D., 1967. Organizations in Action. McGraw‐Hill, New York], we argue that strong firms’ bargaining power use is tempered by the type of coordination different types of task interdependencies demand. We also investigate how both strong and weak members benefit from SCM. Whereas strong members reap most of the direct benefits, weak members can often gain by building switching costs with strong members, leveraging SCM outside the focal chain, and increasing survival chances.

AbstractIn this paper we focus on the integration of strategic objectives and process knowledge that a manufacturing factory collects from its external interfaces. Using data from a variety of manufacturing industries, this study examines four different types of strategic integration at the manufacturing plant level. We use a path analytic approach to simultaneously assess the contributions of the various types of integration to manufacturing‐based competitive capabilities and business level performance. In addition, we examine the intervening roles that manufacturing‐based competitive capabilities play in mediating the relationships between strategic integration and business performance. We find that each type of integration activity has unique benefits and detriments. These findings extend prior studies of manufacturing and supply chain integration by broadening the theory relating to strategic integration. The results also provide implications for manufacturing managers who seek to design integration policies and associated resource deployments.

AbstractDespite the growing interest in environmental management practices (EMPs), research to date has typically analyzed a limited range of these practices and used traditional data sources. In contrast, this paper uses an innovative data source to explore EMPs. We use a more comprehensive set of the practices than prior works in order to test relationships between EMPs and firm performance. The data used in this study comprised environmental and business performance data from 45 corporate reports. Content analysis is used to gather the data and canonical correlation is used for analysis in a two‐step process in order to explore the relationships between EMPs and performance measures. Results support previously posited relationships based on traditional data and indicate that EMPs are associated with firm performance.

AbstractThis paper documents the effect of investments in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems on a firm's long‐term stock price performance and profitability measures such as return on assets and return on sales. The results are based on a sample of 186 announcements of ERP implementations, 140 SCM implementations, and 80 CRM implementations. Our analysis of the financial benefits of these implementations yields mixed results. In the case of ERP systems, we observe some evidence of improvements in profitability but not in stock returns. The results for improvements in profitability are stronger in the case of early adopters of ERP systems. On average, adopters of SCM system experience positive stock returns as well as improvements in profitability. There is no evidence of improvements in stock returns or profitability for firms that have invested in CRM. Although our results are not uniformly positive across the different enterprise systems (ES), they are encouraging in the sense that despite the high implementation costs, we do not find persistent evidence of negative performance associated with ES investments. This should help alleviate the concerns that some have expressed about the viability of ES given the highly publicized implementation problems at some firms.

AbstractOrganization theory (OT) has the potential to offer provocative and helpful wisdom to the field of supply chain management, yet OT's potential has remained largely underdeveloped in the supply chain arena. As a result, enormous opportunities exist to integrate insights from organization theory and supply chain management in order to build understanding of why some supply chains excel while others do not. We preview the contributions toward developing such a synthesis offered by each of the articles contained in this special issue. Collectively, the articles take a significant step toward closing the gap between ‘what we know’ and ‘what we need to know’ about supply chain management.

AbstractStrategic supply chains serve as a potential source of competitive advantage for firms. The ability of a strategy supply chain to engender cultural competitiveness, or joint entrepreneurship and learning aimed at filling market gaps, is a key path through which a strategic supply chain may become a competitive advantage. A balance of trust and power within the supply chain offsets uncertainty and risks associated with the behaviors underlying cultural competitiveness. Using a multi‐theoretic perspective, we discuss four strategies that firms use to balance a climate of trust and power in a strategic supply chain. Identifying an authority, generating a common supply chain identity, utilizing boundary spanning ties, and providing procedural and interactive justice are the strategies we discuss.

AbstractConsideration is given to the convergence of supply chains and sustainability. In doing so, the focus on environmental management and operations is moved from local optimization of environmental factors to consideration of the entire supply chain during the production, consumption, customer service and post‐disposal disposition of products. This is a critical and timely topic that captures increasing concerns over sustainability, whether driven by current legislation, public interest, or competitive opportunity. As such, sustainable development is a rich area for academic research that is still in its infancy and has the potential to affect future government policy, current production operations, and identify new business models. This paper provides a background to better understand current trends in this multidisciplinary field that intersect with operations management, and the research opportunities and challenges it presents.

AbstractEffective supply chain practice and information sharing enhances the current supply chain management environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the integration of information sharing and supply chain practice in supply chain management. Data from 125 North American manufacturing firms were collected. The results show that (1) effective information sharing significantly enhances effective supply chain practice; (2) supply chain dynamism has significant positive influence on effective information sharing as well as effective supply chain practice. Supply chain dynamism has more influence on information sharing than supply chain practice; (3) and effective supply chain practice becomes more important when the level of information sharing increases. The findings show that both effective information sharing and effective supply chain practice are critical in achieving good supply chain performance.