Journal of Supply Chain Management最新文献

Processes 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.

Supply chain management is grounded on the assumption that endless economic growth is compatible with environmental and social sustainability. Yet scholars from ecological economics question this assumption due to ever increasing evidence showing how hard it is to decouple growth from negative environmental and social externalities. In response, pressure from social movements is mounting, and the agendas of several countries already consider alternatives to growth. Therefore, this article presents a critical thought experiment for the supply chain management discipline: What are the implications of moving from the current endless growth paradigm to a post-growth paradigm for businesses and their supply chains? Using the umbrella term “post-growth,” this article identifies three key post-growth principles—(i) socio-ecological wellbeing, (ii) selective downscaling, and (iii) systems thinking—and then examines their implications for supply chain management research and practice.

Although there is a growing interest in developing sustainable cities, a significant knowledge gap persists regarding the concrete logistics choices necessary to achieve such cities. Grounded in ethnographic research on city logistics, this study examines how logistics service providers (LSPs) navigate sustainability challenges within the urban ecosystem while also meeting the efficiency demands of their business ecosystem. By repositioning LSPs as a sub-ecosystem nested within the broader urban ecosystem, the article demonstrates how LSPs adeptly address the intricacies of the urban environment and respond to pressures from their business ecosystem. This investigation greatly enhances the understanding of the underlying issues affecting city logistics' sustainability. It deepens insight into the concept of city logistics as a sub-ecosystem within the urban ecosystem, highlighting how its sustainability is intertwined with the structure of the urban ecosystem. From a societal perspective, this research conceptualizes city logistics as a business activity and a vital social service that bolsters urban well-being. The findings suggest a need for further research into the role of city logistics actors as key contributors to urban sustainability.

Prior studies on traceability as an enabler of supply chain resilience (SCRes) have focused on large-scale disruptions and developed country contexts. Few studies have focused on developing countries where chronic, small-scale disruptions are common and resource scarcity means advanced digital technologies are rarely adopted. This research explores how traceability is achieved across upstream actors in two Ghanaian agri-food supply chains and how this affects global SCRes. Social characteristics are shown to influence the risks inherent in supply chains, while traceability is both a direct and indirect SCRes enabler. Informed by the relational view, the roles of relation-specific assets and governance mechanisms in maintaining traceability are explored. Supply chain-wide relation-specific assets are prioritized over dyadic relation-specific assets. This original finding is explained by the importance of maintaining social ties over short-term economic gains in a collectivist culture, leading to greater relational rents in the long term. A novel, informal third-party governance mechanism that reduces formal contracting costs and provides flexibility and continuity to interfirm relationships is also identified, further facilitating the attainment of relational rents. The findings are explained in light of sub-Saharan Africa's collectivist culture, encapsulated in the philosophy of ubuntu. Overall, the research theorizes on achieving supply chain traceability and thus enhancing global SCRes as a sociotechnical system incorporating technological and nontechnological systems that are socially embedded in the local context.

To address information asymmetry in supply chains, the literature suggests that manufacturers should shift from market governance to hierarchical governance or a combination of both. However, as many manufacturers must continue to rely on market governance, this research introduces a governance strategy, manufacturer–retailer bridge governance (MRBG), for these manufacturers. The research examines the governance effects of MRBG on distributor behavior and the contingent effects of manufacturer status and MRBG strategic orientation. Hypotheses are developed based on in-depth interviews with sales and purchasing managers and tested in two experiments with sales managers. The results show that MRBG has a double-edged effect on distributor behavior, and this effect is moderated by manufacturer status. Moreover, the alignment between manufacturer status (high versus low) and MRBG strategic orientation (collaboration versus arbitrage) influences the effectiveness of MRBG.

The authors reflect on the opportunities for diversity in supply chain research by examining the prevalent modes of theorizing in the field. This examination focuses on identifying common styles of theorizing in supply chain management research, which are defined as specific modes of reasoning to make inferences about supply chain phenomena. Armed with this definition, the authors elaborate how research in the field has for the most part hinged on a propositional style as a common base for theorizing and theoretical contributions. The analysis that is provided emphasizes the limits of this style, particularly when it is considered as the preferred form for all theoretical contributions. The authors, in turn, make the case for a pluralistic system of knowledge production that supports the use of multiple theorizing styles that, when used alongside one another in a coordinated or co-oriented manner, will lead to a better understanding of supply chain management phenomena.

Disruptions can start at one supplier in the supply network and ripple through, impacting other suppliers and firms, known as cascading disruptions. This research analyzes the effect of supply network modularity on cascading disruptions. Modularity measures the degree to which a supply network can be divided into self-contained sub-networks and has different effects on supply network resilience. A highly modular supply network prevents cascading disruptions from spreading through the whole network because of the lack of bridges between modules (lack of inter-module connectivity). Hence, the size of cascading disruptions—measured by the number of suppliers impacted by a cascading disruption—in highly modular supply networks tends to be smaller than the size of cascading disruptions in less modular supply networks. However, the high level of internal connectivity within a module (excessive intra-module connectivity) acts as an incubator for cascading disruptions. This means a small disruption in a modular network may impact fewer suppliers (i.e., smaller cascading size) but with higher severity measured by service level. Finally, building upon the theoretical concept of nexus suppliers, this research proposes a new predictive model to identify the operational nexus suppliers whose disruptions would considerably impact focal firms' operations. The model's accuracy is empirically tested on real-world global supply networks involving 2598 unique firms and suppliers across 51 countries and 111 industries. The model identifies nexus suppliers with 95% accuracy, allowing managers and policymakers to plan for mitigation strategies proactively.

How and why is power used in humanitarian projects? Coordinating organizations, such as UN agencies, carry power and influence over NGOs to advance the interests of beneficiaries. However, coordination can be managed by a single authority or by multiple authorities that share or delegate responsibilities. Furthermore, coordinators may leverage different types of power, including non-mediated forms like referent and expert power, or mediated forms such as reward, legitimate, or coercive power. This research draws upon 57 interviews regarding organizational behavior with members of international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, and government officials involved in managing Rohingya refugee camps in Southern Bangladesh. The observations suggest that in single-authority layered projects, referent and expert powers are commonly employed, leading to improvements in quality and delivery performance. Reward power is typically wielded informally and is linked to cost performance. In dual-layered projects, legitimate power is used to enhance quality and delivery performance. This article's originality lies in its extension of the use of power to multi-tiered supply chain settings; its contribution is to organizational theory regarding the resolution of principal-agent issues; and its insights are into the nuanced effects of different types of power based on project types. It offers valuable guidance to policymakers and practitioners, highlighting effective approaches for coordinating inter-organizational efforts in challenging and unconventional supply chain settings.

Labor exploitation persists within global supply chains regardless of governmental legislation, private governance mechanisms, and increasing consumer demands. Notably, non-commercial organizations have been lauded as potential facilitators of improvements in labor standards through their capability to influence supply chain actors. Through an analysis of 45 semi-structured interviews across three cases, this research provides rich evidence of non-commercial organizations' contribution to governance linked to the persistence of labor exploitation. The findings reveal that the constraining factors of change capabilities of non-commercial organizations are (1) recognition of their limitations to enact improvements when their organizations are positioned in a heterogeneous supply chain context, (2) lack of a level playing field that provides a fair competitive environment to improve labor standards, and (3) labor deregulation. Similarly, the complex situation faced by non-commercial organizations created dilemmas that hindered progress in addressing labor exploitation. Governance inertia is an overarching issue that circumscribes the ambitions of non-commercial organizations to enhance labor standards. This research emphasizes the issues and challenges that constrain these uniquely placed organizations in facilitating positive change in global apparel supply chains.

The purpose of this research is to better understand how and why consumers pay attention to a firm's environmentally irresponsible sourcing practices. Using signaling theory, this research develops and tests a model that examines how a firm's intentionality and motive behind irresponsible environmental sourcing practices can signal a product's environmental characteristics to consumers. The findings suggest that consumers tend to view products as more environmentally harmful when they learn that a firm intentionally sources from irresponsible suppliers. Likewise, consumers are more likely to react unfavorably to a firm's products when a firm prioritizes profit motives over responsible sourcing practices. This research also offers insight into how a firm's corrective response strategy (e.g., mandatory vs. voluntary environmental supplier actions) could mitigate the adverse impact of the firm's environmentally irresponsible sourcing practices on consumer perceptions of environmental risk. The findings indicate that a firm's mandatory corrective actions targeted to its suppliers are more likely to be effective, whereas voluntary actions were found to be ineffective. Two experiments were conducted to test the study's hypotheses. Managerial and societal implications are also discussed.