Rising international cooperation, vertical disintegration, along with a focus on core activities have led to the notion that firms are links in a networked supply chain. This novel perspective has created the challenge of designing and managing a network of interdependent relationships developed and fostered through strategic collaboration. Although research interests in supply chain management (SCM) are growing, no research has been directed towards a systematic development of SCM instruments.This study identifies and consolidates various supply chain initiatives and factors to develop key SCM constructs conducive to advancing the field. To this end, we analyzed over 400 articles and synthesized the large, fragmented body of work dispersed across many disciplines. The result of this study, through successive stages of measurement analysis and refinement, is a set of reliable, valid, and unidimensional measurements that can be subsequently used in different contexts to refine or extend conceptualization and measurements or to test various theoretical models, paving the way for theory building in SCM.

Inter-organizational communication has been documented as a critical factor in promoting strategic collaboration among firms. In this paper, we seek to extend the stream of research in supply chain management by systematically investigating the antecedents and performance outcomes of inter-organizational communication. Specifically, inter-organizational communication is proposed as a relational competency that may yield strategic advantages for supply chain partners. Using structural equation modeling, we empirically test a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of over 200 United States firms. Our results provide strong support for the notion of inter-organizational communication as a relational competency that enhances buyers' and suppliers' performance. Implications for future research and practice are offered. #

Purchasing has increasingly assumed a pivotal strategic role in supply-chain management. Yet, claims of the strategic role of purchasing have not been fully subjected to rigorous theoretical and empirical scrutiny. Extant research has remained largely anecdotal and theoretically under-developed. In this paper, we examine the links among strategic purchasing, supply management, and firm performance.We argue that strategic purchasing can engender sustainable competitive advantage by enabling firms to: (a) foster close working relationships with a limited number of suppliers; (b) promote open communication among supply-chain partners; and (c) develop long-term strategic relationship orientation to achieve mutual gains. Using structural equation modeling, we empirically test a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of 221 United States manufacturing firms. Our results provide robust support for the links between strategic purchasing, supply management, customer responsiveness, and financial performance of the buying firm. Implications for future research and managerial practice in supply-chain management are also offered. #

This study aspires to empirically evaluate the effect of firm‐specific resources and/or capabilities on sustainable supply management (SSM) and sustainability performance. Specifically, enviropreneurship and strategic purchasing are, respectively, recognized as firm‐specific capabilities and resources that are fundamental to pursuing sustainable supply practices. SSM is forwarded as a key relational capability that can result in significant improvements in organizational sustainability. Using data collected from 145 U.S. firms and advanced structural equation modeling approaches, a number of direct, mediation and moderation effects are hypothesized and tested. Five of the six proposed hypotheses were found to be significant, providing strong support for the significant role that internal resources/capabilities can play in managing sustainable supply practices as well as organizational sustainability. Surprisingly, the hypothesis suggesting that strategic purchasing could moderate the relationship between enviropreneurship and SSM was found to be insignificant. This result suggests that managers need to realize that a strategic purchasing function alone cannot help in achieving the lofty goals of sustainability. On the contrary, the prime objective of firms must be to nurture an enviropreneurial orientation within their organization. Further implications for future research and practice within SSM are offered.

Many researchers believe the tremendous industrial development over the past two centuries is unsustainable because it has led to unintended ecological deterioration. Despite the ever-growing attention sustainable supply-chain management (SSCM) has received, most SSCM research and models look at the consequences, rather than the antecedents or motives of such responsible practices. The few studies that explore corporate motives have remained largely qualitative, and large-scale empirical analyses are scarce. Drawing on multiple theories and combining supply-chain and business ethics literature, we purport that instrumental, relational, and moral motives are behind a firm's engagement in SSCM practices. Specifically, we examine the links between corporate motives, SSCM practices, and firm performance. Using a sample of 259 supply-chain firms in Germany, we empirically test five hypothesized relationships. Our results reveal that relational and moral motives are key drivers, and that firms exhibiting high levels of moral obligations tend to outperform those primarily driven by amoral considerations. Findings of this study contribute to multiple literatures espousing sustainability management and can help policy makers, stakeholder groups, and scholars develop more robust strategies for encouraging firms to practice SSCM.

No abstract

No abstract

SUMMARY Environmental uncertainty plays a crucial role in the implementation of strategic supply management initiatives. The current study adopts the resource dependence theory to explain the direct effect of supply chain uncertainties on strategic supply management, operationalized as a second‐order construct comprising strategic purchasing, long‐term relationship orientation, interfirm communication, cross‐organizational teams and supplier integration. Using structural equation modeling, the 200‐firm sample provided evidence that strategic supply management is driven by supply and technology uncertainty. Demand uncertainty, on the other hand, was not found to have a significant impact on strategic supply management. Findings further support the link between strategic supply management and the performance of both buying and supplying firms.