Many firms now place emphasis on leveraging logistics capabilities as a source of competitive advantage. This manuscript suggests that the key to sustaining this competitive position is through adopting learning principles in logistics. As such, a logistics learning capability framework is presented, including the components of an effective learning‐based logistics organization. Research propositions, an in‐depth case study and implications are presented to further support the learning capability framework suggested and highlight the importance of learning in today's hypercompetitive global supply chain environment.

Manufacturers now find themselves in the position of finding new ways to remain competitive in the era of retail power. The onus rests on the manufacturer's ability to implement operational strategies that help the retailer achieve its objectives. Specifically, manufacturers that establish successful order fulfillment service can affect retailer loyalty. The overarching goal of this research, therefore, is to examine the importance to operations managers of understanding the order fulfillment needs and expectations of their retail customers and to establish the value-added role that operations management plays in developing retailer loyalty. Empirical evidence is provided on the relationships between relational order fulfillment service, operational order fulfillment service, satisfaction, affective commitment, purchase behavior, and loyalty. Such evidence not only focuses on the strategic importance of the OM discipline in manufacturer-retailer relationships, but also extends previous OM theory by taking a more complex view of the loyalty phenomenon. Published by Elsevier B.V.

As a result of weakening brand image/loyalty, little differentiation, and intense price competition, manufacturers are now increasingly pressed to ensure retailers' shelf space and/or salesperson attention. This research contributes to the literature by empirically examining an underrepresented body of literature in the B2B contextretailer loyalty. Specifically, this study fills a gap by investigating retailer evaluations of the technical and relational dimensions of a manufacturer's order fulfillment service quality as predictors of retailer satisfaction, affective versus calculative commitment, and ultimately loyalty behavior. Results suggest that both technical and relational order fulfillment service quality influence satisfaction, which in turn positively affects both affective and calculative commitment. By separating the affective and calculative dimensions, loyalty behavior is associated directly only with affective commitment. Further examination reveals that relational order fulfillment service quality has a direct impact on affective commitment. When the sample was split based on "share of wallet," results suggest that satisfaction impacts both affective and calculative commitment, regardless of "share of wallet." For "high share" retailers, the positive relationship of calculative to affective commitment creates an indirect route (through affective commitment) by which calculative commitment affects behavioral loyalty.

E ffective supply chain management strategies can lead to substantial improvements in customer value and reductions in system wide costs for each participant. Implementing supply chain management strategies, however, is not possible without embracing supply chain orientation (SCO) as a managerial philosophy. Organizational theorists have argued that organizations change only when the people in them change, yet we know little about the complex social processes occurring in the minds of the individuals involved in creating an SCO. The current literature lacks research that describes the transition to an SCO from a supply chain manager's perspective. Our objective is to fill this gap by delving into the minds of operations managers, who must carry out an interpretation process to set goals, process information, perceive their environment, and actively solve problems when confronted with the organization's decision to implement supply chain initiatives. We adopt an interpretivist ontology through utilizing grounded theory to provide an indepth analysis of interviews from seven manufacturing organizations and 121 supply chain managers to provide a rich description of those managers' perceptions and challenges throughout the transition. Managerial and research implications as well as future research opportunities are provided.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how strategic relationships between firms and environmental context affect operational decisions and how each firm allocates resources to improve overall firm performance.Design/methodology/approachQualitative research is integrated with previous research. Data for the qualitative research are collected through focus groups and semi‐structured interviews that employ grand tour questioning, facility tours using key informants, and use of selective artifacts.FindingsThe paper develops a model that examines how environmental factors, specifically the context of the capacity constraints in the transportation industry, can influence shippers to form long‐term and mutually beneficial relationships with their carriers and how these relationships can lead to improved performance at the operational level.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper incorporates five foundational theories into one integrated model in the context of business‐to‐business transportation collaboration. The specific contributions from this model most likely cannot have been derived by adopting only one or two of these theories, and this paper provides only one context within which these theories can be integrated. Future research should focus on areas of incompatibility and compatibility among these foundational theories. With this understanding, theory integration should spur future research by attempting to evaluate the nature of business systemically and holistically.Practical implicationsThough collaboration and relationship management has received much attention, realizing improvements in firm performance has proven difficult. Once collaborative behaviors between shippers and carriers are established at a strategic level, managers must carefully assess how to drive those collaborative behaviors to the operational levels of each firm.Originality/valueThis paper extends previous supply chain relationship research, which primarily focuses on strategic interactions between firms, by focusing on the context in which they are carried out. It integrates managerial insights with foundational theories from marketing, logistics, and operations to create theory of how supply chain relationships facilitate firm decisions regarding allocation, sharing, and management of resources on an operational level.

G lobal supply chains are growing rapidly, and the ability to manage cross border logistics operations has become a necessity to maintain a competitive advantage in a dynamic environment. This research addresses current gaps in the literature by investigating the buyer-supplier integration dynamics in a global context with a focus on the antecedents and outcomes involved in the process. Empirical data from 320 U.S. based manufacturing companies that source from overseas was collected and used to test the framework. In addition to providing empirical evidence for the importance of orientation on collaboration, operational coordination, and integration this research explains how manufacturing companies can enhance the flexibility of their global suppliers and how that impact their logistics as well as overall firm performance. Managerial and research implications are provided as well as areas for future research.

Social exchange theory provides the basis for developing a model where collaborative communication from the franchisor relates positively to commitment, and commitment relates negatively to franchisees' propensity to leave the relationship. We analyze data from a unique dataset of 200 franchisees and find partial support for this model; franchisor communication positively relates to one dimension of franchisee commitment, and one dimension of commitment negatively relates to propensity to leave. The study expands franchising theory by examining the franchising relationship from a social exchange perspective and by empirically demonstrating the important role commitment plays in the franchising context.

Driven by pressures from multiple stakeholders, supply chain transparency (SCT) has emerged as a phenomenon of increased interest. To address concerns about practices and processes at point of origin locations for raw materials in global supply chains, blockchain technology (BCT) has the potential to enhance SCT. Supply chain research has started to advance the field's understanding of SCT, but many questions remain, including how SCT should be conceptualized, how firms can effectively facilitate it, and the benefits of providing it, especially when BCT is utilized. The gaps suggest the need for fundamental theoretical development about the resources and capabilities underlying the development, application, and derived value of SCT. This research designed a case study around a BCT implementation project between a small artisan coffee producer and a startup BCT service provider. Using the resource orchestration perspective, the findings result in theoretical insights about how the mechanisms in structuring, bundling, and leveraging processes operate to offer SCT to stakeholders, and the value creation derived as a result.