Purpose – This paper provides a robust and structured literature review on supply chain resilience (SCRES), the supply chain’s ability to be prepared for unexpected risk events, responding and recovering quickly to potential disruptions to return to its original situation or grow by moving to a new, more desirable state. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extant research through focussed questions and provide an insightful framework with propositions to guide further publications and identify future research needs. Design/methodology/approach – The findings underlie a systematic literature review methodology requiring a robust method of literature analysis. The sand cone model is adopted to develop a comprehensive SCRES framework. Findings – The literature review reveals a strong need for an overarching SCRES definition and a clear terminology for its building elements. It indicates that most research has been qualitative and lacks in assessing and measuring SCRES performance. Originality/value – This paper contributes a structured overview of 67 peer-reviewed articles from 2003 to 2013 on an emerging area of supply chain research. The review formulates an overarching definition of SCRES, groups and synthesizes the various SCRES elements into proactive and reactive strategies for the ex-ante/ex-post disruption stage and illustrates SCRES measurement through performance metrics. It provides a comprehensive SCRES framework with propositions and indicates gaps in the literature to target for further development.

Organizations face increased pressure from stakeholders to incorporate a plethora of corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainability aspects in their business practices. Legal and extra‐legal demands are dynamically changing; almost no organizational function is unaffected. Owing to the outsourcing wave of the last decade, in particular purchasing and supply management (PSM) plays an ever more important role in assuring sustainable production of the firm's products offered in the marketplace. The supply base of many Western firms has become increasingly global and spend volumes have shifted towards emerging countries. In order to avoid the risk of reputational damage to the buying company, the PSM department must ensure that their international suppliers comply with their corporate codes of conduct and that environmental and social misconduct at supplier premises does not occur. In this paper, “sustainability” refers to the pursuit of the tripartite of economic, environmental, and social performance. We contribute to prior research in the fields of sustainability and CR by extending insights of the dynamic capabilities view to analyze how the PSM function integrates sustainability aspects in its global supplier management processes. Based on four case studies in the chemical industry, we propose that profound sustainable global supplier management (SGSM) capabilities are a source of competitive advantage. These capabilities are path dependent and particularly valuable when organizations are receptive to external stakeholder pressure. Early movers in the field of SGSM reap competitive benefits to a notable extent as a result of resource accumulation and learning processes over time.

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The concept of "Industry 4.0" is expected to bring a multitude of benefits for industrial value creation. However, the associated risks hamper its implementation and lack a comprehensive overview. In response, the paper proposes a framework of risks in the context of Industry 4.0 that is related to the Triple Bottom Line of sustainability. The framework is developed from a literature review, as well as from 14 in-depth expert interviews. With respect to economic risks, the risks that are associated with high or false investments are outlined, as well as the threatened business models and increased competition from new market entrants. From an ecological perspective, the increased waste and energy consumption, as well as possible ecological risks related to the concept "lot size one", are described. From a social perspective, the job losses, risks associated with organizational transformation, and employee requalification, as well as internal resistance, are among the aspects that are considered. Additionally, risks can be associated with technical risks, e.g., technical integration, information technology (IT)-related risks such as data security, and legal and political risks, such as for instance unsolved legal clarity in terms of data possession. Conclusively, the paper discusses the framework with the extant literature, proposes managerial and theoretical implications, and suggests avenues for future research.

Purpose Reverse factoring (RF) can generate win-win situations for buyers, banks and suppliers. However, the SCM literature generally tends to ignore financial influences and accounting support structures. Research in the area of reverse factoring is relatively new and considerably fragmented. To address this research gap this paper provides an analysis of the objectives, antecedents and barriers of implementation. Design/methodology/approach The study contributes fundamental new insights derived from eleven case studies. 28 interviews were conducted from the perspective of buyers, banks and suppliers and analyzed regarding influencing factors of different RF approaches. Findings Reverse factoring predominantly is used to extend days payable outstanding (DPO). However, secondary objectives such as the reduction of supplier default risk and process simplifications also play an important role. The number of integrated suppliers, dependence of suppliers on their buyers, spread between internal refinancing and RF costs and the diversity of target agreements strongly influence these objectives and therefore the configuration of RF solutions. Originality/value Most studies fall short of exploring the mechanism of reverse factoring from all of the different perspectives of buyers, banks and suppliers. This approach allows new insights regarding prerequisites and different motivations behind RF.

Mounting pressure for sustainable business practices has led to a greatly increased focus on highlighting sustainability drivers throughout the supply chain. While the literature has concentrated on why downstream original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and retailers become “sustainable,” much less is known regarding why and how upstream suppliers implement sustainability practices. Based on findings from a cross‐case analysis of eight first‐tier (FT) suppliers and an integration of resource dependency theory (RDT), this study explores the drivers and mechanisms of FT supplier engagement in sustainable supply chain management. Suppliers need to understand the sustainability priorities of customers and stakeholders to derive the effective focus and depth of further upstream integration with subsuppliers. Therefore, the integration between the two functions that manage the relevant external interfaces, namely marketing (downstream and stakeholder communication) and procurement (upstream), appears to be the essential cornerstone to move beyond FT supplier compliance to actual commitment to sustainability practices. We present findings on how (1) stakeholder‐related, (2) process‐related, and (3) product‐related drivers influence the choice and effectiveness of the procurement–marketing integration (PM integration) mechanisms. Stakeholder pressures are considered to be the principal drivers of sustainability efforts. However, on their own, they rarely provide sufficient grounds for permanent and embedded PM integration initiatives at FT suppliers. Evidence suggests that suppliers' commitment to PM integration is motivated by the opportunity to leverage sustainability initiatives in their product offerings and sustainability certificates recognizable by customers and secondary stakeholders.

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) has become a discipline of major strategic importance for effectively competing in today's global marketplace. Literature recognizes that the full value‐creation potential of the purchasing function can only be realized if its decisions and activities are aligned with the organization's overall strategic orientation. Despite general agreement on this matter, research and practice lacks knowledge on how exactly such an alignment can be achieved and what performance implications it has. Therefore, this article empirically investigates the alignment–performance link in PSM in a comprehensive manner. Drawing on the theory of production competence, we suggest that the relative fit between business strategy and purchasing strategy, labeled as strategic alignment, and between purchasing strategy and purchasing practices, referred to as purchasing efficacy, is key to achieving superior financial performance. Results from profile deviation analysis on data collected globally from 141 strategic business units (SBUs) with revenues greater than US$S3 billion support our hypotheses. Findings provide clear guidance to managers on how to design their purchasing strategies and practices to achieve maximum alignment and thus to effectively contribute to the SBU's financial success.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of tacit knowledge within innovative organizations. It addresses what organizations can do to promote knowledge sharing in order to improve successful innovation. Compared to available research material on explicit knowledge, the use of tacit knowledge within companies is relatively unexplored. The use of tacit knowledge is assessed with special emphasis on its significance and implications in the innovation process. Design/methodology/approach -Existing research is structured with the objective of examining how companies make use of tacit knowledge. Key levers for tacit knowledge management are identified and the positive impact of tacit knowledge on innovation success disclosed.Findings -The role of tacit knowledge in innovation management is analysed. Creation, availability and transfer of tacit knowledge within an organization are highlighted. Competitive advantage will be gained when companies value their tacit knowledge because explicit knowledge is knowledge we are already aware of and is public by its nature. Tacit knowledge can be the source of a huge range of opportunities and potentials that constitute discovery and creativity.Practical implications -As this paper focuses on the transfer of tacit knowledge, barriers to successful knowledge transfer are described and success factors are explored which help to secure and improve the transfer of tacit knowledge.Originality/value -It is proven that tacit knowledge has a crucial influence on the success of innovation processes in companies and plays a vital role as a company resource and success factor.