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.

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by University of South Australia For Authors:If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service. Information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comWith over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for upstream supply chain risk management linking risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation to risk performance and validate the model empirically. The effect of a continuous improvement process on identification, assessment, and mitigation is also included in the model. Design/methodology/approach -A literature review is undertaken to derive the hypotheses and operationalize the included constructs. The paper then tests the path analytical model using partial least squares analyses on survey data from 162 large and mid-sized manufacturing companies located in Germany. Findings -All items load high on their respective constructs and the data provides robust support to all hypothesized relationships. Superior risk identification supports the subsequent risk assessment and this in turn leads to better risk mitigation. The model explains 46 percent of the variance observed in risk performance. Research limitations/implications -This study empirically validates the sequential effect of the three risk management steps on risk performance as well as the influence of continuous improvement activities. Limitations of this study can be seen in the use of perceptional data from single informants and the focus on manufacturing firms in a single country. Practical implications -The detailed operationalization of the constructs sheds further light on the problem of measuring risk management efforts. Clear evidence of the performance effect of risk management provides managers with a business case to invest in such initiatives. Originality/value -This is one of the first large-scale, empirical studies on the process dimensions of upstream supply chain risk management.

We develop a lean readiness framework and an assessment methodology to quantify the readiness of healthcare institutions for implementing lean. We use stakeholder theory and work with a lean implementation team responsible for process improvement in a healthcare group to develop the framework. The framework uses fuzzy based input derived from the stakeholders of the healthcare institution to generate an overall ranking through ideal solution technique. The assessment method derives input from the readiness scores shared by various stakeholders. The ranking suggests future improvement areas to prepare the healthcare institution for a lean implementation project. We provide an alternative perspective of assessing the lean readiness of healthcare institutions before beginning a lean implementation project for both researchers and practitioners. Our research is the first to develop a lean readiness framework for healthcare institutions and demonstrate it using an assessment technique.

Supplier integration has become an important concept for improving supply chain performance. The aim of this paper is to identify factors that facilitate and inhibit supplier integration in the context of the Chinese automotive industry. An inductive approach based on grounded theory was chosen as the research methodology, where data was collected through 30 detailed case interviews with subsidiaries of foreign automotive companies operating in China. The results indicate that buyer‐side leadership is an important antecedent for building motivation, trust, and commitment among suppliers and for shaping their mindsets. This, in turn, facilitates strategic alignment and enables suppliers to build collaborative capabilities, which are finally shown to be a key enabler for successful supplier integration.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a set of nine hypotheses linking four purchasing and supply management (PSM) practices directly to purchasing performance and indirectly to financial performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data in a global cross‐industry survey of 148 companies, combining primary interview and survey data with secondary data on firm performance, in order to minimize the impact of common method variance.FindingsSupport was found for eight of the nine hypotheses. In particular, a positive impact was found of cross‐functional integration and functional coordination on purchasing performance, and of purchasing performance on firm performance. Both talent management and performance management have a positive impact on cross‐functional integration and functional coordination. Talent management also has a direct impact on purchasing performance, in contrast to performance management.Originality/valueThe association of enhanced PSM maturity levels with financial performance metrics collected from secondary data sources provides robust empirical support for the stated but to this point largely untested positive impact of PSMmaturity on the firm's competitive position.

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