Case research in purchasing and supply management: Opportunities and challenges

Dubois, Anna; Araújo, Luís

doi:10.1016/j.pursup.2007.09.002

Cited by 280 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

189

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…An exploratory case study design was employed to generate theory about and an in-depth understanding of contextual barriers to SDS in the complex field of global supply chains, based upon 8 rich, contextually embedded data (Dubois and Araujo, 2007). Case study research is well suited to examine complex phenomena from different angles (Eisenhardt, 1989, Yin, 2014 since its main advantage when compared to other methods is the opportunity to interact closely with key informants (Pratt, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supplier Development for Sustainability: Contextual Barriers in Global Supply Chains

Busse¹,

Niu²,

Schleper

et al. 2016

AMPROC

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Acknowledgments:An earlier version of this paper was the recipient of the 2015 Chris Voss Best Paper Award granted at the 22 nd European Operations Management Association conference. We are most grateful to the EurOMA Scientific Committee for choosing our paper and encouraging us to consider IJPDLM as a publication outlet for our research. We also acknowledge the helpful feedback received at the conference. Moreover, we would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers at IJPDLM who have provided extremely insightful and constructive suggestions which helped us to improve this paper substantially. Finally, we express our gratitude to the Editor, Alexander E. Ellinger, for facilitating a speedy review process. Design/methodology/approach -A dyadic case study design was adopted with a Western European buyer and six of its Chinese suppliers. The database consists of 41 interviews and 81 documents.Findings -Contextual barriers to SDS in global supply chains derive from complexities in the sustainability concept, socio-economic differences, spatial and linguistic distance, as well as cultural differences between buyers and suppliers. Partial remedies include effective joint communications, an open organizational culture, and the fostering of cross-contextual understanding.Research implications -The findings contribute to theory development at the intersection of sustainable and global supply chain management research. They help to explain why scarce sustainability-related progress in global supply chains has occurred in recent years.Practical implications -The identified barriers facilitate managerial decision making that will expedite SDS progress in global contexts.Social implications -By diffusing knowledge regarding available remedies, the study contributes to improving SDS effectiveness, thereby fostering sustainability capabilities and performance of suppliers.Originality/value -This research highlights the criticality of contextual barriers to SDS. The barrier effects that stem from differing real-world conceptions of sustainability may inform future sustainable supply chain management research within and beyond SDS.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supplier Development for Sustainability: Contextual Barriers in Global Supply Chains

Busse¹,

Niu²,

Schleper

et al. 2016

AMPROC

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Overall, while analysing SMEs Portuguese construction suppliers, our aim is to assess: 1 the perceived positive impacts on business competitiveness and contribution to people's integration in the digital society induced by P e-P implementation 2 positive economic and financial impacts induced by the new contracting system, here including the level of financial benefits that the new system provided 3 perceived impacts on marketing models and commercial policies as well as changes on procedures transparency provided by the platforms introduction Public Procurement 4 the investment required for the new system compliance regarding technological improvements, organisational adjustments and changes as well as the training effort 5 the difficulties in Pe-P's implementation 6 improvement propositions in electronic platforms and systems connected to P e-P 7 evaluation of the private supply chain modernisation as a result of technology based P e-P. In order to infer these perceived impacts, we used a case-based approach (Yin, 2014) with multiple units of analysis (Dubois and Araujo, 2007). Yin (2014) recommends the case study approach when research questions require an extensive and 'in-depth' description of phenomenon.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As these are key employees in their respective organisations, it was anticipated that the information collected would be the most reliable and assertive possible. The use of multiple respondents also allowed us to capture a variety of perceptions surrounding a complex phenomenon (Dubois and Araujo, 2007). Questions about perceived impacts of P e-P implementation, investments required, evaluation of electronic platforms and supply chain modernisation were asked and data was subject to qualitative content analysis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public e-procurement impacts in small- and medium-enterprises

Fernandes

Vieira

2015

IJPM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The European Union (EU) created directives to regulate the moving to full Public e-Procurement (Pe-P) for all public purchases by 2016. Despite the undisputable benefits, member states are lagging behind on this paradigm shift. Also Pe-P's scholarly evaluation and theoretical knowledge behind it are still very limited. This paper makes a contribution to the literature gap related to Pe-P's impacts providing preliminary evidence of its adoption in Portugal. Following a case-based approach involving interviews with managers from the Portuguese construction sector, our study aims to understand Pe-P's implementation benefits and barriers in small-and medium-enterprises (SMEs). Results provide relevant information regarding factors affecting Pe-P's adoption forecasting implications for private firms, platform providers and policy makers in the 2016 full moving to Pe-P's throughout the EU.

show abstract

“…Case-based approach was considered particularly relevant given the exploratory nature of this study (Dubois and Araujo, 2007)). The board governed our research project, approved our suggestion on the size and coverage of the empirical data set, helped in arranging access to the participating companies and in identifying the key informants to be interviewed.…”

Section: Research Methods and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%