Towards a theory of supply chain alignment enablers: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose-The importance of supply chain alignment has been discussed since the birth of Supply Chain Management (SCM). Yet it remains a major challenge for supply chains. This paper aims to systematically review the cross disciplinary literature on supply chain alignment in order to identify, and develop constructs for enablers to alignment, and an associated set of hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach-A systematic approach has been taken to the literature review which ensures it is auditable and repeatable. The selection criteria are clearly aligned with the review question ensuring all literature pertinent to the question is identified and reviewed. Relevant information is extracted from the selected papers and synthesised into a set of hypotheses. Findings-Six main constructs for the enablers of alignment are identified and defined: organisational structure, internal relational behaviour, customer relational behaviour, top management support, information sharing and business performance measurement system. While the literature is disparate, across different disciplines there is good support for these enablers. The relationships between supply chain alignment and shareholder and customer value are also argued with the support of the literature. Though each of the enablers is argued to positively affect shareholder and customer value, their interactions with each other are not well supported in the literature, either theoretically or empirically, and therefore this could be an area for further research. Research/practical implications-While the hypotheses remain theoretical, it is now possible to test them and understand the relative significance of the various enablers to alignment. Further, the significance of shareholder and customer alignment on the delivery of shareholder and customer value can be examined, thus moving towards a theory of supply chain alignment. This is needed since in practice companies are struggling with supply chain alignment. Originality/value-The existing literature on supply chain alignment is disparate and multidisciplinary as our descriptive analysis shows, with 72 papers published in 43 different journals. Moreover, most of the papers focus on particular enablers, while this paper brings together six key enablers from the literature to produce a set of hypotheses.

Supply and demand chain management: the effect of adding services to product offerings

“…In the SCM literature link channels refer exclusively to dependences in a vertical supply chain (Häkansson and Snehota, 1995). Customer linking is a boundary spanning activity and this link to customers is essential in improving relationships (Wong et al, 2012). Customer responsiveness is enhanced through an early capture of demand information (Campbel and Sankaranl, 2005), highlighting the importance of analyzing customer attitudes and establishing mechanisms that link customer attitude to purchase (Parry et al, 2012).…”

“…Some customers like to feel involved and engaged (Parry et al, 2012) which suggests a strong customer-driven facet is required in the management of the services offered to them (Grönroos, 1994). It is proposed that a demand-supply chain management approach for service offerings better recognises this group's needs (Jaworski and Kohli, 1996;Wong et al, 2012).…”

“…Demand oriented-firms recognise customers' needs by drawing upon information from market sensing, customer linking and channel bonding (Jaworski and Kohli, 1996;Wong et al, 2012).…”

Ethical procurement strategies for International Aid Non‐Government Organisations

“…Cooperation in the preparation phase, through logistics service providers acting in the form of horizontal collaboration, can provide advantages, in terms of reduced lead-time, improved quality control, cost reductions, securing capacity, and prepositioning supplies (Schulz and Blecken, 2010) This is particulary important to partnerships between aid agencies and the military (Heaslip, Sharif, and Althonayan, 2012), Common incentives to be service quality improvement and market share enhancement (Schmoltzi and Wallenburg 2011) Six main constructs for the enablers of alignment are identified and defined for CSCs:organisational structure, internal relational behaviour, Customer relational behaviour, top management support, information sharing and business performance measurement system (Wong, Skipworth, Godsell, and Achimugu, 2011). Matching and identifying organisational structures.…”

Warehouse design: a systematic literature review

“…Carter et Easton, 2011;Gligor et Holcomb, 2012;Denk et al, 2012;Pilbeam et al, 2012;Wong et al, 2012;Winter et Knemeyer, 2013), the issue of warehouse design has not yet being addressed. Considering the proposal of Kirca and Yaprat (2010), the study was structured into the following stages.…”