Search results

The present manuscript assesses how firms should manage frequent supply chain disruption triggers and whether these firms should use existing supply chain competencies, develop new ones or both to mitigate any adverse consequences on financial performance.

Data for the study come from a survey administered to professionals in India. India was an appropriate base for the study because of its developing economy and businesses often facing SC disruptions in the marketplace.

The findings show that the negative association between the frequency of supply chain disruption triggers and financial performance is weaker when a firm utilizes supply chain exploitation competencies. Conversely, the negative association between the frequency of supply chain disruption triggers and financial performance becomes stronger when using supply chain exploration competencies. Most significantly, however, the authors show that a strategy of supply chain ambidexterity – one that combines both exploitation and exploration practices – is more beneficial in mitigating the impact of frequent disruption triggers on firm financial performance compared to the other strategies.

These findings contribute to the literature, extending the benefits of ambidexterity beyond domains of innovation, manufacturing flexibility, competitiveness and firm performance to include mitigation of supply chain disruptions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore resources or capabilities that enable medium-sized firms to be resilient, namely, to avoid and recover from supply chain disruptions.

A case-study method is employed with four medium-sized manufacturing firms headquartered in the USA that have global supply chains. Data are collected from semi-structured interviews with key informants from diverse functions and managerial levels, archival documents, observation and a resilience assessment.

Internal social capital emerged as a resilience-enhancing resource, comprising: structural capital grounded in small network size, geographical proximity among decision makers and low hierarchy; relational capital grounded in close relationships, commitment and respect; and cognitive capital grounded in long employee tenure.

This is the first paper in the supply chain management literature to examine the resilience of medium-sized firms, an under-researched context. It is also the first paper to introduce internal social capital as a resilience-enhancing resource. Hence, this is among the few papers to propose a resilience-enhancing resource rooted not in a firm’s supply chain operations but its human resources. This paper, moreover, identifies several facets of internal social capital within medium-sized firms. Finally, the paper makes several managerial contributions.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and review empirical strategic management articles that pertain to supply chain management (SCM) and are published in top management journals.

The researchers review all articles published in five top management journals, namely, Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Management Science, Organization Science, and Strategic Management Journal, from 2004 to 2013, to identify empirical articles relevant to SCM. The researchers subsequently categorize the literature in thematic categories and subcategories, and they identify the theories informing the research and the methodologies applied.

The most prevalent finding of this literature review is that abundant research pertaining to SCM is being published in top management journals. This demonstrates that SCM is a broad phenomenon studied by scholars across disciplines; thus, a broader literature perspective can be beneficial to those working in this area. Moreover, the reviewed studies are informed by theories that extend beyond the “traditionally used” resource-based view and transaction cost economics. Finally, the majority of the research suggests an inter-organizational scope.

This study familiarizes logistics/SCM scholars with SCM-related research conducted in the strategic management field, informing them about the types of phenomena studied by strategic management scholars, the theoretical lenses and literature used to enhance understanding of these phenomena, and the empirical methodologies applied to examine those. Importantly, through this familiarization, logistics/SCM scholars can learn from but also contribute to the strategic management literature that pertains to SCM.