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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/09600039210022574. When citing the article, please cite: Dale S. Rogers, Patricia J. Daugherty, Theodore P. Stank, (1992), “Enhancing Service Responsiveness: The Strategic Potential of EDI”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 22 Iss: 8, pp. 15 - 20.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a systematic application of middle-range theorizing, which pays particular attention to contexts and mechanisms, can be used to extend current knowledge on logistics customer service (LCS) in a number of critical areas.

The paper applies Stank et al.’s (2017) framework for middle-ranging theorizing in logistics to develop a research framework and agenda that can guide future LCS research. Results are generated through a review of the LCS literature and an application of the main concepts of middle-range theorizing.

The paper outlines opportunities for middle-range research that would extend LCS knowledge in the areas of human and behavioral factors, time-based competition, supply chain complexity, and digitization and technological innovation.

Describing the main characteristics of middle-range theorizing and how middle-range theorizing can be fruitfully applied to LCS research should help to stimulate new knowledge creation in this important area of supply chain logistics management.

By focusing on why and when questions, middle-range theorizing engages with the practical realities of LCS that interest managers and students. Middle-range theorizing moves researchers toward developing a detailed understanding of what actually has to change in order for desired LCS-related outcomes to occur and the contextual factors likely impacting the change process. The paper should, therefore, allow managers to better translate LCS theory into action.

Middle-range theorizing remains new to the supply chain logistics field. The application of middle-range theorizing to LCS research, and logistics research more generally, demands new perspectives on established relationships with the potential to drive original research in areas most relevant to managers.

The purpose of this research is to extend existing knowledge of supply chain agility by identifying the interrelationships among key elements of agility that may impact customer performance improvement when conditions of demand and supply vary from the core assumptions used to design supply chain networks.

The research employs the principles of middle range theorizing (Merton, 1968) to incorporate observations from field interviews and data collected from executives, managers, and analysts from six global manufacturing firms across a range of industries to form research propositions about the nature of relationships among cognitive agility dimensions, antecedent impediments to cognitive agility, and the relationships between cognitive and physical agility to improve performance that can later be subjected to deductive testing.

The supply chain designs used by the participating firms to deliver value for core products were not sufficiently agile to meet desired customer performance levels when certain supply or demand conditions varied significantly from the norm. In collaboration with partner firms, the findings suggest that improving cognitive abilities to see, think and act by deploying information-based tactical initiatives in planning, inventory positioning, and supplier lead time performance monitoring enable improved physical agility that enable a firm to respond to changes swiftly and flexibly in the demand and supply environment. Importantly, the findings also suggest that the dimensions of cognitive agility are correlated and are formative elements of the latent construct of cognitive agility, which is antecedent to physical agility.

These findings are limited in scope to the six companies that participated in this research. Future explorations should generalize to a broader population of firms and conditions. The results do provide evidence of the relationships between the dimensions of agility that are both a contribution and should guide future research on the subject.

From a managerial standpoint, the research findings provide insight into how firms might manage agility to improve performance when demand and supply conditions vary from those for which the core supply chain was originally designed. The findings suggest that improving the ability to capture, process, and disseminate information, i.e. cognitive agility dimensions of alertness, accessibility, and decisiveness, facilitates improved information-based initiatives in planning, inventory positioning, and supplier lead time performance monitoring, which in turn enables improved physical initiatives to swiftly and flexibly respond to changes in the demand and supply environment. Such improvements ultimately result in heightened customer service and inventory performance.

Previous research is mute regarding the interrelationships among the identified dimensions of supply chain agility, specifically those considered to be “cognitive” elements and those that involve physical actions. The finding suggesting that the dimensions of cognitive agility are correlated and are formative elements of the latent construct of cognitive agility provides an important theoretical insight that contributes to enhanced understanding of the nature of supply chain agility to foster future quantitative explorations to better understand the phenomena.

This study aims to explore the impact of one significant threat to the rigor of theory building within supply chain management, namely, the improper development of different measures for the same construct.

Two survey studies are conducted. Study 1 investigates the impact of three firm orientations on five of the most cited supply chain agility (SCA) scales. Study 2 explores the impact of the same five SCA scales on three firm performance indicators.

The findings reveal that the five SCA scales display adequate discriminant validity and thus measure distinct concepts. Further, the relationships between SCA and its antecedents and consequences vary significantly depending on the SCA scale used. In essence, the scale used determines whether a relationship is supported or not, implying that researchers have been loosely applying the same label (i.e. SCA) to distinct constructs.

In essence, the scale used determines whether a relationship is supported or not, implying that researchers have been loosely applying the same label (i.e. SCA) to distinct constructs. The findings indicate the need for further scrutiny and investigation regarding the rigor and validity of theory building within the area of SCA. Importantly, rigorous scale development should be encouraged. Scholars should develop new scales when necessary while carefully distinguishing their proposed constructs and measures from extant ones.

Reports a recent survey of warehousing firms which examined the extent of involvement in electronic data interchange (EDI) and the impact which EDI has had on the firms′ operations and service capabilities. Warehousing firms providing EDI services to their customers were found to be better able to accommodate selected customers′ requests than firms not providing EDI services. Additionally, the firms providing EDI service were offering more services to their customers than firms not providing EDI service. Based on the research results, EDI firms appear to be more flexible and more responsive to customer requests. EDI offers significant potential for helping firms to gain competitive advantage and enhance customer responsiveness.

There has been little conceptual work that comprehensively examines the changing role of the corporate transportation function in the modern business environment. Successful managers today require a broad view of transportation management’s role and responsibilities in an integrated supply chain. This paper clarifies the major transportation decision areas and introduces a framework that positions corporate transportation management within the overall integrated supply chain environment. The framework portrays initial transportation decisions as strategic, long‐term decisions that focus on the overall supply chain transportation system. Once decisions are understood at this level, the decision‐making scope becomes increasingly tactical in nature, focusing on operations that implement the overall system decisions.

Highlights insights gained from five years of operating experience in a logistics partnership between a large US retailer and a provider of international logistical service. The insights gained from this partnership show that a third‐party logistics provider can help a firm achieve substantial results. The path to achieving these results is not without its difficulties, but many of these problems can be anticipated and appropriate actions taken to minimize their disruption. Establishing a measurement system that allows easy and integrated reporting of the status of the enterprise is essential if real progress is to be made in a logistics partnership. An extensive formal and informal communication strategy is essential to address the issues arising from the difficulty of combining two different organizational cultures. Finally, this partnership has shown that if the rewards for both partners are real, tangible, and substantial the partnership can endure.

Automatic replenishment systems that restock inventory based on actual demand triggers rather than relying on long‐range forecasts and layers of safety stock have been implemented in a great number of firms in recent years. Now these same firms are taking supply chain cooperation to another level through involvement in collaborative planning/forecasting/replenishment (CPFR). The results of a recent survey assessing current levels of involvement in cross‐organizational collaboration among firms utilizing automatic inventory replenishment are presented. The results provide strong support for positive associations between high levels of CPFR and implementation of operating process change and information system capabilities. Results supported only a very weak association between CPFR and effectiveness in achieving operational performance goals.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the concepts of supply chain leadership (SCL) and supply chain followership (SCF) from the literature, and propose a theory of leadership in supply chains using a strategy‐structure‐performance theory framework.

Constructs are defined and valid and reliable scales are developed for SCL, SCF, and three structural elements (information availability, communication, and rewards). Proposed SCL and SCF theoretical relationships are tested using data collected from an interactive simulation and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Transformational SCL and SCF are inter‐related constructs that can be linked to the creation of the three forms of supply chain structure examined in this research to varying degrees. A finding of significance is that supply chain follower organizations may actually have greater influence over operational performance than the supply chain leader.

This research presents an initial test of supply chain‐related constructs not tested in previous research. These represent significant organizational constructs that may benefit future supply chain research efforts.

Transformational supply chain behaviors of leaders and followers can be perceived and measured. Managers may utilize this knowledge to better understand the type of supply chain relationships their organization should most effectively pursue.

The paper introduces the concepts of SCL and SCF and empirically tests these concepts and the structural constructs of information availability, communication, and rewards.

Functional areas within a firm must effectively interact and work together to plan, coordinate, and implement strategic initiatives. Interfunctional integration is believed to be directly related to a firm's competitiveness and profitability. The current research was undertaken to gain a greater understanding of the association between interdepartmental integration and performance. Results of a recent survey examining the marketing/logistics interface are reported. Analysis provided support for positive associations between the frequency of collaborative integration between marketing and logistics departments and logistics managers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the relationship between departments, as well as, departmental performance relative to competitors.