infonet-economy

Purpose
The focus of this paper is the evolution of supply chain management (SCM) and logistics and the relationship between these concepts. Its purpose is to generate deep insights into practice, particularly in relation to the fundamental issue of how practitioners from different industrial and geographical contexts define the supply chain, SCM and logistics.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts an inductive research approach. Qualitative empirical data was collected through in-depth interviews among managers from four third-party logistics providers, four retailers and four manufacturers based in Poland and Switzerland. The semi-structured interview guide is based on a previous study by Lummus et al. (2001). The data collected during the interviews is contrasted with insights from existing research about the supply chain, SCM and logistics.

Findings
The findings suggest that there are context-dependent differences between practitioners’ understanding of the supply chain, SCM and logistics. This variation mirrors to some extent the plethora of orientations and emphases evident in the academic definitions of these terms, which have been proposed in recent decades.

Research limitations/implications
The authors use the concept of refined replication in operations management research. This allows us to build upon previous research in order to test the current understanding of SCM theory among professionals. The sample is limited to Poland and Switzerland.

Practical implications
Practitioners benefit from differentiated insights into the contemporary understanding of and linkages between the terms supply chain, SCM and logistics. Moreover, they are sensitized for context-specific variations in the meaning of these concepts.

To improve coordination in a supply chain all involved organizations should operate according to similar norms and rules - also known as institutions. Yet, little research covers how organizations effect institutional isomorphism in indirect relations (sub-suppliers).

We study this phenomenon on focal organizations' activities to establish compliance with their institutions by the actors involved in their supply chains. Sub-suppliers can hardly be forced by a focal organization and only through direct suppliers as mediators. An approach frequently used in business practice is including institutions in contractual agreements with suppliers requiring the suppliers to pass on the same institutions to sub-suppliers, all the way up to raw material sources (coercive isomorphism). This approach turns out to be difficult and requires more knowledge to apply it successfully.
In this context the proposed primary question of this paper is «how can a focal organization drive institutional isomorphism at sub-suppliers by contractual agreements through direct suppliers as mediators?»

The supply chain has substantial relevance for firms’ environmental responsibility. Many firms struggle how to engage their suppliers in improving environmental performance. Coercive, compliance-focused approaches often achieve disappointing results, and risk the deterioration of buyer-supplier relationships. Collaborative, or ‘enabling’ supplier engagement approaches have been discussed conceptually, but few empirical studies exist about their effectiveness. We conducted a field experiment with the supplier community of a South African insurance company to directly compare coercive and enabling supplier interventions. We found that enabling interventions positively affects suppliers’ attitudes towards sustainability issues, and that the positive effect is moderated by suppliers’ ex-ante attitudes towards bureaucracy in the supply chain.

Störungen in Supply Chains hatten fatale Auswirkungen. Durch einen Brand in einem der grössten deutschen Chemieparks in Marl entstanden laut Evonik Industries in 2012 Lieferengpässe bei einem wichtigen Vorprodukt für die Automobilindustrie und die Photovoltaikindustrie. In 2011 führte das Erdbeben in Japan zu Schäden in der Infrastruktur, was zum Produktionsstop bei einem Hersteller für Pigmente des Pharma- und Chemiekonzerns Merck führte. Als weltweit einziger Hersteller spezieller Pigmente für Fahrzeuglacke sorgte dies für Engpässe in der Automobilindustrie. Solche Störungen können für ein Unternehmen erhebliche Zusatzkosten, einen Rückgang des Umsatzes und damit einen Gewinneinbruch bedeuten.

Nowadays companies cooperate with several other institutions in supply chains. These companies have the vision to optimize the value creation from raw material supply to consumer to satisfy customers' needs (Essig, Hofmann, Stölzle, 2013; Mentzer et al., 2001). But the reality differs: supply chains are subject to disruptions due to the lack of transparency and control defects. In supply chains, disruptions caused by one of the supply chain actors, can affect the flows of all actors (Pfohl, Gallus, & Köhler, 2008). This may have the effect of impairing business functions and decreasing the production capacity of companies as well as the whole supply chain (Miller, 1991). For example, in 2011 the earthquake in Japan has led to damages in the infrastructure, which in turn led to a production stop at a manufacturer of pigments of the pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck. As the world's only manufacturer of special pigments for automotive coatings this caused a bottleneck in the automotive industry. Such disruptions can result in significant additional costs, loss of profit and a reduction of a company's reputation (Hendricks & Singhal 2003, 2005; Hendricks, Singhal, & Zhang 2009). ...