Martin C. Schleper

Antecedents of proactive supply chain risk management: A contingency theory perspective

Since supplier insolvencies are a major source of supply chain disruptions, scholars have continuously suggested managing supply chain risk management (SCRM) proactively in order to avoid their occurrence. However, business practice seems to fail with this task. This paper investigates antecedents which foster proactive SCRM implementation from a contingency theory perspective. As a major contingency we choose past supplier insolvencies as an indicator for the level of vulnerability of organisations and investigate inter-organisational, intra-organisational, and individual antecedents. By consulting supply chain management and management accounting literature, hypotheses are developed and tested via content analysis in 63 interviews with representatives from the automotive industry. The findings demonstrate that a mechanistic management control system, a rational cognitive style and relational buyer–supplier relationships have positive impacts on proactively managing supplier insolvency risks. Furthermore, past experience with supplier insolvencies has a moderating, though not a direct, effect on proactiveness. This research suggests that a holistic risk management approach is required to proactively mitigate supplier insolvency risk.

Supplier development for sustainability: contextual barriers in global supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore contextual barriers to supplier development for sustainability (SDS) in global supply chains and managerial remedies to mitigate such barriers. 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 limitations/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...

Toward a standardized supplier code of ethics: development of a design concept based on diffusion of innovation theory

Supplier codes of ethics have become important instruments for ethical supplier management. They capacitate firms to govern numerous supplier relationships simultaneously toward ethical business conduct. Since many actors nowadays pursue the goal of ethical supplier management, a cascade of codes has emerged. However, this plurality poses multiple problems on its own account, such as lacking effectiveness of some of these codes, restrictions on the development of universally accepted ethical standards, and greenwashing. It also creates operational difficulties and unnecessary procedural costs for firms and is thus inefficient. The aggregated amount of issues suggests the development of a standardized supplier code of ethics as a remedy. Based on diffusion of innovation theory as theoretical lense and as conceptual support, we employ a multi-method research design to develop a design concept for such a standard. We begin with a content analysis of relevant scientific literature on content, adoption, and effectiveness of codes of ethics, in which we also study numerous extant codes and initiatives. It leads to six propositions on key success factors of a standardized supplier code of ethics. We then amend a design science approach to develop a design concept for such a standard that complies with these requirements, with the support of corporate experts from Germany, China, and India. Our results are informative about the content of a standardized supplier code of ethics, and we propose multiple effectiveness- and diffusion-facilitating mechanisms as additional components in the overall design concept. With stakeholders’ further support, the envisioned standard is expected to foster businesses’ corporate social performances around the globe.

Extending the supply chain visibility boundary: utilizing stakeholders for identifying supply chain sustainability risks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buying firms facing low supply chain visibility can utilize their stakeholder network to identify salient supply chain sustainability risks (SCSR). Design/methodology/approach The study employs a design science approach to develop a procedural model for identifying SCSR as a new artifact. A small-scale field-testing study in a food supply chain of a Swiss retail firm demonstrates its applicability and pragmatic validity. Findings When stakeholder knowledge external to the supply chain is regarded as a valuable resource, a generic understanding of a buying firm’s supply chain suffices to identify SCSR hotspots without creating complexity for the SCSR management. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to the study of SCSR by identifying mechanisms buying firms can employ to identify SCSR hotspots and fostering the nascent understanding of responsibility attribution by stakeholders. Moreover, the emerging theory of the supply chain is enriched by paving a way to extend the supply chain visibility boundary. The procedural model is presumably most useful in contexts of elevated stakeholder pressure and low supply chain visibility. Future research should seek to validate and improve the effectiveness of the newly designed artifact. Practical implications The procedural model is directly applicable in corporate practice to the identification of SCSR. Moreover, its application fosters the understanding of a firm’s supply chain and its stakeholder network. Originality/value SCSR is an increasingly important phenomenon in corporate practice that has received only scarce research attention. The design science approach represents a valuable means for generating theoretical insights and emergent solutions to the real-world problem of SCSR identification.

Tackling the sustainability iceberg: a transaction cost economics approach to lower tier sustainability management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buying firms manage their lower tier sustainability management (LTSM) in their supply networks and what contextual factors influence the choice of approaches. As most of the environmental and social burden is caused in lower tiers, the authors use the iceberg analogy. Design/methodology/approach Findings from 12 case studies and 53 interviews, publicly available and internal firm data are presented. In an abductive research approach, transaction cost economics (TCE) conceptually guides the analytical iteration processes between theory and data. Findings This study provides eight LTSM approaches grouped into three categories: direct (holistic, product-, region-, and event-specific) indirect (multiplier-, alliance- and compliance-based) and neglect (tier-1-based). Focal firms choose between these approaches depending on the strength of observed contextual factors (stakeholder salience, structural supply network complexity, product and industry salience, past supply network incidents, socio-economic and cultural distance and lower tier supplier dependency), leading to perceived sustainability risk (PSR). Research limitations/implications By depicting TCE’s theoretical boundaries in predicting LTSM governance modes, the theory is elevated to the supply network level of analysis. Future research should investigate LTSM at the purchasing category level of analysis to compare and contrast PSR profiles for different purchase tasks and to validate and extend the framework. Practical implications This study serves as a blueprint for the development of firms’ LTSM capabilities that suit their unique PSR profiles. It offers knowledge regarding what factors influence these profiles and presents a model that links the effectiveness of different LTSM approaches to resource intensity. Originality/value This study extends the application of TCE and adds empirically to the literature on multi-tier and sustainable supply chain management.

Archetypes of Global Sourcing Decision-Making: The Influence of Contextual Factors

The study provides a first step towards a taxonomy of global sourcing decision-making (GSDM) process archetypes, by answering the questions ‘which archetypes of global sourcing decision-making exist?’ and ‘how do contextual factors determine these types of global sourcing decision-making?’. We highlight the extent to which differences in decision-making processes are explained by variations in environmental, organizational and decision-specific factors. In order to do so, we employ a multiple case study approach with five in-depth cases drawing on 19 interviews as well as publicly available and internal data from large buying firms headquartered in Austria and Germany. Our findings identify three different GSDM archetypes (i.e., bureaucratic-discursive, pragmatic-impartial and political-unstructured) which are mainly influenced by the three main contextual factors: global sourcing maturity, product complexity and leadership style. These factors determine how companies make decisions on sourcing complex co...

Current Deficiencies and Paths for Future Improvement in Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Current International Accountability Standards for sustainability reporting, such as The United Nations Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative are subject to criticism from two sides, researchers and practitioners. Through interviews with key persons from audit firms and a systematic literature review, we identify major deficiencies in current corporate sustainability reporting practices. Based on these findings, we derive five propositions which address the need for future improvements, i.e. we propose that a dynamic standard for corporate sustainability reporting must capture a firm’s longitudinal learning and development of intra- and inter-organizational sustainability capabilities by integrating them as leading indicators. We conclude the article with an outlook on future paths for an improved sustainability reporting framework focusing on intra- and inter-organizational capabilities and best practices which are proposed to have an impact on sustainability performance along the entire supply chain.