Reham A. Eltantawy

Supply management's evolution: key skill sets for the supply manager of the future

Purpose – In the last decade there have been dramatic impacts on, and changes within, the field of purchasing/supply management. Given supply managements new strategic role, this research seeks to examine the key skills and knowledge necessary for firms to improve in order to maximize the purchasing functions contribution to the organization. The research also aims to identifies the major shifts in supply management that have occurred in the last decade.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was conducted with a series of focus group meetings with 54 executives across the USA in order to construct theoretical relationships with which to develop a grounded theory of supply management skills evolution in a changing business environment.Findings – The implications from this research indicate that supply management professionals will assume a more strategic role in the future. The data indicate that there are strong trends underlying this movement. These include the need for building strategic re...

The changing landscape of supply chain management, marketing channels of distribution, logistics and purchasing

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine the changing landscape of supply chain management, marketing channels of distribution, logistics and purchasing.Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine and take stock of the changing nature and landscape surrounding the related disciplines of supply chain management, marketing channels of distribution, logistics and purchasing. This examination highlights the considerable evolution and significant advances occurring within and between these disciplines.Findings – The authors find that this new landscape provides both opportunities and challenges for future scholarship and practice in these related disciplines.Originality/value – The examination and findings should be of value to those attempting to understand the evolving nature and interrelationship of these fields, and those who currently practise within them.

Supply management ethical responsibility: reputation and performance impacts

Purpose – There is a lack of extensive research related to the immediate consequences of supply management ethical responsibility (SMER) and the moderating and/or mediating factors that strengthen or weaken its consequences. Although the underlying presumption is that companies no longer have the luxury of ignoring the importance of SMER, the lack of empirical research of SMERs impact on supply management performance (SMP) reflects the need for research that draws on and empirically tests established theories concerning the role of corporate ethics within the context of supply management (SM). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the impact of SMER and strategic supply management skills on SM perceived reputation and performance.Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling is employed to investigate the hypothesized relationships. A sample of 162 purchasing managers provided the data via survey.Findings – Strategic supply management skills and perceived reputation have a pos...

The role of supply management resilience in attaining ambidexterity: a dynamic capabilities approach

– This study aims to explore the necessary role of supply management (SM) resilience capabilities in making effective trade-offs to attain an ambidextrous state, i.e. the state of attaining exploitation and exploration with dexterity, or achieving high levels of both. Sustainability requires effective trade-offs among economic, environmental and social outcomes while maintaining the longevity of the buying firm. Existing literature highlights the difficulty of making effective trade-offs due to likely tensions between divergent demands, i.e. tensions between exploitative and explorative performance goals. , – This conceptual study extends insights from the dynamic capabilities approach to explore the nature of SM resilience and its role in attaining ambidexterity. , – This study proposes SM resilience as a multifaceted dynamic capability that is determined by two contrasting aspects of stability (engineering and ecological resilience) that aid the buyer’s firm to ambidextrously adapt and transform in turbulent environments. , – The study highlights the competencies and resilience capabilities that managers need to develop and maintain in pursuing an effective balance of exploitation and exploration in SM. , – The proposed framework extends existing SM sustainability frameworks by examining the nature and dimensionality of resilience and linking it to ambidexterity. The proposed framework provides a platform for the integration of theoretical aspects from various research streams; socio-ecological literature, dynamic capabilities and organizational ambidexterity.

Strategic sourcing management’s mindset: strategic sourcing orientation and its implications

Purpose – Recently, focus in strategic sourcing (SS) has shifted from the exchange of tangible goods toward the exchange of intangibles, such as specialized skills, knowledge, and processes. The purpose of this paper is to aim to delineate the domain of, and operationally test, strategic sourcing orientation (SSO); a management philosophy directed at identifying and meeting the needs and goals of SS. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed-methods research design and underpinned by a service dominant logic (SDL) inspired resource-based view (RBV), the authors first use the qualitative input of 41 top sourcing executives in four focus groups to derive four first-order “orientations” (learning, performance, planning, and relational-process) that were found to reflect SSO. Second, the authors propose a theoretically grounded operationalization of SSO derived from the qualitative data and extant literature. A sample of 174 top sourcing executives was used to test the proposed SSO and its impact on SS repu...

Towards supply chain coordination and productivity in a three echelon supply chain : Action research study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of supply management coordination among a prominent contact lens company (customer), its carton supplier (first tier), and paperboard supplier (second tier). Adopting concepts within the theory of swift and even flow, the authors integrate the physical (material) and information flow among these supply partners to ensure higher productivity through timely production and distribution of the cartons, which reduced the lead-times and inventory levels at the three companies in this supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a longitudinal case study (action research (AR)), which combines qualitative and quantitative analyses. Observations over time, documents such as contracts, joint agreements, meeting agendas and minutes, personal conversations, and in-depth interviews were mainly used, with quantitative measurement of operational performance. Findings – The complete solution to eliminate waste and improve the existing system is pr...

Towards supply chain coordination and productivity in a three echelon supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of supply management coordination among a prominent contact lens company (customer), its carton supplier (first tier), and paperboard supplier (second tier). Adopting concepts within the theory of swift and even flow, the authors integrate the physical (material) and information flow among these supply partners to ensure higher productivity through timely production and distribution of the cartons, which reduced the lead-times and inventory levels at the three companies in this supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a longitudinal case study (action research (AR)), which combines qualitative and quantitative analyses. Observations over time, documents such as contracts, joint agreements, meeting agendas and minutes, personal conversations, and in-depth interviews were mainly used, with quantitative measurement of operational performance. Findings – The complete solution to eliminate waste and improve the existing system is pr...

Towards sustainable supply management: requisite governance and resilience capabilities

Sustainability entails avoiding net harm to natural or social systems while maintaining the buyer firms economic performance over an extended time. Achieving this balance over the long term, however, may entail trade-offs. Existing literature falters at clarifying the roles of supply management (SM) in achieving effective trade-offs leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. This conceptual study aims to provide such clarification by exploring the necessary role of two contrasting aspects of SM resilience: engineering and ecological in making effective trade-offs. The proposed framework posits SM governance capabilities to determine SM engineering and ecological resilience and, ultimately, effective sustainability-related trade-offs. The study extends existing SM sustainability frameworks by introducing SM engineering and ecological resilience as the imperative of governance capabilities.

Towards supply chain coordination and productivity in a three echelon supply chain: Action research study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of supply management coordination among a prominent contact lens company (customer), its carton supplier (first tier), and paperboard supplier (second tier). Adopting concepts within the theory of swift and even flow, the authors integrate the physical (material) and information flow among these supply partners to ensure higher productivity through timely production and distribution of the cartons, which reduced the lead-times and inventory levels at the three companies in this supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a longitudinal case study (action research (AR)), which combines qualitative and quantitative analyses. Observations over time, documents such as contracts, joint agreements, meeting agendas and minutes, personal conversations, and in-depth interviews were mainly used, with quantitative measurement of operational performance. Findings – The complete solution to eliminate waste and improve the existing system is pr...