Stefan Gold

Conducting content‐analysis based literature reviews in supply chain management

Purpose – Inconsistent research output makes critical literature reviews crucial tools for assessing and developing the knowledge base within a research field. Literature reviews in the field of supply chain management (SCM) are often considerably less stringently presented than other empirical research. Replicability of the research and traceability of the arguments and conclusions call for more transparent and systematic procedures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the importance of literature reviews in SCM.Design/methodology/approach – Literature reviews are defined as primarily qualitative synthesis. Content analysis is introduced and applied for reviewing 22 literature reviews of seven sub‐fields of SCM, published in English‐speaking peer‐reviewed journals between 2000 and 2009. A descriptive evaluation of the literature body is followed by a content analysis on the basis of a specific pattern of analytic categories derived from a typical research process.Findings – Each paper was assess...

The constructs of sustainable supply chain management – a content analysis based on published case studies

The intersection of supply chain management and sustainability is still a rather young research field emerging as growing topic only recently. This paper outlines findings of a content analysis assessing systematically all case studies in the field of sustainable supply chain management, published from 1994 to 2007 in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals, and thus, mapping and evaluating the scope of current SCM topics reflected in these case papers. The analysis confirms previous research that highlights pressures from governments, customers and stakeholders as triggers of sustainable supply chain management and the neglect of the social dimension of sustainability within supply chain management. Improving supplier performance or, at least, assuring minimum performance standards can be generally regarded important objectives of supply chain strategies. Communication is an outstanding characteristic both for traditional and sustainable supply chain management; though far-reaching supply chain integration is still rather limited.

Modern slavery challenges to supply chain management

Purpose – This paper aims to draw attention to the challenges modern slavery poses to supply chain management. Although many international supply chains are (most often unknowingly) connected to slave labour activities, supply chain managers and researchers have so far neglected the issue. This will most likely change as soon as civil society lobbying and new legislation impose increasing litigation and reputational risks on companies operating international supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a definition of slavery; explores potentials for knowledge exchange with other disciplines; discusses management tools for detecting slavery, as well as suitable company responses after its detection; and outlines avenues for future research. Findings – Due to a lack of effective indicators, new tools and indicator systems need to be developed that consider the specific social, cultural and geographical context of supply regions. After detection of slavery, multi-stakeholder partnerships, community-centred approaches and supplier development appear to be effective responses. Research limitations/implications – New theory development in supply chain management (SCM) is urgently needed to facilitate the understanding, avoidance and elimination of slavery in supply chains. As a starting point for future research, the challenges of slavery to SCM are conceptualised, focussing on capabilities and specific institutional context. Practical implications – The paper provides a starting point for the development of practices and tools for identifying and removing slave labour from supply chains. Originality/value – Although representing a substantial threat to current supply chain models, slavery has so far not been addressed in SCM research.

Sustainable humanitarian supply chain management: exploring new theory

ABSTRACT Disaster response operations aim at helping as many victims as possible in the shortest time, with limited consideration of the socio-economic context. During the disaster rehabilitation phase, the perspective needs to broaden and comprehensively take into account the local environment. We propose a framework of sustainable humanitarian supply chain management (SCM) that facilitates such comprehensive performance. We conceptualise the framework by combining literature from the fields of sustainable and humanitarian SCM. We test the framework through an analytic induction process by means of multiple case studies of four relief organisations. Our framework suggests that supply chain design needs to be aligned not only to relief organisations’ enablers, but also to the populations long-term requirements as well as any socio-economic and governmental contingency factors. A good fit between these dimensions leads to sustainable performance. The framework provides an instrument for relief organisations to achieve sustainable performance in the disaster rehabilitation phase.

Socially Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices in the Indian Seed Sector: A Case Study

Reputational risks because of child labor allegations drove Syngenta to forge for-profit and not-for-profit sector alliances with the Fair Labor Association, which was directed toward raising social standards in its Indian hybrid vegetable seed supply chain. This case study, informed by expert interviews and complementary document analysis, gives an account of various sustainable supply chain management (SCM) practices implemented by Syngenta and its partners in this pilot project. By being located in one specific industry and world region, this study contributes a piece of evidence to the neglected issue of how to include the social dimension of sustainability into SCM.

Consumer affinity to wooden framehouses : a typology of German consumers

This paper presents a cluster analysis defining eight consumer types with regard to their disposition of choosing timber as predominant construction material for newly constructed houses in Germany. This typology is based on findings from a representative survey among the German population about peoples attitudes towards general social issues, environment, wood, forestry, timber as construction material and wooden framehouses. The paper identifies eight consumer types according to their attitudes towards these topics and complements them by specific information about their past and anticipated buying behaviour and their socio-demographic characteristics. Four clusters (47% of the population) can be regarded as promising target groups for framehouse marketing.

A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns

The circular economy (CE) requires companies to rethink their supply chains and business models. Several frameworks found in the academic and practitioner literature propose circular economy business models (CEBMs) to redefine how companies create value while adhering to CE principles. A review of these frameworks shows that some models are frequently discussed, some are framework specific, and some use a different wording to refer to similar CEBMs, pointing to the need to consolidate the current state of the art. We conduct a morphological analysis of 26 current CEBMs from the literature, which includes defining their major business model dimensions and identifying the specific characteristics of these dimensions. Based on this analysis, we identify a broad range of business model design options and propose six major CEBM patterns with the potential to support the closing of resource flows: repair and maintenance; reuse and redistribution; refurbishment and remanufacturing; recycling; cascading and repurposing; and organic feedstock business model patterns. We also discuss different design strategies to support the development of these CEBMs.

Sustainable Global Agrifood Supply Chains: Exploring the Barriers

The article investigates the factors that make businesses postpone integrating the performance dimension of sustainability in global agrifood supply chains. Based on literature-based conceptual reasoning, the article conceptualizes a double company lens distinguishing between substantial supply chain management and mere public relations endeavors as a major obstacle for businesses pursuing comprehensive supply chain performance in global agrifood chains. We point out that many supply chain performance attributes represent in fact credence attributes that cannot be verified by the consumer, hence entailing an information asymmetry between the company and its consumers. Rational business responses to this situation tend to focus on symbolic actions and communication efforts by means of sustainability reports and other brand-enhancing marketing tools that may be decoupled from substantial operations and supply chain improvements. The research propositions developed have partly been corroborated by a content analysis of annual and sustainability reports of four major agrifood companies (Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever, Mondelez International). The conceptual arguments and empirical analysis presented in the article may serve as the basis for managers and academics to develop innovative inter- and intra-organizational business processes that reconcile tradeoffs between various agrifood supply chain performance dimensions, thus pushing the performance frontier outwards; and that provide the necessary transparency for overcoming the currently adverse setting of incentives inherent in the food production, processing, retailing, and consumption system.

Supply chain management as Lakatosian research program

Purpose – There is an ongoing and controversial debate about the current state of maturity of supply chain management (SCM) as research discipline and its future development. Openness to theory of other fields is on the one hand welcome and on the other hand denounced as arbitrariness hampering the progression of SCM. This paper aims to contribute to this debate outlining one promising framework that structures the field and provides guidance for its evolution. Design/methodology/approach – This paper conceives SCM as a Lakatosian research program from a philosophy of knowledge perspective that allows for continuously developing the knowledge base of SCM. After outlining the peculiarities of knowledge development according to Lakatos, the hard core of the program is delimitated from its protective belt by means of various analytical criteria referring to the meta, discipline, and practice level. The distinction framework is illustratively applied to four SCM research articles. Findings – Developing SCM as...

Corporate responsibility, supply chain management and strategy

Purpose – In search of new perspectives on sustainable food production, this paper focuses on three fields of literature, namely corporate responsibility (CR), supply chain management (SCM) and strategy. The purpose of this paper is to identify the recent theoretical developments and then integrate them in a framework for studying and managing corporations.Design/methodology/approach – Conceiving socio‐cultural and economic systems within the ecosystem, this paper call for research in the food sector that takes the planetary boundaries into consideration and places the essential needs of the worlds poor onto the research agenda of CR, SCM and strategy.Findings – First, a new perspective on CR could be “holistic and beyond responsive”, as it emphasizes the focal actors role. Second, SCM could be strengthened at its interface with sustainability by the “bottom of the pyramid” view, as it looks for new ways to make business models and operations beneficial for poor communities. And third, in examining the ...