Susan L. Golicic

A Balanced Approach to Research in Supply Chain Management

When choosing a research strategy, there are tradeoffs in control, realism and generalizability. Quantitative research methods optimize control and generalizability (external validity), while qualitative research maximizes realism (internal validity). Logistics scholars agree that logistics and supply chain management are steeped in the positivist paradigm and that past research is primarily normative and quantitative. An imbalance exists in the conduct and publishing of rigorous qualitative research studies such as grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, semiotics, and historical analysis. At the same time, the business environment in which logistics and supply chain phenomena are located is becoming increasingly complex and less amenable to using just a quantitative approach. In order to accurately describe, truly understand and begin to explain these complex phenomena, research streams should include more studies using qualitative methods. Researchers who exclusively choose one approach or the other seriously delimit the scope of their inquiry and, thereby, their ability to contribute to the body of knowledge.

A comparison of shipper and carrier relationship strength

Purpose – Prior research has primarily examined interorganizational relationships from the supplier or customer side or using dyadic pairs. The study aims to offer a comparison of carrier and shipper relationship views using a hybrid research method examining the relationship from both points of view by sampling both populations independently with identical surveys.Design/methodology/approach – Mail surveys were used to collect data from the two samples. Invariance tests were conducted, and the model was analyzed using structural equation modeling (AMOS 5.0).Findings – Invariance tests of the measurement instrument and comparisons of specific results show that, in the context of shippers and carriers, relationships – specifically trust and commitment and the contribution of dependence to relationship strength – are perceived differently.Research limitations/implications – Empirically supporting significant differences in theoretical relationship constructs between the two participants in an interorganizat...

A Proposal for Case Study Methodology in Supply Chain Integration Research

This paper describes a case study research proposal designed to explore how and why firms chose to integrate process activities with supply chain partners. Previous quantitative studies suggest that integrating demand management, collaborative forecasting, and demand planning activities can lead to competitive advantage and improved supply chain performance. This qualitative research fills a gap in previous research by exploring the phenomenon of Interfirm Demand Integration in a true supply chain context, garnering perceptions from multiple supply chain partners. Results are expected to contribute to managerial, theoretical, and methodological knowledge.

And Who Will Teach Them? An Investigation of the Logistics PhD Market.

At a time when there is high demand for logistics/supply-chain education at the undergraduate and masters levels, there is short supply of logistics PhDs to take faculty positions. In this research, the authors used both primary and secondary research to confirm the gap between supply and demand of logistics/supply-chain scholars. Their study draws attention to this salient issue and offers suggestions as to how the discipline can monitor and manage the production of logistics/supply-chain PhDs to bridge the supply and demand gap.

Hypermediaries and their Impact on Interorganizational Relationships

The business environment of the 1990s saw companies focusing more on building and maintaining closer relationships with suppliers and customers due to the many benefits that could be realized. While building closer relationships requires a great deal of time and effort from the parties involved, they are thought to increase efficiency and effectiveness and are among the most durable of advantages because of their inherent barriers to competition. The emergence of business on the Internet in the mid-1990s brought a new set of challenges for supply chain relationships. Because e-commerce encourages direct and immediate contact between companies with reduced transaction costs, it was initially believed that producers of goods and services would bypass middlemen and use the Internet to sell to customers directly, or disintermediate (Carr 2000; Vandermerwe 1999). However, the intermediary function remains although the nature of intermediation is changing. Internet-based intermediaries offer a variety of traditional as well as new services without maintaining an asset base. These companies, termed hypermediaries (Hawkins, Mansell and Steinmueller 1999), deliver value to the supply chain.

The Current State of Logistics Services Branding

In 1962, Peter Drucker prophesized the importance logistics services were to have, when he suggested distribution was “one of the most sadly neglected, and most promising areas of American business,” and an area that provided substantial opportunity (p. 3). Since Drucker’s prognostication, logistics services have evolved into an industry that supports not only the United States economy (2002 U.S. logistics costs totaled

Branding a B2B service: Does a brand differentiate a logistics service provider?

910 billion and 8.7% of the total U.S. GDP (Delaney 2003)), but also the world’s economy. Logistics services have received increasing attention as a tangible way for firms to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. Combined with the current trend of developing closer relationships with fewer suppliers, this means that logistics firms must strive to distinguish themselves from others offering similar services. One way in which logistics services providers can accomplish this is by developing a superior brand.