Terry L. Esper

The electronic supply chain

The advent of the Internet and electronic communications has enabled companies to be more responsive to their customers. However, the same technological advancements are changing the marketplace and providing an impetus for changes in strategic alliance and partnership structures. Successful leaders of the future will have to understand how to operate in the new marketplace and within the evolving organizational structures where alliances and partnerships are changing. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the current and future organizational structures in the logistics industry. Toward that end, traditional supply chain management (SCM), electronic supply chain management (eSCM), and the resulting impact on strategic alliances and partnerships will be explored. Additionally, considering the inherent ability of the eSC to be dynamic and adaptable, the new type of leader that is likely to be most successful in this new structure is discussed.

Customer Expectation of Out-of-Stocks in an Omni-Channel Context: A Call for Supply Chain Management Research

The increased use of e-commerce has caused the distinctions between the physical and digital retail environments to continually diminish, giving rise to omni-channel strategies and retail experiences for consumers (Brynjolfsson et al. 2013; Rigby 2011). Shoppers are increasingly accessing retail websites from smartphones while in retail stores and buying product online when faced with the physical unavailability of desired products on-shelf. This current shift provides interesting new research opportunities for supply chain management (SCM) scholars, as such switching behavior has significant implications for demand forecasting, inventory visibility, and product distribution in the retail supply chain. Hence, a better understanding of how customers are impacted by retail out-of-stocks in an omni-channel setting is necessary, particularly since inventory availability is a key retail supply chain management performance measure.