Supply chain management: the elusive concept and definition

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gather the current definitions of supply chain management in practical and analytical usage, to develop standards for assessing definitions and to apply these standards to the most readily available definitions of the term. Design/methodology/approach In this research, the authors gathered the current definitions of supply chain management in practical and analytical usage from journals, textbooks, universities, and industry associations and online. Findings The research ends with proposed definitions for consideration. Discussion and areas for future research are included. Research limitations/implications Involved organizations, supply chain management programs in higher education, and professional and certifying organizations in the field need to meet and work together to research consensus on the final definition of the field, realizing that definitions can evolve, but also recognizing that a starting point is needed in this rapidly growing area. Practical implications The authors argue, quite simply, that a consensus definition of supply chain management is unlikely as long as we continue offering and accepting definitions that are technically unsound. Many of the current definitions violate several principles of good definitions. For these reasons, they are either empty, too restrictive, or too expansive. Until we come across or develop a definition that overcomes these limitations and agree on it, then we will still search for “the” definition without finding it. The field will become more crowded with definitions, but less certain, and progress will be restricted. Originality/value Theoreticians, researchers, and practitioners in a discipline require key terms in a field to share a nominal definition and prefer to have a shared real or essential definition. Yet in supply chain management, we find no such shared definition, real or nominal. Even the Council of Supply Chain Management Professional offers its definition with the caveat: “The supply chain management (SCM) profession has continued to change and evolve to fit the needs of the growing global supply chain. With the supply chain covering a broad range of disciplines, the definition of what is a supply chain can be unclear” (CSCMP, 2016).

The Blue Maritime Cluster Crisis: Financial Instability and Supply Chain Management Effects

“…Bremnes, Sandsmark and Vekve have given an overview of the crisis and its consequences (Sandsmark, 2018, pp. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. She argues that the huge concentration around supply vessels made the cluster vulnerable.…”

Contrasting FOR and WITH factor chains: The case of material supply chains and human factor chains in Guatemalan nongovernmental organizations

“…This distinction itself is potentially problematic because it does not address the difference between slow‐developing disasters like famine or poverty and rapidly‐developing disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. In the more general literature, it addresses issues including building relationships (McLachlin & Larson, ), conceptual modeling (Charles et al, ; LeMay, Helms, Kimball, & McMahon, ), and performance management (Abidi, de Leeuw, & Klumpp, ). However, a large portion of the literature stresses disaster and emergency relief logistics, work that focuses primarily on rapidly developing crises (see Kovacs & Spens, e.g.,.…”

“…We also focus on the factor chain because the concept of supply chain management is variously and often weakly defined. We found more than twenty widely used definitions of the term, many of them using the terms “supply,” “chain,” and “management” in the definitions, rendering those definitions empty (LeMay et al, ; LeMay, Holt, & Schmurr, ).…”

“…We distinguish between material supply chains, the most common form of supply chain in the literature, and factor chains because of the service nature of most NGOs. There is no consensus definition of supply chain management (Burgess, Singh, & Koroglu, 2006;Gibson, Mentzer, & Cook, 2005;Larson & Rogers, 1998;LeMay et al, 2017). We also focus on the factor chain because the concept of supply chain management is variously and often weakly defined.…”

“…We found more than twenty widely used definitions of the term, many of them using the terms "supply," "chain," and "management" in the definitions, rendering those definitions empty (LeMay et al, 2017;LeMay, Holt, & Schmurr, 2011).…”