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A look into the past and future: theories within supply chain management, marketing and management

David Gligor (University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, USA)
Siddik Bozkurt (Marketing Department, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, USA)
Ivan Russo (Department of Management, University of Verona, Verona, Italy)
Ayman Omar (American University, Washington DC, District of Columbia, USA)

Supply Chain Management

ISSN: 1359-8546

Article publication date: 28 December 2018

Issue publication date: 4 March 2019

3579

Abstract

Purpose

Although supply chain scholars have acknowledged the fundamental disruptive changes experienced by today’s supply chains and the ensuing novelty of the research problems worthy of investigation, they have primarily relied on a limited number of theories to help explain the phenomena of interest. The purpose of this paper is to use a systematic literature review to address this gap and propose additional theories that supply chain researchers can use to help address novel supply chain phenomena, such as those caused by technological disruptions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a systematic literature review to examine the studies published over the last 10 years in six of the top supply chain management journals (411 articles) and six of the top marketing and management journals (1,214 articles).

Findings

First, the findings show that 15 theories have been relied upon by over 95 per cent of the studies within supply chain management that use formal theories. Second, the authors identify the most frequently used theories within marketing and management (217 theories). Third, as space limitations make it impossible to offer a rich description of each of the 217 theories, the authors identify 30 theories that they considered to be the most salient to supply chain research and suggest areas where supply chain scholars can apply these theoretical lenses.

Originality/value

The research effort allowed the authors to map the current use of theories within the field to gain a better understanding of what other theories could augment the body of theories used within supply chain management. Thus, the current study is a “one stop shop” that supply chain scholars can consult when in a quandary about what theoretical lens to utilize.

Keywords

Citation

Gligor, D., Bozkurt, S., Russo, I. and Omar, A. (2019), "A look into the past and future: theories within supply chain management, marketing and management", Supply Chain Management, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 170-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-03-2018-0124

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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