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The paper aims to evaluate the state of the literature on public procurement through examination of the works published in the Journal of Public Procurement from 2001 to 2014. 231 research outputs were collected and analyzed (with regard to, e.g., the background theory used, research method, and content of the papers), providing a overview of prior research topics and findings and identifying main gaps in the existing literature. This type of study is unique, as a broad literature review related to public procurement does not currently exist; therefore, the work has been designed with the intention to a) synthetize the prior research on public procurement; b) provide researchers with a structural framework in which future research on public procurement topics may be oriented; c) identify promising and active areas for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the contribution of suppliers and the purchasing department in affecting a firm’s ability to innovate.

The paper develops a theoretical framework (tested through an international survey on a sample of 524 companies) grounded on the resource-based view theory, innovation management and operations management literature.

The results show that innovation is positively affected by supplier collaboration, which in turn is favored by purchasing absorptive capacity. Empirical evidence also shows that purchasing status and innovation objectives enable the development of greater absorptive capacity.

Because of the survey approach, the research results are limited to the data collected. Researchers are encouraged to verify propositions with complementary methodologies (e.g. case studies).

The findings confirm the relevant role of the purchasing interface in innovation as well as the positive impact of supplier collaboration, contributing both to existing literature and managerial practice in terms of successful collaborative new product development (NPD) processes.

The study integrates three different research fields (innovation, operations, and purchasing management), providing a synergistic vision on the topic and considering, as a unit of analysis, the purchasing category level (rather than the NPD project level).

Corporate universities (CUs) have been experiencing tremendous growth during the past years and can represent a real driving force for structured organizations. The paper aims to define the process of CU design shaped around company strategy. For each step, the authors propose specific roles, activities and methods.

The paper exploits some managerial theories and past research on CUs to draw a two-step framework for their design and development process, then tests (and validating) it through action research and applies its guidelines to two different case studies.

The authors conclude the CU design process can be divided into two steps (development and management), with specific roles assigned to the different activities, and this allocation represents a prerequisite for the CU project success. Moreover, flexibility and potential recycles should be considered when configuring the process.

The paper is original in two ways: it proposes a framework for CU design and development (which is unique in its type) and an application of this framework to two real cases, discussing its benefits, criticalities and limitations (thus ensuring generalizability).

This paper aims to explore the antecedents and performance outcomes of supply chain integration in the agri-food industry in Latin America, a context that the literature on supply chain management has not extensively addressed. The quinoa supply chain, an industry that has encountered a boost in market demand in the past year, is selected as the unit of analysis. Supply chain integration dynamics are analyzed to provide recommendations about integration strategies and benefits in the agricultural sector.

A conceptual model was designed in this study, which includes the drivers (i.e. trust and commitment) and outcomes (i.e. operational and economic performance) of supply chain integration. The relationships were verified through a unique survey, the data of which were collected from 79 respondents operating at different levels of the Peruvian quinoa supply chain (i.e. suppliers, producers and customers). The proposed hypotheses were tested through the partial least squares (PLS) regression.

The results underscore the relevance of trust and commitment as enablers of supply chain integration initiatives in the agri-food industry. These factors are particularly essential for involving the farmers who are the most upstream actors in the supply chain and characterized by unstructured organizations. A high level of integration in these types of supply chain enhances the capacity to improve operational performance, which in turns positively affects the main economic indicators.

This study contributes to the discussion of supply chain integration in the agri-food industry, which remains unexplored thus far. It relies on a multitier collection of responses, which is extended to all the levels of the quinoa supply chain, thereby providing the study with a unique depth of analysis. Furthermore, this work contributes to the ongoing discourse on the performance impact of supply chain integration, which several SCM scholars have recently questioned.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the dynamics of buyer–supplier industrial relationships and the role of customer attractiveness—a requisite to obtain best efforts from suppliers involved in collaborative initiatives.

The paper develops a theoretical framework tested through an international survey with a structured equation modeling approach.

Results confirm that customer attractiveness positively affects both innovation and cost performance ensured by suppliers. Moreover, several direct and indirect antecedents of customer attractiveness are identified, including characteristics of the buying firm’s procurement department (i.e. procurement knowledge and procurement status) and supply chain relationship characteristics (i.e. proficiency of supplier collaboration and visibility).

Because of the survey approach, the research results are limited to the data collected.

Findings support the relevance of collaborative relationships in improving performance, and the key role procurement department could play in managing the multifaceted aspects of supplier collaboration.

This paper investigates, on the one hand, why customer attractiveness is relevant for supply chain management, and what are the effects on innovation and cost performance ensured by suppliers; on the other hand, antecedents of customer attractiveness are considered, with a main focus on organizational and relational procurement variables.