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The purpose of this study is to explore the potential for the development of a country logistics performance assessment approach based upon textual big data analytics.

The study employs design science principles. Data were collected using the Global Perspectives text corpus that describes the logistics systems of 20 countries from 2006–2014. The extracted texts were processed and analysed using text analytic techniques, and domain experts were employed for training and developing the approach.

The developed approach is able to generate results in the form of logistics performance assessments. It contributes towards the development of more informed weights of the different country logistics performance categories. That said, a larger text corpus and iterative classifier training is required to produce a more robust approach for benchmarking and ranking.

When successfully developed and implemented, the developed approach can be used by managers and government bodies, such as the World Bank and its stakeholders, to complement the Logistics Performance Index (LPI).

A new and unconventional approach for logistics system performance assessment is explored. A new potential for textual big data analytic applications in supply chain management is demonstrated. A contribution to performance management in operations and supply chain management is made by demonstrating how domain-specific text corpora can be transformed into an important source of performance information.

The purpose of this paper is to advance supply chain management by describing the current state of behavioral supply chain management (BSCM) research and paving the way for future contributions by developing a meta-theory for this important field.

The results are generated by applying the systematic literature review methodology and an iterative theory-building approach involving a panel of academics.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the BSCM research landscape. Additionally, a meta-theory of BSCM is presented that encompasses all central elements of the research field and introduces the concept of emergence to the field of BSCM. Furthermore, five promising future research opportunities are formulated.

The critical discussions and the formulated research opportunities will help scholars in positioning their research to enhance its contribution.

Results from this research indicate that supply chain decisions benefit from explicit consideration for cognitive and social phenomena.

This review is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the field of BSCM research and facilitates BSCM in advancing further.

This paper aims to investigate the role of upper management in designing performance measurement systems (PMS) that account for external turbulence of the organization and to show how this PMS design for turbulence impacts organizational resilience and distribution service performance.

Hypotheses are developed by integrating management accounting and strategic management perspectives into supply chain management and subsequently tested based on data from 431 logistics organizations (i.e. both logistics companies and internal logistics departments of manufacturing and retailing companies).

Attention focusing usage type of the PMS by the upper management fosters incorporating the element of risk into the PMS of the company. Further, PMS design for turbulence enhances organizational resilience, and, indirectly, this also leads to improved distribution service performance.

This paper is the first to introduce the concept of PMS design for turbulence to the literature and to show that it is relevant for supply chain risk management by fostering the capabilities and the performance of logistics organizations. Further, it is shown that a seemingly detached issue such as the general PMS use focus of the upper management impacts supply chain risk management.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a benchmark of performance standards for Chinese third‐party logistics providers (3PLs) in the emerging market. It also intends to identify various factors that significantly affect the operational efficiency of the Chinese 3PLs and propose ways to improve the competitiveness of 3PLs.

This paper proposes data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the operational efficiency of ten leading 3PLs in China, relative to prior periods and their key competitors. In particular, this paper develops both the Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes model and the Banker, Charnes and Cooper model that are designed to derive weights without being fixed in advance. It also uses step‐wise regression analysis to identify factors influencing the performances of Chinese 3PLs.

First, the declining efficiency within some Chinese 3PLs coincides with a steep decline in domestic transportation activities due to the SARS outbreak and the slow adaptation of state‐owned enterprise into a more market‐based economy. Second, the sales opportunity and the level of technical expertise are directly correlated with the operational efficiency of 3PLs, whereas the size of 3PLs has no direct bearing on the 3PL's performance. Third, in contrast with the 3PL industry in the USA, the Chinese 3PLs tend to focus on traditional service offerings such as port management, transportation, and warehousing rather than playing the role as the integrator or the lead service provider.

This paper is the first attempt to utilize DEA to develop performance benchmarks for 3PLs in the emerging foreign market. The proposed DEA can be easily modified or extended to similar settings in other Asian countries such as India and East European countries.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a thorough understanding of the adoption of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) in practice, particularly at a strategic level, through an investigation of the four perspectives taxonomy of the relationship between logistics and SCM.

Based on a comprehensive literature review, three specific research questions are proposed. The empirical work addresses these questions and comprised three phases: focussed interviews, a questionnaire survey and focus groups.

The findings provide a usage profile of the four perspectives and indicate a divergence between the understanding and adoption of logistics and SCM principles and concepts at a strategic level in firms. The findings also identify the critical success factors (CSFs) and inhibitors to success in addressing this divergence.

The insights generated using the authors’ methodologically pluralist research design could be built upon to include case studies, grounded theory and action research. Replicating the research in other geographical areas could facilitate international comparisons.

The findings allow practitioners to compare their perspectives on the relationship between logistics and SCM with those of their peers. The CSFs and inhibitors to success provide a rational basis for realising the strategic potential of logistics and SCM in practice.

New insights are generated into practitioner perspectives vis-à-vis logistics vs SCM. A fresh understanding of those factors which drive and hinder the adoption of strategic SCM is also developed and presented.

The paper seeks to examine the changing landscape of supply chain management, marketing channels of distribution, logistics and purchasing.

The authors examine and take stock of the changing nature and landscape surrounding the related disciplines of supply chain management, marketing channels of distribution, logistics and purchasing. This examination highlights the considerable evolution and significant advances occurring within and between these disciplines.

The authors find that this new landscape provides both opportunities and challenges for future scholarship and practice in these related disciplines.

The examination and findings should be of value to those attempting to understand the evolving nature and interrelationship of these fields, and those who currently practise within them.

The purpose of this paper is to advance understanding of international differences in supply chain management (SCM) perspectives and practices, by comparing perceptions of Scandinavian and American supply chain managers.

The survey focused on the definition of SCM, along with facilitators of and barriers to SCM implementation. A four‐page questionnaire was designed and sent by mail. After follow‐ups, 23 Scandinavians and 104 Americans returned completed questionnaires.

While many similarities were found between Scandinavians and Americans, several differences were also identified. Both groups have adopted broad, multiple function perspectives on SCM; and both groups perceive SCM implementation to be slower and more difficult than expected. Two differences are the Americans' greater concern about incompatible systems and implementation costs as barriers to SCM, compared to the Scandinavians.

The study is based on relatively small samples, of limited functional (logistics) and geographic (Scandinavia and America) scope. Future research should expand the functional focus into purchasing, operations, and marketing; and the geographic coverage to other parts of the world.

Internal resistance is more of a barrier than external (customer or supplier) resistance to SCM. Thus, organizations should focus first on internal (functional) integration, and then move onto inter‐organizational integration. However, employees working with customers and suppliers should use these external relationships to inspire closer internal relationships. Further, people are more critical than technology in implementing SCM. Organizations should get the right people in place first, and then think about technology.

There is little empirical research on SCM implementation. Practitioners and researchers should find value in this unique comparative study.

The effects of supply chain risk management (SCRM) on the performance of a supply chain remain unexplored. It is assumed that SCRM helps supply chains to cope with vulnerabilities both proactively by supporting robustness and reactively by supporting agility. Both dimensions are assumed to have an influence on the supply chain's customer value and on business performance. The aim of this research is to provide clarity by empirically testing these hypotheses and scrutinizing the findings by the means of case studies.

The research is empirical. Survey data were collected from 270 manufacturing companies for hypotheses testing via structural equation modeling. Additionally, qualitative data were collected to explore the nature of non‐hypothesized findings.

It is found that SCRM is important for agility and robustness of a company. Both agility and robustness show to be important in improving performance. While agility has a strong positive effect only on the supply chain's customer value, but not directly on business performance, robustness has a strong positive effect on both performance dimensions. This important finding directs the strategic attention from agility‐centered supply chains to ones that are both robust and agile. The case studies provide insights to the fact that robustness can be considered a basic prerequisite to deal with supplier‐side risks, while agility is necessary to deal with customer‐side risks. The amount of agility and robustness needs to fit to the competitive strategy.

Since volatility has increasingly become a prevalent state of supply chains, companies need to consider robustness to be of primary importance to withstand everyday risks and exceptions.

This is the first study to view the relationship between SCRM, agility/robustness, and performance.

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.

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.

The research ends with proposed definitions for consideration. Discussion and areas for future research are included.

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.

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.

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).