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The purpose of this paper is to investigate high-involvement and short-term supply relationships, known as agile supply partnerships (ASPs), and explores the conditions that support the development of such inter-organizational relationships.

A qualitative exploratory research design was followed, based on in-depth case studies of Italian fashion footwear manufacturers and their relationships with key suppliers.

ASPs appear to be most relevant in supply material categories which have a high impact on the appearance or functionality of the product. Conversely, in supply categories with a low impact, long-term partnerships are preferred. Four main characteristics of ASPs are identified: they are part of a portfolio of relationships to balance the rigidities of long-term strategic partnerships; they have project-like features; they are developed from a network of pre-qualified suppliers; they are recurring and intermittent rather than continuous or isolated one-off short-term partnerships.

The research has been carried out in the context of an Italian footwear district. Further research is required to evaluate the validity of the propositions in other sectors and geographies.

The research can help decision makers in the fashion industry, and potentially other sectors affected by high turbulence, to identify when ASPs are most appropriate and what characteristics they should have.

This research contributes to the literature on agility by empirically evaluating the apparent paradox related to the specific characteristics of supply relationships required to foster an agile strategy and by clarifying the conditions under which fashion companies develop ASPs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the configurations of supply chain integration.

The authors use qualitative data from manufacturers shortlisted for the UK’s Manufacturing Excellence awards over three years. Detailed processes and policies of 68 manufacturers are analysed.

Process structure and product newness require different supply chain configurations, which change as products mature. Supply chain integration is dynamic, and the extent of collaboration between suppliers and customers will be different at different moments in time. The authors define and discuss four key supply chain configurations: customised; ramp-up; recurring; coordinated.

Future studies on supply chain integration should be controlled for the variation in the configurations. A limitation is the use of data which were derived for an award. The paper explains how the authors have mitigated the associated risks.

The configuration of integration will change as the manufacturing plant becomes more familiar with a product. Additionally, different suppliers may provide better support at different stages of a product’s lifecycle. To yield better performance, supply chain integration would need to take different forms. Efforts to integrate with suppliers should not be avoided as, when certain conditions are met, integration can lead to improved performance.

The authors have identified manufacturers’ main process structures and products’ newness as two strategic characteristics that differentiate integration approaches with customers and suppliers, and defined four integration configurations. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study to argue that these also define the configuration of supply chain integration.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolving nature of supply chain management customised executive education over the past decade and present a conceptual framework for curriculum development and design.

The paper adopts a combination of methods utilising both in‐depth interviews with academics and practitioners and a single longitudinal case study based on records of 197 customised executive education programmes delivered since 2000.

The findings show that the needs of practitioners have evolved from acquiring competency‐based training to obtaining support for wider strategy deployment and change management programmes within organisations. Moreover, the design and delivery of programmes have developed over the period considering the requirements for experiential learning, project work involving deeper faculty engagement, pre‐ and post‐course project activity, supported by internet‐based learning portals.

The authors' research provides evidence that the nature of supply chain executive education has changed and that further research is needed to explore the implications for the delivery of programmes.

The adoption of the framework will provide course directors and programme managers involved in supply chain management executive education with insights for successful design and execution of programmes. Similarly, the framework can support decision‐making processes conducted by organisations commissioning customised executive education programs.

Although there is a body of research relating to curriculum development and design generally, there is little empirical research focusing on supply chain management executive education.

Global sourcing can bring many benefits to organisations, but it can also expose them to a number of risks. The purpose of this study is to understand how managers assess global sourcing risks across the entire supply chain and what actions they take to mitigate those risks.

A multiple case study approach was used, involving 15 cases in seven different industries. Each case consisted of interviews with managers directly involved in the global sourcing decision, supported by documentary evidence. A cross‐case analysis was conducted to analyse patterns across different industries.

The study revealed that most companies do not have a structured supply chain risk management and mitigation system. Nevertheless they do use a number of informal approaches to cope with risk. The paper proposes that a multidisciplinary approach is required when dealing with global sourcing risks. It presents a classification of risks covering four categories: supply risk, process and control risks, environmental and sustainability risks, and demand risks.

The paper addresses a research gap concerning managers' approaches to assessing and mitigating supply chain risk in a global context. In this context, this study proposes a new categorisation for global sourcing risks and offers a characterisation of global sourcing risk mitigation strategies applicable to different industries.

Theoretical models of collaboration assume that intra‐organizational relationships are more collaborative that inter‐organizational ones. This paper seeks to question the validity of this assumption by comparing the levels of collaboration in two cases that comprise both types of relationship.

Two case studies in the UK food industry were conducted, in each two relationships were analyzed: one inter‐ and one intra‐organizational. Data were collected through a questionnaire followed by semi‐structured interviews.

This exploratory research indicates that in both case studies intra‐organizational relationships have lower levels of collaboration than inter‐organizational ones. This appears to contradict the commonly held assumption that intra‐organizational relationships involve closer collaborations than inter‐organizational ones.

Case study approaches have reliability and generalisability limitations, however, the paper was given in‐depth access to four relationships (two per case), which provide a basis for further research. The use of multiple informants and two methods of data collection helped to increase reliability and efforts were made to reduce bias in responses by ensuring confidentiality and engaging with participating companies in an impartial way.

A better appreciation of collaboration in inter‐ and intra‐ organizational relationships will result in managers making better decisions about how their organization relates internally and externally. This could have implications for decisions on make‐buy, alliances, and acquisitions.

The paper shows that it is possible to have relationships with customers and suppliers that are more collaborative than those between departments within a single organization. This finding appears to challenge traditional assumptions and provides a new perspective of the management of supply chain relationships.

With the rapid growth of consumer sales being fulfilled through omni-channel retailing, the purpose of this paper is to explore the subsequent impact on the levels of consumer retail returns experienced through online sales and the emergent returns management strategies being affected by retailers in relation to network configuration and returns management processes.

The authors uses a mixed methods approach from an interpretive perspective. It is appropriate to describe the approach in terms of convergent design, since the authors have collected both qualitative and quantitative data.

Return rates for online retailing can be double those for stores, while return levels for “considered purchases” remain similar. The findings suggest that omni-channel returns management has yet to fully mature and the authors find challenges for network design and returns processes in offering a seamless solution.

For practitioners the authors identify a number of challenges and offer insights to improve performance in returns management process, while for academic colleagues the authors propose a number of avenues for further research both in the qualitative and quantitative fields.

While a significant body of extant literature exists, in researching the generalized retail returns management process this paper make a contribution by addressing the emergent managerial implications of omni-channel retail returns.

The purpose of this paper is to study the potential for improving sustainability performance in food supply networks by implementing collaborative distribution. Food supply chains generate a significant portion of CO₂ emissions, because of the large volume of food transportation and the large number and frequency of trips made to deliver food products to retail stores, making it available to the customers. Collaboration of partners in food supply chains will lead to reducing CO₂ emissions.

Such collaboration could be in the form of sharing trucks by retailers, to increase the fill rate of the vehicles and to reduce their empty running. A case study of the logistics network of a British company, distributing fruits and vegetables, is carried out. The company sends the products from a distribution centre to 27 retailers’ warehouses of 3 different companies in the UK. A simulation study is carried out to measure the reduced traveled distance for delivery of the products and the reduced amount of CO₂ emissions across two different scenarios, as a result of implementing collaborative distribution.

With this approach, the total CO₂ emissions are able to be reduced by at least 26 per cent.

The theoretical contribution of the paper is important both for showing the role of simulation and collaborative distribution for developing the green supply chain solutions management and their indicating to the applications to logistics and product delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the realignment of the physical distribution process for store-based retailers in their efforts to integrate the online channel into their business model. Multiple attributes of the physical distribution process are evaluated to identify associations with order fulfillment methods adopted by omni-channel retailers.

A multi-method approach is used which includes qualitative evaluation of 50 interviews of supply chain executives from large retailers. Additionally, secondary data about firm size, store and distribution networks, online sales, distribution configuration, and order delivery options are used. The findings of qualitative analysis are incorporated into a quantitative classification-tree analysis to identify associations among distribution attributes, order fulfillment methods and order delivery services.

Retailers are developing a consistent omni-channel physical distribution process in which stores undertake a bigger role in order fulfillment and delivery. Level of online sales, size of distribution network, number of sales associates at a store, and number of years engaged in the online channel are identified as having strong associations with the type of order fulfillment method used by omni-channel retailers. The study finds that retailers are focussed on integrating their store and DC inventories and have the benefit of scale with a large store network.

Retailers are reconfiguring their physical distribution processes in the complex omni-channel environment can use the findings of this study to evaluate their strategy and identify the level of realignment effort that is needed. A better understanding of the requirements of physical distribution in an omni-channel setting will guide retailers in developing requisite operational capabilities.

This paper provides a first in-depth look at order fulfillment choices in omni-channel retail and identifies efforts that are underway to realign key elements of the physical distribution process.

As globalisation makes supply networks more complex, the risk of material disruptions increases. Many factors have been considered as affecting the reliability of supply networks. However, no empirical research has been carried out to assess and evaluate the impact of each of these factors on the reliability of supply networks. This paper aims to address this issue.

A gap in the literature was identified around the evaluation of the impact of supply network design characteristics on reliability. This gap is addressed by performing a full factorial experimental design considering all the factors described in the literature, and then analysing (by using analysis of variance and linear regression models), thousands of theoretical and extreme structures of supply networks, thus allowing the analysis of the influence of each factor on the overall network resilience.

Results show that network density, node criticality and complexity are significant factors in reducing the reliability of supply networks. In particular, node complexity (i.e. the total number of nodes in the network) was found to have the strongest negative effect on network reliability, while the strongest positive factor was sources criticality (i.e. the level of redundancy of suppliers).

The identification of these factors and their relative impacts on network reliability can serve as a guide for the design of more reliable networks, and to know which are the most important to consider when designed distribution networks.

The paper identifies, from the literature, key factors affecting supply network reliability and evaluates their relative impact. Given the number of factors identified, an extensive Monte Carlo simulation is used for the first time, by considering simple and very complex networks, to allow the testing of the role of each factor in supply network reliability.

In spite of regular occurrence of product returns, research into determinants of returns services in retail businesses is still limited. To fill the gap, the purpose of this paper is to investigate critical determinants of customer to business type product returns services in the retail industry.

The authors develop a framework of product returns services that consists of three major service categories and 16 returns service determinants. The criticality of the determinants of product returns management are assessed employing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based multi-criteria decision-making approach. Under AHP set up the authors interview retail operations managers of major retail firms in Australia to identify critical determinants of product returns services.

Results indicate that the most important returns services dimensions are the way in which returns services are handled through interaction, and the outcome of service delivery. The top five critical service determinants of product returns are related to: communication support service for customer, money back for any type of returns, customer support access, user-friendly interaction, and product replacement.

The findings of the study can be considered by senior managers of retail firms as a reference guide for designing efficient and effective returns service systems and developing strategies for competitive advantage through product returns, namely, customer retention.