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The main problem addressed by this research is the current debate between the negative and positive effects of industrial clusters. This debate is a result of gaps between theoretical implications and empirical evidence in both the classical agglomeration theory and the agglomeration lifecycle theory. The purpose of this study is to propose a framework for developing an index measuring both organizational cluster involvement and organizational supply chain including the three pillars (economic, social, and environmental). Furthermore, the index acts as a quantitative predictor of the stages of the life cycle of industrial clusters. Adopting a case study methodology, the applicability of the index development framework is demonstrated. First, cross-sectional exploratory interviews are performed to locate items measuring the three pillars of organizational sustainability within Egyptian communication industry. Second, an explanatory, cross-sectional approach is applied gathering data from eight professionals related to involvement and supply chain sustainability of their organizations. Analytical hierarchical process is used for weighting and aggregating individual item metrics into two indicators (Saaty, 1980). Measuring, managing, and controlling capabilities of organization's supply chains outweighs the need to manage risks. The proposed framework aids firms within a cluster in making timely decisions about what needs addressing to improve supply chain sustainability performance. Hence, all environmental, social, and economic capabilities can be effectively monitored and controlled.

This paper examines how different configurations of societal impact are pursued by purpose-driven organizations (PDOs) and how these configurations align with the application of varying supply chain design (SCD) practices.

This multi-method study uses quantitative data from 1588 B Corps and qualitative data from 316 B Corps to examine how PDOs align SCD with the pursuit of diverse types of societal impact. The authors first conduct a cluster analysis to group organizations based on the impact they create. Second, qualitative content analysis connects impact with enabling SCD elements.

The analysis of the five identified clusters provides detailed empirical insights on influencers, design decisions and building blocks adopted by PDOs to drive a range of societal impacts. Specifically, the nature of the impact pursued affects (1) whether a PDO will be more influenced by a need in the political environment or an opportunity in the industry environment, (2) the relative importance of the design of social flows versus material flows and (3) the need to develop new relational resources with beneficiaries versus leveraging existing capabilities to manage inter-firm processes.

This study responds to calls to disaggregate different dimensions of societal impact and examines the relationship between SCD and a breadth of sustainability impacts for different stakeholders. In doing so, the authors identify four SCD pathways organizations can follow to achieve specific societal impacts. This study is also the first to employ a supply chain perspective in the study of certified B Corps.

The purpose of this paper is to fill the research and cognitive gap by comparative analyzing of the cluster supply chain (CSC) and supply chains not belonging to the clusters to examine the relational embeddedness as the differentiator of supply chains operating in the clusters.

The conceptual model was tested with data collected from 475 industrial companies cooperating with their partners within supply chains, including 135 CSC. To identify the livraisons between different indicators, the correspondence analysis was applied.

The division of enterprises participating in this study into groups allows for the determination of relatively clear boundaries between enterprises belonging to the cluster and those that do not declare such affiliation. The obtained results confirmed that the relational embeddedness is the differentiator of the CSC collaboration.

The main limitations are referred to as the static character of the data.

The paper contains implications for cluster facilitators, as well as for cluster policy decision makers, to better design support for cluster organizations.

This research is a contribution to the literature on inter-organizational structures, such as clusters and supply chains, and in particular, contributes to the creation of the scientific ground of SCS theory. The research allowed to better understand the nature of collaboration taking into consideration the fact of the relational embeddedness of the companies operating within supply chains located in clusters. It proves the existence of a new type of inter-organizational form that is CSC.

To demonstrate the linkage between Porter's cluster theory and supply chain management, and provide evidence of their potential joint positive impact on competitiveness and firm performance.

The paper examines the linkage between cluster theory and supply chain management using data from a case study of the Amish furniture industry in Homes County, Ohio, USA.

Using the Amish furniture industry and a representative furniture firm as examples, the paper shows the positive impact of operating within an integrated supply chain in a geographically concentrated cluster.

Use of a single case study approach limits the generalizability of the findings; the paper recommends further study of linkages in other industries and locations.

The study suggests that firms build competitive advantage by initially focusing primarily on local resources when selecting supply chain partners, rather than looking only for low cost advantage through distant sourcing.

This paper adds to the literature on business linkages by proposing an expanded definition of clusters as geographical concentrations of competing supply networks.

The purpose of this paper is to give some theoretical suggestions and practical approaches in support of the implementation of “cluster supply chain” (CSC), which is a new management paradigm and enhances the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through integrating the advantages of supply chain and industrial cluster.

A case study of cluster supply chain is carried out applied to JingCheng Mechanical and Electrical Holding Co. Ltd (JCH), which explains the advantages and challenges of implementing the new business pattern. Data presented and analyzed include pre‐CSC and CSC performance of participants.

The paper clarifies the following questions: When do small firms use cluster supply chain to run a business? How do small firms use cluster supply chain? What effects does the application of CSC strategy have on SMEs' competitive performance?

The application of CSC strategy can help SMEs to face the global challenges through all kinds of collaborations. Meanwhile, core enterprises can also extend their business at a lower cost by means of this business pattern.

This paper bridges the gap between academic theoretical studies and practical realization through the case study of JCH, which can encourage and lead to managerial ideas and insights to service system realization and avoid deficient or erroneous grounds in the planning, implementation and evaluation of cluster supply chain.

The cluster supply chain is widely used in the professional towns in China, and improves the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises through integrating the supply chain with the industrial cluster. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This paper studies a cluster supply chain under vendor managed inventory (VMI) system, which includes vendors, third-party logistics (TPL) enterprises and retail enterprises, and aims to study the replenishment decisions and coordination contracts in the supply chain. The economic order quantity model is applied to analyze the influence of marginal transportation cost factor under two replenishment modes – direct delivery and milk-run delivery, in order to find out the optimal replenishment decisions corresponding to different marginal transportation cost factors. And then, the revenue sharing contract is used to identify the change of profits of enterprises in the supply chain before and after the coordination contract.

It is concluded that the marginal transportation cost factor is an important factor influencing the replenishment decision especially in milk-run delivery, and the introduction of the revenue sharing contract can improve the revenue in the supply chain.

This is the first study that explores the relationship between a single transport cost and a single transport batch of cluster supply chain in centralized VMI & TPL system. The conclusions of the study have certain theoretical significance for the decision making and coordination of cluster supply chain.

Global entrepreneurship study is primarily concerned with why, when, and how entrepreneurial opportunities are discovered and exploited in the global market. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for pursuing global entrepreneurship where supply chain management (SCM) can often serve as a platform for resource acquisition, market development, and risk mitigation.

This paper presents a case study to show how SCM is utilized by entrepreneurs in China for developing two formats of entrepreneurship: domestic private companies through horizontal supply chain clustering and vertical (forward and/or backward) supply chain extensions. In particular, the paper explores firm‐level behavior in supply clusters to discern patterns at the collective level of supply clusters.

Entrepreneurs rely on their existing supply chain networks to pursue new venturing opportunities. Two types of supply chain expansions (horizontal supply chain clustering and vertical supply chain extensions) are found in China. Competitive rivalry in this paper of supply clusters is found to demonstrate “co‐opetition” (collaboration amongst competitors).

This paper's theoretical framework offers unique perspectives towards global entrepreneurship, and is empirically supported by numerous real business examples. The paper integrates SCM with international entrepreneurship and identifies two distinct patterns that are evident in China. In particular, the paper describes the specific contexts in which each of the two patterns is successful. These patterns provide valuable guidance for future Chinese entrepreneurs interested in globalization. The paper is a harbinger to future research on collective behavior of competitors in supply clusters. This could potentially redefine competitive rivalry (in Porter's 5‐forces) in more cooperative terms.

This study systematically reviews the current state of research on the application of high technology in supply chain management (SCM). It identifies key topics, trends and influential scholars in this field, providing a knowledge structure for future research. This study contributes to advancing the understanding of how high technology can be leveraged to enhance SCM, guiding and informing future research endeavors.

A comprehensive bibliometric analysis was conducted on 1,523 published articles retrieved from Web of Science. Through co-occurrence analysis of the titles, abstracts and keywords, the authors investigated popular research trends and topics. Through co-citation and co-authorship analyses, the authors identified leading research clusters, productive researchers and countries of the research.

There is a significant increase in publications by scholars from the USA, China and India on the impact of high technology on supply chains, particularly on food supply chains. Most articles examine the barriers and challenges of applying blockchain technology to different aspects of supply chains. Active contributions predominantly originate from scholars in the USA and China. The top five largest clusters are “supply chain management,” “scoping review,” “blockchain technology”, “food supply chains” and “management perception.”

This study represents the first systematic review establishing a comprehensive framework of knowledge on high technology and supply chains. Highlighting key research areas, tracing the evolution of research and explaining the knowledge structures pertaining to the role of high technology in supply chains, this study contributes to the existing literature and its findings hold practical implications for scholars and practitioners.

The application of digital twins to optimise operations and supply chain management functions is a bourgeoning practice. Scholars have attempted to keep pace with this development initiating a fast-evolving research agenda. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of the emerging research stream identifying trends and capture the value potential of digital twins to the field of operations and supply chain management.

In this work we employ a bibliometric literature review supported by bibliographic coupling and keyword co-occurrence network analysis to examine current trends in the research field regarding the value-added potential of digital twin in operations and supply chain management.

The main findings of this work are the identification of four value clusters and one enabler cluster. Value clusters are comprised of articles that describe how the application of digital twin can enhance supply chain activities at the level of business processes as well as the level of supply chain capabilities. Value clusters of production flow management and product development operate at the business processes level and are maturing communities. The supply chain resilience and risk management value cluster operates at the capability level, it is just emerging, and is positioned at the periphery of the main network.

This is the first study that attempts to conceptualise digital twin as a dynamic capability and employs bibliometric and network analysis on the research stream of digital twin in operations and supply chain management to capture evolutionary trends, literature communities and value-creation dynamics in a digital-twin-enabled supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the characteristic role of specialized markets and traders in the internationalization of emerging economies by examining the linkages between supply chain management (SCM) and industrial clustering in China.

Multi-method approach was employed as primary data were collected from a case study of Shaoxing textile cluster, and was supplemented with secondary data to triangulate the findings. The proposition that competitive advantages of industrial clusters facilitate effective SCM was explored.

The authors reveal that China’s cost advantage is manifested in the entire value chain. The provision of business friendly amenities as a result of synergetic benefits of vertical and horizontal integration of supply clusters promotes competitiveness of SMEs and region as a whole. Moreover, specialized markets and international traders found to play significant role in sustainable cluster development.

As with fieldwork and case studies, generalization should be drawn with care. Systematic synthesis of relevant case studies is recommended.

The study endorses the construction of local supply chains and suggests implementation of cluster strategy by focusing on environment-specific execution of triple helix model.

The article elaborates the linkages between cluster theory and SCM both within cluster and between interspersed clusters. It also explains how specialized markets and global players are enabling concentrated supply networks. The paper recommends extension of “Triple helix + 1 model” by making local community part of the underlying framework.