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This paper aims to explore the intellectual capital (IC) information needed to enable relationship transparency and the influences of relationship transparency on supply chain partnerships.

A field experiment research design is adopted to examine whether IC information facilitates relationship transparency with partners in the supply chain of a focal firm and contributes to supply chain partnership enhancement.

This study identifies an IC transparency framework consisting of two components – the transparency of important business characteristics and the transparency of relationship atmosphere – for guiding the provision of IC information and enabling relationship transparency. The provision of the focal firm's IC information to partners in its supply chain significantly increases partner's trust, satisfaction and commitment towards their relationships. Thus the results suggest that relationship transparency derived from IC transparency enhances supply chain partnerships. Relationship transparency facilitates the focal firm to develop and integrate its supply chain through improved understanding pertaining to itself and its relationships with partners in its supply chain. Thus, this transparency of the focal firm with partners constitutes a flexible and attainable alternative to managing the relationships for its supply chain.

This study suggests that the field experiment research design allows researchers to effectively observe IC transparency's influences on supply chain partnership enhancement.

For firms increasingly interconnected with supply chain models of competition, this study proposes a practical IC transparency framework specific for guiding the provision of IC information to enable relationship transparency and enhance supply chain partnerships.

This study combines limited research on relationship transparency with IC theories to propose an IC transparency framework for enhancing supplier relationship management and represents a first step to examining the quantitative effects of IC transparency in the context of supply chain partners.

The purpose of this study is to examine various data sources to identify trends and themes in humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) in the digital age.

In this study, various data sources such as published literature and social media content from Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and forums are used to identify trending topics and themes on HSCM using topic modelling.

The study examined 33 published literature and more than 94,000 documents, including tweets and expert opinions, and identified eight themes related to HSCM in the digital age namely “Digital technology enabled global partnerships”, “Digital tech enabled sustainability”, “Digital tech enabled risk reduction for climate changes and uncertainties”, “Digital tech enabled preparedness, response and resilience”, “Digital tech enabled health system enhancement”, “Digital tech enabled food system enhancement”, “Digital tech enabled ethical process and systems” and “Digital tech enabled humanitarian logistics”. The study also proposed a framework of drivers, processes and impacts for each theme and directions for future research.

Previous research has predominantly relied on published literature to identify emerging themes and trends on a particular topic. This study is unique because it examines the ability of social media sources such as blogs, websites, forums and published literature to reveal evolving patterns and trends in HSCM in the digital age.

The purpose of this research is to enhance understanding of the sources of relational rents in supply chains and the nature of their relationships with performance. Using the relational view framework and contingency perspective, the study develops a model and hypotheses to understand the nature of the relationships of collaboration and resource specificity with operational performance under technology context contingencies.

Data for testing the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model were collected through a survey of managers in the Hoover’s database of manufacturing firms. The survey sample included 115 responses from a wide variety of manufacturing forms.

Findings support the conventional wisdom relating collaboration and operational improvements. Notably, technological turbulence has a differential interactive influence on collaboration and resource specificity in predicting operational performance. In the former, the strength of the performance relationship is enhanced, while in the latter, it diminishes. Product complexity enhances the collaboration–operational performance linkage. The results, however, have to be further corroborated by more confirmatory analysis in future research.

The research findings are not conclusive but of an exploratory initial evidence, as stepwise regression analysis has its limitations. Additionally, while the study specifically focused on demand-side collaboration aspects, supply chain management envelops upstream and internal collaboration as well. Investigating the performance implications and the interactive dynamics among all three partnerships in the supply chains provides a richer understanding of supply chain partnerships. Besides, more comprehensive insights could be obtained by modeling the interactive effects of other factors in the operating context.

Firms derive performance benefits from close collaboration with downstream partners because the operational enhancements from such relationships have customer service implications. Besides, the results provide a framework to managers for understanding the technology context conditions that may be best suited for leveraging collaborative initiatives and idiosyncratic investments in pursuit of operational performance improvements.

Much of the evidence on the rent generation capabilities in supply chain partnerships is still anecdotal and extant empirical research lacks adequate explanation. Another critical shortcoming in extant literature is research on the disentangled interactive influence of operating context factors on the supply chain sources of rent (i.e. capabilities)–performance relationships. The study contributes by addressing these issues.

The purpose of this paper is to enhance understanding on supply chain partnership strategy-environment context co-alignment and its relationship with performance. Using the environment-strategy-performance view framework and the supporting relational perspective, the study develops a model and hypotheses to understand how supply chain partnership strategy as a response to co-align with operating context elements may impact operational and overall firm performance. Additionally, the study investigates the interrelationships among partnership strategy elements.

Data for testing the hypothesized relationships in the conceptual model was collected through a survey of managers in the Hoover’s database of US manufacturing firms. The survey sample included 115 responses from a wide variety of manufacturing forms.

Findings support the conventional wisdom relating collaboration to operational and financial performance. While product complexity associates with the “building block” resources, resource complementarity and resource specificity, technological turbulence relates significantly with only resource specificity. Interestingly, competitive intensity associates differentially with the resources – positive with resource specificity and negatively with resource complementarity. The results also reveal mediating influences of resource specificity and collaboration.

The research findings have to be considered in context. The moderate size, wide industry/firm diversity and robust research design notwithstanding, and the cross-firm nature can potentially obscure causal linkages. Besides, more comprehensive insights could be obtained by modeling the co-alignment of strategy with other factors in the operating context such as industry munificence, and market unpredictability.

Firms derive operational and financial performance benefits from close collaboration with partners since the operational enhancements from such relationships have customer service implications. Besides, the synergistic interrelationships among strategic partnership resources and their eventual impact on operational and financial performance is highlighted suggesting that firms develop a proper mix of unique and complementing set of resources and leverage them through collaborative behaviors. Importantly, the results provide a framework for managers to understand the criticality of aligning their resources with contextual elements to realize enhanced operational efficiencies, customer service, and financial benefits.

Much of the evidence on the rent generation capabilities in supply chain partnerships is still anecdotal and extant empirical research lacks adequate explanation. Thus this study offers an initial strategic response framework for an appropriate co-alignment of partnership resources with environmental context factors to realize operational benefits and overall financial performance. The framework answers the critical question: does a supply chain partnership strategy that matches “fit” or co-aligns with its critical operating environment context realize better performance? Additionally, it unravels the interrelationships among strategic partnership resources.

The purpose of this study is to advance the understanding of resource orchestration in inter-firm partnerships that appropriately configure and align strategic cross-firm supply chain resources and capabilities generating synergies to deliver superior performance.

Applying the resource orchestration logic, supported by the relational view of competitive advantage, the study draws from an empirical analysis of survey data from 152 top-level executives of US manufacturing firms to investigate the effect of leveraging and coherently combining cross-firm supply chain resources with capabilities on operational performance.

The study underscores the view that appropriately orchestrated combinations of key partnership resources and capabilities as mechanisms for marketing strategy implementation, enhance performance. Specifically, research results suggest that complementary inter-firm resources and lean align, and similarly idiosyncratic resources and agility align synergistically to deliver superior operational performance outcomes. The results also accent partnership responses to intense competition, enabling enhanced operational performance. The findings thus enrich the understanding of the resource orchestration logic and strategy, making important theoretical contributions.

As is typical in marketing and strategy research, the study research design has a cross-sectional framework, thus limiting insights on the resource orchestration dynamics that can otherwise be generated using a longitudinal design. Also, the resource orchestration stream is still nascent. Further research is needed to delineate the orchestration mechanisms that deliver on performance outcomes, especially in supply chains.

A key insight for supply chain and marketing managers is that close-knit inter-firm partnerships are critical for accessing idiosyncratic and complementary resources that can be configured and symbiotically aligned with market-facing agility and lean capabilities, respectively, to deliver market value. Proactive partnerships, especially in highly competitive and disruptive environments, enable mobilizing cross-firm resources and building appropriate matching combinations with capabilities to deliver on operational performance.

The study, guided by theory, advances the understanding of how key cross-firm resources and capabilities deliver performance gains. The key to competitive advantage and enhanced performance outcomes may lie in acquiring, leveraging and deploying appropriately matched resource-capability combinations. The present study investigates this proposition within the context of supply chain partnerships, focusing on cross-firm resources and capabilities.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of supply chain (SC) partnerships on sustainable performance (SP) and investigate the potential mediating role of total quality management (TQM).

A total of 185 responses were collected from pharmaceutical industry employees. The research data were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach.

The results reveal that relationships with suppliers (RS), distributors (RD) and intermediaries (RI) have a direct impact on SP. In addition, this study found that TQM serves as a mediator between RS, RD, RI and SP. This study enhances the understanding of the significance of TQM, SC and SP in business environment development. The findings suggest that organizations in the Jordanian pharmaceutical industry should prioritize the enhancement of their RS, intermediaries and distributors to improve their SP.

By providing decision-makers with valuable information, this study enables them to identify and implement TQM and SC practices to enhance the SP of pharmaceutical companies in Jordan.

This study aims to ascertain the extent to which a cooperative controlling a wine supply chain implements a performance measurement system (PMS) that monitors the effects of a circular economy (CE) strategy, developed through partnerships, on the economic and environmental sustainability of the value chain.

The study analyzes the characteristics of the closed-loop business model and uses the PMS to assess the contribution of CE partnerships to the sustainability of the value chain. The case study is based on interviews conducted on the cooperative's top management and supplemented with an analysis of external reports, related documents and direct observations.

The PMS was underpinned by enterprise resource planning (ERP), through which CE indicators control for the benefits generated on behalf of the cooperative and its CE partners.

Given the paucity of the studies that address the performance measurement of CE at the supply chain level and its relation to sustainability, this study sheds light on the role that PMS can play in tracking the contribution of CE partnerships to the sustainability of a wine value chain operating in agro-waste valorization. Furthermore, the performance measurement of the CE strategy contributes to an assessment of the responsible production of sustainable development goals at the supply chain level.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the complex interrelationships among the key constructs, supply chain orientation (SCO), supply chain integration (SCI) and supply chain performance (SCP) in Indian manufacturing industries. These relationships have been studied using the relational view (RV) and the knowledge-based view (KBV) theoretical perspectives.

The conceptual model was derived from the existing body of knowledge in the supply chain domain. The study is based on a sample size of 122 data collected via face-to-face meetings with the Indian manufacturers using well-established scales. The covariance-based structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses.

In Indian manufacturing and supply chains, SCO has a positive relationship with SCI and SCP. Moreover, the direct impact of SCO on SCP diminishes when SCI is used as a mediating variable. This study also observes positive impact of: i) SCO on SCP, ii) SCI on SCP and iii) discovery of mediating role of SCI on SCP under the theoretical lenses of RV and KBV.

Cross-sectional survey of manufacturing firms of one country (using one response per firm) calls for validation covering other parts of the world and demands a longitudinal survey. This research will trigger more scholarly, practice and policy debate among researchers studying Indian and emerging economies context.

The notion of a holistic view of the SC with a focus on improving the customer value can enhance strategic partnerships among the SC partners (i.e. SCI) and overall SCP. Firms should make efforts to include SCI in SC designs to successfully transform SCO into SCP.

The originality of the research lies in studying the complex interrelationships among key concepts of SC in a unique Indian manufacturing context. The Indian supply chains operate in a set of unique characteristics, which have been detailed out in this paper. This paper not only establishes the mediating role of SCI for overall SCP in emerging economies but also enhances the scholarly knowledge in the SC domain. Most studies report SCO as a single-order construct, measured by scales comprising of only few items. The second-order SCO measures in this study bring credibility to the findings. Additionally, it contributes to both academicians and practitioners alike in the context of an integrated SC in emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of financial investment (FI) in Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certification on performance of Korean logistics companies through public and private partnership (PPP) and trade facilitation (TF).

Questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the data for this study, out of which 285 were adopted for the analysis using structural equation modeling for quantitative analysis. Also, it is based on professionals in Korean logistics companies that are AEO certified only.

FI on AEO certification had positive impacts on performance via PPP, while TF variable had no significant impact on the overall performance.

This study focuses on the FI in AEO certification and its impact on performance in Korea. There should be more quantitative and confirmatory research on other countries with AEO certification to validate the findings of this study. It may be possible to generate contrary findings in different economies or countries.

These findings imply that public managers should focus more on TF aspects of the program with the Mutual Recognition Agreement with major trading partners and growing economies around the world in order to make the AEO program more popular and global with supply chain members overseas.

This study has offered original discovery and practical, academic implications for AEO program in terms of testing and suggesting factors provided by previous studies as a confirmatory and quantitative research.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the academic literature on non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) role in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) to develop a conceptual framework.

This paper conducts a systematic literature review through an analysis of 47 papers identified from peer-reviewed academic journals published from 2002 to 2020.

Adopting social movement theory and based on thematic findings, this paper proposes four steps and six propositions in the process of NGOs fostering SSCM. These include relative deprivation, political opportunities, resource mobilization and collective action, based on which we developed a conceptual framework regarding the role of NGOs in improving sustainability in supply chains. The proposed conceptual model opens a new avenue of research in NGO literature and several directions for further research.

This study may be the first to provide a systematic review of NGOs’ role in improving sustainability in supply chains. Moreover, by borrowing the social movement theory from sociology, this paper able to propose a new conceptual framework with a research agenda so as to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon and provide directions for future research.