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Analyzes four entities in a connected supply chain through a case study. Focuses on the relationships between organizations and the specific goals and objectives of each firm. The study was conducted from an insider's view through personal experiences, and a series of on‐site and telephone interviews with managers from each entity of the supply chain. Focuses on passing on and interpreting quality goals, alignment of quality goals and the existence of partnership with the connected supply chain. The main reason for the success of the supply chain is the strength or dominance of the manufacturer. Strong and frequent unidirectional communication exists between the manufacturer and the supplier and between the manufacturer and the distributor. These connections are the crux of the supply chain. From this strong relationship, the supply chain is able to remain successful while communication weakens and disappears at either end of the supply chain.

This study aims to investigate the impact mechanism of supply chain relationship quality on knowledge sharing and firms’ innovation performance during supply chain collaborative innovation.

A conceptual model linking supply chain relationship quality, knowledge sharing and firms’ innovation performance is developed, and the hypotheses of the relationships among them are proposed. To test these hypotheses with structural equation modeling, this study conducts a survey of 287 Chinese manufacturing firms that carried out collaborative innovation with supply chain partners.

Supply chain relationship quality has a significant positive effect on tacit knowledge sharing but its positive effect on explicit knowledge sharing is not significant. Both explicit and tacit knowledge sharing across supply chain enterprises positively influence firms’ innovation performance. Supply chain relationship quality influences firms’ innovation performance directly as well as indirectly through the mediating roles of explicit and tacit knowledge sharing.

This study provides empirical evidence of supply chain relationship quality’s direct and indirect effects through explicit and tacit knowledge sharing on firms’ innovation performance. This study also provides supply chain practitioners with better understanding of the importance of developing relationship quality and knowledge sharing across supply chain as they are positively associated with firms’ innovation performance.

The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.

This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the flow of refugees through the dual lens of supply chain management and national cultural values.

The proposed model is first developed based upon an extensive literature review. The model is then applied to an example of migrants from Honduras traveling to the USA and those being repatriated back to Honduras.

The connection between national cultural values and elements of refugee supply chain management is identified in this research. The model examines four elements of refugee supply chain management (relationship continuity, partner involvement and development, inter-organizational communication, and network structure), and identifies the influence of these four elements on integrative and collaborative processes along the supply chain and, consequently, on the delivery of services to the refugees (refugee network performance).

The model presented in this paper is tested using a single case and does not utilize an empirical methodology.

This research enables local municipalities and state entities along international migration paths to better manage their relationships with upstream/downstream players and improve refugee network performance by reducing transit time, lowering overall costs, ensuring the health and safety of the refugees, and identify eligible refugees (those likely to gain asylum) to support. Furthermore, the model provides specific recommendations for international Non-Governmental Organizations to help with the integrative and collaborative processes among the supply chain partners.

This research provides a unique perspective in examining the flow of refugees within the context of an international supply chain. The authors look at the critical players along refugee supply chains and develop a model that connects elements of refugee supply chain management with the cultural characteristics of nations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore if control variables have any impact on corporate performance when implementing green supply chain management practices. The research in particular examines the impact of firm size, firm age and possession of environmental management system (EMS) certification as control variables on different dimensions of the corporate performance.

The research design consists of a comprehensive literature review, followed by an empirical questionnaire based survey with responses of 117 participant organizations proceeded by a comprehensive statistical analysis to validate the developed theoretical framework and contribute to both practical and methodological approach. This study investigates the impact of each of these three control variables on four dimensions of corporate performance using multiple regression analysis.

The research found that there is positive relationship between firm size and environmental performance, economic performance and social performance but not with operational performance. The study also found that a certified EMS within UAE firms is having a positive impact on all four performance dimensions while firm age does not have any relationship with any of the four performance outcomes.

The research provides guidance for supply chain managers in the UAE and other similar emerging market in order to better understand the relationship between control variables, impact and performance, on corporate outcome. The paper also describes relevant strategies that should be taken into consideration by these managers in order to build their sustainable supply chain. The research contributes to social dimensions of supply chain sustainability on how resilient green strategies are important for supply chain stakeholders during uncertain conditions so that it can respond to uncertain changes in order to contribute to corporate social responsibility. Some of the limitations of this research include the geographic coverage of the study region and other methodological limitation.

This research is the first of its kind in the UAE region to assess the link between firm control variables and its impact on green supply chain management practices; which are less studied in the green supply chain literature. While there might be few other studies that addressed and uncovered the relationship between implementing green supply chain management practices and corporate performance, however, no study has attempted to find out if firm size, firm age and possession of EMS would have any impact on the green supply chain practices and corporate performance relationship. The research was conducted in an emerging economy to understand the relationship better. A series of recommendations are also provided for firms interested in improving their environmental performance while implementing green supply chain practices.

This paper aims to investigate the complexity of collaborations in supply chain networks, particularly the influence of horizontal collaborations (e.g. international joint ventures) on vertical collaborations (e.g. supplier–manufacturer partnering relationships).

A multiple case study including four horizontal collaborations and five vertical collaborations within a supply chain network is presented in the context of the Chinese automotive industry. Data interpretation from interviews is structured by key collaborative activities and collaborative behaviors.

The analysis highlights a variety of collaborative behaviors under different types of collaboration and their interaction. The complexity of collaboration is revealed in a range of dimensions including culture diversity, drivers/facilitators, competitive/collaborative advantages and the engagement of all. Collaboration evolves as the structure of the supply chain changes; the key is to appreciate the existence of cooperation, competition and culture conflicts and to manage the trade-offs.

A window of opportunity is presented for future research to investigate the complexity of supply chain collaboration in a wider industrial or geographical context, including statistical validation and comparative analysis.

A contingent view on supply chain collaboration is promoted to practitioners (e.g. international supply chain managers), where collaborative activities should be aligned with the motive and type of business relationships which may change as collaboration develops.

A rare empirical study captures the complexity of supply chain collaboration including the interaction between different forms. A dynamic collaboration approach recognizes the changing process, varying cooperation behaviors as well as characteristics of partners which have not been sufficiently reflected in the literature.

This study aims to investigate the link between manufacturer relational embeddedness, manufacturer influence and supplier-customer relational embeddedness and their resulting impact on the network rent.

Leveraging the theoretical lens of social exchange theory and the relational view and utilizing the survey data derived from the transitional triadic supply chains, the authors used multiple regression analysis and the partial least squares (PLS) path model. The regression analysis with interaction effects is used to indicate the network rent, while the PLS path model is applied to investigate the link between manufacturer relational embeddedness, manufacturer influence and supplier-customer relational embeddedness and their subsequent impact on the network rent.

The authors empirically establish that manufacturer relational embeddedness, as a higher-order factor, can comprise both upstream and downstream relational embeddedness. The research also demonstrates that manufacturer relational embeddedness significantly contributes to the manufacturer’s eagerness to form a direct link between the supplier and the customer, and the manufacturers report a significant ability to affect this relationship. Likewise, the study shows that supplier-customer relational embeddedness significantly and positively affects the network rent. In addition, the study implies that supplier-customer relational embeddedness is a mediator between manufacturer influence and the network rent, while manufacturer influence is a suppressor variable, which increases the negative relationship between manufacturer relational embeddedness and supplier-customer relational embeddedness.

The research makes three key contributions. First, this study, as one of very few, simultaneously embraces context, intervention, mechanism and outcome, while investigating the role of manufacturer (its relational embeddedness and influence) in promoting supplier-customer relational embeddedness, and its resulting effect on the network rent. Further on, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirically based study that demonstrates to what extent the manufacturer is capable of fostering supplier-customer relational embeddedness, thus favoring the transposition from the intransitive into the transitive triadic supply chains. Finally, to date, the concept of network rent has been mostly conceptualized as the theoretical construct with no empirical evidence. This research offers guidance for manufacturers in managing the relationships between the supplier and the customer to yield the highest network rent.

This study provides a novel approach to investigating the role of manufacturer and relational embeddedness in yielding the network rent in the transitional triadic supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate supply chain relationships in an urban local fresh food system from a retailer perspective to examine the types of relationships and the factors underpinning the development of such relationships.

Using the multiple case study method, interview data from twelve urban local fresh food retailers in Sydney were analysed using the thematic analysis.

This study finds that balanced power relationships in the supply chain allow reasonable power to sit with growers in product price determination irrespective of the dependency of small-scale growers on relatively large local retailers. Trust-based relationships are developed over multiple transactions, where shared values across the supply chain and consistently low opportunistic behaviour in reward sharing are demonstrated to be the crucial factors underpinning close relationships. This study also found evidence of horizontal supply chain linkages among retailers in a competitive environment.

Findings of this study have implications for policymakers in designing urban fresh food systems and for practitioners in large urban retailers including supermarkets that attempt to integrate local food into their product portfolio.

This study extends the local food system literature dominated by rural studies to include new knowledge about the dynamics of collaborations in contemporary urban local fresh food supply chains. It provides the first empirical evidence of lateral inventory transshipment between retailers in a competitive environment confirming previous simulation studies.

The objectives of this paper were twofold: to explore if there are differences in the perceptions about supply chain performance (SCP) and relationship quality (RQ) among traditional food supply chain members, and to examine the influence of individual relationship variables and aggregated relationship quality on SCP in the traditional food sector.

The survey was conducted in a triadic context with 189 supply chain members (62 suppliers, 65 focal companies and 62 customers) of 65 traditional food supply chains (cheese, olive oil, meat products, brandies and liqueurs, wine and honey) in Croatia. The influence of individual relationship variables and aggregated RQ on perceived SCP was tested using regression analysis.

It was found that there were no significant differences in the perception of overall SCP and RQ among supply chain members. It was identified that aggregated RQ and all individual relationship variables (trust, commitment, economic satisfaction, non-coercive and coercive power, reputation and conflict) have a significant influence on perceived SCP of the traditional food supply chains.

This study provides a systematic approach to investigate the SCP and supply chain RQ in the traditional food sector. The findings suggest that managers should not neglect any aspect of supply chain relationship to keep high SCP and to be competitive on the market.

This multiple supply chain study makes an original empirical contribution to the supply chain and network management literature by using a triadic approach to investigate RQ and SCP. The influence of individual RQ constructs and aggregated RQ on traditional food SCP examined in this study has not been explored thus far. This study also makes an original empirical contribution by investigating RQ and SCP in the traditional food sector, which has received little attention recently.

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.