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Globalization of markets is a phenomenon that has received much attention and been extensively debated both at general societal/institutional/cultural levels and at market and business levels. In any globalization process, distribution of goods and services between and within local industrial and consumer markets is of great importance. Globalization of markets and reorganization of distribution are mutually dependent processes that involve changes in market structures. Contemporary examples of this are the emergence of global supply chains, internationalization of wholesale, retail and transportation firms and the development of sales via the Internet. The nature of the interdependence between globalization of markets and the reorganization of distribution is discussed, applying a network view of markets with reference to the cultural dimensions. Supply chain management issues are intimately related to these general development trends. The article concludes with some observations on the need, in practice and in research, to consider supply chain management in its dynamic context.

Much has been said about the nature of the agro-food supply chain. Yet, the consequences of reforming supply chain institutions have less often been studied, especially from an empirical perspective. The purpose of this paper is to examine the economic consequences of a radical reorganisation of the system of exchange in the agro-food sector in Central and Eastern Europe, during the process of transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. By considering a historical example from the dairy sector in Poland, the author provides evidence that the disorganisation of vertical linkages between upstream and downstream producers can be very costly. The most conservative estimates suggest that the dislocation of inter-firm relationships accounted for approximately 20 per cent of the drop in milk production observed in the early-transition phase in question.

The empirical approach is based on econometric analyses. The empirical strategy the author adopts is similar in spirit to a standard difference-in-differences method. More specifically, to study the outcomes of the disruptions in supply chain the author adopts an event-study approach. Thus, the author compares the relative changes in milk production in the post-treatment period relative to pre-treatment period between regions more or less exposed to disruptions to supply chain.

The most conservative estimates suggest that the dislocation to inter-firm relationships accounted for approximately 20 per cent of the fall in milk production observed in the early-transition phase.

Two key features distinguish the approach from the previous studies. First, through the use of a more direct measure of problems affecting vertical relationships between farmers and processors the author has access to higher quality proxies for the supply chain disruptions. To this end, the author focuses on the dislocation to milk procurement system that arose in the very early phase of transition, manifesting itself in the break up of vertical linkages between farmers and dairy industry. Second, in contrast to the existing studies which exploit variation between transition countries, the author focus on within-country evidence. To best of the author knowledge, this paper is the first to investigate agricultural output during transition using within country variation.

The study aspires to enhance comprehension of the intricate interplay between supply chain management (SCM) and resilience in family businesses, thereby offering valuable insights to managers and policymakers endeavouring to foster resilience in uncertain environments.

Commencing from the premise that family businesses (FBs) prioritize the preservation of socio-emotional wealth (SEW) when formulating strategic decisions, this study endeavours to advance understanding of supply chain practices adopted by FBs and their direct impact on resilience during crisis situations or economically challenging periods. Through an exploratory case study of nine FBs, the present research reveals four pivotal strategies in SCM that contribute to their resilience: (i) reorganization of inventory management; (ii) cultivating close relationships with suppliers; (iii) emphasizing product quality and customer retention; and (iv) implementing cost reduction measures to bolster resilience. The aim of the study is to provide an in-depth understanding of the intricate interplay between SCM and resilience in FBs, thereby offering valuable insights to managers and policymakers endeavouring to foster resilience in uncertain environments.

Our approach offers a theoretical framework for SCM aligned with prior research on the interplay between characteristics of family businesses and resilience strategies. Furthermore, this paper illustrates how factors such as the emphasis on high-quality products and services by family businesses contribute to achieving non-economic objectives that owners adopt to reconcile family and business needs, creating intrinsic added value for the company. It reveals various challenges in SCM, including inventory organization changes, supplier closures and the significance of customer retention. Family businesses are implementing product and technology enhancements and leveraging digitization to enhance supply chain processes.

This paper contributes significantly to the field of FBs by highlighting the crucial role of SCM in enhancing business resilience during crises. It empirically examines how the SEW characteristics of FBs influence the reconfiguration of their supply chains to enhance resilience, presenting a theoretical model for this context. Our theoretical framework employs an SEW perspective to elucidate how FBs respond to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic by adapting their SCM processes to safeguard their social and emotional legitimacy, organizational visibility and reputation. These adaptations gain particular relevance during crises or turbulent conditions, potentially leading to alterations in how FBs formulate their supply chain strategies and manage supply chain-related processes.

The aim of the paper is to investigate the determinants leading firms to choose among different voluntary standards within food supply chains. In specific, the authors explored the role of transaction risks, i.e. internal and exogenous risks, in the adoption of different traceability standards.

A survey was conducted within the Italian population of 216 food-processing firms that adopt voluntary traceability schemes. The identification of different transaction risks was based on the literature on supply chain management and transaction cost economics. An ordinal regression model was used in the analysis.

Empirical results highlight that the transaction risks perceived by food firms play a significant role on the kind of traceability schemes to adopt. There is a positive link between internal risks and the decision to implement complex schemes. Moreover, a negative relationship between the perceived exogenous risks and the complexity of the standard adopted is also observed. Exogenous transaction risk lead to the implementation of standards which do not imply strong co-ordination. On the contrary, internal risks imply complex schemes that lead to closer supply chain relationships.

The analysis is limited to cross-sectional data for a single country, and further investigation would help assess the generalisation of the findings.

The analysis can be considered a useful framework to orient firms strategic decisions towards the most appropriate voluntary standard to adopt for an efficient management of vertical relationships within food supply chains.

The present analysis is the first attempt to explain the determinants leading firms to choose among different kinds of voluntary standards within food supply chains. The approach used reveals that transaction risks can be considered a useful framework to explain firms’ strategic decisions related to the kind of schemes to adopt.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue on supply chains and the enterprise.

Introductory review and brief description of research papers in this issue.

To demonstrate the growing complexity and the multiple factors involved in structuring the enterprise effectively, references a paper by Iyer and Gottlieb that suggests an approach to enterprise architecture design. This integrates the internal and external environment, thus being highly relevant to supply chain issues.

Implies that the broad research framework for enterprise architecture is relevant to the study of supply chain issues, but leaves the reader to discover whether this is the case by perusing the research papers in this issue.

Links enterprise architecture to supply chain issues of importance to industry.

Provides a descriptive framework for linking papers in the issue to general supply chain issues.

To explore the relationship between the dimensions of supply chain flexibility and firm performance in a sample of automotive suppliers.

Empirical survey of a representative sample of 126 Spanish automotive suppliers during the months of September and October 2003. Data gathered through a mail survey to purchasing managers by using a structured questionnaire. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyse the relationship between the different supply chain flexibility dimensions, between supply chain flexibility dimensions and firm performance dimensions, and between supply chain flexibility dimensions and environmental uncertainty dimensions. A multivariate analysis studied the determinants of supply chain flexibility.

The research has found a positive relation between a superior performance in flexibility capabilities and firm performance, although flexibility dimensions are not equally important for firm performance. On the other hand, the results show that companies enhance more the basic flexibility capabilities (at the shop floor level) than aggregate flexibility capabilities (at the customer‐supplier level). However, aggregate flexibility capabilities are more positively related to firm performance than basic flexibility capabilities. Thus, companies might miss opportunities to improve competitiveness by underestimating customer‐supplier flexibility capabilities. Finally, the results indicate that flexibility capabilities are enhanced in supply chains with higher environmental uncertainty, technological complexity, and mutual understanding, but with lower interdependence among the agents involved in the supply chain.

There are other factors not included in the model that could impact the relationship between flexibility, supply chain characteristics and firm performance. On the other hand, the research has used cross‐sectional data, which are limited in order to explain causal relationships. Another limitation of the research is that we did not use any secondary data (like manual financial reports) to crosscheck firm performance.

The results of the research contribute to a better understanding of the forces and constraints that companies face with flexibility capabilities.

The paper analyses the relationship between supply chain flexibility dimensions and firm performance. The model provides a framework of supply chain flexibility dimensions that may be used as a test base for further research.

Presents the results of a survey of 52 UK‐based manufacturing companies to analyse the supply chain problems faced by the companies in relation to serving European markets. On the basis of the research a typology of supply chains has been developed and firms classified accordingly. Results show that, to the majority of companies, basic operational issues are of paramount importance and few are giving consideration to the broader strategic issues of European supply chain management.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the environmental sustainability practices of third-party logistics providers (TPLs) in a developing country and analyze the efforts made by TPLs to implement green practices through a case study of Moroccan TPLs.

This qualitative case study of Moroccan TPLs was conducted using an interview guide.

The findings indicate that the internal and external drivers motivate TPLs to implement green practices while internal and external obstacles hinder them. The authors identified two groups of TPLs, each with a specific environmental sustainability approach. The results indicate also that environmental sustainability is at an early stage of development in Moroccan TPLs. Based on these findings, the authors were able to develop several propositions for further research. It is suggested that TPLs market coverage can influence positively their green initiative; the lack of collaboration and partners involvement hinders TPLs environmental initiatives; and the lack of clear environmental strategy limits TPLs environmental sustainability initiatives.

This study has some limitations that provide future research opportunities. Because this study is qualitative, further statistical support is needed to justify wider generalization of its findings. The possibility of generalizing the present findings to countries beyond Morocco is limited by the fact that data were collected exclusively there. Studies might therefore do well to investigate TPLs in developing countries other than Morocco to increase the external validity of the results. Also, the research could be expanded by taking into account how shippers or client companies collaborate with TPLs to improve sustainability initiatives.

The results can be used to inform companies about environmental sustainability initiatives that have been implemented or to identify practices that can be adopted.

The relevant literature has centered on advanced countries, and few studies have been conducted in the logistics market. Research on the sustainable initiatives of TPLs in developing countries in general and African countries in particular is sparse. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the sustainable practices of TPLs in Morocco.

Organizational capabilities are crucial to achieve the objectives. A plethora of maturity models is available to guide organizational capabilities that create a perplexing situation about what stuff to improve and what to leave. Therefore, a unified maturity model addressing a wide range of capabilities is a necessity. This paper establishes that a flexibility maturity model is an unified model containing the operational, strategic and human capabilities.

This paper does a comparative analysis/benchmarking studies of different maturity models/frameworks widely used in the information technology (IT) sector with respect to the flexibility maturity model to establish its comprehensiveness and application in the organization to handle multiple goals.

This study confirms that the flexibility maturity model has the crucial elements of all the maturity models. If the organizations use the flexibility maturity model, they can avoid the burden of complying with multiple ones and become objective-driven rather than compliance-driven.

The maturity models used in information technology sectors are used. This work will inspire other maturity models to adopt flexibility phenomena.

The comparative analysis will give confidence in application of flexibility framework. The business environment and strategic options across organizations are inherently different that the flexibility maturity model well handles.

A choice is put to an organization to see the comparison tables produced in this paper and choose the right framework according to the prevailing business situation.

This is the first study that makes a conclusion based on comparative benchmarking of existing maturity models.