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PurposeCompanies' ability to build sustainable supply chains and achieve strategic sustainability objectives largely depends on their supply network characteristics and the nature of the relationships with strategic suppliers. This poses the question of how purchasing departments can help to translate this sustainability commitment into performance benefits. The authors focus the attention on buyer-supplier information sharing practices and study how the availability of information interplays with the purchasing realized absorptive capacity (PRAC) to positively impact performance (operational, environmental and social).Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data from 305 procurement executives in four European countries and tested the hypotheses empirically using structural equation modeling. Mediation analysis is used to test the effect of PRAC on the relationship between buyer-supplier information sharing and performance.FindingsThe results show that increasing buyer-supplier information sharing is sufficient to obtain a positive impact on operational performance. To improve purchasing sustainability performance, companies need to develop their PRAC to adequately transform and exploit external information and identify opportunities in the environmental and social areas. Thanks to these purchasing capabilities, organizations can overcome potential trade-offs between different performance dimensions.Originality/valueIn the context of collaborative buyer-supplier relationships, this study is one of the first to propose purchasing knowledge management capabilities (i.e. PRAC) as a key factor to improve multiple performance dimensions. Additionally, it captures different sustainability aspects, concluding that organizations can improve purchasing operational, environmental and social performances by implementing appropriate information sharing mechanisms with suppliers and developing their PRAC.

PurposeThe authors empirically examine purchasing strategy typologies based on strategic intent (i.e. competitive priorities) and practices used to achieve these priorities. The authors further investigate the implementation conditions of such strategies based on perceived uncertainty and strategic purchasing.Design/methodology/approach The authors utilize case study data from 11 international service and manufacturing firms with global supply chains. Each company was profiled based on the level of perceived environmental uncertainty, the characteristics of strategic purchasing, the use of relevant purchasing practices and its ability to create value through purchasing.FindingsThe study findings show that four purchasing strategy types exist: Purchasing Rationalization, Supply Base Optimization, Purchasing as a Service and World-Class Supply Base Management. Lower levels of perceived environmental uncertainty favor the adoption of rationalization strategies (i.e. Purchasing Rationalization and Supply Base Optimization), while increased uncertainty leads companies to switch to relationship-focused strategies (i.e. Purchasing as a Service and World-Class Supply Base Management). Further, that specific components of strategic purchasing (i.e. strategic planning, maturity, status and report level) enable the successful implementation of different strategy types.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the existing literature by outlining the different types of purchasing strategies and the external and internal factors that need to be considered to achieve strategic alignment and value creation in purchasing, and by classifying purchasing strategy types at the functional level based on empirical evidence.

This chapter summarizes the main results of a qualitative study conducted in collaboration with Ashoka Spain regarding systemic change and the mechanisms to achieve it. This is part of a larger study that will be conducted over the next few months. This qualitative study compares the characteristics of systemic change in for-profit and nonprofit social enterprises with the goal of understanding the specific mechanisms put in place by the two types of organizations to achieve such deep and sustainable change.

Purpose Increasing amount of empirical research in operations and supply chain management is using institutional theory as its theoretical lens. Yet, a common scale to measure the three institutional pressures – coercive, mimetic and normative – is lacking. Many studies use proxies or a single, grouped, construct of external pressures which present methodological challenges. This study aims to present the development of multi-item scales to measure institutional pressures (in a purchasing context). Design/methodology/approach First, items were generated based on the theoretical construct definitions. These items were then tested through academic sorting and an international survey. The first empirical testing failed to produce reliable and valid scales, and further refinement and analysis revealed that coercive pressure splits into two separate constructs. A second q-sorting was then conducted with purchasing practitioners, followed by another survey in Italy to verify the new measurement scale for four institutional pressures. Findings The multimethod and multistage measurement development reveals that empirically the three institutional pressures actually turn into four pressures. The theoretical construct of coercive pressure splits into two distinct constructs: coercive market pressure and coercive regulatory pressure. Originality/value The results of the paper, namely, the measurement scales, are an important theoretical and methodological contribution to future empirical research. They present a much-needed measurement for these theoretical constructs increasingly used in management research.

Increased globalization, varying customer requirements, extended product lines, uncertainty regarding supplier performance, and myriad related factors make supply chains utterly complex. While previous research indicates that supply chain complexity plays an important role in explaining performance outcomes, the accumulating evidence is ambiguous. Thus, a finer‐grained analysis is required. By meta‐analyzing 27,668 observations across 102 independent samples from 123 empirical studies, we examine the link between supply chain complexity and firm performance. While the preponderance of evidence from previous studies identifies supply chain complexity as detrimental to firm performance, our results illustrate that although supply chain complexity has a negative effect on operational performance, it has a positive effect on innovation performance and financial performance. Furthermore, we also distinguish among different levels of supply chain (i.e., upstream, downstream, and internal) and observe nuanced findings. Finally, our findings also reveal moderating effects of construct operationalization and study design characteristics. We discuss implications for theory and practice and provide avenues for future research.

In this editorial, we introduce the four best papers selected from the IPSERA 2021 conference for this special issue of the Journal. We discuss how a double-blind crowd review (CR) process was used as an alternative to the traditional "two reviewer " double-blind peer review system. After a brief review of the literature and the existing debate around academic peer review, we introduce the main characteristics of CR. Next, at the core of our discussion, we report on the results of a pilot CR project that we conducted to review JPSM articles associated with the 2021 IPSERA Conference. We describe in detail the review process, and we illustrate the feedback received from reviewers and authors on the CR process, as well as our perspective as guest editors. Finally, we draw some conclusions and present recommendations for CR in the Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) field. The CR pilot contributes to the wider debate around peer-reviewing by offering insights into the experience of different stakeholders and by highlighting the benefits and pitfalls of CR.

Purpose Suppliers are essential partners in innovation projects, as they own resources, knowledge assets and capabilities that complement those of buying firms. In today’s competitive environment, firms may choose to collaborate with suppliers beyond dyads, forming triadic or three-party relationships. Using the theoretical lens of the relational view (RV), this study aims to explore what type of triad configurations firms use to govern supplier relationships in collaborative innovation projects, how they choose to share resources and implications for project performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors use interview data from buyers and suppliers in six case studies of firms involved in ten collaborative innovation projects. The four constructs of the RV are used to observe how firms govern triadic relationships, combine complementary resources, invest in relationship-specific assets and manage information and knowledge exchange with and between suppliers in innovation projects. Findings Four archetypes of triadic relationships in innovation projects – labeled Triangle, A-frame, D-Frame and Line – are presented and characterized in terms of their structural and relational features. The authors discuss how each triad archetype is applicable to different innovation projects according to specific project characteristics. Originality/value This study is pioneering in its empirical examination of triadic relationships in collaborative innovation projects. It provides a novel typology of four archetypes of triad from the perspective of collaborative relationships with suppliers. Through applying the RV, it advances understanding of how triadic relationships are governed, how they invest in relationship-specific assets, how they combine complementary resources and how they exchange knowledge and information in each type of triad appropriate to different innovation project settings. To date, much of the extant literature has focused on dyads.

Innovation plays a central role in the sports sector. However, delivering innovative solutions is increasingly becoming a network-level phenomenon, reinforcing the need to understand the network-level dynamics. This research explores this phenomenon by building on two complementary theoretical foundations: interorganizational citizenship behavior (ICB) and social capital. The research aims to understand how different configurations of dimensions of social capital and interorganizational citizenship behavior facilitate product and process innovation. The research uses data from a horse industry cluster in France and applies fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), a method developed explicitly for configurational analysis. The results unveil a series of configurations leading to both product and process innovation. The findings show that the different dimensions of ICB and social capital have both positive and negative impacts on innovation. Moreover, the results chart multiple paths to innovation and highlight differences between product and process innovation in sports clusters.

Social enterprises are acquiring an increasingly relevant role as focal organizations for managing supply chains to address social problems. We argue that the presence of misaligned institutional logics between these focal organizations and their supply chain stakeholders generates tensions. Building on institutional theory and paradox theory, we analyzed seven dyadic relationships between a single focal social enterprise with a goal of migrant integration and its supply chain stakeholders. We propose relationship management mechanisms related to relationship governance, power and trust to manage such tensions. We observe the application of different relationship management mechanisms relative to different types of tensions. Finally, we relate different relationship management mechanisms to specific tension management approaches referred to as complementarity, acceptance and accommodation, and offer propositions based on our findings.

PurposeGrounding on resource orchestration theory, this paper aims to study the relationship between the way buying companies use their supplier performance measurement systems and the performance improvements obtained from suppliers, with relationship trust identified as a mediator in the previous link.Design/methodology/approachThe authors design a conceptual model and test it through structural equation modelling on a final sample of 147 buyer-supplier responses, collected by means of a dyadic survey.FindingsResults suggest that the buyer company may achieve the most by balancing a diagnostic and interactive use of the measurement system, as they are both positively related to supplier performance improvement. Furthermore, relationship trust acts as a mediator in case of the interactive use, but not for the diagnostic. This type of use negatively affects relationship trust, due to its mechanistic use in the buyer-supplier relationship.Originality/valueThe authors’ results contribute to the current academic debate about supplier performance measurement system design and use by analyzing the impact of different supplier performance measurement system uses, and highlighting their relative impact on relationship trust and supplier performance improvement. From a methodological perspective, adopting a dyadic data collection process increases the robustness of the findings.

PurposeCompanies are increasingly challenged by sustainability-related supply chain risks. Research has developed linking supply chain sustainability priorities, practices and triple bottom line performance; however, risk is rarely included in these models. The purpose of this paper is to understand the link between sustainable supply chain strategies, practices and performance, and to test the importance of risk management practices in this relationship focusing on the product category level.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a survey of supply managers in four countries with 305 responses, with a focus on upstream supply chain strategies at the product category level.FindingsThe environmental and social sustainability strategies lead to sustainable supply sustainable performance, through focused practices in either area, but the effect on operational and cost performance is not significant. Social supply chain strategies positively impact environmental and cost performance when mediated by risk assessment practices.Originality/valueThis paper shows a more nuanced view of the impact of supply chain practices on the strategy–performance link. It is one of the first papers to empirically test the role of risk practices in sustainable supply chain management and emphasize the importance of alignment across the main dimensions of sustainability to achieve positive sustainable performance outcomes, but not necessarily cost and operational performance. Unlike other studies, social sustainability priorities may positively impact environmental and social performance and is linked to cost advantage when implemented with risk assessment practices.

Supply chain research and practice has moved beyond green or environmental issues to include social issues. But much of the focus still remains on attempts of large companies to reduce social harm along their supply chains rather than creating social good. At the same time, research investigating the role of NGOs in supply chains or humanitarian logistics often emphasizes temporary initiatives and overlooks long†term viability. This conceptual paper seeks to expand the playing field by looking at how social enterprises manage their supply chains to generate social benefit while maintaining or improving their financial viability in the long term. Our contribution is to consider those socially motivated organizations that lie on the continuum between purely social and purely commercial enterprises. We consider how these organizations manage their supply chains for social impact and define this area as social impact supply chain management (SISCM). In this work, we view these organizations and managerial issues through the lens of institutional complexity, that is, the presence of multiple and possibly conflicting institutional logics in the focal organization. We propose that, for these organizations, supply chain strategy, stakeholder identification and engagement, and relationship management might differentiate SISCM from traditional supply chain management. And as a result, we offer future research directions that might add clarity to effective SISCM.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework of the supply chain performance measurement system (SCPMS) lifecycle (highlighting key activities of the design, implementation, use and review phases) and to investigate how the different actors involved in the SCPMS perceive the system and can act to allow for an effective adoption. Design/methodology/approach The SCPMS lifecycle framework is developed grounding on performance measurement and supply chain (SC) management literature. To answer the two theory-building research questions, an in-depth case study involving seven firms across three tiers of the mass retail SC has been conducted. Findings The empirical evidence highlighted potential SCPMS benefits (including operational performance improvement, higher control, lower information overloading and higher SC integration) and criticalities/barriers to an effective adoption (lack of industry standards, lack of trust regarding data reliability, SCPMS as a tool of power, lack of interest in the system and the performance metrics). Several elements characterizing the SCPMS lifecycle could increase its effective adoption: engaging SC partners in the design phase; relying on a rigorous primary data collection and performance measures calculation; and actively exploiting the tool through a systematic discussion on performance and establishing incentive/disincentives plans. Originality/value The paper contributes to the conceptualization of SCPMSs and to clarify how to ensure an effective SCPMS adoption: apart from relationship-specific attributes, SCPMS lifecycle phases are suggested to have a key role.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of a mature supplier performance measurement system (SPMS) adoption all along its lifecycle phases (i.e. design, implementation, use and review) on the suppliers’ performance. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses have been tested on a final sample of 147 pairs of buyer-supplier responses, collected by means of a dyadic survey involving manufacturing firms and one key supplier of their choice. The research framework has been tested through a structural model using PLS regression. Findings Considering the joint effect of all the four SPMS phases on supplier performance, the findings show that the system use and review play a prominent effect: the former have a positive impact on supplier quality, delivery and sustainability performance; the latter positively affects supplier delivery, innovation and sustainability. A mature design displays a positive effect on supplier sustainability performance, while a mature implementation results to negatively affect supplier innovation performance. Finally, cost performance is not impacted by any of the four phases. Originality/value This study contributes to the open debate regarding the relationship between SPMSs and actual supplier performance improvement. In particular, the lifecycle perspective is introduced to clearly distinguish among each phase of adoption and assess their relative impact on supplier performance. Besides, the dyadic nature of the study allows to investigate different subcomponents of supplier performance jointly considering the buyer company and supplier company perspective, thus achieving a more insightful and robust information.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose an innovative buyer-supplier performance measurement system (PMS) (called relationship regulator – RelReg), aimed at stimulating collaboration on mutual performance. The RelReg is described all throughout the phases of its lifecycle: first, design features and visual representation of the new measurement framework are reported; second, guidelines on how to implement, use and review the system are provided, highlighting the role of the buyer and the supplier at each step. Design/methodology/approach A theory building and testing approach is applied. The RelReg developed features primarily ground on previous scientific contributions matched with empirical evidence collected through case studies, workshops and focus groups. The resulting conceptual model is then validated through a dyadic buyer-supplier case study. Findings Two conceptual frameworks are provided: the RelReg dashboard – a multidimensional PMS; and the RelReg lifecycle – set of activities to be performed by both the buyer and the supplier all along the adoption process. Moreover, empirical insights on relevant issues to be considered when adopting the RelReg are reported. Originality/value The RelReg represents an innovative and smart tool, allowing buyer-supplier dyads to collaborate on relationship performance.

Public sector procurement faces competing priorities, such as cost-efficiency, legal conformity, the advancement of environmental protection and the promotion of innovation. In addition, procurement departments are moving away from being mere organizational servants to having a strategic function. This paper looks at current public procurement strategy research, revealing neglected aspects. The authors propose a new analytical framework and suggest avenues for future research.

Effective management of the supply network is essential to assure market success for modern supply chains; starting from this, the paper aims to shed light on the dynamics of buyer-supplier industrial relationships by exploring the antecedents of supplier commitment – a requisite to improve performance obtained from suppliers. The paper develops a theoretical framework, grounded on Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory, which is tested using survey data from 305 international companies and applying a Structural Equation Modelling approach. Results show that goals alignment, buyer commitment and supplier collaboration initiatives are all drivers of supplier commitment, which, in turn, positively affects innovation performance ensured by suppliers. These findings confirm the relevant role of buyer-side initiatives in driving supplier commitment, giving managers focus points to look at when the objective is to gain a preferred customer status.

Increased globalization, pressure to meet varying customer needs and requirements, extended product lines, uncertainty in supplier deliveries and a myriad of related factors make supply chains utterly complex. Extant literature shows that Supply Chain Complexity (SCC) plays an important role in explaining several performance outcomes. However, the accumulating evidence is ambiguous. To better understand SCC and its consequences under specific boundary conditions, we conducted a meta-analytical synthesis of the extant literature. Meta- analytic results from 23,810 observations across 85 independent samples from 103 empirical studies indicated that rather than an aggregate analysis of SCC’s effect on performance, a finer-grained analysis of the relationships between sub-components of both SCC and performance is required. While the majority of previous studies seem to advocate that complexity in supply chains is detrimental to firm performance, our results demonstrate that SCC only has a negative effect on operational performance, but an overall positive effect on innovation performance and financial performance. We further decompose SCC into sub-dimensions (i.e. upstream/downstream/internal) illustrating how exactly complexity in the supply chain of a firm affects its performance across a range of relevant outcomes. Our findings also reveal moderating effects of construct operationalization and study characteristics. We discuss the implications of the findings for theory and practice."

The way that public procurement activities are organized has an impact on the performance of public institutions. By reviewing the literature on public procurement organization dimensions this study offers a conceptual framework for public procurement organizational design, distinguishing between the macro, micro and process level dimensions. The framework is tested across the procurement departments of 15 local governments in Wales and Italy. We identify six alternative organizational configurations, differing in their level of centralization and their procurement status within the institution. Their suitability and potential for redesign depend on several internal and external contextual factors (goals, government decision, regulation, geographical environment) in line with the contingency view of organizational design.

Balancing environmental, social, and economic performance is today considered a key responsibility that firms have toward society. As a result, academics, practitioners, and political decision makers are increasingly paying attention to environmental management systems improving a full spectrum of environmental performance. In that regard, even if recent literature suggests that environmental management should be deployed through a cross-functional approach, extant literature mostly focuses on independent functional systems. This paper addresses this gap investigating how the deployment of environmental management in the human resource function—adopting green human resource management (GHRM) practices—and the supply chain function—adopting green supply chain management (GSCM) practices—impact on environmental and financial performance. We draw from a multiple-respondent survey of human resource and supply chain managers in multiple industries in Italy. The study suggests that GHRM and GSCM impact on both environmental and financial performance and shows that GHRM and GSCM exert those impacts in a joint fashion. Indeed, our results show that GSCM plays a mediating role in the relationship between GHRM and performance. Overall, our results provide researchers and managers with relevant insights into the cross-functional deployment of the environmental values and principles across functions.

In the public context, the efficient and effective management of procurement activities has a crucial impact on the achievement of operational and broader government objectives. In particul...

International audience; This paper contributes to extant research on green human resource management (HRM) relying on the instrumental value of stakeholder theory, which implies that stakeholders impact on company decisions and their development of organizational resources and performance. Following that theory, the study conceives green HRM practices as a set of management processes that companies implement for responding to stakeholder pressures on environmental issues. Accordingly with those premises, we empirically test the distinct role that different green HRM practices (i.e. green hiring, green training and involvement, and green performance management and compensation) play in mediating the relationship between pressures on environmental issues from two specific external stakeholders (i.e. customers and regulatory stakeholders) and environmental performance. Our findings, based on a multi-respondent survey in which the respondents were Human Resource Managers and Supply Chain Managers operating in Italy, confirm the hypothesized mediation model. Our results (as well as their implications) are discussed in light of the recent calls to broaden the scope of HRM research, considering the embeddedness of the company in a socio-political context and exploring the role that actors and factors outside the company play in shaping its green HRM practices.

International audience; This paper aims to investigate the effects of supplier collaboration on the firm innovation performance as well as the enabling characteristics of the purchasing function. This is an original contribution as few papers empirically test the effect of supplier collaboration (meant as supplier involvement, development, and integration) on innovation performance and –simultaneously – the contribution of strategic sourcing activities and purchasing knowledge. Also, we explore the technological uncertainty of the purchase as an important contingent factor that might influence the firm’s innovation strategy and the emphasis on supplier collaboration or strategic sourcing.Towards this end, we develop a theoretical framework and test it through a survey conducted on a sample of 498 companies worldwide. Results show that innovation, as a category priority, does lead to emphasize supplier collaboration and strategic sourcing which, in turn, ensure better innovation performance. Empirical evidence also shows that, on the one hand, adequate purchasing (managers) knowledge enables greater supplier collaboration and strategic sourcing; on the other hand, technological uncertainty put greater emphasis on innovation strategy as well as on strategic sourcing.

The paper examines the dynamics arising from the adoption of supplier performance measurement systems along the supply chain, specifically considering: (1) the way the buyer company communicates the performance information to the supplier and (2) the way the supplier reacts to the performance reported. The empirical investigation consists of multiple case studies, including nine big multinational companies within three tiers of the automotive supply chain: Elaborating on the theoretical nuance of Signalling Theory, four different communication modes from the buyer side (measuring actor – the Signaller) and three different reactions from the supplier side (measured actor – the Receiver) have been identified, each emerging under different circumstances. The relationship among the communication and reaction modes along the supply chain is critically discussed.

In the context of professional service organizations, user engagement with knowledge search might generate significant risks of inappropriateness to innovation processes. Previous research suggests that professionals would then keep users at arms' length, controlling the design and implementation of innovations internally. This study overcomes this view investigating how professional service organizations can enable users' knowledge search while controlling for the risks of inappropriateness. Combining a qualitative research on 5 innovation processes in healthcare organizations with quantitative research on 110 service users, our findings highlight that professional providers, such as senior clinicians, shaped their tactics according to the ‘threats’ of laggards, i.e. users searching knowledge outside of professional logics of appropriateness; more than to the opportunities of lead-user communities. Professional providers sought to “activate” users' engagement with knowledge search by investing on their literacy, i.e. showing the basics of the logic of appropriateness informing their decision; and on trust relationships, i.e. becoming transparent on the criteria of knowledge selection during the innovation processes.\ud \ud

Under increased pressure for supply chain transparency, suppliers across supply chains show different behaviors in terms of disclosing (or retaining) information about their individual environmenta...

Supply chain performance measurement systems (SCPMSs) are experiencing a new life in business practice thanks to new technologies that allow the collecting, integrating and sharing of information among multiple supply chain partners. However, studies that truly investigate performance measurement beyond a single firm's boundaries are still limited. With the purpose of revamping SCPMSs as a relevant research topic, we conduct a systematic review of the literature. To this end, we firstly provide a clear and up-to-date definition of SCPMSs, which sets the boundary of the study. Secondly, we perform a systematic review of academic articles published in peer-reviewed international journals, mostly in the domains of supply chain management and performance measurement. A final sample of 92 articles published from 1998 to 2015 constitutes the knowledge base of the study. The results show the publication pattern over time and provide evidence about the journals, the methodology adopted and the content elements (the SCPMS frameworks presented and the scope and phase of the measurement process). We synthesize the research state of the art and present a detailed research agenda for future scientific contributions. In particular, we envisage a theory-testing approach concerning the relatively more mature component of SCPMSs (i.e. supplier PMSs) from a life cycle perspective as well as an exploratory/theory-building approach concerning the other under-investigated components (i.e. customer PMSs, multi-tier SCPMSs and many-to-many SCPMSs).

International audience; Buyer-supplier relationships in purchasing and supply chain management practice are instrumental and often “messy”. Indeed, the buyer and the supplier generally interact while pursuing their own interest, which are often subject to change over time. The action research method can help address the complexity of buyer-supplier relationships, generating important theoretical insights and relevant managerial implications. First, action research helps the researcher to better understand the problem by integrating diverse perspectives. Second, it allows the researcher to influence the buyer-supplier relationship directly, providing mutually beneficial solutions. This study proposes action research as a suitable interactive method that could complement other methodologies in the field of purchasing and supply chain management, as well as in other fields. An expanded action research framework – the “action research cycle reloaded” – is proposed and the role of the action researcher in the buyer-supplier context is discussed. The framework is applied to study the design and implementation of a supplier performance measurement system in the banking industry.

Originality/value The findings of this chapter contribute to the definition of a relational governance model for global food commodity supply chains. From a research standpoint, the empirical setting allows analyses of antecedents and consequences of different social capital components in the food supply chain. In addition, the case may help executives understand how to leverage supply chain relationships and identify a path to product quality and supply chain sustainability.

This symposium examines supply chain management strategy, practices and structures adopted by focal actors in the network not motivated primarily by profit. The potential focal actors might include: NGOs, social ventures, B-corporations and other organizations for whom profitability matters but it is not the primary goal as well as regulators and other governmental actors, co-ops and other collectives, communities and natural systems where for-profit ventures operate. The main aim of this symposium is to discuss whether these organizations enact unique or presently unknown strategies and practices to achieve their goals or adopt traditional supply chain management approaches. Configuring Supply Networks for International Non-governmental Organizations Presenter: Jury Gualandris; Ivey Business School Presenter: Robert D Klassen; U. of Western Ontario Social Impact Supply Chain Management Presenter: Madeleine Pullman; Portland State U. Presenter: Annachiara Longoni; ESADE Business School Presenter: Davide L...

Mediterranean is considered an ecosystem “under siege”, due to overfishing and combined anthropogenic pressures, a situation expected to worsen with climate change. In this unstable and multifacete...

International audience; The paper examines the extant management literature on Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) to assess the underpinning role of external grand theories (EGTs) – i.e., established theories drawn from other areas of economics, management and other social sciences. We perform an extensive and systematic literature review of 1,055 papers in the 20 top management journals for the time period 2002-2010, bypassing a keyword search in favour of a complete scanning of a total of 14,943 articles. Results show an analysis and classification of the most commonly used EGTs borrowed to underpin research on PSM. We also match research topics, methodologies and unit of analysis with EGTs. Finally, we investigate what is the nature of the research – exploratory, theory building and theory testing – supported by EGTs. Analyses find PSM to be poorly rooted in EGTs, which confirms PSM relatively lower theoretical maturity when compared with other disciplines. Transaction Cost Economics and the Resource Based View prove to be the most frequently adopted frameworks. Other theories emerge as interesting opportunities in combination with specific topics and methodologies.

International audience; Increasing the effectiveness, efficiency, and compliance of public procurement (PP) has become an ongoing concern for governments. Public administrations at different levels are realising that – in order for PP to fulfil its mission – appropriate control and diagnostic systems must be put in place. This study aims to investigate the architecture of PP performance measurement systems (PP-PMSs) in local governments, drawing on four case studies from Italy and four from Wales. The theoretical background is provided by the emerging literature on procurement PMSs in the private context as well as the specific literature on the public sector. PP-PMSs are specifically analysed with respect to performance areas covered (i.e., cost, quality, time, compliance, innovation, sustainability). Results show that performance dimensions should be extended beyond traditional cost measures, with KPIs not limited to those imposed by national/regional regulation. Furthermore, we show that this is likely to happen where the procurement function is recognised as strategic in the public institution.

International audience; This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the relevance of the purchasing function for the firm value creation. We empirically examine the role of the purchasing function in improving business performance through an international survey based on 653 responses. Results suggest that purchasing practices related to spend rationalization have a positive impact on the overall business performance, whereas supplier development & integration and sustainable purchasing have not. Moreover, the purchasing recognition by top managers and other organizational units emerge as a powerful antecedent of all purchasing practices. Instead, pure formal authority provided by the position in the organization chart (i.e. the report level) does not have any influence on purchasing practices adoption.

International audience; Governing offshoring has become a major challenge for firms that run operations outside the home country. International business (IB) and supply chain management (SCM) literature offer different insights on the topic, focusing especially on possible governance modes and the drivers of this choice, with different perspectives. Grounding the discussion at the intersection between these two research fields, the present study first proposes a taxonomy of offshoring risks (i.e. tasks, operational, reputational and institutional), with corresponding risk factors in each category; then, a set of research propositions are formulated, in order to link these categories to the governance-mode choice. Furthermore, we argue that the risk–governance link is moderated by two relevant factors, that is, the offshoring firm size and the strategic relevance of the outsourced activity. As a result, we elaborate on the interrelation between IB and SCM theories, emphasising the impact of risk management and contingent factors in offshoring governance modes configurations.

International audience; Organisations increasingly see sustainability as an important element of their business strategies, and the role of purchasing and supply functions is critical in translating sustainability commitment into performance. Yet, the impact of sustainability commitment on purchasing processes and routines, as well as the effect of such capabilities on performance, remains empirically under-explored. From a Resource-Based perspective, we argue that commitment to sustainability leads purchasing and supply functions to develop intra-and inter-firm collaborative capabilities, and that in turn these capabilities deliver improved performance. Based on survey data from 383 procurement executives in ten European and North American countries, we use structural equation modelling to empirically test our hypotheses. Our results provide strong support for the hypothesised links between sustainability commitment and both intra-and inter-firm collaborative capabilities; and between inter-firm collaborative capabilities and environmental and social, and cost performance. Conversely, our data do not support the hypothesised links between intra-firm collaborative capabilities and both aspects of performance. In our discussion, we reflect on both confirmatory and conflicting findings in relation to theory and practice, before examining the study's limitations and opportunities for future research.

The efficient and effective management of procurement activities has a crucial impact on the performance of local bodies. Among the possible leverages in the hands of local administrators, the organisational design of procurement departments has become a strategic and critical aspect to be managed. Despite the literature acknowledges the importance of the procurement organisation (both in the private and the public context) for achieving better performance, it offers few insights on the possible organisational configurations for public procurement. Therefore, this study provides a review of the literature about the most relevant characteristics of the procurement organisation and, based on that, proposes a synthetic research framework. Next, using a multiple case study approach, the study determines six alternative organisational configurations of the procurement department in local bodies and investigates strengths and weaknesses of each one. Furthermore, results show an evolutionary path from one config...

This symposium addresses systemic changes in food supply chains to address imbalances in the availability and consumption of resources, protection of the earth and its natural environment, and to a...