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PurposeThe present study aims to examine the impact of relational communication, operationalized in terms of information sharing, quality and frequency of information, on buyer's trust and relationship satisfaction in a buyer–vendor relationship. The study also tests the mediating role of trust and the moderating role of relationship commitment in relational communication and satisfaction relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe data for the study were collected through a questionnaire survey from 321 managers of the different firms who were directly or indirectly involved in making procurement or purchasing decision in the firm and were familiar with the firm's supplier relationships.FindingsRelational communication was found to be positively related to relational satisfaction and trust partially mediated this relationship. Further, relationship commitment moderated relational communication-satisfaction relationship, such that the positive affect of relational communication on relational satisfaction was accentuated when buyer experienced higher relationship commitment towards the supplier.Research limitations/implicationsUsing single source, self-reported questionnaire data and cross-sectional research design are the limitations of this study. Studies in future should consider a dyadic perspective. The study outlines the need to explore investments and strategies in enhancing relational communication in buyer–vendor relationships.Originality/valueAnchored in theoretical foundations of social exchange theory, the study integrates and tests behavioral aspects of buyer–vendor relationship. Testing an integrated model with direct and indirect effects of relational communication on relationship satisfaction in buyer–vendor is a significant contribution of the research. The study also contributes by examining relational exchanges in buyer-vendor relationships in India, an underrepresented context in buyer–supplier relationship (BSR) literature.

The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly employing reverse logistics practices in their supply chain activities to be more sustainable. However, the absence of voluntary take-back for relocation to needy markets limits the benefits of reverse logistics for sustainability practices in India. Production planning and RL design without taking product category and feedback into consideration are ineffective. Resulting in a pressing need to devise policies by incorporating economic costs, environmental costs, and effective product returns in the model aimed at sustainability through RL. This article demonstrates how the principles of Taguchi's Orthogonal Arrays can be applied in a system dynamics model highlighting the presence of two brand categories (preferred & un-preferred) and their respective RL processes that substantially influences product shelf life, maximum allowable sales loss, and delays in the reverse logistics process. The contributions of this research are: (i) market flooding of expired stock can be alleviated for longer shelf life and preferred brands by increasing marketing efforts. (ii) Increasing safety stocks helps sales in a dynamic market but does not alleviate market flooding. (iii) Due to the absence of feedback between reverse and forward logistics processes, improvements in reverse logistics attributes like product return and claims processing delays do not impact sales rather it alleviates market flooding. The medicine take-back policies in India need to be sensitive to the category of the product. There is also a potential for placing checks on the supply side to alleviate market flooding, and a need to provide feedback between reverse and forward logistics through risk-sharing agreements in order to enable product take-back for both disposal and relocation to needy markets. The possible research extensions include the structural changes in the proposed model to test RL, for sustainability policies and the study of brand/product level competition.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a systemic analysis of the complex interaction of factors affecting the reverse logistics (RL) processes in a pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC). Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a systems thinking approach. Initial problem structuring involved the analysis of behavior-over-time of main variables and incorporated stakeholder analysis. Further, a participative group model building process was used to develop a systems model. Findings – The model was analysed to identify a set of feedback loops operating in the system responsible for the complexities of the problem. To address this, the stakeholders identified three strategic interventions. The first intervention relates to returns avoidance by alleviating market flooding of medicines, second intervention aims at improving the infrastructure for quality and performance management and the third targets balanced risk sharing between the main stakeholders involved in the supply chain. The findings suggest strong linkage between RL network design and key activities in returns management. The study lays a platform for developing a simulation model. Research limitations/implications – Data collection was confined to stakeholders belonging to a PSC based in the South Indian state of Kerala and excluded the participation of doctors due to practical constraints. The application of systems thinking and modelling was limited to the qualitative phases of the methodology. Practical implications – The study illustrates a participative process capable of revealing the differing viewpoints of multiple stakeholders involved in a PSC. Originality/value – It provides a holistic approach based on the systems thinking and modelling methodology for analysing the complexities related to RL in the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

This paper presents a systematic review of research on management in the pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC). Recent PSC literature, published in peer-reviewed academic journals, was collated for content analysis. Research efforts depict a traditional focus on efficiency-improvement, with an emerging interest in process-analysis and technology implementation in the PSC. PSC research is also highly context-specific and focuses on developed economies. Accompanied with a transition towards network-centric approaches, studies depict distinct focus on three levels of industrial interaction, which influence the final value delivered. Research focus is rapidly moving from value addition within the pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution environment to the interface with healthcare services, facilitated by the healthcare procurement and supply function. The review broadly outlines the scope for integrating research efforts from R&D to final healthcare delivery and for more studies in emerging economies.

Packaging enables the movement of product from its point of origin to its point of consumption and influences all other industries directly or indirectly. Despite technological advancements, increasing length of global supply chains for products has led to a simultaneous increase in the use of packaging layers and associated waste along the supply chain. Thus, packaging poses challenges and opportunities to the environment and society, with implications for supply chain costs. With growing popularity of concepts such as circular economy and sustainability, packaging and its relationship with sustainability and supply chain management in a circular economy needs to be studied. This paper presents a systematic literature review of studies done over the last 18 years with the objective to generate a greater understanding of the work done in the field of sustainable packaging in supply chain management (SPSCM). Our findings indicate SPSCM trends are aligned to circular economy concepts but have not adequately considered the interaction of the product with its packaging system. Research efforts in SPSCM are restricted to environmental and economic dimensions and are mostly concentrated in developed economies. The review identifies three main supply chain structures studied in SPSCM literature of which there has been an increased focus on fragmented portions and dyads of the supply chain with respect to packaging. The research contributes by identifying and mapping the collated literature to organizational theories that support and drive SPSCM. In particular, the institutional theory, stakeholder theory and ecological modernization theory are investigated from a SPSCM perspective. Further, the three organizational theories are used to develop a framework for circular economy to highlight future avenues for research and practice in SPSCM for a circular economy.

PurposeThis paper aims to present a review of literature to assess the progress of research on managerial issues in the pharmaceutical industry globally.Design/methodology/approachLiterature from peer‐reviewed journals available on online databases was collected for the last decade, using the keyword search technique, and then classifying it according to major managerial issues, research methodologies used and geographical zones.FindingsBehavioral issues at the consumer/physician level and non‐behavioral issues in pricing and medical expenses are studied the most, followed by supply chain management, research and development and manufacturing and services operations management. There is scope for conjunction of research efforts across themes and players. The studies focus on the developed nations through the application of field research and mathematical modeling techniques. The studies in the American region focus more on development and marketing while studies in Europe are aligned towards manufacturing and distribution in the industry. Studies in the developing nations are mostly exploratory in nature and require more focus on issues of research and development and marketing in addition to a substantial increase in overall research efforts. More trans‐continental studies are needed to consolidate research efforts globally.Research limitations/implicationsThe review is not exhaustive of all studies available on the industry and each of the issues. Conference papers, unpublished material and lectures were excluded.Practical implicationsIdentification of the present and emerging issues together provides practitioners in healthcare systems with an idea of available techniques and strategies to solve problems in healthcare/pharmaceutical management.Originality/valueA study on research of management issues in the pharmaceutical industry across the world has perhaps not been conducted in the recent past: this paper fills part of that gap.