Purpose Organizations increasingly manage innovation projects jointly with suppliers to use external resources to fill internal competencies. However, little is known about the practices of how companies configure internal and external resources to enhance competitiveness. Drawing on resource orchestration theory, this study aims to propose a novel approach to explain organizational performance using purchasing orchestration (PO) as an antecedent. The paper then tests an empirical model to assess the impact of PO practices on innovation and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional survey data from 247 supply chain managers are used to test hypotheses relating PO to performance. SPSS PROCESS is applied to test conditional direct and indirect effects. Findings The positive impact of PO practices on innovation and financial performance is confirmed. Results indicate an organization’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) can strengthen the positive relationship between PO and financial performance. Structuring, bundling and leveraging external resources are introduced as new organizational capabilities. Research limitations/implications This research is based on cross-sectional data, and unidimensional constructs are used. Practical implications This research guides managers on the innovation process in light of the growing importance of external resources. The manuscript highlights the role of strategic purchasing in establishing new resource capabilities as a competitive advantage. Originality/value This research provides new insights into the relationship between purchasing practices and organizational performance and helps better understand the implications of orchestrating supply chain resources. A novel construct, PO, is introduced as a theoretical basis for studying supply chain-enabled innovation.

Companies continue to report a deep divide between purchasing and logistics, resulting in dysfunctional supply chain operations. This research seeks to add to growing research stream that has begun to look specifically at purchasing-logistics alignment. In particular, this research investigates the impact that both strategic alignment with top management priorities and operational alignment between purchasing and logistics have on the performance of each function. Analysis suggested that purchasing performance was strongly influenced by operational alignment between purchasing and logistics, but that strategic alignment with top management had little appreciable effect. The reverse was found for logistics: strategic alignment had a strong impact on logistics performance while operational alignment between the functions had little impact. While not definitive, the results are thought provoking in that they run counter to established narratives in the literature about which dimension of alignment is expected to be most relevant for driving purchasing and logistics performance, respectively.

United under the “cultural entrepreneurship” label, scholars have emphasized how entrepreneurship, strategic innovation, and organizational change are fundamentally cultural undertakings. Extant work in this vein has revealed how actors harness elements from their cultural milieu to secure the support of valued audiences, or undertake more profound changes to foster a cultural environment supportive of their endeavours. This volume aims to expand the agenda of cultural entrepreneurship research by celebrating (and advocating for) two promising advances.

PurposeCircular economy (CE) initiatives are taking hold across both developed and developing nations. Central to these initiatives is the reconfiguration of core supply chain management (SCM) processes that underlie current production and consumption patterns. This conceptual article provides a detailed discussion of how supply chain processes can support the successful implementation of CE. The article highlights areas of convergence in hopes of sparking collaboration among scholars and practitioners in SCM, CE, and related fields.Design/methodology/approachThis article adopts a theory extension approach to conceptual development that uses CE as a “method” for exploring core processes within the domain of SCM. The article offers a discussion of the ways in which the five principles of CE (closing, slowing, intensifying, narrowing, dematerialising loops) intersect with eight core SCM processes (customer relationship management, supplier relationship management, customer service management, demand management, order fulfilment, manufacturing flow management, product development and commercialization, returns management).FindingsThis article identifies specific ways in which core SCM processes can support the transition from traditional linear approaches to production and consumption to a more circular approach. This paper results in a conceptual framework and research agenda for researchers and practitioners working to adapt current supply chain processes to support the implementation of CE.Originality/valueThis article highlights key areas of convergence among scholars and practitioners through a systematic extension of CE principles into the domain of SCM. In so doing, the paper lays out a potential agenda for collaboration among these groups.

Reverse supply chain (RSC) operations have emerged as a critical component of overall supply chain management in manufacturing industries. Yet, relatively little is known about how companies define their approach to managing outsourced RSC operations and how outcomes vary across different approaches. This paper responds to numerous calls in the literature for research that delves deeply into the “how” and “when” (mechanisms and contexts) of RSC operations. Based on within‐ and cross‐case analysis of four manufacturer–3PL dyads, this paper develops a framework and detailed middle‐range theory that explains and predicts the way in which different approaches to managing outsourced RSC operations yield different results. By exploring the approach used in each dyad, this research offers managers a rich description of some of the ways that forward thinking on RSC operations can open the door to different potential benefits. The research also contributes to the development of a theory of outsourced RSC operations. Theoretical arguments combined with research propositions provide a wealth of opportunity for future researchers to engage in this topic area.

The centrality of cross-functional integration (CFI) to supply chain theory and practice has long been recognized. Yet researchers continue to struggle with consistently defining or measuring the CFI construct, thus limiting the utility of CFI research. This research develops (1) a comprehensive definition of CFI that synthesizes previous supply chain research and (2) a valid set of scale items that measure the conceptual domain outlined by this definition. The goal is to build a common foundation for extending knowledge on CFI's antecedents and consequences, and ultimately to improve scholars' ability to guide a broader practitioner community still struggling to achieve integration in their organizations.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a systematic application of middle-range theorizing, which pays particular attention to contexts and mechanisms, can be used to extend current knowledge on logistics customer service (LCS) in a number of critical areas. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies Stank et al.'s (2017) framework for middle-ranging theorizing in logistics to develop a research framework and agenda that can guide future LCS research. Results are generated through a review of the LCS literature and an application of the main concepts of middle-range theorizing. Findings The paper outlines opportunities for middle-range research that would extend LCS knowledge in the areas of human and behavioral factors, time-based competition, supply chain complexity, and digitization and technological innovation. Research limitations/implications Describing the main characteristics of middle-range theorizing and how middle-range theorizing can be fruitfully applied to LCS research should help to stimulate new knowledge creation in this important area of supply chain logistics management. Practical implications By focusing on why and when questions, middle-range theorizing engages with the practical realities of LCS that interest managers and students. Middle-range theorizing moves researchers toward developing a detailed understanding of what actually has to change in order for desired LCS-related outcomes to occur and the contextual factors likely impacting the change process. The paper should, therefore, allow managers to better translate LCS theory into action. Originality/value Middle-range theorizing remains new to the supply chain logistics field. The application of middle-range theorizing to LCS research, and logistics research more generally, demands new perspectives on established relationships with the potential to drive original research in areas most relevant to managers.

Logistics has evolved from a description-based discipline to one based upon theoretical grounding from other business disciplines to define, explain, and understand complex interrelationships, resulting in the identification of the discipline's primary domain and major conceptsthe what's of logistics. General theories, however, lack the domain specificity critical to understanding the inner workings within key relationshipsthe how's, why's, and when'sthat drive actual outcomes. Middle-range theorizing (MRT) enables researchers to focus on these inner workings to develop a deeper understanding of the degree to and conditions under which logistics phenomena impact outcomes as well as the mechanisms through which such outcomes are manifested. This study seeks to spur logistics research at the middle-range level by presenting a context and mechanism-based approach to MRT, outlining a process with guidelines for how to theorize at the middle range, and providing a template and examples of deductive and inductive MRT.

Logistics and transportation management has evolved dramatically over the last 70 years, from an emerging area of interest in the 1940s to the established discipline of supply chain management today. In that time, scholars have produced a rich body of knowledge on the core problems facing professionals in the field. More and more schools are now looking to leverage this knowledge to develop high-quality curriculums for their students. At the same time, business leaders continue to turn to logistics and supply chain scholars for actionable, evidence-based guidance on a range of pressing issues. This situation presents both challenges and opportunities. In order to serve current and future professionals, scholars must be able to distill decades of research into a concise set of management principles while also pursuing innovative research that keeps pace with the rapidly changing times. As argued in this issue, middle-range theorizing represents a promising approach for meeting this dual requirement of exploring new possibilities while exploiting existing disciplinary knowledge.In this context, The Roots of Logistics makes a welcome contribution to the literature. A collection of (oftentimes hard to come by) articles and excerpts, the book is an illuminating primer on the theoretical underpinnings of our discipline. The first three sections of the book focus on theoretical arguments that underpin current thinking on the value that transportation and logistics activities create. They touch briefly on the role of logistics in warfare (Jomini and Eccles), and then move on to value creation from the perspective of business economics (Morgenstern and Marshall), marketing (Weld and Converse), management (Drucker), and transportation systems (Klaus and Sheffi).The next four sections focus on the management of transportation and logistics activities in order to maximize their value contribution, highlighting foundational thinking in the areas of industrial systems and process flows (Forrester, Ohno, Oliver, and Webber), network design and capacity planning (Clarke and Wright, Hax and Meal), and organizational strategy and management (Levitt, Coase, Simon, Weick, and Ouchi).The inclusion of early European, particularly German, thinkers (e.g., Launhardt, Nordsieck, Quesnay, and Voigt) drives home the intellectual depth and breadth of the field. Brief introductions to each section give some useful historical context as well as additional recommended readings. The opening essay by the editors also provides a useful framework for making sense of past, present, and future developments in the field.While the book does cover much of the intellectual history of logistics and supply chain management, the selections are far more than academic memorabilia. The Roots of Logistics represents a sort of guidebook to the core logic that governs much of the thinking in our discipline. Understanding this logic is critical for both the exploration and exploitation of knowledge implied by middle-range theorizing. Scholars seeking to exploit the current base of knowledge, for instance, should look to these articles for baseline assumptions about relevant variables and relationships. Those interested in pushing the boundaries of knowledge can likewise find discussions that are deeply rooted in logistics thought but nevertheless relevant to such current issues as risk management ("Managing Surprise and Discontinuity" by Igor Ansoff), service supply chains ("Production-line Approach to Service" by Theodore Levitt), and green logistics ("Production, Consumption, and Externalities" by Robert Ayres and Allen Kneese). The book therefore suggests a variety of opportunities for new research.No book is entirely without drawbacks, however. First, the book's high cover price is likely to limit its readership to a relatively small group of devoted scholars. This is unfortunate, as practitioners and students would benefit from exposure to these articles. The layout and overall presentation likewise do little to enhance the appeal to a nonspecialized audience. Moreover, some arguably foundational concepts in logistics, transportation, and supply chain management receive scant attention. Given the importance of speculation/postponement in logistics thought, for example, foundational articles on this topic by Louis Bucklin, Roy Shapiro, and Walter Zinn would have been welcome. Also absent is Wroe Alderson and Miles Martin's classic, "Toward a Formal Theory of Transactions and Transvections," which represents an early example of rigorous theorizing on the movement of goods and information. Such additions might serve as a starting point for revisions to a much hoped-for second edition. Nonetheless, this book does provide a stimulating look at the deep intellectual roots from which current scholars can draw to meet the challenges and opportunities of today.