Purpose This study examines how buyer orchestration modes shape knowledge-sharing dynamics and innovation outcomes among competing suppliers in multi-tier automotive supply networks. While prior coopetition research emphasizes trust and voluntary collaboration as drivers of innovation, we investigate the underexplored role of the buyer as an active governance agent whose orchestration choices – ranging from coercive enforcement to collaborative co-development – shape whether competing suppliers share knowledge deeply enough to produce innovation. Design/methodology/approach Using multiple-perspective interviews, we conducted 28 in-depth interviews across six coopetitive relationships involving eight organizations in the Austrian and German automotive supply industries. Cases were purposefully selected to capture variation in buyer orchestration modes (enforcer, mandator, coordinator, facilitator, co-developer, partner), relationship formation (voluntary vs involuntary) and trust configurations. Data were analyzed using within-case and cross-case methods, with the relational view (RV) as the analytical lens. Findings We identify three theoretically distinct orchestration regimes – coercive, facilitative and collaborative – that shape how RV's four mechanisms (relation-specific assets, knowledge-sharing routines, complementary resources and governance) operate in coopetitive settings. Coercive orchestration (enforcer and mandator) generates compliance-based knowledge exchange but suppresses exploratory sharing – even when inter-supplier trust is high. Facilitative orchestration (coordinator and facilitator) creates structural conditions for sharing but cannot generate the relational motivation required for breakthrough innovation without pre-existing trust. Only collaborative orchestration (co-developer and partner), where the buyer signals vulnerability through co-investment of its own technical and organizational resources, enables suppliers to transition from protective to exploratory knowledge sharing, producing high innovation. Practical implications Supply chain managers should recognize that mandating collaboration is insufficient for innovation; the buyer's orchestration mode – not merely the existence of trust or voluntary engagement – is the primary lever. We provide actionable guidance for selecting and transitioning between orchestration modes based on relational conditions and innovation objectives. Originality/value This study reconceptualizes the buyer from a peripheral contextual node to the node that owns the primary governance mechanisms in coopetitive innovation. We extend the RV to buyer-orchestrated coopetition, showing that the four relational rent mechanisms are channeled and constrained by orchestration mode. Our framework explains why high trust fails to unlock innovation under coercive orchestration – a counterintuitive finding that challenges assumptions in both the coopetition and trust literatures.

We develop a novel online real-time scheduling algorithm with applications for healthcare diagnostic centers to deal with walk-in patients based on a set of constraints on the sequence of tests and resources. The problem is especially significant at healthcare centers in developing and emerging nations, such as India, where appointment schedules do not work. Within this realistic context, our objective is to improve patient satisfaction by reducing waiting time and improve diagnostic center performance through better utilization of the constrained resources. We propose a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) formulation to represent diagnostic centers as a Flow and Open Shop, to capture the system dynamics of the Flexible Hybrid Shop Scheduling Problem. We then develop a novel Online Genetic Algorithm (OGA) capable of solving real life large scale problems, as Open Shop scheduling problems are NP-hard. The developed OGA is first validated for small instances against a theoretical lower bound and the MILP model using CPLEX solver for flow time and makespan. The OGA is then empirically validated with data collected from two diagnostic centers of different sizes and configurations. For both centers, the developed OGA shows significant improvement compared to the simulation model. This research offers an important contribution to both literature and practice as it is one of the first to model the patient scheduling problem as an online real-time process. Implementing the developed OGA would help diagnostic centers significantly improve time estimates, thus reducing actual patient time and improving the efficiency of the system. Most importantly, the OGA is generalizable beyond healthcare to a broad range of environments that share Hybrid Shop characteristics.

While the extant literature has examined causes for buyer-supplier relationship dissolution, the restoration of severed buyer-supplier relationships has been overlooked. Drawing on organizational justice theory, our research develops and tests a model of relationship restoration. We examine how the supplier's restoration tactics-acknowledgment, compensation, and operational transparency, influence the interactional, distributive, and procedural fairness perception, respectively, of the buyer, resulting in relationship restoration. The results are based on a 2 (Acknowledgment - Yes/No) x 2 (Compensation - Yes/No) x 2 (Operational Transparency - Yes/No) vignette-based study with 390 experienced practitioners. The analysis shows that compensating the buyer and providing transparent procedures for dealing with similar situations in the future, lead to higher distributive fairness and procedural fairness, respectively, resulting in restored relationships. Compensation makes up for past supplier malperformance, whereas operational transparency mitigates future concerns. We also find that restoration tactics based on interactional justice are less effective than those based on procedural and distributive justice. There is only marginal support for the indirect positive effect of acknowledgment on restoration intentions (p < 0.10). These results point to the importance of knowing how to approach a buyer to initiate relationship restoration. Managers must understand and evaluate the specific needs of each buyer when proposing a compensatory design that appeals to the buyer. Additionally, establishing procedures that are appealing to all buyers can be a challenge for a supplier, due to the differing benefits to the supplier provided by each buyer.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine (1) how the recovery speed using promotional investment and (2) distributed production using additive manufacturing (AM) improve the resilience of the supply chain to manage any disruptions in the diffusion of green products. Design/methodology/approach The environmental performance, service level performance and economic performance are the measures of interest. These measures are studied through the integration of inventory and production planning (I&PP) of the reverse logistics system and consumer behavior using Bass (1969) model of diffusion of innovation under the paradigm of Industry 4.0 architecture. The Taguchi experimental design framework was used for the simulation analysis. Findings The adoption patterns based on the Bass model in conjunction with recovery speed and production on AM during the disruption period suggest that there exist tradeoff decisions between various combinations of information-sharing and I&PP policies. Practical implications The extensive sensitivity analyses provide real-time support for managerial decisions. Besides the potentials of Industry 4.0 capabilities, the present research suggests paying close attention to the recovery speed in conjunction with the inventory management system. Social implications The integration of consumers' behavior (Bass model) to digital technologies is an additional contribution of the present research toward sustainability issues from the social perspective. Originality/value Previous research studies have discussed resilience to manage the ripple effect. However, none of them have addressed the changing scope of resilience to manage the ripple effect caused by the disruption in the diffusion of green products in a reverse logistics setup.

The Physical Internet paradigm opens a new way to describe and design how logistics organizations can work, with many managerial, engineering, and economical implications on supply chain performance, including sustainability and resilience. The Physical Internet, as its name suggests, builds on a metaphor from the network of computers networks: the (Digital) Internet. Described in several papers and book chapters (Montreuil 2011; Sarraj et al. 2012; Montreuil et al., 2013; Ballot et al. 2014), its core concept is the universal interconnection of logistics services and networks. To provide an introduction to this special topic forum, we first discuss the origin of the term Physical Internet. Second, we assess the current status of research and provide a literature review. Third, we showcase key PI issues and research challenges and we finish with a brief introduction of the papers that were selected for this special forum. The Physical Internet is inspired by the principles of the Digital Internet, so it is not a mere copy-and-paste of its constituents such as the transmission control and Internet protocols (TCP/IP). This is crucial as there are major differences between data packets on the digital side and parcels and freight on the physical side, and also major differences at the organization levels. The Physical Internet is also by definition different from the Internet of Things (IoT) defined by the connection of physical objects to the Digital Internet. This said, the IoT can be an enabler of the Physical Internet by increasing visibility and control of objects beyond a company’s information systems. The Physical Internet is about interconnecting the world’s logistic networks and is thus defining a new opportunity for supply chain design and operations, enabling seamless open asset sharing and flow consolidation, fulfilling society’s demand for physical objects with an order-of-magnitude better efficiency and sustainability, thanks to improved economies of scale and scope. Physical Internet success stems from interconnecting logistics actors on multiple layers, such as physical, digital, operational, transactional, and legal. Ultimately, the Physical Internet will enable universal interconnectivity with any organization, anytime and anywhere. This is a disruption of the mostly service or customer dedicated logistic networks. At supply chain design and management levels, the Physical Internet opens the way to completely new interconnected operations and business models with a clear goal to improve sustainability in a broad sense. For example, PI implies a redesign of freight transportation, with gradual shift to interconnected transportation. At the basic level, the PI interface will simplify switching between transport carriers (e.g., trailers, railcars) and transport containers. The containers will be moving in a quasi-continuous flow, without driving time limitations or vehicle recharging constraints, and with a continuous tracking of performance and liability to ensure the highest level of service and trust. The impact of the use of PI interfaces for transport containerization on handling and efficiency is well described (Levison, 2016). At a secondary level, PI redesign will improve shipment confidentiality and modular handling containers will improve intercarrier exchanges performed at multiparty sorting and crossdocking hubs, enabling a higher critical mass of flows between hubs, and therefore offer higher transport frequency and higher levels of services (Montreuil et al., 2016). Based on actual data from the consumer goods supply chain, an early simulation-based assessment study of the Physical Internet potential revealed that interconnected transportation enabled decrease of 15% in traveled km, an increase of 33% fill rate, and a decrease of 60% CO2 emissions (Sarraj et. al 2014). A similar transformational shift toward interconnected distribution is achievable by applying Physical Internet concepts to the dynamic smart deployment of goods in an open network of warehouses, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers. Early optimization and simulation-based assessment studies of interconnected distribution revealed significant improvement in efficiency (30% order of magnitude), responsiveness, resilience, and security, through a dynamic network approach securing supplies without duplication of safety stocks and fast fulfillment in line with market expectations (Sohrabi et al. 2016; Yang et al. 2017). The impact of COVID-19 has put a spotlight on such works for all sectors and not limited at the company level like previous analyses (Simchi-Levi et al., 2014). As a new paradigm, the Physical Internet induces changes in logistics organizations and in supply chain applications, but it is also evolving based on trends and supported by new and future research. The Digital Internet was also quite an original paradigm in organizations. Based on a set of protocols, not ISO standards, it was mainly developed by researchers with an associative, thus private governance and gradually adopted by the industry at large, toward its current extensive use across all societal and economic realms. The Digital Internet burst was a disruption compared with the classical interconnection rules already in place between telecom companies in charge of communication in a highly regulated environment. In general companies, and especially the services providers and network infrastructure operators, found in digital Internet concepts, principles, and protocols, notably TCP/IP, the technical solutions needed to settle new businesses with models such as transit contracts and peering bilateral agreements. In short, the Digital Internet brought three main components: a set of protocols independent of technologies, a business framework, and a mostly state-independent governance body. Logistics organizations have different origins. Among these, one is very similar to telecom: the postal services already interconnected under the Universal Postal Union regulations since the end of the nineteen century (https://www.upu.int/en/Home/). This organization still operates but is highly dependent on state-owned operators, sometimes hostage to political stakes, and it has offered few innovations in the last few decades. The other activities remain in the hands of logistics service providers with limited regulations and a continuous flow of innovations in services. To illustrate what PI can provide to the logistic sector, it is useful to consider the same three main interconnection components as previously discussed. From a technical point of view, standardization of tools and processes are not well adopted in the logistics sector. Notable exceptions are the maritime containers on the physical level and incoterms on the transactional level. There is a set of standardized dimensions for cardboard boxes [ISO 3394:2012] yet major players use their own designs. Even for pallets, there exist many standardized sizes, not to mention materials and strengths. The same goes for electronic data exchange (EDI), as messages are standardized but all companies use them in different ways, with minimal intercompany compatibility. The lack of universally adopted tools and processes is a strong barrier against shared solutions and a more efficient logistics process. From a business point of view, a classical approach to develop a logistics business is the expansion of a company by acquiring or integrating competitors in other territories or with specific complementary services. This approach is still at play between logisticians (Carbone and Stone, 2005) and also in the e-commerce sector with companies seeking the integration of logistics companies to maximize their value chain. With the integration, the working methods, the tools, and the codes are defined for the integrating company’s organization which can thus potentially achieve a high degree of consistency, but which remains limited to each such company. Despite the advantages of integration provided by economies of scale and scope, it is limited by investment capacity and antitrust regulations. The second classical approach to develop a logistics business is through the market. Contracting or subcontracting is important in logistics markets, notably for storage, trucking, and last-mile delivery. In most cases, each contract specifies its own set of terms, conditions, tools, and processes. This approach is also very dynamic with the proliferation of marketplaces to ease subcontracting at a larger scale. Between market and integration, a third approach has grown in the last few years, based on collaborative solutions such as alliances, traffic exchange agreements, and pooling (Cruijssen et al. 2007). This approach is the most similar to the Physical Internet paradigm. It seeks to improve the performance beyond the classical boundaries of firms by sharing resources and operations, but with less uncertainties associated with pure market transactions. However, such collaborative organizations, despite some merits, are limited to a few participants and are quite hard to generalize so far. To avoid any misunderstanding, the interconnected approach should not be positioned between the classical organizational approaches to improve logistics performance. It is not a new collaborative organization that would fall between market and integration in a transaction cost framework (Coase 1937). It is a set of protocols, interfaces, and tools, enabling interconnectivity on massive scale and scope that could drastically change business relations in the logistic sector. From a governance point of view, the goal is making the universal interconnection between logistics networks not only technically feasible and economically profitable, but also acceptable by society and industry. One way to make this all acceptable is to demonstrate that the Physical Internet can work, first at a limited scale with experimentations and businesses, so as to build trust and consensus about its design. If collaboration is needed, it is at the design stage of Physical Internet protocols, interfaces, and tools, when researchers and industry innovators can propose solutions and a roadmap, like the EU SENSE project led by ALICE European Technology Platform [https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/769967]. Concept proofing, pilot testing, experimentations, and improvements are leading the way toward wide scale adoption. At that point, governance of PI solutions will need to take place to define validated Physical Internet solutions and guide their implementation, adoption and evolution. Physical Internet research is enhancing and extending the scientific foundations; assessing the performance improvement potentiality; bridging the capability gaps, notably through new models, protocols, and designs; and validating feasibility and implementation hurdles, particularly through monitoring pilot projects and analyzing case studies (Pan et al. 2017). Research and innovation in packaging, handling, and transport containerization (Landschützer et al. 2015; Montreuil et al. 2016; Sallez et al. 2016) are gradually leading the way toward designed-for-logistics, smart, connected, and ecofriendly Physical Internet containers (e.g., aeler.com, livingpackets.com, poneragroup.com), notably with high-impact industry and trade agreements facilitating their development and deployment (e.g., Leblanc, 2020). Business model innovations in line with Physical Internet concepts are making headway in the market and prospering, as expected from Montreuil et al. (2013b). Examples abound, such as on-demand warehousing (e.g., flexe.com), open-access fulfillment network services (darkstore.com, sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon), open access delivery platforms (e.g., roadie.com), as well as freight and logistics marketplaces and apps (coyote.com, freightera.com, colivri, mixmove.io, uber.com/freight). Several large logistic players are currently investigating whether and how to evolve stepwise toward the Physical Internet for themselves. For example, logistics and delivery service providers such as Americold, SF Express, and UPS have engaged in major PI research projects with Georgia Tech’s Physical Internet Center. With multinational corporations, the first steps are usually started by aiming toward a Physical Intranet interconnecting their multiple internal networks and activities, and then gradually consider more open multiparty approaches. As an example, UPS has invested in Ware2Go, a technology company and platform to match merchant needs with flexible fulfillment, recruiting and certifying warehouses in strategic locations, enabling merchants to position products closer to their customers, leveraging the scope and scale of UPS’s network to provide an integrated delivery solution to improve management of the order-to-delivery experience (UPS, 2018). The growing piecemeal PI exploration and adoption by industry, from startups to established corporations, highlights why research and innovation projects with collaboration between industry and academia are so important in the current context. There have been several articles that provided a good systematic literature review of the latest published research in the Physical Internet such as Pan, Ballot, Huang, and Montreuil (2017), Sternberg and Norrman (2017), Matusiewicz et al. (2020) and Treiblmaier, Mirkovski, Lowry, and Zacharia (2020). The following review of recently published PI research provides an update and brief overview of the articles published in 2019 and 2020 that have not been previously reviewed. They also help to position the PI paradigm, identity enablers, and propose implementations with tools or in specific areas. The positioning of the Physical Internet as a new paradigm is still an active scientific debate with several new contributions since last year. Through their literature review, Fergani et al. 2019 propose a general taxonomy for PI, distinguishing between research areas that are not as well covered and providing avenues for further research. Two other papers chose to position PI in comparison with actual approaches. Cornejo et al. (2020) provide an overview of both PI and Lean to show the relationship between both paradigms, and they highlight the potential benefit of value stream mapping for contrasting current and Physical Internet solutions in terms of PI goals. Ambra et al. (2019) exposed the relationships between the concepts of synchromodal transport systems and the Physical Internet, as both were developed to improve socioeconomic conditions and environmental sustainability. Their research identifies potential synergies, future research directions, and critical questions to be considered. Another set of papers focuses on enablers such as the one proposed by Meyer et al. (2019). It develops a Blockchain-based 4-layered framework to overcome some of the barriers within PI associated with the exchange of value and physical assets in decentralized logistics networks. Betti et al. (2019a, 2019b) investigate the exploitation of Blockchain distributed ledgers and smart contracts in interconnected logistics and validate the potential by coupling an agent-oriented discrete-events simulation with a Blockchain platform. In the same vein, Tran-Dang et al. (2020) investigate the application of Internet of Things technologies, building blocks, and a service-oriented architecture to accelerate the implementation of PI. Propose an open network-model approach for providing infrastructural data sovereignty that will enable the sharing of sensitive operational data as required for realizing PI. From another perspective, Lafkihi et al. (2019) use gamification methodology to compare a centralized approach, based on a central authority that optimizes transport plans for all carriers, versus a decentralized approach where carriers optimize their own transport plans, as found in simple PI implementations. Results indicate centralization outperforms in terms of global efficiency and effectiveness; while decentralization is better for individual incentives. The last proposed set of papers focuses on solutions for existing problems or new problems raised by new types of operations. Osmólski et al. (2019) present dedicated PI solutions to logistic processes such as modular transport units and real-time planning and information exchange, as well as properly designed communication infrastructure. Puskás et al. (2019) explore the use of interconnected autonomous vehicles and platooning systems for modeling an existing freight holding problem in a PI system, leading to a dynamic real-time reconfiguration for platoons. Qiao et al. (2019) introduce a PI-based optimization model that can be used for multi-leg dynamic pricing and request selection within the LTL industry. Chargui et al. (2019) focuses on optimizing operations occurring in a Rail–Road PI-Hub cross-docking terminal. They formulated the problem as a Multi-Objective Mixed-Integer Programming model (MO-MIP), solved with CPLEX solver using Lexicographic Goal Programming, and validated through an ANOVA analysis. Lemmens et al. (2019) demonstrate, using a simulation study, that synchronized intermodality (employing multiple modes in a flexible dynamic way) can induce a modal shift toward low carbon transport modes that are useful in PI. Puskás et al. (2019) suggest a key part of the Physical Internet is the need for interconnected autonomous vehicles that utilize a platooning system, and they determined that a reinforcement learning-based model performs better for high incoming vehicle numbers and a heuristics-based model performs better for low vehicle numbers. From a wide-angle perspective, Jaziri et al. (2020) exemplify the interest in leveraging PI as a strategic socio-politico-economic development vision and pathway, by proposing a PI-based strategic vision for Saudi Arabia to ensure its place as the most prominent middle eastern logistics hub by 2030. There were 18 papers submitted to the original special topic forum call for papers. Each paper was reviewed by a minimum of three reviewers at each round, with some papers going through four rounds, before final acceptance leading to four papers accepted as discussed below. The purpose of this special topic forum as noted earlier on the Physical Internet was threefold. First, it provided an opportunity for researchers to submit the latest innovations, technologies, applications, and methodologies related to the Physical Internet. Second, it aimed to identify critical issues and challenges for future research and development in the broad field of Physical Internet and related field of interconnection and interoperability of logistics networks and supply chains. Third, it aimed to stimulate further logistics research exploiting the new Physical Internet paradigm. We believe the three papers selected for this special issue meet these goals. The first paper from Chuanwen Dong and Rod Franklin, entitled “From the Digital Internet to the Physical Internet: A conceptual framework with a stylized network model” (Dong and Franklin 2021) explores the parallel between Digital Internet and the Physical Internet. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for PI based on the Digital Internet (DI), with the aim of solving both the reachability and optimality problems. It reviews the structure of DI and discusses the complexity of PI in comparison with DI. In addition, the authors propose a stylized network model using graph theory to support the implementation of the PI. Furthermore, the authors develop an algorithm to solve the model and demonstrate how it can be used to operationalize the PI in a case study. The second paper from Michael Plasch, Sarah Pfoser, Markus Gerschberger, Regina Gattringer, and Oliver Schauer, is entitled “Why collaborate in a Physical Internet Network? – Motives and Success Factors” (Plasch et al. 2021). It empirically investigates the motives and success factors associated with collaborating in a PI network using both resource-based view theory and resource orchestration theory. They use a case-based research approach, studying four shippers and three logistics service providers (LSPs) in a multi-industry setting to demonstrate that central and neutral orchestration of resources is a critical, substantial, and multifaceted issue in PI, especially with continuous PI collaboration. The third paper from Henrik Sternberg and Meltem Denizel, entitled “Towards the Physical Internet – Logistics service modularity and design implications,” (Sternberg and Denizel 2021) explores a key component of the PI. The role of PI containers is the focus of this paper as it looks at the design and characteristics that will determine the containers’ flows in a domestic network context. They utilize a linear programming model that minimizes flow imbalances to investigate PI-container compatibility. The analysis reveals that PI-container compatibility in terms of forward and reverse flows determines whether PI presents increased or decreased empty runs compared with the existing conventional logistics system. The results also show the importance of keeping synergistic specificity low, and on understanding what characteristics affect the urgency of technology use, which are all important for future research on PI-container repositioning, routing, and packaging design. The fourth paper from Tomas Ambra, An Caris, and Cathy Macharis entitled "Do You See What I See? A Simulation Analysis of Order Bundling within a Transparent User Network in Geographic Space" (Ambra, Caris and Macharis 2021) explores the concept of an open network that users can access to place orders for shipments that will automatically adjust vehicles in existing fixed routes to pick up freight. Using a novel agent-based simulation model, the authors were able to demonstrate the benefits of introducing PI-hubs closer to consumers leading to reduction in private car journeys and instead using existing service providers with only minor increases in delays to existing freight customers. The results show more realistic routing strategies, more efficient utilization of equipment leading to a more holistic perspective to manage the service-driven company’s fleet. By definition, the Physical Internet offers a paradigm for analyzing logistics operations that appears particularly suited to the needs of reducing the environmental footprint and improving agility, robustness, and resilience. It therefore appears paradoxical that companies do not rush to deploy the associated concepts. Even if the first signs of implementation appear, we remain far from universal interconnection, including when technical solutions are identified with associated economic gain, for example modular handling containers [https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/314468]. Several arguments, which are not mutually exclusive, can be put forward, which constitute the many avenues of research that are essential to get closer to a broader implementation of the Physical Internet. There is a need for more operational demonstrations of PI, both on a larger scale and more open to others in the research community. While some companies use concepts close to the Physical Internet, in Physical Intranet mode, the limited communication on this subject makes the dissemination of these practices still difficult. The open-access sharing of resources and flow consolidation, in the broad sense, between logistic companies should therefore continue to be the subject of research to better identify the factors associated with their performance and the conditions for their success. The complexity of these operations is such that recourse to modeling and games will also be necessary to prove the gains for each of the operators, as shown by Lafkihi et al. (2020). The distribution of a logistic service among several actors, including those not known at the start and beyond traditional subcontracting, is a strong point but undoubtedly raises the question of trust and mechanisms for monitoring performance. These points clearly reinforce the needs for shared codes, traceability, and contractual commitment allowing a shipper or a carrier to transfer a shipment to a third party with a confidence equivalent to that of operations entrusted to a single provider. The history of the maritime container (Levison 2016) shows the difficulty of designing a logistics system but above all of deploying it on a global scale. Beyond the necessary experiments and local successes and failures, it is necessary to reach coordination in decisions between the players in order to achieve a shared system (size, twist-lock, etc.). What was initially patented (e.g., twist-lock) has been modified and opened to all, giving a real new start to sea containers without benefiting any particular company. But the design of the sea container remains an "isolated" object and reflects in a limited way the issues at hand here. How to coordinate a large and fragmented sector in a complex transition to logistics efficiency with the objective of its sustainable development? This is the challenge taken up by the European association ALICE-ETP, which produces a regularly updated roadmap with industry to this end. In this regard, it may also be useful to draw inspiration from other sectors such as semiconductors and its association “International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors” See http://www.itrs2.net/uploads/4/9/7/7/49775221/irc-itrs-mtm-v2_3.pdf. For nearly 50 years, this sector has been coordinated around Moore's "law" and more than Moore, which is not a physical law but a business model! Thus, in the field of logistics a recurring objective of progress in efficiency set by leaders could make it possible to promote technical solutions. As shown, the paradigm of the Physical Internet poses many ambitious and difficult but worthy research questions and we are hopeful that this special issue will allow significant progress to be made on the Physical Internet through the research it will inspire. We are deeply appreciative of all the authors who submitted their manuscripts, the reviewers who helped reduce the 18 submissions to the 4 accepted articles found in this special issue and especially the Journal of Business Logistics former Co-Editors—Thomas Goldsby and Walter Zinn—for their support and providing us with the opportunity to develop this STF.

Purpose The physical internet (PI) is an emerging logistics and supply chain management (SCM) concept that draws on different technologies and areas of research, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and key performance indicators, with the purpose of revolutionizing existing logistics and SCM practices. The growing literature on the PI and its noteworthy potential to be a disruptive innovation in the logistics industry call for a systematic literature review (SLR), which we conducted that defines the current state of the literature and outlines future research directions and approaches. Design/methodology/approach The SLR that was undertaken included journal publications, conference papers and proceedings, book excerpts, industry reports and white papers. We conducted descriptive, citation, thematic and methodological analyses to understand the evolution of PI literature. Findings Based on the literature review and analyses, we proposed a comprehensive framework that structures the PI domain and outlines future directions for logistics and SCM researchers. Research limitations/implications Our research findings are limited by the relatively low number of journal publications, as the PI is a new field of inquiry that is composed primarily of conference papers and proceedings. Originality/value The proposed PI-based framework identifies seven PI themes, including the respective facilitators and barriers, which can inform researchers and practitioners on future potentially disruptive SC strategies.

Purpose Increasing environmental uncertainty, more demanding customers, rapid technological growth and rising capital costs have all forced firms to evolve from collaborating with buyers and suppliers to collaborating with their competitors and that is called coopetition. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the antecedents and outcomes associated with coopetition. Design/methodology/approach Building from the existing literature and three theoretical foundations, resource-based theory, resource dependence theory and game theory, the authors develop a model showing the antecedents and outcomes of coopetition and associated propositions of coopetition. Using a semi-structured interview process of 21 industry executives, the authors offer empirical support for the proposed coopetition model and propositions. Findings Firms are increasingly dependent on the knowledge and expertise in external organizations to innovate, solve problems and improve supply chain performance. This research suggests that there is a value for firms to consider coopetition as a part of their inter-firm strategies. Research limitations/implications The semi-structured interview process used in this research provided a wealth of information and executive experiences in coopetition. The interviews, however, only provide a single perspective of collaborative engagements with competitors. Multiple perspectives of each project would add value to this research. Originality/value Collaboration among buyers and suppliers have been well researched; however, there has not been as much research on coopetition. This research provides a new area for future research for academics and offers suggestions for managers to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their coopetition projects.

The article titled “Defining Supply Chain Management” published in 2001 in the Journal of Business Logistics has been cited over 4,900 times in the last 17 years. In this paper, we first provide a historical review of how the article originated and the contributions the article made to both the theory and practice of supply chain management (SCM). Next, we highlight the key market and technological changes that have emerged in SCM followed by how the theory proposed in the 2001 article can still be relevant to support SCM research and practice going forward. We also propose ways of configuring a supply chain and partnering across companies to serve customers in an optimal way. We conclude with a call for research on developing new frameworks to better describe, explain, predict, and shed light on the evolving nature of SCM.

PurposeDespite the large literature base associated with dyadic collaboration, its knowledge-based antecedents are still not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to better understand those antecedents and to explore why the supply chain (SC) literature has found mixed results regarding knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity in dyadic collaboration research.Design/methodology/approachThe critical incident technique (CIT) was utilized, using qualitative semi-structured interviews to refine a proposed research model. In total, 43 executives were interviewed each providing a description of both a successful and an unsuccessful SC dyadic collaboration. The interviews were analyzed to better understand the knowledge-based antecedents of buyer–supplier collaboration.FindingsThis study suggests that dyadic collaboration and subsequent outcomes are improved by successful knowledge transfer. Additionally, knowledge transfer requires both distributive and absorptive capacities in each participant. The research also uncovered new evidence to support the need for a collaborative orientation to support successful knowledge transfer.Research limitations/implicationsThe interviews conducted using the CIT provided a wealth of information and executive experiences in SC collaboration. However, the interviews only provide a single perspective of collaborative engagements. Multiple perspectives of each collaboration would add value to this research.Originality/valueSC collaboration and knowledge transfer have been well studied across disciplines. This research introduces new knowledge-related variables that can contribute to successful collaboration: distributive capability and SC collaborative orientation.

Prior research suggests that the interaction of individual agents for buyer and supplier firms influences firm level business relationships. There is a call for empirical research that investigates the interplay of cognitive judgments and behaviors of these agents in their interactions. We therefore evaluate the role that psychological contracts, or unspoken obligations can play in buyer-supplier relationship dissolution. Most empirical studies in this area have focused solely on transactional obligations. Our research uses social exchange theory to explain why breach of relational obligations matters, although they might have no immediate economic consequence. We use two scenario based experiments, with student participants and supply chain professionals, to understand reactions to relational, transactional, and combined breaches in supply chains. Interviews with seasoned, strategic sourcing agents confirm the experimental findings and provide additional insight. We find that breach of a relational psychological contract has both a direct effect on fairness perceptions, and an indirect effect mediated by an emotional response. In contrast, the effect of a breach on the decision to switch suppliers, is fully mediated by emotional response. The implication is that suppliers may be able to ameliorate relationship dissolution by dampening the buyer's emotional response to the psychological breach. The interviews reveal that in practice, relational breaches can be the cause of relationship termination, though a transactional breach may be used as justification. Thus we demonstrate the importance of understanding and fulfilling unspoken relational obligations.

The ability to monitor supplier performance is a critical capability for maintaining strong buyer-supplier relationships. Monitoring type B suppliers is especially challenging as they are not as clearly defined as either type A, with strong strategic partnerships, or type C, with little partnership. This research develops a non-parametric multivariate Hoteling's T-2 control chart to capture the in-control state of a dyadic relationship (Phase I), and show how it would be developed based on survey data of buyer-supplier relationship attributes. Modelling the satisfactory level of dyadic relationship performance is very useful for identifying when the relationship begins to move away from the desired state. We then use the designed control chart to monitor the relationship between dyads over time to determine if any unusual behaviour has occurred (Phase II) and illustrate its implementation through a case study from the auto industry. This research illustrates how supply chain managers can secure and improve their supply chain performance by monitoring and maintaining strong relationships with their partners. The proposed method extends the existing SPC tools to effectively manage Type B buyer-supplier relationships.

To accelerate research discoveries-those required to address paramount challenges facing business today-researchers from diverse disciplines must work together. Interdisciplinary research (IDR) is a research that involves bringing together perspectives from two or more disciplines in an integrative manner to address complex and multifaceted supply chain management (SCM) problems. IDR is needed to address contemporary business challenges. We look at SCM research through the lens of the Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTF) drawing parallels in research evolution and noting similar antecedents in theoretical development. We point to the advances BTF has offered to organizational theory built on IDR and consider the possibilities for SCM. We make a case for methodological diversity in supporting this research, further paralleling lessons from BTF. Last, we describe the state of IDR in SCM today, discuss the objective of this special issue, and showcase the five contributing papers.

Buyer-supplier relationships have always been an important component in the long-term success of supply chains. This paper constructs a non parametric Hoteling's T-2 control chart to ensure that supply chain partners in dyadic relationships have the same level of understanding about the relationship. The proposed method is helpful to identify any unusual behavior in the relationship before it becomes a real problem.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the role of the source and recipient of knowledge in supply chain collaboration by providing evidence that the distributive capabilities of a source, working in conjunction with the absorptive capacity (AC) of a recipient, have direct and significant effects on levels of collaborative engagement between supply chain partners and indirect and significant effects on collaborative operational outcomes.Design/methodology/approach - This study utilises 310 surveys and structural equations modelling to provide empirical evidence to support the significance of the source of knowledge in collaborative activities.Findings - The study provides evidence for source-based knowledge transfer constructs (distributive capabilities) in supply chain collaboration. Further, this research supports these capabilities working in conjunction with recipient AC both as necessary but insufficient requirements for successful knowledge transfer.Practical implications - Firm interdependence within supply chains continues to grow. In today's environment of outsourcing and increasing levels of inter-firm activities, this research provides a parsimonious model of collaboration that allows firms to understand knowledge transfer better and how to more aptly manage these types of activities and complex relationships.Originality/value - Earlier research in this domain has focussed on the abilities of a recipient firm to absorb knowledge in order to understand successful collaborative knowledge transfer. By solely focussing on the recipient firm, the role of the source of knowledge has been largely overlooked in this stream of research.

Since its introduction over three decades ago, the field of supply chain management (SCM) has undergone numerous transformations. Today it is a prevailing theme in scholarly and popular research, and numerous disparate disciplines claim its ownership. Despite the field's evolution there continues to be little agreement on the domain and unifying theory of SCM, as well as a consensus definition. The result has been a lack of clarity as to the scope of SCM, “siloed” research methodologies, and parallel research efforts. We interviewed 50 academic scholars across disciplines, as well as 20 SCM business executives, to extract commonality of opinion and discuss the future of SCM. The most important of these findings are the identification of “common ground” regarding the definition and scope of SCM, establishment of the need for interdisciplinary research, the recognition of the existence of “inner” and “outer core” functions central to SCM, and the nature of functional involvement in interdisciplinary research. In this paper we present these findings and provide a path forward based on the collective wisdom of these scholars and executives.