Is theory merely a camera through which we view the world, or can it be an engine that drives change within it? In our new Notes & Debates article in the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Theory as an Engine: Illuminating “White Space” of the SCM System of Knowledge Production, we (with Dane Pflueger and Christopher S. Chapman) argue that while much of the SCM literature has treated theory as a camera that tries to capture the world as it is, there is untapped potential in using theory as an engine capable of transforming SCM practices and knowledge itself. We advocate the inclu ..read more

A few days ago, the European Council approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). It mandates that companies “should take appropriate steps to set up and carry out due diligence measures, with respect to their own operations, those of their subsidiaries, as well as their direct and indirect business partners throughout their chains of activities”. It clearly takes a supply chain perspective: “The chain of activities should cover activities of a company’s upstream business partners related to the production of goods or the provision of services by the company, includin ..read more

An impressive new study by Sun et al., Global Supply Chains Amplify Economic Costs of Future Extreme Heat Risk, just published in Nature, reveals a worrying escalation in global heatwaves, posing significant health and economic risks through increased mortality, reduced labor productivity, and widespread economic disruptions in supply chains. By integrating climate science, epidemiology, and economic modeling, the study predicts a substantial increase in annual global GDP losses, potentially reaching up to 4.6% by 2060, with the most severe impacts felt in developing countries and major manufa ..read more

I am pleased to share with you a new article I co-authored with Wendy L. Tate and Tingting Yan: A Guided Tour Through the Qualitative Research City. This is my first Journal of Supply Chain Management editorial. In this piece, we draw parallels between a city’s less-visited buildings and ten research approaches: (1) grounded theory, (2) interpretive research, (3) sensemaking, (4) sociomateriality, (5) actor–network theory, (6) ethnography, (7) action research, (8) discourse analysis, (9) narrative research, and (10) historical research. Our goal is to inspire our readers to embrace the methodo ..read more

For several years now, it has been a tradition for me to use this blog to offer a little outlook on the coming months of SCM, a kind of glimpse into the crystal ball. This year, however, it is particularly difficult for me to do so. I have spent the last couple of weeks repairing the extensive damage that the climate crisis has caused to my parents’ house. Since the spring of 2023, the sea surface temperatures have consistently reached unprecedented extremes, leading to evaporation over the Atlantic and heavy rainfall in Germany. My compatriot, climatologist Stefan Rahmstorf, summarizes the cu ..read more

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with the Circular Supply Chain Network, recently published a white paper entitled Building a Circular Supply Chain. This publication addresses the transition from traditional, linear supply chains to circular ones, emphasizing the increased resilience they offer. Circular supply chains, characterized by distributed networks, multidirectional flows, and maximization of product and material use, provide a solution to the vulnerabilities of linear models. These supply chains not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and costs, but also minimize ..read more

I have often noticed that researchers in our discipline have many questions about what good qualitative SCM research should look like. A new article by Rockmann and Vough, Using Quotes to Present Claims: Practices for the Writing Stages of Qualitative Research, is a great guide for scholars of qualitative management research. It emphasizes the critical fourth stage of qualitative research – the writing of findings – which goes beyond study design, data collection, and analysis. The authors introduce practical tools such as claim tables and storyboarding for organizing and presenting data, espe ..read more

This article, entitled Apple’s Supply Chain Is on a Collision Course With Climate Change, argues that Apple’s supply chain faces major risks from the climate crisis. Despite its efforts to become carbon neutral, the regions where its suppliers are located are highly vulnerable to climate-related natural disasters and have carbon-intensive energy grids. I believe it would make a great case study for business school classes, using the following questions: 1. Identify and summarize the key challenges and risks Apple faces related to its supply chain in the context of the climate crisis. 2. Propos ..read more

The replication crisis that has deeply affected neighboring disciplines is now under scrutiny in operations management. Eight scholars (Davis et al.: A Replication Study of Operations Management Experiments in Management Science) took the initiative to examine the replicability of ten influential experimental articles. Their results were disturbing: only six articles were fully replicated, two were partially replicated, and two completely missed the mark. Such results raise questions about the robustness of our basic research. In light of these findings, a pressing question arises: Does supply ..read more

One hundred years ago, practitioners were the lead researchers seeking to improve production processes. Iconic developments such as the Toyota Production System emerged from the real-world challenges faced by these early scientists. Fast forward to today, and there is a growing concern that our research is losing touch with real-world practice. Toffel’s (2016) article, Enhancing the Practical Relevance of Research, provides an insightful critique of the current state of operations (and supply chain) management research. In it, the author emphasizes that research should address real problems an ..read more