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Evolving Functional Perspectives Within Supply Chain Management
Author(s) -
Zacharia Zach G.,
Sanders Nada R.,
Fugate Brian S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of supply chain management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.75
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1745-493X
pISSN - 1523-2409
DOI - 10.1111/jscm.12022
Subject(s) - clarity , scope (computer science) , field (mathematics) , supply chain , theme (computing) , identification (biology) , supply chain management , domain (mathematical analysis) , business , knowledge management , engineering ethics , computer science , sociology , management , political science , management science , marketing , economics , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , chemistry , botany , mathematics , pure mathematics , engineering , biology , programming language , operating system
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.