Paulraj, A., Chen, I. J., & Blome, C. (2017). Motives and performance outcomes of sustainable supply chain management practices: A multi-theoretical perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(2), 239-258. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1007/s10551-015-2857-0
Sustainability is a key issue in modern supply chain management and Paulraj, Chen, and Blome engaged in research targeting supply chain firms to analyze the relationship between firm performance, sustainable supply chain management, and motivators at the corporate level. The study utilizes an introductory, literature review, conceptual model, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and reference sections. Validating the study’s hypothesis required an analysis of 259 out of an initial 1400 supply chain companies located in Germany, with the use of a survey instrument providing the researchers with numerical data to prove the hypothesis. This provided the researchers with primary data and reduced its dependence on external data for validation of its findings. Furthermore, the researchers tested for the reliability of this data through post-hoc analysis, thereby allowing for the formalization of the hypothesis and subsequent theories in the relationship between the variables under analysis.
As a quantitative study, the research allows me to add empirical understandings to my analysis and correlate it to the theoretical and numerical findings of the rest of my sources. However, its emphasis on sustainability among the key deliverables of supply chain strategies further enhances its ability to inform my research with reference to the applicability of sustainable thinking in supply chain relationships. This source adds to the rest of my literature sources by highlighting that self-serving strategies are difficult to align with the interests of a multi-partner supply chain. Overall, the research contributes to my research question through its elucidation of the interplay of internal and inter-stakeholder relationships. In particular, the study helps to formulate a hypothesis on the influence that one stakeholder’s sustainability behaviors may influence the outcomes of supply chain relationships and subsequent integration efforts.
Choudhary, S., Nayak, S. K., Malik, A., & Singh, D. K. (2018). Important Issues in Supply Chain Management and Development. International Journal of Recent Research Aspects, 5(1), 45-54.
In acknowledgment of the importance of the difficulties faced in supply chain integration between the firms involved in any supply chain, the research by Choudhary et al. sought to relay the factors that suppliers consider influential in the supplier-customer relationship. The authors presented this information in a clear and sequential manner, including introductory, literature review, case study, theoretical analysis, conclusion, and reference sections. Although the research provided evidence for its hypotheses through a literature review, the authors used a case study approach to quantifying the analyzed companies’ strategies using Kraljic’s matrix. Rather than depend on sales volumes or any other form of numerical data analysis, the research provides qualitative evidence of the motivations for supplier behavior. However, the research also draws on conclusions from other researchers to validate its hypothesis, thereby building upon them to enhance the precision of this analysis.
As an addition to my research, the article helps to build an argument on what individual partners in the supply chain consider as vital in their relationships with their partners. Through this research, I learned about the internal factors that determined the investments that companies make in their supply chain integration, with the contributions that partners make to a company’s market survival appearing as a strong motivator. This correlates to my other sources in the sense that the research acknowledges that supplier performance is a key determinant of this partner’s utility in a supply chain, even as this study adds that the continued effectiveness of this relationship depends on the supplier’s ability to balance potential profits and risks. Therefore, this helps tremendously in answering the question of what balance, if any, exists between supply chain integration quality and potential stakeholder outcomes.
References
Choudhary, S., Nayak, S. K., Malik, A., & Singh, D. K. (2018). Important Issues in Supply Chain Management and Development. International Journal Of Recent Research Aspects, 5(1), 45-54.
Paulraj, A., Chen, I. J., & Blome, C. (2017). Motives and performance outcomes of sustainable supply chain management practices: A multi-theoretical perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(2), 239-258. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1007/s10551-015-2857-0.
