Expressing a supply-chain strategy as a conceptual system

Abstract

Extant literature lacks established frameworks or methods that can be used to evaluate a supply chain strategy. In this paper we present a type-independent approach to evaluate a business unit's supply chain strategy as a conceptual system. Using as its starting point a conceptualization of the supply chain strategy known as a functional strategy map, the approach calls for an evaluation of the supply chain strategy along several general evaluation criteria: feasibility, support, coverage, compatibility, sufficiency, synergy, and parsimony. For some of these evaluation criteria, we have proposed an evaluation method. Both the proposed criteria and methods were tested and refined through two action research projects. The ability of the approach to identify conflicts in the supply chain strategy provides evidence in support of its evaluative power. As more replications are conducted, our understanding of the capabilities and limitations of both the criteria and the method are bound to improve. At this point, nevertheless, the method and criteria have shown enough promise to warrant further exploration and refinement, and represent a novel contribution to the literature.