A Conceptual Model for Researching the Creation and Operation of Supply Networks1
| Author | Jurong Zheng,Thomas Johnsen,Richard Lamming,Christine Harland |
| Published date | 01 March 2004 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2004.t01-1-00397.x |
| Date | 01 March 2004 |
A Conceptual Model for Researching the
Creation and Operation of Supply
Networks
1
Christine Harland, Jurong Zheng, Thomas Johnsen and Richard Lamming
Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply (CRiSPS), School of Management, University of Bath,
Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK
Corresponding author email: mnscmh@management.bath.ac.uk
This paper presents a conceptual model for the creation and operation of supply
networks. Existing conceptual research relating to interorganizational relationships and
networks is reviewed in terms of its relevance to understanding supply networks; this
research is drawn from the fields of strategic management, channel management,
industrial marketing and purchasing, organizational behaviour and supply-chain
management. The different perspectives each field has on networks are highlighted.
Contributions made by each in assisting to understand supply networks are discussed
and synthesized. Findings from an exploratory survey are used to structure the design of
a conceptual model for analysing the processes involved in the creation and operation of
supply networks. The authors identify nine different types of networking activities and
discuss the nature of these activities in the context of supply. Four different types of
contextual factors relating to supply networks are identified. The model is tested in
eight in-depth case studies and a validating survey of 58 focal firm networks. It is
concluded that it provides a robust structure that enabled complex, cross-case analysis
of multi-variable, multi-disciplinary data from interorganization product/service supply
networks, but that further testing by other researchers is required.
Introduction
In today’s competitive, global, business environ-
ment, managers of primary activities are increas-
ingly under pressure to improve performance of
their product/service packages and reduce costs
to compete internationally. Consequently, firms
have sought to integrate individual operational
functions, and externalize the focus of their
management of operations beyond the firm
boundary, upstream into their suppliers, into
suppliers’ suppliers, and downstream into their
customers and customers’ customers; here these
extended webs of operational relationships are
termed ‘supply networks’ (Harland, Lamming
and Cousins, 1999).
Supply networks are nested within wider
interorganization networks and consist of inter-
connected entities whose primary purpose is
the procurement, use and transformation of
resources to provide packages of goods and
services. Supply networks therefore essen-
tially consist of a set of interconnected supply
chains, encompassing both upstream and down-
stream relationships. From an analytical point of
view, the analyst, depending on the focus of
1
ProjectION is the Inter-Organisational Networking
Project, which is undertaken by an alliance of the
Universities of Bath, Cambridge and Brighton and
sponsored by the EPSRC. The work of our research
partners – Dr Nick Oliver, Una McCormack, John
Anderson and James Callaghan at the University of
Cambridge and Prof John Bessant and Dr George
Tsekouras at the University of Brighton is gratefully
acknowledged. The contribution of Marie Kenny as
project administrator enabled thework to be carried out.
British Journal of Management, Vol. 15, 1–21 (2004)
r2004 British Academy of Management
investigation, can determine the boundary of a
supply network. For example, we could examine
the total supply network for a firm that could be
represented by the set of upstream and down-
stream organizations it deals with, either directly
or indirectly, from original source of raw material
or service creation, to ultimate end customer.
This would provide a map of all relationships
within that firm’s supply network. This might be
valuable if, for example, we were investigating
network structure with a view to rationalizing the
total supply base. Alternatively, we could focus
attention on a particular product and examine
the product supply network containing only
those actors contributing to the manufacture,
distribution and sale of that product. We there-
fore need to identify a ‘focus’ for a supply
network and the purpose of analysis to enable
us to bound it.
More broadly, the concept of supply has been
proposed and summarised as ‘an holistic ap-
proach to managing operations within collabora-
tive inter-organisation networks, allowing the
formulation and implementation of rational
strategies for creating, stimulating, capturing
and satisfying end customer demand through
innovation of products, services, supply net-
work structures and infrastructures, in a
global, dynamic environment’ (Harland,
Lamming and Cousins, 1999). This concept
represents and frames the convergent issues and
interests relating to interorganizational flows of
resources, products and services within supply
networks.
To date much of the research specifically
examining supply networks has been observa-
tional and anecdotal, describing case examples of
firms that appear to have managed their net-
works and achieved some form of competitive
advantage. Benetton (Jarillo and Stevenson,
1991), Toyota (Womack, Jones and Roos,
1990), and Nissan (Nishiguchi, 1994) are exam-
ples of such accounts. The descriptive nature of
these cases, however, presents a problem for
managers as there is little evidence of critical
analysis of the circumstances of these companies
and the contexts of their networks; consequently
little guidance has been provided as to how
supply networks of different types facing different
business situations can be created and operated
effectively. Also the cases have been conducted in
many and varied ways; there was no overall
guiding conceptual model of how to investigate
supply networks.
ProjectION aimed to research empirically a
reasonable number and variety of supply net-
works in different sectors and business contexts
to attempt to develop a taxonomy of supply
networks and to provide managerial guidance on
how to create and operate supply networks of
different types in different circumstances. We
wanted to use a robust and consistent conceptual
model to ensure that cross-case comparison could
be performed. In this paper we describe our
search for such a model and, when an appro-
priate model was not found, our development of
a conceptual model for examining the crea-
tion and operation of supply networks. The
following section describes the methodology
used to research available conceptual models,
develop a model through exploratory research,
ground it in literature and apply and test it
empirically.
Methodology
This section describes the methodology for the
creation and development of the conceptual
model. A schematic for the methodology is
shown in Figure 1.
As researchers in supply networks coming from
an operations management/purchasing and sup-
ply perspective, we initially searched our own
literature area for any conceptual models that
might provide a consistent and robust method for
conducting the empirical studies of supply net-
works at the core of ProjectION. The first
literature section of this paper provides this initial
review of the supply network literature. Whilst
some interesting analytical approaches were
reviewed, there did not appear to be a strong
conceptual model that would enable us to conduct
the substantial empirical study we intended.
The literature review was broadened, there-
fore, to embrace strategic management,marketing
and organization behaviour as studies of
interorganizational networks were being repor-
ted on in these fields. The second literature
section presents the findings from this broader
review.
Using ideas and elements of a range of authors’
work from the range of fields of research
examined, we constructed an initial conceptual
2C. Harland et al.
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