Bridging organization

Abstract
Rivalry is increasingly being contested at the supply chain level of analysis. Rather than competing “firm versus firm,” today's organizations are battling “supply chain versus supply chain.” Within this context, best value supply chains are emerging as a means to create competitive advantages and superior performance. While traditional supply chains often focus primarily on one keyoutcome such as speed or cost, best value supply chains excel along an array of uniquely integrated priorities—cost, quality, speed, and flexibility. We describe how key organizational theories help to distinguish traditional supply chains from best value supply chains. To provide a foundation for future inquiry, we offer theory-based research questions that are focused on best value supply chains.Keywords: Organization Theory; Supply Chain Management; Best Value Supply Chains; Strategic Supply Chain Management
Article Outline
* 1. Best value and traditional supply chains
*
* 1.1. Agility, adaptability, and alignment
* 1.2. Competitive priorities
* 2. Organization theories and best value supply chains
* 3. Conclusion
* Acknowledgement
* References
Asupply chain is a series of units that transforms raw materials into finished products and delivers the products to customers (Mabert and Venkataramanan, 1998). Some of the units in a chain are located inside a single organization's borders while others cross such borders in complex and evolving ways. Effectively managing supply chains is vital to organizational success. Indeed, there is a growingrecognition that modern competition is being fought “supply chain versus supply chain” rather than “firm versus firm” ( [Boyer et al., 2005] and [Ketchen and Guinipero, 2004] ).
The value of supply chain management is reflected in how firms such as Wal-Mart, Toyota, and Dell have used their supply chains as strategic weapons to gain advantages over peers. Meanwhile, failing to manage supplychains effectively offers serious negative consequences. For example, problems with contract manufacturers led Cisco to write off $2.25 billion of inventory in 2001 (Lee, 2004). In terms of stock price, firms’ market value erodes by an average of 10% following the announcement of a major supply chain problem (Hendricks and Singhal, 2003).
Our contention is that best value supply chains are the chainsthat are most likely to prosper within today's competitive global landscape. Our paper has three main goals related to best value supply chains. First, we define best value supply chains and explain the overarching differences between these chains and traditional chains. Second, we describe how key organizational theories help to distinguish best value supply chains from traditional supplychains. Third, we lay a foundation for future inquiry by building on these key theories to offer research questions focused on best value supply chains.
1. Best value and traditional supply chains
Traditionally, supply chain management has been viewed predominantly as a process for moving materials and goods. From this view, supply chain management has been viewed as a support function that helpsorganizations implement their strategies. As shown in Table 1, best value supply chains take an important additional step. Their focus is on strategic supply chain management—the use of a supply chain not merely as a means to get products to where they need to be, but also as a means to enhance key outcomes that drive firm performance (Hult et al., 2004). In other words, strategic supply chainmanagement elevates supply chain management from a function that supports strategy to a key element of strategy. An emphasis on strategic supply chain management does not imply a need to use cutting-edge and expensive equipment, nor to emphasize rich teamwork at all stages in the chain. Instead, the emphasis is on matching the chain's approach to each problem to the nature of the problem that needs to...