Editorial: why read the papers in this issue?

Citation

Ellinger, A. (2015), "Editorial: why read the papers in this issue?", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 45 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-06-2015-0160

Editorial: why read the papers in this issue?

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Volume 45, Issue 8

This final regular issue of Volume 45 includes five manuscripts that have each greatly benefitted from the generous devotion of time and effort from reviewers. Great manuscripts develop when subject matter experts see potential and make it their business to help authors develop their ideas into meaningful contributions to the extant literature. As another volume of IJPDLM draws to a close, I must once again express my sincere appreciation to the 300 or more reviewers who have helped me to "keep the trains running" this year by performing timely reviews for IJPDLM. I am also indebted to a wonderful group of Senior Associate Editors whose collaboration provides me with much needed guidance and counsel when the difficult decisions have to be made. Finally, IJPDLM's administrator Lauren Kiser has been the engine room of the operation by consistently keeping her eye on the ball and providing as close to real-time response to all issues and inquiries received as is humanly possible.

In response to Hohenstein et al.'s (2014) agenda for research on the HRM/SCM interface, this issue's lead paper "The effect of high-involvement human resource management practices on supply chain integration", by Huo, Han, Chen and Zhao draws upon survey data from ten countries to examine the effects of different high-involvement HRM practices - employee skills, incentives and participation - on different types of SCI. In particular, their research highlights the critical role of employee participation in SCI that is too often not a primary focus of SCI research. These study findings will therefore help researchers to better understand the "people dimension" of the HRM/SCM interface and guide managers in adjusting HRM practices to achieve desired operational goals.

In the next paper, "Contingency between S&OP design and planning environment", Ivert, Dukovska-Popovska, Fredriksson, Dreyer and Kaipia address a relevant and timely topic. Their study gathers and analyses qualitative data from eight cases in the food industry to provide insights about how companies adjust S&OP according to the planning environment. S&OP process improvements are critical for improving supply chain operations. Yet, S&OP is still primarily a practitioner-oriented phenomenon that has not received adequate attention in the scholarly literature. In consequence, S&OP practice has evolved far more quickly than academic research and there is relatively little theoretical discussion. The authors' approach of constructing research propositions that build upon the insight gained from the cases suggests that demand and supply characteristics can be identified that can be assessed relative to S&OP process and planning environments.

The third paper, "Consensus on supplier selection objectives in cross-functional sourcing teams: Antecedents and outcomes", by Meschnig and Kaufmann tackles the interesting subject of consensus within cross-functional sourcing teams by investigating the role of consensus in such cross-functional sourcing teams through a series of cause-effect hypotheses. Tests for moderation of the consensus-performance link are also performed. While numerous theoretical contributions have been made within this area in the strategic management discipline, this manuscript extends such contributions to the supply chain management literature. Picking up on the ties between SCM and strategic management literature identified in the recent invited manuscript by Grimm et al. (2015), this study introduces a key construct from the strategic management literature to SCM research and presents empirical evidence that consensus can improve supplier selection performance.

Relatedly, the fourth paper, "The impact of relationship history on negotiation strategy expectations: a theoretical framework", authored by Thomas, Manrodt and Eastman applies a grounded theory approach to investigate how the history of a supply chain relationship impacts expectations concerning negotiation strategy use. Negotiation research has largely focused on negotiations as discrete events with economic outcomes. In contrast, the ongoing buyer-supplier relationship dynamics highlighted in this study extends current understanding by emphasizing the impact that previous negotiations (relationship history) have on negotiation expectations. The manuscript also explores the relational impact when those expectations are or are not met.

The final paper, "Masking the bullwhip effect in retail: the influence of data aggregation", by Yao, Williams, Waller and Hofer compares alternative perspectives on the occurrence of the bullwhip effect in retail settings. Uncovering why contradictory results have been found is an important contribution. The study findings extend current understanding of a seminal SCM phenomenon by lending strong support to the masking effect of aggregating sales and order data along product location and temporal dimensions, as well as the dampening effect of seasonality on the measurement of the bullwhip effect.

My thanks to the authors and reviewers who collectively put forth their scholarship and expertise to bring these five interesting manuscripts to fruition for IJPDLM readers.

Alex Ellinger

References

Grimm, C., Knemeyer, M., Polyviou, M. and Ren, X. (2015), "Supply chain management research in management journals: a review of recent literature (2004-2013)", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp. 404-458

Hohenstein, N.O., Feisel, E. and Hartmann, E. (2014), "Human resource management issues in supply chain management research: a systematic literature review from 1998 to 2014", International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 44 No. 6, pp. 434-463