Editorial

Invited Articles

“In their pursuit of greater performance, firms invariably compete with their rivals for customer demand or scarce resources in factor markets. Firms' competitive behavior—the series of competitive actions taken to create or maintain competitive advantage—thus, is a key predictor of profitability and has received much attention in the strategic management literature. The central tenet of this article is that supply networks and the relationships among firms in these networks fundamentally shape the nature of interfirm competition and, ultimately, firm performance. Although prior research has amply studied the competitive dynamics among (horizontal) rival firms as well as the linkages between supply network characteristics and firm performance, there remain important opportunities to examine how supply networks enable and shape firms' competitive behavior and the effectiveness of their rivalrous activity. The goal of this article, therefore, is to take stock of the advances made in prior literature and to outline topics for future study at the intersection of competition and supply chain management. Collectively, we lay out a comprehensive perspective on the role that supply networks can play in affecting competition that, we hope, will inform and guide efforts to enhance our understanding of firm-level competitive behavior and associated performance outcomes.”

The full article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12281
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12281

“Supply chain relationships—both within and between firms—can have significant implications on the firm's ability to successfully compete. Thus, it is increasingly important for supply chain managers to skillfully navigate multiplex relationships to coordinate and manage resources across functions and firms in today's competitive environment. In this work, we describe, in a supply chain context, how the prevalence of multiplex relationships, which exist when multiple, potentially incongruous relationships are present between firms and among individuals within these firms, is an important basis for individual behaviors that influence firm competitiveness. Drawing on recent advances in the relational multiplexity theoretical perspective, we identify and discuss several research opportunities for enriching our understanding of interpersonal level antecedents of firm competitiveness. Specifically, we present research opportunities related to supply chain behavioral implications of individual differences and socio-structural adaptation, informal relationship capitalization and creation, temporal orientation and transience, contemporary multiteam structures, and cross-level relational valence (a)symmetries. Throughout, we emphasize the importance of the informal, interpersonal relationships that overlay formally specified roles and develop representative research questions to spur further exploration in each area.”

The full article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12283
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12283

“The success of a firm's supply chain strategy depends on resources in the political environment and the supply network in which it operates. If the political environment is not conducive to a firm's supply chain strategy, a firm can either change its supply chain strategy or seek a political environment that is more favorable to its supply chain. This paper examines this second alternative. The structure-conduct-performance (SCP) paradigm and the competitive dynamics literature are used to explore the relationships between political actions that leverage supply network resources, supply chain strategies, and firm performance. We extend a well-known typology of political actions from the strategic management literature and suggest that beyond influencing or complying with the political environment, firms may choose to moderate the political environment (circumvent or submit) or stay neutral (free ride). An integrated model is developed to explore the relationships between political actions and supply chain strategy, along with a series of propositions outlining how political actions can facilitate supply chain risk management strategies. Finally, suggestions are provided for future research.”

The full article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12284
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12284