From the Editors: Introduction to the Emerging Discourse Incubator on the Topic of Research at the Intersection of Supply Chain Management and Public Policy and Government Regulation

AuthorMark Pagell,Barbara Flynn,Brian Fugate
Date01 April 2019
Published date01 April 2019
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12202
EDITORIAL
FROM THE EDITORS: INTRODUCTION TO THE
EMERGING DISCOURSE INCUBATOR ON THE TOPIC OF
RESEARCH AT THE INTERSECTION OF SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY AND
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
BRIAN FUGATE
University of Arkansas
MARK PAGELL
University College Dublin
BARBARA FLYNN
Indiana University
This issue of JSCM contains four thought-provoking
invited papers to launch our second Emerging Dis-
course Incubator (EDI). The topic for the second EDI
is research at the Intersection of Supply Chain Man-
agement (SCM) and Public Policy and Government
Regulation (PPGR). Public policy consists of what
lawmakers and administrative agencies choose to do
or not do, in response to a perceived problem, on
behalf of the public’s interest, and government regula-
tions are explicit mechanisms used to enact those
decisions (Birkland, 2015).
This discourse focuses on both the implications of
PPGRs on SCM and how SCM scholarship can
advance PPGRs. These invited papers provide a foun-
dation for a year-long discussion that should lead to
contributions that might not be possible with a typi-
cal special topic forum. As per the call for papers, we
will continue accepting submissions to this EDI until
December 31, 2019. There are already submissions
under review, and we look forward to more.
These invited articles offer unique perspectives on
different phenomena within distinct contexts. Yet,
they collectively underscore four themes important to
research at the intersection of SCM and PPGR. One
clear theme across the articles is that, as Harland, Tel-
gen, Callender, Grimm and Patrucco (2019) states,
“gaps in perceptions exist between policymakers,
implementers, and targets of policy.” To compound
this challenge, as Tokar and Swink (2019) note, SCM
researchers are generally not equipped nor expected to
emulate economists, political scientists, or policymak-
ers in conducting policy analyses or writing policy
briefs. Therefore, theory-based empirical research has
largely ignored research questions that stand at the
intersection of PPGRs and SCM.
However, Harland et al. (2019) provide a specific
example of how SCM researchers could move into the
policy-making space, and in the process, introduce a
new theory and engaged methodology to the SCM lit-
erature. They apply Policy Feedback Theory (Mettler,
2002) to assess public procurement policy outcomes
intended to engage and develop small businesses as
suppliers. The perceptional gap between policymakers,
implementers, and targets of policy was bridged by
using 13 coproduced case studies representing 13
countries. Their exploratory research suggests that the
perceptions of those who make and implement public
procurement policies are not attuned to small suppli-
ers, making many policy mechanisms largely ineffec-
tive and wasteful. However, because the methods
engaged the policymakers, implementers, and targets,
the process also provided a foundation for learning
and creating more effective policy. As each of the
invited articles articulates, SCM scholars have much to
offer in informing the creation and implementation
of PPGRs as they relate to SCM. SCM scholars will
only make advances in this pursuit if we can broaden
our scope of research and interact with those who
make and implement PPGRs and those who are
impacted by them.
April 2019
3
Journal of Supply Chain Management
2019, 55(2), 3–5
©2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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