Public–Private Partnerships in Supply Chain Management

• Author: Wesley S. Randall
• Date: 01 December 2013
• Published date: 01 December 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12029

Public–Private Partnerships in Supply Chain Management

Wesley S. Randall

University of North Texas

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) are critical to societal well-

being and foundational to national and international economic

growth. PPPs are characterized by tremendous scale and com-

plexity making them an attractive research challenge. Research

that improves the operation of PPPs increases prosperity and mit-

igates suffering and loss of live—an honorable task for supply

chain researchers.

The articles in this Special Topics Forum (STF) weave

together theoretical and practical insights to provide a strategy

for PPP research. Voss and Williams use empirical evidence

from the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-

TPAT) to develop the concept of relational security in the con-

text of PPPs. Their work shows how voluntary security enhanc-

ing programs meet critical public needs while also improving

firm performance. Swanson and Smith seek to understand ways

to leverage commercial logistics expertise for disaster response.

They examine four practical logistics frameworks and then

empirically test the appropriateness of those frameworks to disas-

ter response. Their work promises to alleviate suffering in the

immediate aftermath of a disaster. Davis and Friske tackle the

complicated issue of cross-border logistics following the attacks

of September 11, 2001. Using a qualitative methodology, they

use stakeholder theory to explain how PPP provides a gover-

nance structure based upon private enterprise collaborative capa-

bility and public interagency cooperation. Last, McCarter and

Kamal provide compelling insight into the underlying social

dilemmas at the foundation of any PPP. They provide a concep-

tual taxonomy aimed at determining why some PPPs succeed

while others fail.

In closing, I want to thank the authors who submitted to the

STF and the reviewers who provided outstanding feedback to the

authors. The quality of the STF is a testimony to all of your efforts.

JBL is to be commended for picking up the call for rigorous

research into PPP. Society will benefit not only from the research

published here, but also the future research inspired by this STF.

Corresponding author:

Wesley S. Randall, College of Business, Department of Marketing

and Logistics, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle

#311160, Denton, TX 76203-5017, USA; E-mail: wesley.randall@

unt.edu

Journal of Business Logistics, 2013, 34(4): 319

© Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals