Re‐imagining supply chain challenges through critical engaged research

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• Date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12226

RE-IMAGINING SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES THROUGH

CRITICAL ENGAGED RESEARCH

ANNE TOUBOULIC ,

Nottingham University Business School

LUCY MCCARTHY

Queen’s University Belfast

LEE MATTHEWS

Nottingham University Business School

In this manuscript, we explore how engaged research can support the

development of the theory and practice of supply chain management

(SCM) and present critical engaged research as an extended form of

engaged research. The article’s main purpose is to examine more closely

the relationship between critical engaged research and the process of theo-

rizing. This essay presents an expanded model of knowledge production

for the field of SCM and explores the opportunities for the production

and co-production of new knowledge types, with an emphasis on knowl-

edge produced through a critical engagement with practice. We offer a dis-

cussion on how critical engaged research may be applied in SCM research

to build, elaborate and test theory.

Keywords: sustainability; organization; ethics; theory; supply chains; critical

INTRODUCTION

The field of supply chain management (SCM) is at a

crossroads. The nature of the contemporary research

problems that SCM scholars are tackling requires our

research to be forward-looking and drive change, or at

the very least to interrogate the usefulness of our

research to address such problems (Matthews et al.,

2016; Montabon, Pagell & Wu, 2016; Pagell & Shev-

chenko, 2014). Global supply chains (SCs) are increas-

ingly perceived to be at the heart of societal challenges

which places SCs and SCM at the forefront of endeav-

ors to change discourses and practice in light of such

“wicked problems.” Observation-driven modes of

inquiry have enabled making sense of the relationship

between SCM and these challenges, expanding the con-

ceptual remit of our field. Yet, alone they offer limited

possibilities when it comes to solving such issues in

practice (Brown, Harris & Russell, 2010; Maestrini

et al., 2016; Rittel & Webber, 1973). Expanding our

modes of knowledge production can serve to reconnect

both theory and practice as a way to make a difference.

In this article, we discuss the role of engaged

research in supporting the development of the theory

and practice of SCM and present critical engaged

research as an extended form of engaged research. The

main purpose was to examine more closely the rela-

tionship between engaged research and the process of

theorizing and to consider how critical engaged research

can contribute toward the production and co-produc-

tion of new knowledge types. While engaged research

is often conceived as a process to instigate and

research change (e.g., Bradbury et al., 2019), in this

article, we not only embrace the transformative

opportunities offered by such approaches but also

their power to facilitate a re-imagining of issues in

SCM and the building of novel theory. Engaged

research can also expand the conceptual boundaries

of supply chain research to include the “imaginary,”

and imaginaries are collective social visions and artic-

ulations of how the world ought to be (Castoriadis,

1997; Fairclough, 2009). We offer a nuanced view of

the possibilities for engaged research in SCM, and

how it can help knowledge production. In particular,

the re-embedding of the researcher’s voice and agency,

that is, their ability to act, at the heart of the research

process is central to our argument. We see their

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36

Journal of Supply Chain Management

2020, 56(2), 36–51

©2020 The Authors. Journal of Supply Chain Management published by Wiley Periodicals , Inc.

reflexivity, interpretations, and questioning as central

to the process of theorizing (Chaudry, 2009;

McCarthy, 2017).

This article suggests new modes of knowledge pro-

duction for a re-imagining of issues in SCM and pro-

viding alternative approaches to theorization. We

outline how researchers can engage in theory testing,

elaboration, and building through critical engaged

research. It is intended that this article will be a useful

guide for SCM scholars interested in using a critical

engaged approach to develop theories that are both

practical and transformative.

DEFINING CRITICAL ENGAGED RESEARCH

Engaged research includes a “family” of

approaches, welcoming diversity it does not have a

definitive classification but is participative and

focused on creating change with others (Reason &

Bradbury, 2008). The spectrum of engaged research

is thus wide (Cassell & Johnson, 2006) offering a

variety of philosophical approaches and methodolo-

gies (Van de Ven, 2007). While some can be viewed

as more objectivist and interventionist (e.g., experi-

mental AR; action science), others resonate with

assumptions from critical theory (e.g., emancipatory

and participatory research) or postmodernism (e.g.,

narrative inquiries, reflexive deconstruction through

collaborative inquiry). These different approaches fit

within different research paradigms and thus produce

different conceptualizations and operationalizations

of the notion of engagement.

At the heart of engaged research is “the integration

of theory and practice” and explicit reflections on the

role of the researcher in the process (Touboulic &

Walker, 2016: 311). Theorization in research and

engaged research in particular is not an end in itself,

and it has a performative nature in that it intervenes

in the production of discourse and practice as well as

theory (Spicer, Alvesson, & K€

arreman, 2009). Hence,

the production of knowledge is a way of “advancing

theory that has practical consequences for humanity”

(Vo & Kelemen, 2017: 859). The SCM researcher

hence contributes to the “constructing” and “imagin-

ing” of SCs through engaged research.

It is important to acknowledge that calls for more

engaged research in the field of SCM are not new and a

number of authors have argued for a closer working

relationship with practice through our research

approaches (e.g., Westbrook, 1995; N€

aslund, 2002;

N€

aslund et al., 2010), in particular promoting the

adoption of interventionist action research (AR) as a

form of engaged research. However, it is worth noting

that accounts of these forms of AR in SCM are cen-

tered on the intervention whereby researchers—as

external experts—come into the practical sphere to

work with and solve practitioners’ problems, which

represents only one form of engagement. We contend

that by constructing engagement solely as expert inter-

vention, some of the nuances of engaged research

may be lost and opportunities for developing SCM

knowledge may be missed. In particular, engaged

research enables viewing researchers as not only con-

tributing to conceptual developments but also to

“practical wisdom.” SCM as a field has its roots in

practice, and hence researching SCM phenomena is a

naturally practical endeavor. The critical forms of

engaged research suggest that it is necessary to ques-

tion the desirability and direction of the practical

agenda pursued in light of society’s wellbeing (Tou-

boulic & McCarthy, 2019). Such types of engaged

research align with Flyvbjerg’s definition of “phro-

netic” research (2001), that is, research that focuses

on values and power to inform practical knowledge

rather than abstract knowledge.

Within critical engaged research, the traditional

power relations between researcher and participants

are not taken for granted and the emphasis shifts

toward longitudinal engagement with participants, co-

creation, and reflexivity. This allows SCM scholars to

challenge their own assumptions, develop new

research questions, and investigate novel SC phenom-

ena. In this process, SCM scholars are able to capture

prospective accounts as well as the now of SC manage-

ment and to reflect upon the limits of existing knowl-

edge.

Critical engaged research provides an opportunity to

analyze SC phenomena in the context within which

they are constructed and to present a richer picture of

the empirical world. We argue that the starting point

of our research must be a consideration of its objec-

tives in the broader societal context and research para-

digm in which the research sits. Reflexivity within all

research should begin at the outset, as there is always

a need to consider the value of the research for the

field, the researcher and for the participants. In line

with the subjectivist philosophical underpinnings of

the “radical humanist” and “interpretivist” paradigms

(Burrell & Morgan, 1979), we agree that it is not pos-

sible, or in fact desirable, to detach ourselves as

researchers from what we are observing (Easterby-

Smith & Malina, 1999). Not only is deliberation on

the context of an observation important but we also

need to critically deliberate on the values and assump-

tion of the (co)researchers. Reflexivity allows us to

find strategies to better understand our complex roles

in relation to others (Bolton, 2010). Thus, the

approach of critical engaged research is more context

bound and personal, leading to a cyclical process of

preparation, participation, and reflection to guarantee

the quality of the research (N€

aslund et al., 2010; Ped-

ersen & Olesen, 2008).

April 2020

Re-imagining Supply Chain Challenges

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