Small and Medium Enterprise Research in Supply Chain Management: The Case for Single‐Respondent Research Designs

• Author: Josip Kotlar,Thomas J. Kull,Martin Spring
• Date: 01 January 2018
• Published date: 01 January 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12157

SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE RESEARCH

IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: THE CASE FOR

SINGLE-RESPONDENT RESEARCH DESIGNS

THOMAS J. KULL

Arizona State University

JOSIP KOTLAR AND MARTIN SPRING

Lancaster University Management School

Deciding on the number of respondents in a data-collection instrument is

a key design consideration requiring supply chain researchers to balance

multiple competing factors. The debate on this respondent design question

may unintentionally disregard over 95% of enterprises engaged in supply

chains: small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We present arguments for

why single-respondent designs can be more appropriate in the SME setting,

particularly when considering the various facets of supply chain manage-

ment and the untapped potential of SCM-SME research. Assuring that SCM

theoretical frameworks and research designs allow for SME inclusion will

be important in aiding the SCM field to progress forward.

Keywords: buyer/supplier relationships; cross functional interfaces; organization;

SMEs; supply chain management

INTRODUCTION

There is currently a debate as to whether single-

respondent data-collection methods are appropriate

for the supply chain management (SCM) discipline.

This arises from a concern to align research methods

with the characteristics of supply chain phenomena,

and a general concern to enhance the quality of SCM

research. The more general concern militates the SCM

field toward following other disciplines within busi-

ness and management by greatly reducing the use of

single-respondent survey methods. In this article, we

focus on these questions as they apply to SCM research

involving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and

argue that there are a number of factors in research of

this kind that tend to make single-respondent methods

appropriate under certain circumstances.

Our initial reason for examining the single-respon-

dent question in relation to SMEs was a suspicion

that, especially in small firms, it could be impossi-

ble to find more than one respondent sufficiently

knowledgeable to provide a well-informed response.

As we explain below, SMEs represent the vast major-

ity of firms in most economies: so, if we were to

insist on research designs that required multiple

respondents per firm, there is a risk that we would

not be able to collect data from the majority of

supply chain firms—that is, SMEs. However, as we

explore more widely the way SMEs have been and

could be researched in the context of SCM, other

considerations affecting the validity of single-respon-

dent survey methods also become apparent. Some

of these arise from the characteristics of SMEs and

the divergence of these characteristics from the

large-firm assumptions that originally gave rise to

fundamental SCM concepts. Others arise from a ten-

dency to use a firm-level unit of analysis to examine

phenomena that are more meaningfully understood

at the level of the supply chain or network. This

particularly affect SMEs because they are often seek-

ing to negotiate a supply chain context strongly

shaped by dominant, major firms in the chain. We

examine the nature of SMEs, draw on SME and

family business research, and try to understand the

implications for survey methods in SCM-SME

research.

It is useful to set our discussion against relevant defini-

tions of SCM. Two common definitions are as follows:

The design and management of seamless, value-

added processes across organizational boundaries

to meet the real needs of the end customer (Insti-

tute for Supply Management)

January 2018 23

Journal of Supply Chain Management

2018, 54(1), 23–34

©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.