Special Topic Forum On Innovation In Business Networks From A Supply Chain Perspective: Current Status and Opportunities for Future Research

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12034
• Author: Jan Stentoft Arlbjørn,Antony Paulraj
• Published date: 01 October 2013
• Date: 01 October 2013

EDITORIAL

SPECIAL TOPIC FORUM ON INNOVATION IN BUSINESS

NETWORKS FROM A SUPPLY CHAIN PERSPECTIVE:

CURRENT STATUS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUTURE

RESEARCH

JAN STENTOFT ARLBJØRN

University of Southern Denmark

ANTONY PAULRAJ

University of Southern Denmark

This editorial introduces the special topic forum on “innovations in busi-

ness networks from a supply chain perspective.”Additionally, it highlights

the gap between the importance attributed by practice and the current

state of academic research focusing on the confluence of innovation and

supply chain perspectives. By specifically assessing the current status of

research as well as practice, this paper not only identifies the key issues in

current research and proposes an agenda for future research, but also

points out the challenges that scholars will encounter in pursuing the pro-

posed research agenda.

Keywords: innovation; supply chain management; networks

INTRODUCTION

That innovation is imperative for firms to gain sus-

tainable competitive advantage is a well-known fact.

At the same time, gone are the days when innovations

were the result of the efforts put forth within a single

firm; instead, firms need to increasingly rely on the

competencies of multiplicity of firms within their sup-

ply chain network in order to innovate (e.g., Arlbjørn

et al., 2011; Manceau, Kaltenbach, Bagger-Hansen,

Moatti, & Fabbri, 2012; Roy, Sivakumar, & Wilkinson,

2004). Accordingly, it is pertinent that the notion of

innovation is viewed more from the supply chain

perspective. This realization is quite evident in prac-

tice. While examples abound, we would like to high-

light the supply chain innovation award given by the

US-based Council of Supply Chain Management Pro-

fessionals (CSCMP) to recognize firms that excel in

innovations within their supply chain network. The

winners of this prestigious award—including organiza-

tions such as Intel, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Pepsi

—clearly document that innovations covering process,

technology, and structural aspects of the supply chain

network could provide the focal firm and its

stakeholders with superior performance benefits.

Additionally, the Institute of Supply Management also

recognizes supply management innovation as one of

the core award categories within its Awards for Excel-

lence in Supply Management.

Although the relevance of the confluence of innova-

tion and supply chain perspectives cannot be denied

from both practical and academic points of view,

scholars have only paid limited academic attention

to this important topic. The few contributions that

deal with this topic seem to merely use the term, but

lack significantly when it comes to content and con-

ceptual foundation. In other words, extant research

fails to explicitly deal with innovations that actually

span the supply chain network (Arlbjørn et al.,

2011). In addition, there is a dearth of empirical

studies that focus on antecedents as well as perfor-

mance implications of innovations within the supply

chain network. In summary, there is an obvious

disconnect between the importance attributed by

practice and the current state of academic research

focusing on the confluence of innovation and supply

chain perspectives.

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