The Role of Academic Research in Supply Chain Practice: How Much Are We Contributing?

• Author: Thomas J. Goldsby,Walter Zinn
• Date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12175
• Published date: 01 December 2017

Editorial

The Role of Academic Research in Supply Chain Practice:

How Much Are We Contributing?

Walter Zinn and Thomas J. Goldsby

The Ohio State University

Supply chain academics and practitioners enjoy a unique bond. The applied heritage of logistics and supply chain scholarship motivates

researchers to identify problems residing in current and future practice, address them in a conscientious manner, and to provide findings

that yield meaningful insights. Yet, this bond is sometimes strained when scholarship loses touch with “real problems”found in industry.

Strains in the bond then limit the contribution potential and impact of resultant work. This editorial calls for supply chain researchers to

embrace the discipline’s applied heritage in the identification of problems and delivery of results, while employing the requisite rigor for valid

conclusions. Fortunately, there has never been a better time to work with practitioners in light of the disruptive forces at work in industry and

the thirst for meaningful insights.

Keywords: applied research; supply chain research; relevance; disruptive technologies

The issue of research relevance is often debated among aca-

demics. To what extent should impact on practice be a concern

to academic researchers? Or should the goal merely be to

increase our understanding of the world without regard for prac-

tical relevance?

Basic versus applied research is a fundamental choice in

research. On the one hand, seeking truth as an end in itself is a

basic tenet of both hard and social sciences. Basic research pro-

vides a foundation for applied research to follow. Understanding

phenomena like the internal workings of atoms, the biology of

cells, or how consumers shape attitudes offers basic input to

applied research. On the other hand, applied research focuses on

practice. It assigns purpose to knowledge. Applied researchers

look to practitioners to identify important problems, framing

them, shedding light, and proposing solutions.

Business research is historically an applied field. Consider

optimization and risk management as examples of significant

past applied contributions. Big data analytics offers a more recent

one. However, there is a growing concern that business research,

including supply chain research, strayed from its applied roots.

Much of the current inspiration for research ideas comes from

literature reviews rather than from industry. The Chronicle of

Higher Education (Hoffman 2015) published a commentary criti-

cizing academics for looking inward and failing to getting more

directly involved in addressing current issues and problems. Sim-

ilarly, in a recent issue of Production and Operations Manage-

ment, Toffel (2016) calls for increased relevance in operations

management research as a remedy to scholarship that has become

“far removed from the actual practice of management”(p. 1493).

Supply chain research fits within this applied tradition. Work-

ing with practice is in our DNA. Major contributions made in

the past were rooted in industry problems. Think, for instance, of

customer service measurement (LaLonde and Zinszer 1976),

research in logistics alliances (Bowersox 1990), or supply chain

partnerships (Lambert et al. 1996). However, like other business

disciplines, we have drifted from application. We still research

applied topics yet fail to produce results that industry finds use-

ful. Today, it is possible to be tenured and promoted without

ever talking to practitioners. At CSCMP, the link between aca-

demics and practitioners is weaker than it used to be. The Aca-

demic Strategies Committee seeks to devise approaches to

reduce the gaps, and we will support those initiatives.

Remarkably, this is a most exciting time to work on applied

research. There has never been a wider array of new technologies

disrupting supply chains (Goldsby and Zinn 2016). We are in the

throes of a revolution that is creating exciting opportunities for

applied research.Retailing is being transformed by the service capa-

bilities made possible by omnichannel distribution and by the

heightened level of service demanded by consumers. Autonomous

and electric vehiclesare beginning to reshape transportation. Robots

are increasingly being used in warehouses and are emerging as an

option in last-miledelivery. Big data are changing the way we make

decisions to manage supply chains. Additive manufacturing is

changing production and inventory management. There are other

potentially disruptive technologies still: artificial intelligence,

drones, the Internetof Things, and blockchain, among others.

What a great time to be a supply chain researcher!Practition-

ers need scholarly input. Academics have the tools and the train-

ing in the scientific method to properly research issues. In

addition, as Professor Ted Stank at the University of Tennessee

is fond of saying, academics approach issues with a level of neu-

trality that practitioners cannot afford given the interests of their

employers. We should contribute more. We should look into the

major issues currently facing practice to identify important prob-

lems, develop research hypotheses that address these problems,

and publish actionable results.

As this issue goes to press, we learn of the loss of Professor

Bernard J. (Bud) LaLonde, the founding editor of JBL, and a

champion of applied research. Dr. LaLonde died peacefully in

Corresponding author:

Walter Zinn, Department of Marketing and Logistics, Fisher College

of Business, The Ohio State University, 2100 Neil Avenue, Colum-

bus, OH 43210, USA; E-mail: zinn.13@osu.edu

Journal of Business Logistics, 2017, 38(4): 236–237 doi: 10.1111/jbl.12175

© Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals