A critical review of supply chain management frameworks: proposed framework

Purpose – The literature of supply chain management (SCM) is burgeoning with frameworks but there has been no attempt in extant literature to highlight the inconsistencies present in existing SCM frameworks. The purpose of this paper is to identify these inconsistencies by critically reviewing 57 SCM framework articles. Based on the results of reviewing these articles, an attempt is made to propose a framework that possibly suggests a way to achieve coherency in use of SCM frameworks, and hence help researchers in reducing the inconsistencies that may occur in future frameworks. Design/methodology/approach – Review of frameworks is based on certain criteria such as novelty of frameworks, participation of practitioners and consultants in making academic frameworks, verification of frameworks, modes of verification and degree of standardization of SCM elements (or constructs). Findings – The analysis of selected frameworks reveals major inconsistencies, such as negligence of researchers towards adapting existing frameworks, lack of significant participation of practitioners/consultants in development of SCM frameworks and highly incoherent use of elements (or constructs) in development of SCM frameworks. The findings of this paper also establish that further research in SCM should be directed towards finding a “unified theory of SCM” which must lead to a set of coherent elements (or constructs). Originality/value – The framework articles are selected from a large population of 1,807 articles. These frameworks are critically reviewed in this paper and a debate is initiated on what is a framework and what constitutes a framework in SCM.