Selection of planned supply initiatives: the role of senior management expertise

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the selection of planned supply initiatives and the role of senior management expertise. The drivers that influence the selection of particular supply initiatives by firms are of major interest to both practitioners and academics, as choices indicate priorities for resources, potential performance gaps and needs for future research. Moreover, theory indicates that senior management expertise and firm‐level resources might influence the likelihood of selecting particular initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – A synthesis of the literature supported the development of a five‐dimensional framework of major supply initiatives. Logistic regression was conducted with data from a survey of chief purchasing officers at large North American firms. The impact of firm‐level resources and senior management expertise, including background and experience, was assessed for the selection of supply initiatives. Findings – After controlling for general industry‐level factors, both firm resources and senior management expertise were found to systematically affect the likelihood of a firm planning to pursue particular initiatives. First, hiring senior management from outside the firm decreased the likelihood that network‐based initiatives were planned, while senior management who last worked in supply were found to be negatively related to planned supply strategy initiatives. Second, firms with greater use of e‐business technologies favored additional investment in supply networks. Research limitations/implications – This research focused on large firms in developed countries, and additional research is needed to explore the generalizability to small and medium‐sized enterprises and less‐developed countries. Moreover, additional work is needed to explore trade‐offs between planned and emergent initiatives, as only the former were empirically assessed. Originality/value – Senior management expertise has received relatively little attention in prior research, yet was found to be a significant factor influencing strategic, process and network‐related supply initiatives. Moreover, the framework of supply initiatives provides a basis for assessing and benchmarking firm‐level supply chain strategy and investment patterns. Finally, empirical evidence emerged that both firm and individual‐level factors influenced the probability of selecting particular initiatives.