Supply Chain Management: Value Configuration Analysis Approach

Value creation in the supply chain literature normally builds on the value chain model (VCM). This results in a focus on succedent interdependencies, a focus on coordination by planning and a restricted view of likely positioning options. This article contributes an original approach to the supply chain management (SCM) debate, based on value configuration analysis (VCA). VCA recognizes the value chain logic (VCL), but finds it restraining in particular business systems, and also includes recognition of the value network model (VNM) as representing the layered supply chain relationships (SCRs) classically related with a mediating presence. In general, this article contributes in two ways: by enlightening some of the complexities to be addressed in managing SCRs and by looking at how SCRs function despite this complexity. In particular, it presents an alternative view of how value creation happens between, as well as within, firms in SCRs. It discloses how more complex sets of supply chain interdependencies exist in SCRs than in simple chains, and that these necessitate managing by a variety of coordination machineries to achieve efficient working. Finally, it suggests a novel way to define a firm’s supply chain position beyond that covered by the conventional upstream/downstream terms. These arguments are illustrated with the help of a case study and are related to previous work on supply chains and networks.