Preferred customer theory is based on the position that suppliers have to solve a resource allocation problem and therefore differentiate among customers. One product made cannot be provided to two customers at the same moment. Some customers get privileged resource access, while other buyers...

Panarchy theory offers new opportunities for researchers when it comes to interpreting and analyzing supply chains. Originally intended for the analysis of ecological systems, panarchy theory has gained attention in other research fields such as management studies, as it enables the analysis of,...

The field of socio-technical systems design emerged from action research studies conducted by researchers at the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations in the UK in the 1950s. The research focused on the interface of workers and technology, in an attempt to understand how the design of jobs and...

Portfolio theory was originally developed for investment purposes, providing guidelines for the assembly of a portfolio of assets. The theory focusses on the efficient allocation of limited resources by reducing risks and optimizing returns. Nowadays, portfolio approaches are used in other...

Even though signaling theory seems to be well acknowledged and considered in particular management research areas, such as strategy, corporate governance or mergers & acquisitions, adoption in a purchasing and supply management context in business-to-business relations seems to be lagging....

This chapter focuses on organizational learning theory (OLT) and conceptual sub-sets to the theory that explains nuances associated with how organizations learn and apply the learning to enhance performance. We position and explicate the OL as an approach to supplement/augment the calculated...

Clusters are regional-sectoral agglomerations of related and supporting industries within one value chain. While geographical industry agglomeration has been studied since long, Porter gave it a theoretical basis by proposing the 'diamond of competitive advantage'. According to this theory the...

Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory is one of the most suited views to explain complex, dynamical, nonlinear, and emergent supply chain behaviours. The CAS view provides a theoretical foundation to study agent or agency related interactions. It helps establish how these agent interactions lead...

The core underlying assumption of dynamic capabilities theory is the interaction between the resource base of a company and its capabilities to extend and modify existing resources or create new ones to maintain or achieve a competitive advantage. The body of literature on dynamic capabilities...

The Industrial Network Approach encompasses two core models: the interaction model, dealing with bilateral exchange episodes and long-term relations between firms, and the network or activities-resources-actors model, which considers the relations between a set of actors (three or more) and...