Kraljic's (1983) purchasing portfolio approach holds that different types of purchases need different sourcing strategies, underpinned by distinct sets of resources and practices. The approach is widely deployed in business and extensively researched, and yet little research has been conducted...

Purpose: The procurement and supply of crucial healthcare products in the early stages of the COVID-19 emergency were chaotic. To prepare for future crises, we must be able to describe what went wrong, and why, and map out ways to build agility and resilience. How can this be done effectively,...

Purpose – This research aims to assess the risks and benefits of outsourcing for organisations, sectors and nations. The literature on outsourcing contains little evidence of research on holistic issues of its impact at systems levels beyond the firm, notably sectors and nations....

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the impact of context on the adoption of e‐commerce in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review, 45 semi‐structured interviews in four different supply chains in the UK healthcare sector,...

This paper describes research findings on the roles that organizations can adopt in managing supply networks. Drawing on extensive empirical data, it is demonstrated that organizations may be said to be able to manage supply networks, provided a broad view of 'managing' is adopted. Applying role...

In the UK public sector, procurement decisions for outsourced services are usually taken at a local level, for example by a hospital trust or a local government authority. Cumulatively, these fragmented decisions can lead to 'imbalanced' supply markets (too few or too many suppliers), to the...

This article explores the future of collaboration in an era of austerity. Boundary object theory provides a framework to assess the significance and role of four key discourses in collaboration—efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness and cultural performance. Crisis provides a way of...