Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that a proactive sourcing strategy can be just as important as a proactive marketing strategy in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports on action research carried out in the UK beef industry,...

Purpose – There is a view that firms should decide between a lean or agile approach to supply management primarily on the basis of whether their product offering is “functional” (predictable demand, low variety and a long life cycle) or “innovative” (unpredictable demand, high variety...