The majority of studies on supply chain management (SCM) emphasize the importance of cooperative relationships for improving the integration of business processes into a supply chain. It seems accepted that SCM will be a source of competitive advantage if, and only if, firms that participate in...

Purpose The purpose of this viewpoint is to analyze the emergence of a modified equilibrium in the relationship between buyers (“shippers”) and suppliers (“providers”) of logistical services. In the 1990s, the logistical service providers (LSPs) had relatively little power and were often...

Purpose – The paper attempts to determine whether decision‐makers in the manufacturing and retailing industry really wish to implement cooperative logistical relationships in the long term. Design/methodology/approach – In order to answer the question, the authors have resorted to studying...

Examines the reasons driving French food retailers to build major speculative inventories through forward buying from their suppliers. First analyses the origin of the phenomenon and its strategic basis. Then, using the model of postponement‐speculation proposed by Louis Bucklin in the...

Global sourcing is undoubtedly one of the major symbols of current worldwide strategies. Although much has been written on manufacturers’ ploys in searching for more competitive and/or reactive foreign suppliers, this is not the case for retailers, surely because retail buyers do not wish to...

Purpose This paper aims to focus on resistance strategies in distribution channels. The concept of resistance has received much attention in organization theory, but it has been rather neglected in corporate strategy. Only a few works dedicated to distribution channels explicitly use the notion...

Purpose – The paper aims to put forward a transactional center approach to the four‐party logistics (4PL) development. For about ten years, the European logistics industry has indeed been undergoing massive changes by which dematerialized logistics service providers, also called 4PL, have...