Editorial
Invited Articles
The above research has featured in our Spotlight series. We talked to Pratima Bansal about her recent research with Jury Gualandris and Nahyun Kim “Theorizing Supply Chains with Qualitative Big Data and Topic Modeling”
“The availability of Big Data has opened up opportunities to study supply chains. Whereas most scholars look to quantitative Big Data to build theoretical insights, in this paper we illustrate the value of qualitative Big Data. We begin by describing the nature and properties of qualitative Big Data. Then, we explain how one specific method, topic modeling, is particularly useful in theorizing supply chains. Topic modeling identifies co‐occurring words in qualitative Big Data, which can reveal new constructs that are difficult to see in such volume of data. Analyzing the relationships among constructs or their descriptive content can help to understand and explain how supply chains emerge, function, and adapt over time. As topic modeling has not yet been used to theorize supply chains, we illustrate the use of this method and its relevance for future research by unpacking two papers published in organizational theory journals.”
The full article can be accessed here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12224
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12224
The Article above has also appeared in our Spotlight Series, in which the article authors discuss their research, the background and theory to the article. Additionally they discuss how their research and findings could impact future research.
We talked to Vikram Bhakoo about his recent research with Cynthia Hardy and Steve Maguire entitled “A New Methodology for Supply Chain Management: Discourse Analysis and its Potential for Theoretical Advancement”.
“This paper responds to recent calls for methodological diversification and “in‐house” theory development within the discipline of SCM, by introducing discourse analysis to readers of the Journal of Supply Chain Management. One of the merits of discourse analysis is the way in which it “problematizes” taken‐for‐granted aspects of organizational life, including supply chains, to show that what we assume to be natural, inevitable and beneficial is rarely quite so straightforward as it may seem. In addition, through the way in which it emphasizes the interrogation of meaning, discourse analysis can broaden conceptualizations of the supply chain to include actors that have previously been overlooked, such as employees, workers, not‐for‐profit organizations, regulators, consumers, and the media. Using examples that are familiar to SCM researchers—the discourses of lean, sustainability, modern slavery, and big data—we illustrate how discourse analysis can help to theorize SCM phenomena by problematizing established meanings and revealing how they reproduce power relations among actors. We then show how insights from discourse analysis can complement existing theories of the supply chain and, in so doing, potentially rejuvenate the field of SCM by inspiring novel theory development, opening up different empirical settings, and promoting new ways of analyzing qualitative data.”
Full article can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12222
https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12222
We talked to Anne Touboulic, Lucy McCarthy and Lee Matthews about their recent research entitled “Re‐imagining supply chain challenges through critical engaged research”
“In this manuscript, we explore how engaged research can support the development of the theory and practice of supply chain management (SCM) and present critical engaged research as an extended form of engaged research. The article’s main purpose is to examine more closely the relationship between critical engaged research and the process of theorizing. This essay presents an expanded model of knowledge production for the field of SCM and explores the opportunities for the production and co‐production of new knowledge types, with an emphasis on knowledge produced through a critical engagement with practice. We offer a discussion on how critical engaged research may be applied in SCM research to build, elaborate and test theory.”
The full article can be accessed here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.12226