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PurposeThe purpose of this article is to develop a typology of e‐marketplace functionality and then link the typology to the associated value creation potential of differing types of e‐marketplaces.Design/methodology/approachIn‐depth interviews with the executives of 50 e‐marketplaces, a web/mail‐based survey of another 350 e‐marketplaces and interviews with several e‐marketplace customers were conducted.FindingsB2B e‐marketplaces offer a variety of different value propositions. Leading e‐marketplaces have a well‐developed strategy for reaching a particular segment of the buying community, based on service needs. Developing e‐marketplaces do not demonstrate the same focus. On one hand, only a few e‐marketplaces had developed the same winning constellations of services, while on the other hand, most were planning a roll‐out of a wide variety of services that would carry them far beyond a focused strategy. The success of this approach seems problematic.Practical implicationsThe prudent customer of an e‐marketplace should weigh their requirements against the functionality found across the broad set of e‐marketplaces as well as against the constellations of functionality (and value creation potential) developed in this research. Only after a careful assessment of needs, can companies make rational decisions about how to effectively use e‐marketplaces.Originality/valueThis research employs a strong research method to create a unique typology of e‐marketplace functionality. This research also links the typology of e‐marketplace functionality to its value creating potential.

PurposeSustainable supply chain management has become an increasingly important driver of business performance. Understanding the contingent nature of how performance is improved in this context is therefore a critical task for management. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating effects of two practices unique to sustainable supply chain – ecocentricity and supply chain traceability – on a firm's environmental and operating cost performance.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 248 UK manufacturing firms and analyzed using moderated hierarchical regression.FindingsThe results suggest that green supply chain management (GSCM) practices are associated with improvements in both environmental and cost-based performance. Further, higher levels of ecocentricity and supply chain traceability are associated with stronger relationships between GSCM practices and cost performance. Contrary to expectations, high levels of supply chain traceability were found to negatively moderate the relationship between GSCM practices and environmental performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe research design was survey-based and cross-sectional. Future studies would benefit from longitudinal research designs that capture the effects of GSCM practices on performance over an extended period. The survey data is also perceptual; using secondary data to capture environmental performance outcomes, for example, would be another opportunity for future research.Practical implicationsThe authors provide additional support to findings that GSCM practices benefit both environmental and cost performance dimensions. In this context, the authors show that investments by firms in working with a broader set of eco-system partners (ecocentricity) and building supply chain traceability and leads to improved environmental sustainability outcomes. The authors encourage managers to carefully consider how they conceptualize and monitor their supply chains.Originality/valueThis paper offers several contributions to the research in this area. First, the authors develop and validate a measurement scale for ecocentricity and supply chain traceability. Second, the authors show how these two variables – unique to sustainable supply chains – can positively influence firm and environmental performance.

ABSTRACTThe emerging area of supply chain alliances has received considerable attention in the academic and managerial press, yet there are many unanswered questions regarding the dynamics of such relationships. A number of such fundamental issues drive this research initiative, including how alliances are developed, their key success factors, and the specific benefits to be achieved. The study begins by establishing a definition of strategic supplier alliances, based on a comparison of both theoretical and managerial descriptions. The critical antecedents associated with the success of strategic supplier alliances are next developed, and the magnitude of the effect of these factors on partnership success is assessed. The analysis employs both qualitative and quantitative data, collected through an electronic network of over 200 companies, as part of an ongoing benchmarking initiative in supply chain management.From the perspective of the buying company in the alliance, the following attributes of supplier alliances were found to be significantly related to partnership success: trust and coordination, interdependence, information quality and participation, information sharing, joint problem solving, avoiding the use of severe conflict resolution tactics, and the existence of a formal supplier/commodity alliance selection process. Resource commitment and smoothing over problems were found to be poor predictors of alliance success. The implications of these results for managerial decision making in supplier alliance development are discussed.

PurposeWhy do managers redesign global supply chains in a particular manner when faced with compounding geopolitical disruptions? In answering this research question, this study identifies a constrained system of reasoning (decision-making logic) employed by managers when they redesign their supply chains in situations of heightened uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted 40 elite interviews with senior supply chain executives in 28 companies across nine industries from November 2019 to June 2020, when the UK was preparing to leave the European Union, the US–China trade war was escalating, and Covid-19 was spreading rapidly around the globe.FindingsWhen redesigning global supply chains, the authors find that managerial decision-making logic is constrained by three distinct environmental ecosystem conditions: (1) the perceived intensity of institutional pressures; (2) the relative mobility of suppliers and supply chain assets; and (3) the perceived severity of the potential disruption risk. Intense government pressure and persistent geopolitical risk tend to impact firms in the same industry, resulting in similar approaches to decision-making regarding supply chain design. However, where suppliers are relatively immobile and supply chain assets are relatively fixed, a dominant logic is consistently present.Originality/valueBuilding on an institutional logics perspective, this study finds that managerial decision-making under heightened uncertainty is not solely guided by institutional pressures but also by perceptions of the severity of risk related to potential supply chain disruption and the immobility of supply chain assets. These findings support the theoretical development of a novel construct that the authors term 'supply chain logics'. Finally, this study provides a decision-making framework for Senior Executives competing in an increasingly complex and unstable business environment.