Digital platforms and Supply Chains: new governance forms of buyer-supplier relationships?

Abstract: This seminar aims to align on the challenges and potential approaches of investigating new forms of organizing Supply Chain (SC) relationships through digital platforms. While digital platforms are consolidated in the consumer space, applications to streamline SC interactions are just emerging. These appear particularly interesting from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Shedding light on their workings requires deep reflections as to the unit of analysis and observation, alongside emerging contracts and relationships. Cross-pollination among disciplines is needed considering the interplay between SC transactional/relational dynamics and emerging setups enabled by digital platforms, which have been framed as ecosystemic and combinatorial. The talk will present the development and the results of a case study analysis of a digital platform for sustainable supply chain governance. Specifically, the study was approached starting from critical realist premises and leveraging the theoretical underpinning of the Legitimacy Theory, the Organizational Information Processing Theory, and the Strategic Alignment Model.  During the presentation, the differences between digital platforms and existing models of managing SC sustainability will be clarified based on the case evidence, showing that ecosystem-like coevolutionary dynamics are possible insofar established buyer-led approaches are facilitated. Furthermore, the role of institutional pressures in this respect will be elucidated. Along the way, the rationale of some key methodological choices will be explained with the goal of stimulating discussion among participants on the promise and perils of non-positivistic research approaches. In conclusion, some general considerations will be made on collaborative efforts for sustainable SC governance, while considering the potential of digital platforms in this respect.  

Bio: Giovanna Culot is Assistant Professor in Management Engineering at the University of Udine, Italy, where she also obtained a doctorate in Industrial and Information Engineering. Her research interests mainly concern emerging technological trajectories in manufacturing operations and supply chain management, governance issues, and research methods. Her work on these topics, she has published in various journals including the Journal of Supply Chain Management, International Journal of Production and Operations Management, International Journal of Production Economics, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, and Computers in Industry. She also reviews on an ongoing basis for several journals in operations and supply chain management. Prior to her doctorate, she gained 10+ years’ experience in industry and management consulting.