Audience
Supply chain research is such a rich area of knowledge generation with potential to achieve both practical relevance and academic rigour. The episode will be of particular interest to those doing research into supply chains as well as new entrants to supply chain management. Students doing degree and postgraduate studies in supply chain management or related areas will find this epsiode useful especially if they are doing research for a dissertation.
The aim is to invite you to do supply chain research.
Scope
Supply chains are broad in scope covering procurement, transformation processes, storage, distribution and transportation. End to end supply chains provide a rich vein for researchers to explore and to make a contribution to knowledge that is both relevant to practice while simultaneously being academically rigorous allowing for the choice and application of multiple methods. This is not to suggest that all researchers use multiple methods in one project. It may be sufficient and appropriate to use just one or a small number of methods. Method choice has to be congruent with the questions being addressed in the research and the particular research objective(s) set.
Cross Disciplinary Nature
Supply chains are cross disciplinary in nature. Supply chains have people working in them who have particular skill sets from operations, strategy, finance, engineering, sourcing, procurement, accounting, marketing, information technologists, data analysts and human resources. It has people who have different backgrounds and experience of working in supply chains. Drivers, storekeepers, process operatives, team leaders and managers all play their part in securing efficient and effective supply chains. It covers outsourcing, transport choices, make or buy decisions, inventory management, quality management, manufacturing and services. All the ingredients make up the supply chain system. Researchers can choose to examine part of a system or the total end to end supply chain. Researchers can choose a particular focus such as transport logistics, warehousing, site locations, sourcing strategies, manufacturing configurations, ethics, climate change impact of supply chains, governance, regulatory frameworks, economics of supply chain strategies, organization, relationships, structures and configurations of choice to list just some of those choices.
Literature as Data
The extant literature informs researchers about what is already known about the research topic. It helps new researchers understand the types of questions that have been addressed by other researchers and reveals how they set about the task of answering the questions; Building the chain of evidence, argument (thesis) and contribution to knowledge. The methods these researchers used will also be stated and this might inform how the new researcher might approach their own study. In this sense the literature is not simply a statement of what is known but it can also act as a type of data for the study to shape your own research study; evidence base,argument and possible contributions to knowledge that are original and unique to the research study.
Methods
Researching supply chains offers a broad spectrum of topics, an opportunity for researchers with different philosophical positions to engage in the cross disciplinary subjects. Researchers may operate in different research paradigms from the full array of choice including: positivist, post-positivist, critical theory, constructivist and pragmatist to name but some. Research can be conducted applying appropriate methods of research. Most method choices would be similar across social science. Methods chosen should fit with the researchers paradigmatic position and be suitable to achieve the stated research aim(s) and specific research objectives. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods have been successfully employed by researchers doing supply chain research. Quantitative research employs appropriate mathematical and statistical tools to hypothesise, test, model and reveal latent variables as well as causality. It is sometimes referred to as ‘invitro’ meaning outside the glass – scientific observation. Verification, validity and replication are important considerations in the scientific method. Qualitative approaches are often concerned with selection, voice and interpretation recognising subjective rather than objective truth. This type of research often focuses attention on context for the study. Researchers and the researched are viewed as participants in the process rather than scientific observers as is the case in quantitative studies. This type of research approach is sometimes referred to as ‘invivo’ inside the glass.
Surveys are used to acquire quantitative and qualitative data. Surveys need careful planning and execution. There are protocols that have to be followed if you want quality research. If you have not previously done a survey you should read about what is involved before you get too carried away with a simplistic unsuitable approach. many research methods books deal thoroughly with each stage in the process. You should seek ways to maximise your survey effectiveness and use appropriate software to produce, distribute and analyse data. SPSS, ‘R’ and bespoke survey software will all provide you with tools that you might need.
Observations may be human, machine, video, photographic, sensors and any tools that can provide observation data. Examples are weather stations that record rainfall, hours of sunshine, atmospheric conditions, tidal movements and other observational data that generates data to reveal weather patterns in this case. Sensors could reveal movements by road, rail and air in the case of transport used in supply chains. Surveillance equipment could be used for similar purposes. Radio frequency identity tags (RFID) or Bar Codes could be used to track stock movements in supply networks. You can think creatively when it comes to the types of data you might employ in your research observations. Once again observational tools and techniques are well documented in research literature. You might not necessarily think about social media data as observational in nature but of course it is. Tweets, Facebook, Instagram and other posts are classified as observational depending on how you use them building your chain of evidence.
Experiments of all types may be used in supply chain research. For example, time measures in processes can be formed as experiments from which to compare with standards or draw cross comparaitive data from different sites. Again if you read other research in your field you will begin to see the types of experimentation that has been done. There are also ‘thought experiments’ to be considered. There is a long tradition in philosophers using thought experiments to test argument such as those used by René Descartes; ‘Cogito ergo sum‘ was the product of such a thought experiment in his ‘Meditations‘.
Case Research has been effectively used by supply chain researchers to generate knowledge of organizations, processes and practices. Single, multiple/collective and instrumental case studies all have the advantage of using multiple sources of data which are quantitative and/or qualitative in nature. Yin (1989) referred to six sources of evidence to use in case studies and he separates types of case studies into single, multiple and instrumental. Eisendhardt (1989) also provides useful information on how to build theory from case studies.
Simulation and Action Research have also been used. Simulations are useful to examine material flows or data flows within supply chains or in processes. Action Research is useful to examine behaviours. Sensemaking studies also have something to offer as part of the researcher’s repetoire.
Once you have chosen appropriate methods it is time to collect data, generate insights from interpretations of data and begin to build the evidence base and your thesis. The finals stage is to develop conclusions from the evidence that demonstrate and reveal knowledge emerging from your study. Writing up the final draft of any research will often lead to new insights and I always think of writing as part of doing any research. Write early, refine, write again and again until the argument is clear,concise and the contribution links directly to the research evidence you gathered.
Contribution of the research
The end product of any research is new knowledge. This is what researchers refer to as the contribution to knowledge. To make such a contribution the research has to be conducted following accepted norms for doing research including data collection, choice and execution of methods, analysis and interpretations and results.
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