Myths and Reality of Supply Chain Management: Implications for Industry-University Relationships

Abstract

Current surveys reveal that the practice of Supply Chain Management has had little impact upon business performance. This opportunity loss stands in stark contrast to the wealth of knowledge, and volumes of materials available to both researchers and practitioners alike. The dissemination of Supply Chain Management theory, from its roots in Operations Research to its application in business operations, is clearly dysfunctional. Root causes of faulty exchange between universities and industry include unspoken assumptions, which, one the one hand facilitate research, but may sabotage solution implementation if not properly contextualized onsite. Universities and industry speak different languages, address different audiences, have their own mutually-incompatible objectives, and divergent turn-around rates for innovation. Nevertheless, they remain vitally interdependent in the fields of Supply Chain Management and Operations Research. This chapter discusses how the misunderstandings between these parties perpetuate a number of dangerous myths of operations management, all of which are exacerbated by media reductions. An unforgiving business reality demands that industry and academia establish an ongoing dialogue to rise to increasingly complex supply chain management challenges. This dialogue has to evolve from sporadic individual partnerships, to a genuine, systematic collaboration. The examples illustrate the need to validate and test research models in real operational environments, to ultimately develop solutions which can be implemented without peril. Furthermore, the cases are the outcome of management training programs which have traditionally devalued operations management when defining the core competencies needed by decision-makers and researchers alike. This lack of priority goes hand-in-hand with the over-simplification and distortion of research, which dangerously percolates down to its ostensible users. Reflecting upon the experience in Supply Chain Management practice at HP, including its successful history of academic partnerships, the authors identify a number of success factors for fruitful collaboration.