Developing design principles for the implementation of AI in PSM: An investigation with expert interviews

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in purchasing and supply management (PSM) has great potential, e.g. for automating processes and supporting PSM employees. Nevertheless, the number of realized AI use cases in PSM is still limited, and mostly in large companies. This paper examines first requirements for the implementation of AI in PSM. Second, design principles are developed on the basis of the identified requirements. Third, exemplary AI use cases in PSM are presented. For this purpose, a literature analysis is first conducted and followed by interviews with 17 PSM and technology experts. Finally, 40 requirements for the implementation of AI in PSM are developed from the conducted expert interviews. Based on these 40 requirements, ten design principles are developed in the sense of the design science research (DSR) approach to describe the relevant activities for the implementation of AI in PSM. The artifacts developed in this paper will contribute to the implementation of AI in PSM. The applicable research results should facilitate the transfer of knowledge into practice and contribute to the establishment of the DSR method in PSM research.     

Navigating the socio-technical impacts of purchasing digitalisation: A multiple-case study

The wave of digitalisation is impacting companies at multiple levels. Beside the most researched impacts on manufacturing, also other business functions are subjected to the change. Among them, purchasing is expected to greatly benefit from digitalisation, if properly managed. This research analyses the digitalisation of the purchasing process, in terms of how and why it happens, and the co-evolution which is triggered on the social dimension. A multiple-case study approach is adopted, analysing eight companies from industries characterized by different digital intensity levels but all at a relatively advanced stage of digitalisation of the purchasing department. The results show how different technological innovation approaches (i.e., automation and/or augmentation) impact the evolution of the purchasing department's social dimension in terms of autonomy, job enlargement, competences, internal and external collaboration. A new framework describing how automation and augmentation impact on purchasing social dimension, as well as purchasing efficiency and effectiveness, is proposed as main theoretical contribution. The study combines the socio-technical systems perspective with the automation-augmentation paradox and describe the strong relationship between purchasing departments' social and technical dimensions, offering managers insights on handling a purchasing digitalisation process, simultaneously managing the technical and social dimensions impacted along the process.     

Dynamic business modeling for sustainability: Exploring a system dynamics perspective to develop sustainable business models

In the last decade, business models for sustainability have gained increasing attraction by corporate sustainability scholars with international conferences and scientific journals encouraging the development of the debate on their design, use and innovation processes. Capitalizing on the basic principles, requirements, and methodological limitations found in the literature on sustainability‐oriented business model design, this paper aims to conceptualize a dynamic business modeling for sustainability approach, which combines an adapted sustainable business model canvas and system dynamics modeling. To this end, the paper also illustrates the key operating principles of the proposed approach through an exemplary application to Patagonia's business model. Findings suggest that dynamic business modeling for sustainability may contribute to sustainable business model research and practice by introducing a systemic design tool, which frames environmental, social, and economic drivers of value generation into a dynamic business model causal feedback structure, thus overcoming methodological gaps of the extant business model design tools.     

The design and communication of systematic monetary policy strategies

The efficacy of central bank communications is inextricably linked to the characteristics of the monetary policy framework. Therefore, this paper presents a set of fundamental principles regarding the joint design of monetary policy strategy and communications. The practical implications of these principles are illustrated by considering a number of significant policy challenges faced by central banks in the advanced economies.     

The impact of digitalization on the future of the PSM function managing purchasing and innovation in new product development – Evidence from a Delphi study

Bringing innovative products to markets is essential for companies, especially in competitive environments. One of the driving forces for successful new product development (NPD) is the inclusion of the functions that form part of the process such as purchasing and supply management (PSM). While extensive research has been conducted on the role of procurement in promoting innovation, insufficient research on the future of the PSM function in NPD has been conducted. This study addresses this gap, considering increasing digitalization and its effect on the future PSM function managing purchasing and innovation. To explore the future of PSM in NPD, a Delphi survey with 91 experts from industry, academia, and politics or associations was performed. The results reveal that digitalization will influence the PSM function in NPD across different time horizons and forms depending on the subject area. While in many areas, an interplay between digital technologies and human PSM professionals is expected, in certain domains the PSM function is likely to lose added value compared to digital technologies. Furthermore, digitalization is expected to be a potential enabler of a stronger key innovation role for PSM in NPD but to also introduce new requirements such as data science capabilities.     

Advancing purchasing as a design science: Publication guidelines to shift towards more relevant purchasing research

Due to rapidly changing business environments, purchasing and supply management (PSM) organisations are constantly confronted with new problems impacting organisational performance. PSM research can address these problems through design science research. Design science is also regarded as the science of the artificial. Design science research is a methodology that aims to systematically generate knowledge for the design, synthesis, testing, and evaluation of human-made artefacts (e.g., tools, interventions, policies) that solve practical problems. PSM artefacts such as the purchasing portfolio matrix invented by Kraljic (1983) represent a valuable opportunity to solve problems in the PSM discipline. However, our artificial-intelligence (AI)-based analysis of the discipline's flagship journal, the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (JPSM), indicates that design-oriented publications in PSM are underrepresented, accounting for less than 4% of the total publications. We argue that existing PSM research should be complemented with more design-oriented research, and address the following research question: How can PSM scholars publish more design-oriented research? Our objectives are to (1) provide arguments for advancing PSM as a design science, (2) nurture a better understanding of design science research as a methodology, and (3) propose publication guidelines that enable researchers to present design-oriented research in a management journal.     

Top and bottom line relevance of purchasing and supply management

Getting a substantial value addition out of investments in purchasing and supply management (PSM) is of central importance to senior management. However, the empirical evidence of a financial value contribution is fragmented. The current study addresses this fragmentation by using a comprehensive performance measurement model to validate empirically (a) whether PSM contributes to the company's financial success and (b) whether the financial value contribution is mediated by benefits of three operational performances (cost, quality, and innovation performance). Our findings from an international survey of 306 major companies from eight industry sectors suggest that an advanced, comprehensive implementation of PSM activities contributes to an improvement in PSM outcomes, which in turn mediates company success.     

Where we are heading and the research that can help us get there – Executive perspectives on the anniversary of the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management

Procurement is a young field with much potential for further business impact in industry and insight generation through research. In this article four executives from different industries and continents offer their perspective on procurement, purchasing and supply management (PSM) capability development potential and research that can support this. These executives each addressed one of the following important themes and provided candid comment regarding the nexus between academia and practice. (1) Emerging industry 4.0 technologies that can enable new PSM capability development. These technologies should be evaluated in terms of what PSM challenges they can help resolve, not just in terms of how technically promising they may be. (2) PSM talent is key to the realization of new PSM capability and the development of this talent will require executive engagement in creating lifelong learning opportunities for PSM professionals to ensure new competencies and capabilities. (3) Sustainability efforts that are often housed in PSM organizations have much potential to expand these efforts more comprehensively throughout the supply chain and to expand the scope of the efforts. (4) Supplier enabled innovation (SEI) offers a pathway for PSM to meet current business needs with suppliers but also to collaborate with suppliers to create new revenue and customer value. The successful achievement of future PSM capability will require leadership in industry and research to help close the gap between known opportunity areas and actual real-world accomplishment. These executive perspective help us to realize that simplified roadmaps and maturity models underestimate interrelations between these four areas of opportunity and no “single path” currently exists.     

Understanding politics in PSM teams: A cross-disciplinary review and future research agenda

Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) decisions, such as make-or-buy or vendor selections, are highly dependent on the cooperation of several functions in decision-making teams in order to make more holistic and effective decisions. However, members of cross-functional PSM teams often also pursue diverse goals rooted in functional incentive structures that may lead to misalignment and competition. One of the resulting problems are so-called “organizational politics”, being self-serving influence attempts among functional representatives. Examples can be nondisclosure of information, coalitions, or lobbying to protect unidimensional functional interests that potentially obstruct effective PSM decision making. So far, PSM scholars have made exploratory and inductive inquiries in team politics while the larger body of research on politics exists outside the PSM scope. Thus, as PSM scholarship transcends toward deductive theory testing designs on team politics, the fields is at risk taking isolated perspectives and failing to deduce from the extant disaggregated “general management” literature on politics. In response to this emerging trend, we review 91 contributions to the organizational literature on politics at the individual, team or group, and dyadic (individual-individual) level to build a future research framework on politics in real-world cross-functional PSM decision-making teams. To do so, we distinguish thematic areas of interest and derive future avenues for research in light of ongoing PSM debates on human resource management in PSM, leadership in PSM teams, and top management support of PSM. Furthermore, we derive epistemological, instrumental, and theoretical guidance on how to approach politics in cross-functional PSM teams.     

物流新技术、新业态发展动因及趋势分析

物流技术与服务业态的创新、应用是促进物流高质量发展的重要途径。阐释物流新技术、新业态定义,对当前我国物流新技术、新业态发展动因及趋势进行分析,提出促进我国物流新技术、新业态发展的措施建议,不仅有助于物流企业优化业务模式,增强内生动力,也有助于行业管理部门制定有效指导物流业健康发展的政策措施,切实为推动物流高质量发展提供基础支撑。     

Service-Oriented Computing for intelligent train maintenance

The purpose of this work is to apply the servicization of enterprise information systems in maintenance, particularly in the management of the maintenance process of the component parts of trains. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an architectural approach that permits servicization since it provides a flexible set of design principles used during the modeling practices (abstraction and realization). With a view to supporting the model-driven engineering of software systems, Mode Driven Architecture (MDA) is a design approach delivering a set of guidelines for the configuring of specifications in systems development. Therefore, the combination of these two approaches can be fruitful to address the challenging issues the enterprise information system is facing today. Our study is based on a methodological approach using the MDA models for the automatic generation of web service. The case study concerns a Railways Maintenance Workshop (RMW) at Sidi Bel Abbes (Algeria). Finally, the information system for the management of maintenance of the component parts of passengers and baggage railcars, using the generated solution, is realized and deployed. This software helps to have better management of the RMW by the effective planning of interventions, improve performance by increasing reliability, traceability, and availability of the equipment (parts).     

Acquisition of supply market intelligence – An information processing perspective

The capability to develop and sustain superior knowledge of markets and supply chains, or supply market intelligence (SMI), is an important element in increasing the strategic relevance of purchasing and supply management (PSM). This study draws on information processing theory (IPT) to shed light on how firms acquire SMI. In particular, the study aims to identify the drivers and mechanisms of information processing in SMI acquisition and to explore how the two constructs are related. Our findings emerged from an abductive multiple case study including 22 SMI tasks in eight case companies operating in various manufacturing industries. We find that the drivers of information processing needs in SMI acquisition are related either to uncertainty or equivocality. Uncertainty describes a situation in which decision-makers may be ignorant of a variable's value while equivocality describes a situation in which they may be ignorant of the variable's existence. We identify four structural mechanisms and three information technology mechanisms for information processing in the SMI context. We also find that equivocality seems to trump uncertainty in determining the use of the identified SMI acquisition mechanisms. In addition to elaborating IPT in the SMI context and exploring the theoretical foundations of SMI, we offer practitioners a framework for supporting the design of SMI practices in procurement organisations.     

New competences enhancing Procurement’s contribution to innovation and sustainability

This research presents the results of a multiple method study exploring the future competence requirements for purchasing and supply management (PSM) professionals in the face of increasing demand for innovative and sustainable product and service solutions. Data collection consisted of four stages: first, a World Café was held to gather experts’ insights into PSM skills, which helped to refine a first survey round of eleven open-ended questions. A second survey round then followed, presenting four scenarios based on the results of the initial round. Finally, interviews were conducted to explore the results in detail. The participants in all stages were senior PSM experts from a variety of sectors, including manufacturing and service organisations, as well as academic institutions, consulting firms and non-governmental organisations. The results show that the expected changes in the future business environment mainly concern the application of digital technologies, increasing supply chain flexibility and transparency, sustainability performance and the need to build soft skills to support interpersonal relationships as well as hard skills to support supply chain design.     

Mapping supply dynamics in renewable feedstock enabled industries: A systems theory perspective on ‘green’ pharmaceuticals

This paper provides a multi-stage multi-layer mapping methodology for capturing the macro-level supply chain dynamics that govern industrial systems using renewable feedstocks. The mapping approach combines the Industrial Systems Mapping and System Dynamics principles to systematically capture the interrelations across: (i) institutional players, (ii) sector specialists, (iii) products and intermediates, (iv) production operations, and (v) firms within the supply chain. The interfaces are further explored at four interconnected and mutually interacting theme areas of analysis, namely: (i) renewable chemical feedstocks, (ii) production technologies, (iii) target markets, and (iv) value and economic viability. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach by mapping the dynamics in industrial systems for the production of ‘green’ pharmaceuticals, particularly via the illustrative case of paracetamol. Through the use of the proposed integrated mapping process the case study demonstrates the principal interrelationships and inter-firm dynamics between the different layers of analysis. Three main drivers are identified that could enhance supply network transformations for improved viability of these developing industrial systems, namely: (i) regulatory conformance with market requirements, (ii) system level feasibility assessment of given renewable feedstocks, and (iii) target market volume demand. The causal feedback elements of the provided mapping technique indicate that it could support the analysis of industrial systems’ transformation dynamics enabled by renewable feedstocks. The standardisation of the methodology and its elements provides for an effective visualisation technique with cross-industry relevance.     

Future business and the role of purchasing and supply management: Opportunities for ‘business-not-as-usual’ PSM research

The raison d'être for this article is simple: traditional ways of researching, theorizing, and practicing purchasing and supply management (PSM) are no longer sufficient to ‘meet the moment’. Scholars need to advance a “business-not-as-usual” footing approach to their work, if they are to make a meaningful contribution to addressing the current and future emergencies, as highlighted by recent extreme weather and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, what can this, or should this, mean for a field rooted in traditional business thinking? This article builds on the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management's (JPSM) 25th Anniversary Special Issue editorial (2019); members of the JPSM's editorial team advance their unique perspectives on what “business-not-as-usual” means for PSM. Specifically, we advocate both thinking much more widely, in scope and ambition, than we currently do, and simultaneously building our ability to comprehend supply chains in a more nuanced and granular way. We explore whether the bias toward positivist work has omitted potentially interesting findings, and viewpoints. This leads to a call to re-think how we approach our work: should the key criteria always be to focus on theory development or testing? Should academics “think bigger”? Turning to specific research themes, illustrations of how our current thinking can be challenged or broadened by addressing the circular economy, and role of purchasing and innovation. Specifically, the focus on the PSM function as an intrapreneur within the larger organization, and the role of innovation and technology in PSM work. Taken together, we hope the ideas and arguments presented here will inform and inspire ambitious and novel approaches to PSM research with significant and enduring impact on the transformation of business.     

Transitions,opportunities and challenges – Change and continuity at JPSM

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) scholarship is experiencing a significant expansion across numerous academic institutions around the globe and is attracting more attention from policy-makers than ever before. After nearly three decades since its inception, the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (JPSM) has stayed true to its founding purpose of advancing and fostering cutting edge research in the PSM discipline, in its broadest sense, and has pursued its mission to be the journal of choice among PSM scholars. This editorial is both retrospective, and prospective: it marks the transition of JPSM's leadership team. Outgoing and incoming Editors together provide an overview of what has been achieved during the past six years, offer perspectives on the journal policies and on growth opportunities, and discuss some critical areas for the evolution of PSM research.     

Achieving efficiency and effectiveness in Purchasing and Supply Management: Organization design and outsourcing

As a function with a strategic role, Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) needs to continuously find ways to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. One potential way to specifically addressing efficiency targets is to outsource parts of the purchasing process. While outsourcing remains one of the most prevalent business practices in various areas, many businesses fail to realize the benefits anticipated from their outsourcing initiatives. Research reports that one major reason for these outsourcing challenges lies in the design of the focal organization. In this paper, we take an organization design view to outsourcing in the PSM context. Based on a multi-year case study from 2010 to 2013 at a global chemical and pharmaceutical company, we elaborate how the organizational design of the PSM function relates to outsourcing opportunities in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness by allocating internal resources to more value-adding activities. The case illustrates how an activity-based organizational design of PSM can support outsourcing of some parts of the purchasing process.     

Learning urban capabilities from behaviours. A focus on visitors values for urban planning

Evaluating environmental resources such as urban and territorial opportunities means understanding their value. Monetary values are not always suitable to synthesize the opportunity that such resources give to the development of individuals in urban space. We propose a spatial multi-criteria analysis method oriented to analyse values that individuals give to different urban and territorial opportunities within a capability approach framework. We analyse visitors’ behaviour in space and we learn their urban capabilities considering the values they give to environmental resources and assets. In order to learn such values we use a multi-attribute value measurement method. Furthermore, we define groups of people with similar values of urban opportunities and with similar relevant urban capabilities. This consents to design more legitimated policies aimed to expand the set of relevant capabilities for a given population target. The method is experimented and illustrated with a case study of urban planning for the city of Alghero.     

Strategic decision support in preventive health care.

This nontechnical interdisciplinary paper highlights major principles of strategic decision support in preventive health care and points to selected key literature. It begins by looking at preventive health care from strategic perspectives such as determinants of health, health care costs, objectives of prevention, political order constellations and available data. Next, the paper identifies strategic decisions and decision-making to be supported. Having gained strategic perspective, it discusses tools for decision support. These tools are here related to two planning steps (i) assessment, problem and goal analysis; and (ii) design and choice of alternative interventions. Qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of computer-assisted policy analysis in preventive health care are outlined and examples presented.     

How to train supply managers – Necessary and sufficient purchasing skills leading to success

The success of purchasing and supply management (PSM) largely depends on PSM professionals' skills levels. Past research assumed that one universal PSM professional type exists, and they have proposed one-size-fits-all PSM skillsets. However, PSM professionals have different objectives. Based on the data of an extensive survey conducted amongst European PSM professionals (n = 366), this study presents skillsets for seven objectives (reducing costs and improving delivery, quality, sustainability, strategic competitive advantage, supplier satisfaction and innovation). A differentiation is made between “necessary” and “sufficient” conditions for each objective's effectiveness. Within a new PSM-skills taxonomy, a hierarchy of skills is detected as one of the first categories that provide quantitative evidence that soft skills or personal skills are necessary conditions for carrying out hard skills or professional skills. Based on the proposed skillsets, university educators and firm trainers can draft teaching plans that support the intended outcome, while individual PSM professionals may get an orientation on how to develop their skills further.