The role of marketing in creating a supply chain orientation within the firm

ISSN： 1367-5567

Source： International Journal of Logistics, Vol.16, Iss.2, 2013-04, pp. : 99-113

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify, conceptualise and operationalise the role of marketing in creating a supply chain orientation (SCO) and the development of a supply chain management (SCM) philosophy. A survey design was employed and data from 116 supply chain managers from a cross-industry sample was collected in order to test four propositions regarding the contribution of marketing to the firms' SCO. The findings provide empirical support for marketing's contribution to, firstly, the structural, secondly, the strategic and, thirdly, the structure-strategy fit dimensions of the SCO concept as proposed in the literature. They provide managers with insights on how organisational units at different hierarchical levels within organisations need to coordinate actions for a marketing-supported SCO. The paper takes the firm and not the supply chain as the unit of analysis. Further research designs should extend our perspective and test marketing's role to the proposed SCO-SCM link across firms by using supply chains as the unit of analysis.