Supply strategy: old and new debates

Historically, the bulk of operations strategy papers has focused primarily on manufacturing strategy: suppliers were seen as a sort of a contour condition, as an independent variable not included in the strategic space of organisations. Only in recent times scholar have began to reflect on how to comprise suppliers (and more generally the external resources) into the strategic design of enterprises. However, this literature has reproduced many of the ambiguities that still surround the concept of (business, corporate) strategy. Following an extensive literature review, this paper identifies the main issues of this debate and its development path. By analogy with the corresponding streams in business strategy, it points out and discusses what the two main poles in this field: the ‘design’ and the ‘process’ views of supply strategy. Finally, this paper tries to highlight some recent approaches to the ‘strategic’ management of the supply side of firms, identifying the underlying common denominator.