CAN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT BE A DRIVER OF CHANGE OR IS THE SUPPLY CHAIN FOREVER DOOMED TO BE DRIVEN BY CHANGE?

Purpose: This paper aims to stimulate the reader into thinking creatively about the long term
future of supply chain management (SCM). The disciplines of organisational behaviour (OB)
and SCM share much in terms of managing the ongoing occurrence of change. This paper
explores the development of these fields with a particular emphasis on how the involvement
and engagement of the people [human supply chain continuum] contributes to the
achievement of satisfactory change management outcomes. It provides examples of how
collective creative thinking was used to generate unique solutions, to solving problems, using
scenario foresight planning methodology.
Design/methodology/approach: The authors commenced an assessment of the relevant
literature which informed the scope of their investigation. Having assessed the legacy and
contemporary applications of OB, they then methodically reviewed authoritative textbook
publications, and articles in leading SCM and business journals. This enabled identification of
the extent and nature of coverage of people involvement in extant literature on change
management interventions.
Findings: This exploratory research identified the extent to which change management
interventions are addressed in the leading SCM and OB books and journal publications. The
research also identified the nature of this coverage, and provided the stimulus to the authors
to provoke practitioners and researchers to use creative thinking in the search for solutions to
complex problems.
Research limitations/implications: The paper proposes a platform for potential future
research into the issues under investigation.
Practical implications: The paper makes a number of recommendations aimed at supporting
supply change practitioners in bringing change management initiatives to fruitful conclusions.
Originality/value: This work provides a fresh perspective on the role and contribution the
human supply chain continuum can make in developing creative solutions to meet the
demands of the medium to long-term future. This work provides a fresh perspective on the
respective roles of OB and thinking in the context of change management in the SCM
environment.