Abstract

Supply chain management is increasingly being recognized as the integration of key business processes across the supply chain. For example, Hammer argues that now that companies have implemented processes within the firm, they need to integrate them between firms: Streamlining cross-company processes is the next great frontier for reducing costs, enhancing quality, and speeding operations. It is where this decade’s productivity wars will be fought. The victors will be those companies that are able to take a new approach to business, working closely with partners to design and manage processes that extend across traditional corporate boundaries. They will be the ones that make the leap from efficiency to super efficiency [1]. Monczka and Morgan also focus on the importance of process integration in supply chain management [2]. The piece that seems to be missing from the literature is a comprehensive definition of the processes that constitute supply chain management. How can companies achieve supply chain integration if there is not a common understanding of the key business processes? It seems that in order to build links between supply chain members it is necessary for companies to implement a standard set of supply chain processes. Practitioners and educators need a common definition of supply chain management, and a shared understanding of the processes. We recommend the definition of supply chain management developed and used by