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A Balanced Approach to Research in Supply Chain Management

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Research Methodologies in Supply Chain Management

Summary

When choosing a research strategy, there are tradeoffs in control, realism and generalizability. Quantitative research methods optimize control and generalizability (external validity), while qualitative research maximizes realism (internal validity). Logistics scholars agree that logistics and supply chain management are steeped in the positivist paradigm and that past research is primarily normative and quantitative. An imbalance exists in the conduct and publishing of rigorous qualitative research studies such as grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, semiotics, and historical analysis. At the same time, the business environment in which logistics and supply chain phenomena are located is becoming increasingly complex and less amenable to using just a quantitative approach. In order to accurately describe, truly understand and begin to explain these complex phenomena, research streams should include more studies using qualitative methods. Researchers who exclusively choose one approach or the other seriously delimit the scope of their inquiry and, thereby, their ability to contribute to the body of knowledge.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1208, USA

    Prof. Dr. Susan L. Golicic BS Chem. Eng., MBA

  2. Area of Marketing, Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA

    Dr. Donna F. Davis B.A. Mgmt. MBA

  3. Department of Management and Marketing, College of Business and Economics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, 18049, USA

    Prof. Dr. Teresa M. McCarthy B.A. Retail, MS Human Ecology

Authors
  1. Prof. Dr. Susan L. Golicic BS Chem. Eng., MBA
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  2. Dr. Donna F. Davis B.A. Mgmt. MBA
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  3. Prof. Dr. Teresa M. McCarthy B.A. Retail, MS Human Ecology
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Operations Management SCM-Group, Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Herbert Kotzab

  2. Supply Chain Management Center, Institute of Business Adaministration, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany

    Stefan Seuring  & Martin Müller  & 

  3. Department of Production Management, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Nordbergstraße 15, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Gerald Reiner

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© 2005 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg

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Golicic, S.L., Davis, D.F., McCarthy, T.M. (2005). A Balanced Approach to Research in Supply Chain Management. In: Kotzab, H., Seuring, S., Müller, M., Reiner, G. (eds) Research Methodologies in Supply Chain Management. Physica-Verlag HD. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-7908-1636-1_2

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