Abstract
Drawing on meta-theoretical discussions in the discipline of management accounting, this paper seeks to discuss the notion of reality in SCM and logistics research, as this important discussion is currently missing. Four dimensions (facts, logic, values and communication) and their impact on research are discussed in order to show the erroneous aspects of conducting research from three or less of the dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is theoretical grounded. A literature review of ten top journals in SCM/logistics was carried out in order to explore previous discussions on reality in the SCM/logistics discipline. A SCM related paper was selected in order to illustrate the problematic aspects of not integrating all four dimensions in SCM/logistics related research.
Findings
As the SCM/logistics discipline is primarily founded in objectivistic approaches, this paper shows in what way such reductionistic research strategies lead to faulty research that fails to capture the notion of reality fully, hence making it less useful than had it incorporated all four dimensions.
Novelty/contribution
This is the first paper in the SCM/logistics to discuss the notion of reality and its potential impact on SCM/logistics related research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 14th IFPSM Summer School on Advanced Purchasing Research |
| Editors | Chikán Attila |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Publisher | International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management |
| Publication date | 2008 |
| Pages | 1-27 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 14th IFPSM Summer School on Advanced Purchasing Research - Salzburg, Austria Duration: 3 Jul 2008 → 8 Jul 2008 Conference number: 14 |
Conference
| Conference | 14th IFPSM Summer School on Advanced Purchasing Research |
|---|---|
| Number | 14 |
| Country/Territory | Austria |
| City | Salzburg |
| Period | 03/07/2008 → 08/07/2008 |