Building competitive enterprises through supply chain management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue that looks at how enterprises could build competitive advantage through supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides an overview of competitiveness within a supply chain framework, introduces the issue papers and summarizes their major features. Findings Nowadays competition is increasingly between supply chains rather than individual companies. Thus, one would expect supply chain management to be a key in maintaining enterprises competitiveness. Through conceptual models and empirical studies this special issue's papers demonstrate how designing and operating efficient supply chains, through the effective use of information technology, can provide enterprises with a competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications The paper implies that enterprises can associate with a supply chain and develop a mechanism to fairly share surpluses. The papers in the special issue offer insight in to how an enterprise can position itself within a supply chain and how risks and profits can be shared equitably. Practical implications The paper introduces articles that report on practical implementation issues of supply chain principles. Originality/value The paper suggests a unified framework for the special issue papers.